Old_timer

Hello all, I've been lurking around this forum for a few months now but finally find myself in need of some advice.

I have a 1982 280zx Turbo which I have had for about 8 months. Last weekend I took it for spin and all went well until I turned into the on ramp for the expressway north of Town and as I did the motor cut out. I did a quick scan of the gauges (nothing obviously wrong) and pulled over to the verge. The only light I had on the dash was the fuel light. I thought I had plenty of fuel but more on that in a minute.

I turned the motor over but it didn't fire. I checked under the bonnet, rather optimistically hoping to find 'something' that was disconnected, but couldn't find anything obviously wrong.

I turned the motor over again but still no firing. After a few more minutes contemplating whether or not to call my wife for a tow I tried it once more and, after a few rotations it fired up again. As I was already on the on-ramp I had no choice but to go north all the way to the next off ramp, about 8 miles, before swinging back home. It ran like a dream.

I stopped at a gas station to fill up and it only took about 15 litres. I thought this would be the case but my fuel gauge generally shows about a quarter less than what's in the tank. No issue with starting again so stopped at the supermarket and once again it fired up fine and got me home no problem.

This has happened once before and the behaviour was pretty much the same. Let it stand for 10 minutes and it was good, but that time it was pelting down with rain and I thought something might have gotten wet.

Anyway, if anyone can give me any thoughts on what might have caused this I'd appreciate it.

Cheers.
Billy

NismoPick

Well here's an official "Welcome to ZDriver".

An engine needs 3 things to start:
-Proper fuel delivery
-Proper spark delivery
-Proper compression.

So... if it happens again:
-Is the fuel pump priming? Fuel pressure?
-Coil sparking?
-Spark at each of the plugs?

That will quickly narrow down the problem.

A concern I have... why would the fuel light come on if it only needed 15 liters (3.96 gal). If your fuel gauge isn't working correctly, you should probably address that for many reasons.

rogerz

sounds rather like the ignitor (power transistor) that makes and breaks current to the coil thus producing a spark is marginal. When hot it fails. when cool it works. common transistor failure mode. buy a can of freeze spray. don't know where you might get that in NZ unless kiwis carry it around in their travels. next time you get a failure freeze it and if that cures the no start you have located the culprit. If you are really an Old Timer like myself and have seen and understood a points distributor then the Ignitor does what the points used to do mechanically but now done electronically.
Also here is some advice that might save future problems.:

Get your battery load tested. Be sure you have clean, tight corrosion free terminals on both ends of your battery cables. Be sure the ground (negative) cable goes to a bolt into the frame before going to the starter. grounding through the starter is not a reliable connection. Z's don't like low voltage. causes the electronics to act funny. it is possible to have enough amps to crank but not enough voltage to run the electronics. If you have one size fit all cheapo clamp on terminals they are a problem waiting to happen. Usually on a rainy night around Oh Dark Thirty.

Clean the connectors for the maf or afm, ecu and tps. Deoxit by CAIG is probably the best connector cleaner on the market. spray with CorrosionX after cleaning and before putting together this will help prevent any further corrosion. DON'T USE DIELECTRIC GREASE.

Old_timer

Thanks for the welcome guys. I feel a bit bad, like moving into a new neighborhood, not bothering to introduce myself and then walking into the neighbors house and asking to borrow his lawnmower. :-)

Nismo: you're right of course, but I haven't had a good chance to check everything. If I was to chose either fuel or electrics, I'd have to say electrical. I think the fuel light is a red herring. My gauge definately needs calibrating. Its consistently showing a quarter tank lower than what I have. Thinking about it the car just stopped too suddenly (I think) for it to be a fuel issue. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'd expect at least a shudder or two before the engine stopping completely.

RogerZ: You might well be on the right track here and I think this is where I might start. I'm not inclined to think its the battery but will certainly check it and all the connections. They look OK but who knows. The ignitor might well be a culprit. Yes, I am a real Old Timer, old enough to have owned a 240z back when they were a relatively new car. And I know what a distributor is! As an aside, on a local game show recently a question was asked "electronic fuel injection is now commonly used in place of what original component: distributor, radiator, carburetor or (something I can't remember)". They guy chose distributor - I guess he wasn't a car guy. I could have cried.

Anyway, thanks again guys. And I'll see if can figure out how to post a picture of the car.

Old_timer

Success?

Skully

Wow, that is one amazingly clean 280zedex!!