So my 81 has been sitting for a little over a year. Last time I actually drove the car was back in October for a total of about 4 miles just to move it from my last house to the one I am living at now. Last time it actually ran was right around Christmas time I think, I fired it up just for the **** of it and to kind of prove to myself that the thing still ran better than the car I was driving every day. The thing fired right up, literally it was running in less than a second from when I touched the key it probably fired on the first rotation. Tried to start it again at the end of January on a day when the high temperature was in single digits but it wouldn't really turn over. I chalked it up to the cold having sucked the life out of the battery which is older, from 2008 I believe.

Fast forward to yesterday- still haven't had the car running since. I have half-assed tried jumping it two or three times since then but yesterday was my first real attempt. Every time I tried to start it the car would barely turn over, makes like a half rotation very slowly and just stops. If I hold the key it will do that 2 or 3 times before it starts melting the jacket on the jumper cable. I figured it was a case of having a bad connection and a battery that was utterly shot, so I threw in a fully charged battery and cleaned the terminals which were pretty ugly. Still nothing, even with jumpers from a running car. Volt meter reads 14 or so, I'm sure the car is actually getting power. I figured it must be starting to seize up from sitting so long so I took out the spark plugs and turned it over by hand with a wrench on the crankshaft. It turned over effortlessly.

Any ideas what it could be? I'm thinking it may be a starter issue? I really don't have any money right now to throw at a new starter if I am not sure that's the problem. I recently bought a house and I was hoping to drive this thing a good 3 hours rather than paying to tow it up there (I already have my all-trac that I have to flat bed up there, I'd rather only have to do that with one car). I'm sure it will make it if I can get it started, throw a used tire on it, and bleed the brakes. As much of a wrecked up POS that thing is, mechanically I went over every inch of that car a couple years ago and I know it's mostly solid, the places that are in need of attention are nothing that would stop me from making one trip.

 

How old is the gas in the tank?

 

Ok, you cleaned the terminals...All of them, or just on the battery? Be sure to clean the ground, and the one to the starter itself. Wouldn't even hurt to double check the cables themselves. They can get corroded inside the covering, and you'd never see the corrosion...If you see what looks like green corrosion, then it's time for new cables all around.

2. Ok, you took out the spark plugs and turned it over by hand, and it turned, but that isn't going to tell you much about your car starter.

Take the plugs out, and try and turn it over with the key. That will give you a indication of whether it's the starter. If it spins nicely with the key starter, after cleaning all of the terminals, then WA LA...

The starter can be removed, and using a battery on the side, you can "Hot Wire" the starter to see if it is going to spin....

Ok, now that you do have the starter out, now is the time to have the comutator checked on the bench by a good starter/generator rebuilder you trust....If the comutator and brushes get a bit corroded, this will cause your problem...(Ask me how I know these things, even though it wasn't on a Datsun, it now turns like new) A little preventive maint while you have it out now, might save some grief down the road.

Just because it has old gas in it, has nothing to do with the engine turning over with the starter.


Old Codger

 

Just a little update on this-

The gas is about a year and a half old, but that wouldn't prevent it from turning over regardless.

As far as taking the spark plugs out and trying to turn it over with the starter as mentioned above, I'm sorry I forgot to mention it but yes after I turned it over by hand I tried that too but it didn't make much difference.

So I ended up letting the car sit a little while longer due to being so busy.
Last weekend I tried again for the hell of it and nothing happened at all this time, won't even turn a little like it did last time. The connections looked pretty corroded so I cleaned them up pretty well and even cut the wire back to get rid of any corrosion at the end but it made no difference. I pop started the car and it ran beautifully, started right up. Drove it up and down the street a few times, even laid some rubber down, had it running for a good half hour or so. Confident I still had a good running engine I was sure the starter was just shot from sitting under that hood vent getting rained on for so long, I decided to replace it. Actually found out I have a lifetime warranty on the starter I bought about 3 years ago, so I brought it in and got a brand new one for free. Threw it in the car and still nothing even after the battery was nice and charged up. Turn the key to start and all electrical dies, even the dash lights dim out. All the other accessories (what hasn't been stripped out anyway) still function as they should, just not while turning the key. I am pretty positive I have a short or bad connection somewhere else but have no idea where to start looking at this point. Next I am just going to try jumping power straight to the starter but I doubt that will do it

 

"I pop started the car and it ran beautifully, started right up. Drove it up and down the street a few times, even laid some rubber down, had it running for a good half hour or so."

You have a problem with your battery/alternator system. Get a new battery that puts out way more cold-crank amps than you need - and then get the whole charging system checked out at any battery seller (AutoZone, etc). They test it for free and some even give you a print out of the test results. (They want to sell you a battery - but yours will be brand new!) If you had a Z31, you would look for 14+ volts from your alternator, non-stop. Anything less screws up the electronics and makes you crazy. Not sure about your 280 - same family, different haircut.

But, from what you report, I believe the probs are electrical. Get your elec probs solved and the rest could disappear.

Please report back. (We love it when we are wrong!)