1983 280zx. Has not run in 3 years. Was running but had fuel sludge problems when shut down 3 years ago. Fuel tank cleaned, in tank screen cleaned, fuel lines cleaned by blowing high pressure air through lines while disconected, new fuel pump, new fuel filter. When cranking, there is a small amount of fuel coming out before the fuel filter. Voltage with key turned on is 12, voltage drops to 9 while cranking. Will the drop in voltage while cranking cause this problem and if so is this a possoble pump relay problem. Car given to me 3 years ago and just now starting to repair. Retired from military and now have the time to go to work on my new venture. Any help would be appriciated.

 

this is a good place to start. 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.

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

 

if your battery cables look the least bit shoddy just replace them maybe 20 bucks. go to a real battery shop they will fab up a good set of cables for not much money.

 

Thanks rogerZ, will try that today.