New Z owner...help!
 

Hello all!
Just purchased 83 280zx turbo. Only has 85k on odometer...third owner. Have several years of experience turning wrenches, just not on these beasties.

Heres my issue, car starts and idle for about 5 seconds, then sputters and dies. When running i have no tach and oil pressure gauge is inactive. Otherwise all the indicator lights and gauges seem to respond. Just got the car delivered to my house today and am currently doing my best to replace all the vacuum lines under the hood.

I have downloaded the FSM if for this car and am currently doing my best to decode it....any help would be appreciated.

here is a start: Get your battery load tested. Be sure you have clean, tight corrosion free terminals on both ends of your battery cables. Be sure the ground (negative) cable goes to a bolt into the frame before going to the starter. grounding through the starter is not a reliable connection. Z's don't like low voltage. causes the electronics to act funny. it is possible to have enough amps to crank but not enough voltage to run the electronics. If you have one size fit all cheapo clamp on terminals they are a problem waiting to happen. Usually on a rainy night around Oh Dark Thirty.

Clean the connectors for the maf or afm, ecu and tps. Deoxit by CAIG is probably the best connector cleaner on the market. spray with CorrosionX after cleaning and before putting together this will help prevent any further corrosion.

Replace outer tie rod ends, and ball joints. replace the bushings with poly (don't forget to lube them as directed unless you like squeaky things). New shocks. Get new boots for power steering. all those things will make you think you are driving a different car. doing them piece meal is a waste you won't see a great improvement until you do the complete job. You need to get the car realigned after messing with the front. Have your tires in good shape and rebalance. Rear bushings nice too but more work and you won't notice as great an improvement. Rear shocks also because if the fronts are gone so are the rears. if car squats when you jump on the gas the rears are gone. If you have the electro adjustable shocks they are DEFINITELY GONE.

get your fuel pressure by putting a gage in the fuel ring. check the vacuum? vacuum leaks the bane of the FI engine

Ty for reply RogerZ
 

I have checked ground from battery, cleaned sanded and reconnected. The batter is new, plenty of cranking power. Have began checking grounds and connectors on what you suggested.
One question though...all the post and pics i have seen of the coil shows the double blue wires going to the negative side of said piece...that isnt how mine is is wired...complete opposite...and car starts, just dont run for long. Can anyone explain this?

Tach input (blue wire) must be on coil negative terminal.

Make sure you test fuel pressure and check timing.

Ok..
 

Have disconnected fuel line from supply side of fender mounted filter...lots of fuel pumping...actually distinct flooded smell when cranking. When blue wires moved to coil, no fire. Lots of cranking but engine will not grab, when i switched the wires back to original config...blue on positive...it will no longer start. I havent actually checked fuel pressure but i know i have lots of gas flowing to motor. This has me way confused...when coil was hooked backward it would start......

zxguy when you gonna learn that an s130 engine is an L28 straight eight and the z31 has a vg30 which is a V6. other than both engines drive the rear wheel there aren't a lot of analogous gizmos common to both engines. they be two different animals dude. a camel and a horse have a lot more in common than an l28 and vg30

Thanks. :icon_butt:

So, the coil was wired backwards...and ultimately dead. Ordered new coil and received it this after noon. Removed old one, sanded, scrubbed and all around cleaned all contact points from frame to wires connecting to coil bracket. Got new coil installed (and wired the correct way) and it fired first try, then died as before....2-4 seconds of idle is all i get and i still have no activity on tach.

I have doubled checked fuel flow to injector rack...lots of gas! Pulled plugs, other then slight carbon discoloration, they appear perfect. Have pulled cap of distributor... rotor and cap appear new. Have replaced about 75% of the vacuum lines, some are pretty hard to get too. Have checked the charcoal/vacuum canister per the FSM.

Any ideas where to head to next?