Hey! Yo!

I'm just now getting into car tinkering, so thank goodness I got myself a car that seems to be in decent shape. I want to do all I can for it before I start pumping $$ into performance mods.

right now, my 1981 280zx n/a 2+2 seems to be backfiring out the air intake. when I first start her up, and put her into reverse (or D) she acts sluggish and the engine does a lot of sputtering and backfires out of the intake (pop! pop!) If I don't give any gas while in R or D, the engine will die, but she just runs a little rough when idling.

this all happens for only a few minutes, because after I get going down the road a little, and work up the RPMs, all that clears up and she acts basically normally up in the higher end of things. I assume it has something to do with temperature, because I don't deal with this with a hot engine.

I've been trying to follow my Chilton's manual, but I'm just posting here to get a secret weapon of some kind. Air filter is fine, as is manifold vacuum and the spark plugs. Two plugs are a little carbon-fouled. that's all I've checked.

Can anyone give me easy little tests to see if the EGR valve is broken? maybe tests to see if I have some kind of vacuum leak?

Thanks! this is fun lol

 

First, toss that Chilton's in the trash and get yourself a Haynes!

Heres a PDF version of the FSM: XenonS130 - S130 Reference

Also EGR has to do with letting exhaust into the intake when you let off the gas, not when you're accelerating (I believe) so I doubt that is the issue.


What is the background on this car? Done a basic tuneup? (Cap, rotor, plugs, wires, fuel filter, oil change, etc)

 

No, no tuneup yet. Like you said, I'd definitely want a better manual before I try a legit tuneup.

Although, I know the plugs were just replaced recently (like within 6 months and little driving) so I don't feel like doing that.

In fact, I just bought the car a month ago and the guy who had it before me was just fixing bugs, and he didn't really completely tune it. I'd like to figure out what needs replacing or adjusting and just do that.

because I have no idea what I'm doing. I seem to be learning fast though...

 

Alright, update.

upon closer inspection, I've found a serious leak in my PCV hose. I was checking it because I've heard a faulty PCV valve can cause problems like this. turns out, the entire hose from the crankcase to the PCV valve was MELTED away hah! the valve itself is fine however, and I'm not going to replace it.

also, the vacuum signal line from the little valve on the distributor was similarly melted away and missing. I'm sure these were causing some trouble.

Finally, I found that the rubber hose coming out the top of the fuel filter (going towards the injectors) was cracked and dryrotten and leaking gasoline when I squeezed it.

now, I haven't gotten around to replacing all these hoses and the fuel filter, but do you think they're going to solve my problem? I've got a feeling things will work better.

Yeah?