While looking at a 280zx that I'm interested in buying, I noticed that the temperature guage, the side mirrors and the A/C do not work. Few minutes later while cruising they started to work suddenly. The next day, I drove the car again, and the same problem happened but they didn't work until the end of the ride.
Is this a major problem with the car wiring and how expensive is it to fix?
Thanks for the help.
Mike

 

Moved to 280ZX Performance / Technical

Have you checked the fuses, main wiring blocks under the dash, and fusible links?

 

if it has glass fuses, they could be broken, not blown. then when they contact when hitting a bump they work. had that happen once. verify with a test light. could even be a bad ground on the car somewhere. its gonna take some looking.

 

Wiring problems are only expensive if you don't trouble-shoot them yourself. It's simple but time consuming which is why you don't want to pay someone else who's billing $80-$100/hr to do it for you.

Get a Haynes manual if don't already have one. Check/Replace your fuses, they're cheap and easy. Go to Radio Shack and buy some electrical contact cleaner and start cleaning and tightening every ground connection you can find.