Hello I'm new to the 280zx. I had a 95 240sx that got totaled last summer. I'm going to buy a 82 280zx next week and it has a seized engine in it.

Do you think that I should rebuild the L28 or should I swap in the ka24de, 5 speed trans and vlsd from my totaled 240sx that I have.

Here's some pic of the car.

 

Welcome to ZDriver!

Rebuild the L28 or swap in an L28ET! KA / SR motors are best balanced in the S30's, not S130's.

 

second that ^^^^ plus the KA doesn't make the TQ i feel to lug around the heavier S130. and if you can swap in the LSD from your SX on the side more power to yah! and welcome. looks to be a good condition car. what part of the country are ya from?

 

I'm in Arkansas. yeah I really want to swap the vlsd in as soon as I can.

 

Agreed. Depending on what's ACTUALLY wrong, it will most likely be easier and less expensive to simply rebuild the L28.

I'm always skeptical when people say the motor is "seized". I've seen a bunch of cars for sale dirt cheap with "seized" motors that simply needed some basic maintenance to bring back to life.

How long has the car been sitting?

 

last week the car drove through a street that was flooded by his wife and the engine got water in it and seized the engine. He had the car towed to a mech. and he said that the engine was seized in the car.

When I went to look at the car it had water in the air box still. So the engine is really seized in this one.

When I go and get the car next weekend and start working on the car I'll take pic of what is wrong.

 

Welcome to ZDriver

i hope the car didn't set in the wet for too long, i have seen some flood damaged cars, not pretty...

 

That does not mean the engine is seized. It could simply still have water in the cylinders. Water is incompressible and will not allow you to turn over the engine. It will give the impression that it is seized. (You could have a broken rod but let's try it like you don't)

I "sank" a GMC Jimmy once, water in the engine, etc. Try this:

Drain the oil and change it. It most likely has a lot of water in it. You can skip this step if you want at the moment but do this before you start it!

Take the spark plugs out and turn it over. Water should be coming out and it should be turning over. (You'll need a battery you know works - basic but I don't want you to blame something it's not)

Check fuses too!

If water did come out (keep doing it till no more comes out) and it does turn over successfully, put spark plugs in and hook 'em up.

Try starting it!

 

Or if the motor is locked up, Pull the plugs and flood the cycs with liquid wrench. Let it set for a few days and they try to turn it with a wrench on the crank pulley.

And welcome, Good luck with that motor. Great looking car.

 

I have always used tranny fluid in cylinders, and always use the starter to turn the motor. They have more than enough torque to break (your arm or) a motor loose. Its hard to break a "frozen" motor loose by hand even if you use a pipe for added leverage.

 

Welcome to Zdriver!!! Good luck with the hydro lock situation, I hope you don't have a bent rod. Keep us posted.

 

hydro lock usually finishes motors. bends rods, eats pistons, warps heads and can F the way your valves seat. you can try to free it, it is possible its just hydro locked and ok. but not likely if it was running until it stopped itself. drain the oil asap, water in the oil will F your bearings. put some cheap *** oil in and try from there as the other said, if nothing, your going for a FULL rebuild. replace rods, pistons, lots of head work, new valve seals, new rod bearings, possible bore needed on the cylinders. etc. luckily these motors have pretty affordable pieces.

 

not to mention jumping a few teeth on the timing.
my shop used to get a lot of hydrolocked ricers who didn't listen when we told them "don't drive your cold air intake through a puddle"

some of the lucky kids you could just take the spark plugs out and crank the motor. made a mess but was fun to watch

 

"now look down in that spark plug hole while I crank and tell me if you see anything... "

 

I would be surprised if he bent a rod unless he was turning 6000 rpm when his wife hit the water.

Make sure the air filter housing, throttle body and AFM are all clear of water.

As was mentioned, change the oil and filter, pull the spark plugs and crank the motor over and watch for the water to come spewing out.

Once it's clear, use an eye dropper or dental syringe to put a little motor oil in each cylinder to get some oil on the ring lands.

Put the spark plugs back in and see if it'll fire up!

My biggest concern is that he's fried the Air Flow Meter. That's the most likely water based electrical failure point on the intake tract. Still cheaper to replace than a full engine rebuild.

 

My buddy ran his built Z31 through two inches of water, car died. They pulled the plugs cranked it and drove it home, it was knocking by the time they pulled in the driveway. Bent the #3 rod on the left bank. F'n LAME. they had to do a complete rebuild on a high 11 second car with 3k miles on a new motor. Needles to say, he has moved the intake since this last incident. To my knowledge he wasnt running 6K rpm when they hit the puddle but it dosnt take much when everything is hot. Long story short, water will mess a motor up!

 

samething happend to my 79zx, my ex-wife ran it through a flooded street
& locked the motor up..... like said above pull the plugs, pump the water out
clean it out all the way down to a new air filter & change the oil with some cheep oil.. drive it long enough to circulate the oil real good.

than dump the oil again, it should still be a little milkey, I think I had to change it 3 times before the oil looked normal... wow!! that was over 20 yrs
ago.. I drove that car @ least 100,000 mi after that......

 

I'll try what you guys have said. I'm expecting the worse though.

 

What part of AR are you from?

 

I'm in Hot Springs. Are you in arkansas?

 

Yeap, I live just south of Little Rock.

 

if nothing else, that dash looks PERFECT in that picture - no cracks at ALL???

keep us posted on the engine and what you do - good luck!

 

Yeah the car has a new dack and new carpet plus wheel bearings,clutch and rack.