Please help, strange problem
 

i have an 81 280zx turbo, with a srange pronlem


my friend and i were trying to get my car running but it will only run on cylinders 1 3 5, not 2 4 6 for some reason. when its running you can pull the wires from 2 4 6 and not get any change. but, when we pulled all the plugs all the plugs were firing, but all with weak spark, and all were gapped correctly. sooo, we figured it was the injectors, we pulled the whole fuel rail and, all injectors are firing fine, that was fun ha ha. so then we changed the coil out to the one from his datsun, no change.

my only guesstimation is, i need a new alternator, because we started and put a volt meter on the battery and only got 12.3 volts, i figured i needed and alternator anyways, but would an alternator cause this? our though was since the alt is bad, it isnt putting enough out to get s good spark through th coil and then spark plug, i know this might be a stretch, but, it kind of makes sense, the firing order fires the the odds, then the evens (i know not in order but i am just saying), so maybe when it fires the odds it runs out of juice then builds just enough back up to fire the odds again, oh ya, my cap is fine and firing order for my wires is too, and its not off timng. i was looking st a site with an upgraded alternator, is that worth it?

any help is appreciated, thanks

To answer your question, no the alt couldn't cause that. The system is designed to work down to in the neighborhood of 9~10 volts, otherwise it wouldn't start on cold days. You said all plugs were firing, so I sorta have to assume it's not worn bearings in the dist. or a bent Dist. shaft. If indeed all you say is true, it pretty much only leaves bad compression.

hmm, thats ODD.....

or timing.

This I've gotta hear. Please explain how bad timing could effect 3 out of 6 cylinders?

ummm.... i might have confused two issues i remember dealing with on my buddy jeff's car, i remember timing being the last issue and i remember a scenario that it was running only on 3 cylinders, but then it dawned on me the first issue we dealt with, and it might have been that issue that caused the 3 cylinder issue. so i may be mistaken. i'll have to ask him for clarification so i'll get back to you on that. but i do find it odd that its only on 3 cylinders and is only one batch (as in skipping every other cylinder for the problem) which leads me to believe it isn't a head gasket issue. but instead something inside the EFI setup causing it to not fire those cylinders, if i remember correctly, these cars are a batch fire setup for injectors and a wasted spark setup to no?

well what ticks me off is it was driving perfectly fine for one night, the next day nothing but 3 cylinders.

i know i need a new alt anyways so when i get enough money i am gonna buy one.

if it cant be the alt i will check the timing when the snow melts, i hate wyoming.

^please get back to me on that issue snwbrderphat540

Pull the plug on one of the dead cylinders and see if its getting spark.

L28's are batch fired if memory serves, so if indeed those three injectors are firing, the only other thing could spark.

every cylinder has spark

I would also suggest a compression test on all cylinders, if you have spark, air and fuel...

well, i know this isnt a good way to test, but on everycyinder i put my finger a little into the hole, and it blew my fingers out just fine ha ha, its still snowing outside, so when it clears up i wanna check the timing, and in all honesty it may be the dist. cap, it is old and i doubt it was ever replaced, maybe the rotor too. how about i just change the whole ignition system, what are the best upgrades for this system, msd coil? is the a "performance cap", what wires are recommended and who sells a good plug and what heat range do you guys suggest?

If the spark is weak on all cylinders try cap and rotor...my guess is it is somewhere in the dist.

i just plan on parking it for the winter, i think i need a new cap, there was a red dust in there, i blew it out and sanded the terminals a little bit when i was messing with it, do the distributor shafts get slightly bent in these cars sometimes? cause if it got bent in such a way where it only will fir the odd three and not the even, cause the firing order fires the three that work first... hmm

Just sounds like it could use a good tune up. Cap, rotor, plugs and wires. Get good plug wires if you can afford them. Since the plug wires go across the engine, they take a lot of heat which is their biggest enemy. If you don't have the clips for them, you can get some at any parts store, you you can zip tie them up and off the valve cover.

Are you smoking what your selling? It sounds like it...

i already put new plugs and wires in, it may be a stretch but the dist. shaft may be bent just barely, so that it skips 2 4 6 and can hit 1 3 5, maybe.

how arrogant are you? WTF is that even refer to in my last post. we had a timing issue with his car, and we also had a carb issue, where they needed to get rebuilt, one carb i remember was very bad, hence it could have been causing the 3 cylinders not firing issue, but since the next time i went over there was to deal with a timing issue and this was several months ago i mixed the issues up with the one solution. i don't see you with any better input so how about you shut up unless you got something intelligent to say.


least im not the one running around saying i can spend 2.5k and run 9 second 1/4 miles LMAO!!!!

since it seems no one is coming up with ideas here is what i would personally do. just take the extra time, and start from the bottom up. get the motor in TDC position, drop the oil [pump and properly place it and then stick it back up and attach the distributor. then clean with spray and by scraping corrosion off any and every important connection that deals with ignition as well as the AFM. then if you havent already, get a new cap rotor wires and plugs. and make sure the wires are in THE PROPER ORDER. the perfect exact proper order.

hope this helps

http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/d...r/8_small1.jpg


also, as it seems you only replaced plugs and wires, and not the cap and rotor which if cheap ones were bought can wear out the contact points VERY FAST i'd get those two things first and good quality ones at that then try the other stuff i suggested.

HaHa, you try to feign intelligence, and then say that bad spark wires will wear out points. You make my point very well, your an idiot. I gave you credit for more before because I figured you might be high. Don't think your doing anybody a favor by spewing this kind of trash, it's just pollution, and anybody that knows better won't appreciate it.

Far as your contention about me being crazy, that's what they said about Galileo. Hopefully, unlike Galileo, I'll still be alive when the rest of the world catches on. I don't think you'll have to wait very long to have this statement "least im not the one running around saying i can spend 2.5k and run 9 second 1/4 miles LMAO!!!!"
prove your wrong again. I think your probably used to that though., Keep laughing fool. I'm expecting to get it done this summer, most major parts are bought now.

Bye the way, here's a video of the car I believe my new blower came off of.
It also kinda proves what I'm doing can be done, just for more money. That would be the blower your mouth breathing buddy Hoov sez makes 40psi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gteGRw93D6A
Disclaimer: I don't know for sure my blower came off this car, the guy I got from said he bought a crate engine from JDM engineering and it came with my blower, and he upgraded the blower before installing the engine. He also is the one that came up with this link. The car looks like it would be the one involved because it has upgraded blower, and most likely internals too. He claims the car can pull 1.3 to 1.8g's depending on tires.

I feign intelligence? lol, OOOOK buddy, you are the one that doesn't even grasp the English language. I'd LOVE for you to point out where I said BAD WIRES would wear the cap down. You just don't have something called reading comprehension. And yet again here you are in this thread posting garbage instead of offering any sort of intelligent input to help this guy out.

Also for 2.5k you can barely buy a motor and trans in the form of any popular V8 let alone have the money left over for the proper internals. Hell a supercharger itself, one that is GOOD and not a hunk of shit or beaten to near its death is worth close to 1k in its own. Make sure to post receipts buddy as well as dyno slips and drag times when it is done otherwise you are all talk.

And i cannot believe you would even fathom comparing yourself or making even THAT analogy between yourself and Galileo.

There are many people on here that will backup and support me by saying I have a good level of competency and intelligence with Z cars as well as experience. Some i have even met in person. So keep laughing. But do EVERYONE a favor and just shut your mouth unless it is to actually offer something of help as far as this thread goes, because i am sure the OP doesn't appreciate you or what you are doing with his thread.

lol look what you did, casperzxt...

bojo....les talk more ANYTHING...like post a picture or a timeslip or a picture or even a receipt!! or pictures.

eric - http://tunedintomusic.files.wordpres...nna-summer.jpg

its funny that you did compare yourself to Galileo... nickname mods??:s-chainsaw::s-chainsaw::s-chainsaw::s-chainsaw: