i've been restoring a 83zxt for the last 6 months now, and i have finally got it looking and running pretty good. yesterday i drove it for the very first time. at first i took it easy and everything seemed to be working fine so i decided to see what it could do, i turned onto an old back road doin about 10-15mph and then i
guned it but instead of accelerating the motor just made a popping sound.i came to a complete stop and then gave it about 3/4 throttle, again it just popped. i dont really know how to explain it, it is just a popping sound on the drivers side of the motor. its not as loud as a backfire though its more like a loud burp. anyway i'm only 17 im not a mechanic or a z expert so i would appreciate it if someone with more experience could help me out.

 

Detonation perhaps???

 

Detonation

its a sad ugly thing.
If it keeps on you are going to have some pistons in sad shape, if it is detonation.


what dose it do when you nail it in nutral?

 

Yeah, sounds like detonation as a result of bad/stuck timing. The turbo's are supposed to retard the timing under boost, and to me it sounds like yours isn't. Same thing happened to my brother's '82 Turbo. We ended up having to buy a new distributor, but ours was in very bad shape, hopefully yours isn't as bad.

There's a thought for ya, hope it helps.

-Dave-O

 

once it did do it in neutral but for the most part its happens going down the road.
could a bad ecu, or an ecu from the wrong car cause this? i've had a lot of ecu problems with this car and i'm still not sure if i have the right one.

p.s. the car was in pretty bad shape, the original owner abused it. its like someone else said in another thread "some people shouldn't be allowed to drive a z car"

 

Start w/ the basics before jumping way down to the ECU...

-Check the timing like Dorifto said.

-Check your air/fuel ratio w/ an a/f ratio gauge.

-If you can't get an a/f gauge, pull the spark plugs to see what color they are, & if they have deposites on them (and also to see if they all look the same).

-Check your air flow meter to make sure the flap works correctly.

-Check all sensor harnesses to make sure they are connected correctly (most importantly the cylinder head temp sensor).