71 240z. barn find.. sitting 20+ years
 

hey everyone.. so i just came home with a 71 240z.. its all stock and it was last on the road in 1989. its a really solid car, was stored inside, but needs alot of work.

im trying to make a list for myself of what to go through and inspect/fix/replace.

id like to drain and replace all the fluids in the car, whats the easiest methods to do so? what are some good fluids to toss in?

id like to check the cylinders for wear, good compression, sticking, etc.
was thinking about first just putting some marvel mystery oil in the cylinders and slowly cranking by hand and see what it does.. that ok?

best way to clean gas tank? i need to do this on this 240, and a 280 really soon.

anything i can do to help assist starting it up again?

really just want to bring this car back to life asap... but im in no rush to do so.



any help is greatly appreciated, thanks alot.. il try and post some pictures sometime. :icon_super:

You're going to need to replace just about everything thats rubber on the car. and probably half the gaskets on the engine. Sitting around for a long time doesnt really do cars any favors even more so if its outside.

The Z really isn't picky on fluids so just get a good name brand oil and fluids. and make sure to replace all the filters.

I doubt anything would have seized up in storage but I would change the oil before you even turn it over and a little oil in the cylinders probably wouldn't be a bad idea either.

I ended up tanking my 280Zs fuel tank over to a radiator shop and he cleaned it out spotless for $80 But if you want to save yourself $5 you can get the por15 tank cleaning kit.

I would honestly tear the carbs apart, clean them very good, refill them with the proper oil then set them to their base adjustment. I'm sure their filled with varnish.

In short, replace all fuel lines, filters and fluids. Clean/rebuild the carbs and may as well replace all the plugs and wires as well. Dont forget to change the brake fluid as well! Sitting that long I'm sure there is water in the lines by now. And probably a lot of rust in them.

i dug into the 240 some more over the weekend..

the car is pretty clean for being stored as long as it has (since 89), and it helps the previous owner did some work in the engine bay with hoses, new plug wires/plugs, and clutch master cylinder.

i checked the oil, and replaced/inspected all hoses.

i supplied external fuel from a 1 gal tank straight to the fuel pump and pushed out some old fuel right before they enter the carbs.

i then put fuels lines back on and put in a battery, with no plugs i spun the engine over.. it cranked nicely and spat out most of the marvel oil.
.. i then sprayed some gumout starting fluid into the carb intakes, after installing plugs and wires. it sputtered some and allllmosttt started! :)

*** i now have no spark after my starting attempt, i think i may have either blown a fuse, ..or maybe just burnt a coil and/or distributor?? not sure.

Check all the wiring harnesses for chewed up spots. Mice have had to be living in there for at least 19 years

worked on the car a little tonight..

took a electrical tester and grounded it to battery, then checked down by the starter,, i have power there.. but up by alternator i dont, should i poke around in that plug that plugs into alternator? because i only tested externally on the nuts and bolts holding a wire(s)..

hazard lights, all blinkers, brake lights, dome light, headlights,
radio, blower motor.. all working

dash lights, and power up around alternator im not sure about.. beyond that up to the coil there is no power what so ever...

i was thinking about bypassing things and just running a new wire up to the coil... but im not sure whats the safe way of doing so.. but i really think once i can get spark again this car will run! :)

If it is stock, it has an external voltage regulator.
As for the functionality of the alternator, if you're really concerned about it, pull it and take it to a parts store to test. If the car is running, you can see if the ammeter shows the battery charging (positive) or discharging (negative). You can also use the 72 FSM EE section to go through the charging system diagnostics.

thanks.. il pull the alternator today and test it.. its quite dirty and could very well be not doing its job.. but wouldnt the car still have spark regardless?

i got no power up by my coil...

Is the ignition stock?
If so, you should have voltage to the coil when the key is in START or ON. Measure from the positive side of the coil to ground. The voltage should be lower when the key is in the ON position than in the START position because it goes through the ballast resistor when the key is in the ON position.

Is the fusible link good?

didnt have time to work on it today but.. yesterday i couldnt find any sort of fusable links in the wiring under the hood.
the way its setup, its goes power wires from battery to starter, then into the main harness on the frame rail up to the alternator, back to the frame then wraps around in front of my radiator and up the left fender to my coil/distributor. nothing appears like it was tampered with but im a rookie with electrical and im sortve having a hard time under standing my issue with the no spark thing..

all of the fuses in the center console are good.

appreciate the help! :)

There is supposed to be a fusible link between the starter and the main harness. Look at part WH-03. Banzai Motorworks

To describe the circuit accurately:
The positive battery cable goes down to the starter. There it connects to the fusible link to the white wire. The white wire goes to the ammeter and connects to the white/red wire there. The white/red wire goes to the ignition switch.

When the switch is in START, the white/red wire connects to the green/white wire at the ignition switch. The green/white wire goes to the tachometer and comes out to the black/white wire and goes to the coil.

When the switch is in ON, the white/red wire connects to the black/white wire at the ignition switch. The black/white wire goes to the ballast resistor and comes out as green/white. The green/white wire goes to the tachometer and comes out to the black/white wire and goes to the coil.

Possible problems that could prevent a spark and diagnosis:
Bad fusible link - The starter would not turn.
Bad ammeter - The starter would not turn, but the brake lights and hazard lights would work.
Bad ignition switch - No voltage going to the tachometer.
Bad tachometer - No voltage at the coil.
Bad coil - No voltage on the high end. (You can check the coil by testing resistance on the high and low sides.)
Bad points/rotor/distributor cap - No voltage going out to the plug wires.

Electrical work is easy. It's all about managing the magic smoke. Keep the magic smoke inside the wires. If you let it out, you won't have power. Don't complete the loop for the smoke to circulate, you won't have power.

i cleaned distributor points, and one wire that attached to coil was frayed and barely attached. also tested the stock 45 amp alternator.. it was junk.
bought a new 60 amp, installed that..

cranked engine for about 20 seconds, came to life!! runs and idles very nice.

thanks everyone for the help getting this car going again!

Now lets see some pix!!!:038:

Why were there no pictures of this car?!

better late than never.. sorry bout the wait on pics.. project got put aside for awile as ive been playing with other z's and winter comming into play slowed me down too... but heres some pics of when i first bought it, and when i first started digging around in engine bay. engine bay is pretty now.. but need to take and upload more pics.