Iam haveing a hard time finding out what my problem is. I have power from the coil to the cap, but nothing comeing out of it to the plugs. I dont have my manual at the moment. Ant suggestions would be helpful. Is it the ICM, or pick up coil, or the dist itself ?
TIA

Mark

 

Could be the rotor or cap itself. How old are they? Other than that I'd test the IM and pickup coil. Oh and the air gap of the rotor and stator. Also check their condition while you're in there. Also check for power to the IM (power from the IGN. switch, not the coil).

 

thanks for the reply,
The cap and rotor are new, the other ones were virtually new also, but it was cheap if it wasnt it.

Can you give me a quick pointers as to where to check on the IM.

Thanks
Mark

 

Hopefully you did not put any dielectric grease in the cap. I've seen that done before and there was no spark. Leave them dry.

The small black box on the side of the distributor has a plug on the bottom of it. Make sure it is plugged in and that the two prongs are clean.

 

thanks for the reply Bleach,
Nope I didnt do any of that stuff,,all dry, both new and old. I did unplug the connections that were on top of the little box ( 2 prong connector ) and took a little sand paper and cleaned it the other day. No change. Im guessing the ICM now. I priced one from 2 different places....1) $77......2) $120.
So with those prices Im trying to get it traced before this poor boy has to spend any money

btw I got little red "x's" for some pics on your reply, problem on your end or mine. Just curious. I have seen your cars in the past.

again thanks for all the replies guys
Mark

 

is the rotor touching the cap when it rotates?

 

good and honest question,,,,,with the first cap and rotor.I made sure and didnt push the rotor all the way down, so when I put the cap on, it pushed it down to fit and then I tried to fire it up,,,nope, then ran elect tests again,,still no power to plugs.
Oh well, maybe I could run a power wire to an open container of gasoline and take care of this hair puller. no I wouldnt do that. but I will check again tomm. when it is light and warmer.

Thanks guys

 

OK morning guys,,,got my chiltons back, read thru it all.Going to attack it agian this morning, we will see what happens. I noticed that what i think is a rather large gap between the tip of the rotor and the cap. I would think that it would a little closer. But what do I know ? Im sitting here with a simple problem and can't figure it out. later

 

i think its suspposed to touch, but dont quote me on that.

 

Yea, I dont know about touching, but I think it should be close enough for a spark to jump across,this looks to large.....Iam going come up with a way to measure the differences.

going out there. update later

 

ya, pull the cap and notice if each of the six terminals have scratches accross them. They should.
The rotor should touch them while you crank the engine even if there is no spark.

Those pics were just my little signature cartoon pics. My website was down for a week but its back up now...

 

The rotor must touch the cap. The carbon piece in the center (inside) of the cap is spring loaded, or the rotor has a tang that is a spring in the center.

The outside metal end of the rotor (that rotates past the cap electrodes) should not touch. There should be a small gap of maybe .015".

One way to make sure the cap contacts the rotor (in the center) would be to put a dab of motor oil or grease on the rotor, install the cap and then remove it. The cap electrode should then have a little wet spot of the oil or grease on it.

The marks on the terminals are arc burns, not scratches.

 

ok. here goes..I think.according to the book and my limited ability to look at the pics (J/k).
The 2 connectors on the side should have ohm readings of 400 ohms both ways between them. If you have a reading of 400 ohms in one direction and not in the other they say pick up coil is good and ign module is bad..

Also, the 2 terminals from the pick up coil should have a reading of 400 ohms. if not pick up coil is bad.
Im taking old piece with me and ohm meter to the parts store tonite. I will update yall later.

Bleach and Canyon. yes the cap button should touch rotor top..but i did take rough measurements Ie: no calipers. I got a gap of about a mm. ( rotor..button mark to end...33 mm.......cap.. button to terminal approx.34 mm) disclaimer...old tired eyes.
we will see
thanks guys

 

Ok here is the latest. Dug a little deeper and wiggled the shaft a little,,felt loose.then i saw a ball bearing,dang.Pulled everything up,stator had one tooth that was worn deep, also magnet pickup was broken in about 4 pieces,,but pickup coil measures good, big deal right. Well I think this my problem ( shaft worn out,stator worn out, magnet broken.)
Any body care to comment ?
Mark

 

That's an A-Typical 280ZX Dizzy failure. Start checking around for reman units.

Rod.

 

ok thanks,,,,,,dont suppose they sell rebuild kits ?

Mark

 

never mind, i think I found a place
Thanks

 

What'd ya find?

You should be able to get a rebuilt one from just about any parts store. Kragen/PartsAmerica carries them and they are available through their online store.

You're still going to pay $120 for a rebuilt distributor and you'll have to use your existing ignition module.

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductD...pe=218&ptset=A

 

Mine came with the IM...

Rod.

 

The place I found it is on the web, out of Dallas I think. I already wrote him.
$50.00 for dist.another 50.00 for IM,

And yes you are right I can find one for a little over 120.
The name of this place restore your z with the the ZX Man.Im going to give him a shot. Heres the link, his price list looks pretty good.

http://www.zxman.com/

But it will be a few weeks, I have to go up to Dallas anyway for some Doctor stuff anyway.

Thanks for all the help guys
Mark

ps. is this a pretty typical or often of the ZX ?

 

I don't know if it's typical of the ZX, these problems. But after 20+ years things are bound to go bad and this is DEFINITELY on those things that goes bad on a ZX after that many years. It's not an original dist. if the IM hasn't crapped out and you don't have ball bearing floating around in the housing

As far as often goes I wouldn't worry about replacing the dist for quite some time after you get another one.

 

i agree with old cars.and yes I did find one bearing not floating but wedged, the stator was worn real bad on one tooth only and underneath the magnet was in a few pieces. so anyway.
It will be rolling soon enough, but not quite fast enough.