4u2nV

for some reason when i hook the battery up it pulls power, so i thought ok maybe the battery has a bad cell or something, even thought its a red top, so i hook the jump box up to just the terminals w/o battery and the starter spins freely but drains the jump box....checked the starter terminals they seem to be working, swapped out the starter with the one from the 280zx, same problem....somewhere some how i'm drawing power, and im not quite sure if it is all hooked up right...wiring diagram mentions altenator has a blk wire a white/blk wire and a yellow wire....well i have a white/rd wire hooked to pos on the alt and it doesn't talk about that in the diagram....ok...also diagram shows power goes from the battery to the starter, then from the starter to a fuse link on to the voltage regulator, well i found the white wire hangin there on the frame rail harness...hooked it to the battery and i get lights, great, but still click click, so i put an in line maxi fuse between the starter and the white wire and it still just spins. when i hook the pos wire to the starter it just spins freely, it did that before i got the jump box, thinking it was just just low voltage on the battery then it stopped spinning freely on the jump box but was goin click click. I'm extremely frustrated but can't give up, any help would be greatly appreciated. It may also help to know that i recieved this car after the previous owner pulled everything but the harness out and rebuilt the engine and put in a new transmission, but he didn't finish hooking everything back up. i've done away with the air pump and am cleaning up the hoses and whatnot, just a journey here and everything is back in that i know of, not sure of the electrical as i'm going but pictures online, chilton, haynes, factory service manual, just tryin to make this thing work. thanks in advance for any help, and yes i've searched and searched and searched and i have like 3 strands of hair left lol.

theramz

With the battery hooked up you should hear an audible click from under the dash from a relay when you turn the key to "on". If you don't then it might be the igition key switch is bad. It would also explain the drain down on the battery because it is stuck "on". If you hear the click when you connect or disconnect the battery it's the switch. The relay might be burned closed if you don't hear it at all. I have bald spots from electrical probs too!

4u2nV

thanks i'll check it out tomorrow night after work and let ya know...

4u2nV

i hear it click when i turn the key on, but not when i connect disconnect terminals, where is the relay located? do i have to pull the dash?

theramz

Before you climb under the dash check to see if you have power to the coil with the key on. When you turn the key to off it should click again and power to the coil turns off. The white/red wire is the hot to the fuse panel and alternator. Yellow to the spade terminal on the starter. Beware of previous owners. They can replace wires with other colors and bypass fuses. Go by the fsm to be sure.

4u2nV

there is a black and yellow wire, which i found is the ignition wire that goes to the starter on the clip, then you ground the starter, but why does the fsm, haynes, and chiltion show bat + going to the starter then from starter to a "fuse" link then to white wire on frame rail...remember this is on my 71 240z not the 83 280zx...does anyone have clear pics of how the starter is hooked up and the battery, cause there were no terminals at all when i got this car and i just want to make sure it's all hooked up properly.

theramz

Yeah, wiring diagrams can be confusing. The white/red wire is in a loop. It goes to the + on the starter with the + battery cable. The black goes to the ground at the starter/bell housing. The white/red goes to the dash harness and comes back out of the harness and goes to the + terminal on the alternator.

4u2nV

ok i have positive going from the battery to the starter then a wire connected to a maxi fuse to the white/red wire on the fram rail, the ground goes from the starter to the battery and from the battery to the frame. the battery is only pulling like 5 volts right now, so nothing is happening, but when i touch the jump box to the terminals the car tries to turn over and cranks the engine, jump box may not be powerful enough, but i'm trying to figure out why when i touch the jump box to the terminals why it tries to start automatically, could the ignition switch be bad?

theramz

Do you have a multi tester? Try disconnecting the yellow wire and hook up the jump box. If nothing happens then it must be the ign switch. if it spins then it must be the solinoid, doubtfull since you tried 2 starters. That white/red wire also goes to the fuse box so check the back side for a melt/contact condition. If that wire is shorted to the yellow wire anywhere in the looms you will have a start condition.

4u2nV

ok, were getting somewhere here, today i messed around with the wire configuration for the starter/bat/main power to car, when i connect the jump box now instead of spinning it tries to turn over, slowly like whur whur whur which is progress in my book cause it tells me that it must be ignition related cause the ignition is not doing it's job, it does this no matter where the key is. At least that is my assumption. So i disconnected the starter out of the loop and ran power straight to the white wire on the frame rail (what i'm lead to believe is main power to the car, and 3 interesting things happen, the bottom right fuse blows labeled (common) and the one on the right side 3rd one up from bottom glows red, its labeled park, tail ecsa or some crap i can't remember. and the right headlight fuse also blows so there is a short somewhere within those wires, so i guess the best thing for me to do at this point is to rewire everything cause trying to trace this is going to be more of a headache i think. Any suggestions? these could have no bearing on the ignition problem or if all of these wires meet somewhere that could be where the problem lies either way i'm think i'm gonna have to re-run all new wires

theramz

Wow, you definitly have a short to ground. Maybe you can find a harness from a donor car. You could repair the one you have since you are going to take it out anyway. If you unwrap it you will find the short. It's most likely in the engine bay since that's where all the bending and pulling has occurred. Unwrap it from there, you might not have to pull the whole thing.

4u2nV

i forgot to mention with the jumpbox connected and the starter out of the loop when i turn the key i get a click under the dash

4u2nV

also i do have a multi tester, not that familiar with how to use it, but i'm learning lol, i put it on 200dcv and all the fuses read nothing with key off except for the "common" fuse which reads 11.4 - 11.8 with key on, almost all other fuses read the same, i'm no genious but doesn't that mean the ignition is working? at least in acc it's working and when i turn it to on i hear the relay click under the dash passenger side. but is the "common" fuse supposed to be constant power? that's one of the one's that keep blowing.

theramz

That's the one that is grounded. look on the back side to see which color wire it is. I'm pretty sure the short is where the loom branches off to the starter. Set your meter to alarm, you should hear a beep when you touch the probes together. Now disconnect all the fuses, and wires to the bat and starter. Touch one probe to ground and each wire. The ones that beep are grounded. If no beeps then touch the yellow and white/red. Make sure key is off.

4u2nV

do you happen to have a pic of the alternator wired up and the starter? so i can make sure i'm on the right terminals of both of these?

theramz

Hope this helps. As you can see this car has gremlins too. The solid red wire was the white/red stripe.

4u2nV

ok 2 things i notice off the bat....i don't have a condensor, i think it's in the box of stuff, but wasn't installed, also, my negative goes to the inside post of the solenoid, am i supposed to ground it where your's is?

theramz

Yep, that's it. By grounding that inside post you turned on the motor. Ground battery to the bell housing as shown. You also need the condensor hooked up. You've now ruled out the posibility of a short in the harness. Check for damage to the fuse panel.

4u2nV

yep that was it!! She's trying to start now. think it might be a fuel delivery problem...so on to the next step lol. soon as i switched that ground and put that condensor on, i turned the key and she tried to crank, and she cranks fast, i sprayed some ether and she tries to run off of that, so i know she's trying to fire, don't wanna keep that up and make her an ether baby so just gotta find out why fuel isn't getting in, might see about taking the fuel pump off the 280zx, thought i read about that somewhere on here, still gotta figure out why i'm burnin fuses and don't have any interior lights or anything too....but seeing her crank over and run even if it was for 15 seconds, well that sir just made it all seem worth while. i owe it all to you man for helpin me out here! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! still got a ways to go but yeah, she's gettin there now... oh and the voltmeter i have doesn't have an alarm, but i read up on what you said and it should read OL if the wire is grounded, so gonna try that tomorrow as well, and check each one.

theramz

It could be your fuel filter is clogged. Check everything and be patient before you drive it. All of us here came to Zdriver because we didn't know js about Z cars. Your journey has begun and your hair will grow back.

4u2nV

alright, looks like the fuel pump is dead. Jacked it up tonight and checked the voltage, postive was pulling like 4.5 volts and fluctuating... possibly a short i suppose, i ran a wire straight from both battery terminals directly to the pump and it didn't cut on, so it must me seized or dead. gonna try to trace the positive wire and find out why it's not getting 12v when i turn the key, don't wanna hook up a new pump and blow it...do you know if i can bypass the pump inside the tank and replace it with the 280zxt external pump?

theramz

The '71 came with a mech pump on the head. None of the Zs came with an in tank pump. One of the previous owners added that on so find out how it is powered to make sure it was done right. The zx cars pump is to powerfull (35psi) for the carbs so get one from a parts store that puts out 3-5 psi or the bowls will overflow. You should get 11+ volts to the rear. You need a filter before the pump too. Consider draining the tank to get all that crud out first. If you get a lot of dirt you may consider having the tank cleaned by a radiator shop.

4u2nV

i keep reading and hearing online that there are 2 pumps on this car, i have the mechanical one on the head, and im assuming there is one in the tank when i crawled under there up on the side of the tank there is a yellow and black wire going to the gas tank on 2 clip like connectors with black rubber shields, there was also a green and a black wire just chillin, and 2holes on a piece of the tank that protruded out, i was first under the assumption that the fuel pump was removed, but the other wires are attached to a round object on the tank surface that looks like a submersed pump, the green and black wires have round connectors on them....could the pump be missing and im mistaking what could be a sensor of some sort as the pump? the fsm doesnt mention a second pump nore does chilton or haynes, they all refer to the mechanical one on the head...lol im gonna need some rogaine.

skittle

the rear pump in not in the tank. Its mounted against a bracket right infront of the tank behind the wheel. Do yourself a favor and ditch the mechanical one and upgrade to a low pressure Electric one. Holley makes a good one some what cheap. It will save you alot of hassel trying to figure it out.

4u2nV

yeah im guess it's missing then cause it's not there lol, and that's what those dangling wires are for, the other wires in the same loom must be a sensor of some sort then right? and what's involved in switching to electric? do i just use the one in the rear and put a block off plate where the mechanical one is? Also there is two fuel lines going into the tank how are they incorporated into the rear pump? and why isn't this rear pump mentioned in any of the manuals?