JPerkins

okay. I'm gonna run a full once over check on it. fuel system and all. but i think i may have found the problem. i have a hose leaking on the passenger side of the engine. Looks like an oil hose but its dark right now and i can't really look it over that well. I'm gonna park her for now and take a good look at her when its light out again.

snwbrderphat540

its a NA car right? should be no hoses that would leak oil, plus if it was oil, it wouldnt cause the problem your describing unless your out of oil and the motor siezed, lol. doubt thats your problem, could be fuel though, most likely collant though. or, could be power steering fluid this is an s130 right?

JPerkins

its a 1982 datsun 280zx Turbo. and my insomniactic, becoming-obssessed self just jumped outta bed and went with a flashlight to look it over some more. You are right. The hoses that are leaking arent engine fluids. (Thank god) its Power steering fluid. no power steering is a pain, but i can handle that. engine damage is my biggest concern. but i did find a hose that ran from the charcoal canister to the throttle valve swith that was broken. It looks like the nipple on the canister had broken and the previous owner had tried to glue it back on. Needless to say, it failed. could that hose be the problem? it is part of the fuel system after all. looks like the previous owner also tried to remove the Exhause gas sensor and ended up totally destroying it. the only thing left of it is a mangled looking stub left in the exhaust manifold. is that contributing? it was only on the USA models of the car.

NismoPick

It would cause a vacuum leak, but not the prob you are describing. I still say check the AFM & CHTS sensors / connections.

JPerkins

I feel dumb askin this but, what are the long versions of AFM and CHTS? (as in, not acronyms.)

snwbrderphat540

air flow meter (the box thats conected to the intake piping before the turbo) and the cylinder head tempuratur sensor, its a sensor thats on the passenger side its literally threaded into the head on your engine, i think right by the number 5 cylinder, should have a plug going to it, i think that might be it as well, cause it doesnt do crap on my car till the engine is warm, could be your problem. make sure its pluged in and if so clean off the connectors and replug it back in.

EDIT: and sorry i didnt go back to the begining to see if it was turbo or not, but i did remember it was an s130 at least.

SHADY280

well the fact you are starting with a turbo car kinda sets some of your direction, you have a good platform, no need to mess with wiring and swaping engine parts. that hose coming off can cause some mighty screwy problems, try getting another canister (wreckers and cheap) then do a tune up, dont forget the fuel filter, and do it with good quality parts, its worth the time and money, then you can check things off the list that are good and dont have problems. eliminate any simple problems and it will give you an exellent baseline to build on.

JPerkins

can a 280zxt be twin turboed without major electical work?

NismoPick

Electrical??? Turbos aren't electric. Several people have converted the L28ET to a twin turbo... mostly to say they've done it. There is minimal benefit from it on this motor. And if you are asking the question "can I twin turbo it?" you are not ready for the project. Read the book MAXIMUM BOOST.

JPerkins

alright. i ordered the book. can the engine be supercharged? just a thought. Exploring the possibilities.

NismoPick

Yes. Our member FRANK in Europe is working on his supercharged 280zxt. There's also a guy that has a green supercharged 280z. Feel free to Google it all and research it.

SHADY280

franks car has a supercharger feeding the turbo (i think its that way round) that way there is no lag, and massive torque from idle up.

thxone

Hello there.


Is it just me or is "how can I get more power" the first thing EVERYONE wants to ask as soon as they get a Z? Twin Turbo's, Small Blocks, N2O, Stroker Engine.....not that I didn't ask the same stuff...sort of.

Try this first...get the car running as perfect as you can (stock) then beef it up in steps:

1. Boost controller (Electric preferred, manual will do) Take it from the stock 6psi to 10psi* (Big Difference in Power here already)*Ask about emergency pop valve before this mod.
2. Blow Off Valve (BOV-spend a little more money here but a cheap one can work...like mine does) Helps turbo lag and can help your turbo last longer, plus it makes a cool sound.
3. Front Mount Intercooler (FMIC) This will allow you to run more boost by lowering the air temp going into the engine. Larger Downpipe and larger exhaust. (Take it to 14-15psi)
4. Fuel Rail, 300cc+ injectors, Rising Rate Fuel Pressure Regulator (RRFPR) Adjust Timing and get some larger,stickier shoes outback (Take it to 15-20psi) (Estimated 240-290hp+ and probably over 300 lb-ft of Tq)

If this isn't "fast" enough for you, then you need help.

lww

Yes, they can be supercharged as well. It's been done with both a roots style and a centrifugal style superchargers.

A centrifugal would be the easiest, but also provide the least performance over a roots style or a turbo.

I like Frank's setup, but if you're only using the SC for the instant power and to "spool" the turbo, I'd try to make the centrifugal work just for the mounting simplicity. You can mount it right where the AC compressor used to be (or would be if it wasn't originally equipped) or if you've converted to a manual steering, you can mount it where the power steering pump used to be.

Frank's setup actually has the turbo feeding the supercharger and when the turbo boost pressure reaches a pre-determined point, the bypass on the SC is activated and the intake charge bypasses the supercharger and goes "turbo only".

JPerkins

my book hasn't arrived yet so i'm gonna ask, What exactly does a boost controller do (mechanical wise i mean, i get that it controls the boost). and are they turbo unit/engine specific? If not i'm looking at a AEM Tru Boost 52mm Boost Gauge & Controller Combination Unit for $296. Jury says?

lww

The boost controller has a pressure activated switch of some kind (either mechanical or electric) that will open the waste gate to allow exhaust gas to bypass the impeller on the exhaust side of the turbo limiting the speed of the compressor wheel on the intake side of the turbo thereby limiting the boost generated.

P.S.
Be sure to check out page 103 and let me know what you think of the top end of my motor!

JPerkins

alright. Now that psi increase. is that done by adding the boost controller, modifying the existing stock turbo unit or by buying a different turbo?

lww

The boost controller changes the point at which the switch activates to open the waste gate. It has nothing to do with the turbo itself, but with the waste gate. You can run the stock turbo up to about 12 psi with the stock fuel system before it becomes hopelessly inefficient. In order to do that though, you have to make a lot of changes to the stock system to support that boost level.

Install boost controller
Reset the release pressure on the "Pop-off" valve
Install a rising rate fuel pressure regulator
Install an intercooler
Preferably install a blow-off or bypass valve

JPerkins

alright. i take it that the stock turbo would be ill advised for the level of go-fast that i'm wanting to be able to acheive while still being able to drive this car regularly. So is there a particular brand/make of turbo that works best?

p.s. if the waste gate opens up after a certain psi to let off the excess pressure, then what does the bypass/blow-off valve do? or is one on the intake side and one on the exhaust side?

lww

One is on the intake side (BOV) and the other is on the exhaust side (Waste Gate).

Step 1... Make sure the car and engine are in tip top shape. ie. electrical, suspension, brakes, fuel management, transmission, drive shaft, u-joints, cv-axels, differential, RUST RUST RUST! etc.

Step 2... Figure out what your ultimate goal is for the car and design accordingly

Step 3... Get job that earns 6 figure salary so you can accomplish step 2

Step 4... Realize step 3 ain't gonna happen anytime soon and reset your goal in step 2 to something more reasonable...

Seriously, don't even think about going crazy on power until the rest of the car is ready to handle it. Making anything more than about 250hp is going to bring nearly every other component to it's breaking point.

Because of their light weight, these cars don't need 500hp to smoke other cars on the drag strip. I know a guy with a 270hp Z that makes pretty much every other "streetable" car out there look like they're in slow motion not to mention that the vast majority of people couldn't drive a car at it's limit if their life depended on it... Unfortunately, they often over estimate their abilities and end up in a ditch on the roof.

Once the car is running perfectly in stock trim, take a driving school or join your local SCCA and run about 2 years worth of Autocross/Solo events then run up to Hallett and run as many track days as you can afford entry, tires and brakes.

Then! You'll be itching for more power, but at least you'll have had the opportunity to dish some old school azz whoopin' on the ricer Civic's down in Bricktown with your "stock" Z!

JPerkins

Alright, so i'm still thinking heavy chevy, and need to stop that.
I'm thinking pricy too....yeah, the airforce doesn't pay me enough for pricy.
I do need practice driving.

Okay. I'll chill for now. that 6 figure salary isn't rolling around anytime soon. So its perfect stock first. Widow Maker later.

thxone

lww is right though, I have only added a manual boost controller and a BOV and I am guessing I am right near 200hp now at 10psi which is 4psi over stock and it made a BIG difference. Crap...I keep thinking the turbo has 160hp stock...it's 180hp so that would get me closer to 220hp. So those estimated numbers I gave you before would be higher...like 15-20psi should be around 260-320hp and that is in a car that weighs less than 3,000lbs. Get rid of that Auto Tranny and find you a T-5...also a big difference and you will have an overdrive 5th gear instead of a 1 to 1 3rd gear.

I just want to add one more thing....at one time the fastest production car in the U.S., the 1987 Buick GNX only had 275hp from a 3.8L V6 and that car was over 3,000lbs and it took an all fiberglass supercar to knock it off the top of the hill, The ZR1.

NismoPick

I think you're overshooting that a bit. Get your car dyno'd.

thxone

It's just an estimation...it's probably more like 340hp

Actually somewhere around 210hp according to this site...again it's just an estimate. If you figure a stock L28ET is supposed to have 180hp then without the turbo it should be sitting at 125-130hp..SO, if you use this calculator and say the base engine is 127hp and add 6psi of boost that brings us to the stock 180hp range and if you again up the boost to 10psi then you would get near 210hp....14psi - 236hp.....20psi - 276hp est. So my numbers were a little high...these are still respectable numbers...Also, I am talking about flywheel hp and not wheel hp.

Here is the source:

http://www.superchargersonline.com/h...r.asp?submit=1

JPerkins

does the 300zxturbo still use the T-5 Trans?