Hi, i'm a newbie Z owner. I have only had my Z for a year and 5 of those months it was in storage for a while. My car is a 1983 280ZX Turbo. The problem with my car is that it has trouble just driving. I usually turn it on, let it warm up for 7-10min. and then drive it. Sometimes it drives fine, but sometimes it wont go over 40mph (2500rpm). I would just be driving, and it would start to lose power and start giving up. It continues going slower until it finally does not go over 20mph. If I give it more gas, the car makes popping noises. I have read some of the threads and you guys seem to know what you are doing and give very good advice. Any advice would help. Thanks.

 

Welcome to ZDriver!

Have you done the basic checks?

-Fuel pressure?
-Timing?
-AFM?
-EFI connections?
-Grounds?

 

I havent done the AFM nor the EFI connections. How would they hinder the perfomance? How difficult would it be to repair if it were one of those two. Thank you for the quick response, i'll take a look at them after work.

 

This is a usual syptom of a bad / out of adjustment AFM, but it could be something else. The AFM has a carbon track that eventually wears down. We have a thread about that: https://www.zdriver.com/forums/240z-280zxt-s30-s130-tech-tips-275/js-how-rebuild-your-afm-15277/

The connections on the efi should pretty much be self explanitory... if a sensor or ground isn't connected correctly, it will throw off the ecu readings. The AFM & CHTS connections are prone to come loose and/or become corroded... the ecu connections too.

 

The AFM and the CHTS should they need replacement are super easy to replace. Just requires disconnecting the wiring connector to them, and just unscrewing the CHTS, or undoing the few mounting bolts/air inlet/outlet tubes to the AFM.

 

Sounds just like what mine does...mine is an '82 Turbo....drives fine but sometimes just acts a fool.....bottom wire plug on my ECU is the culprit. I don't have my kick panel cover over mine so when it acts up while I am driving I can actually reach down and fiddle around with the wires until I feel the car start pulling again like it should. I don't pull the plug out while I am driving...it will shut down instead I just move the wires a bit till it fixes itself. I say give it a shot and see what happens. I noticed that my idle when the car is cold now sits at 1,100rpm until it warms up and is smooth, once it is warm it drops to 750ish, before I messed with the bottom wire plug the idle was 650rpm when cold and rough as hell.

 

^^^ Dood! Are ya going to fix those wires?

 

I am going to work on my car today and hopefully will fix more than just the wires on the ECU

 

Thanks guys, I opened up the AFM and it was like looking down a sewer drain pipe. There was a huge buildup of ummm... the only thing that i know that can describe is like a hard gunk. The EFI connections are not in good shape either. But all of this is going to have to wait till this friday when i get paid because I dont have the money to start replacing parts.

 

For the AFM I would recommend cleaning it out and adjusting it before you buy a new one.

Go through this:
http://www.geocities.com/jfairladyz/...?1144191577198