So my name is Wyatt, and I just picked up my 1983 280zx turbo (170,000) about three days ago for $3,000 from a retired military helicopter pilot. Its been garage kept for years, and it definitely shows. literally EVERYTHING on this car works as it should, which surprised the hell out of me. my previous car was a 1984 300zx n/a and it was a huge POS. Ive been shopping around for months but finding a 280z in daily driver shape is getting kinda tough.

So now that I have this sexy, japanese beast Im looking to make her more reliable while giving her alittle pep in her step at the same time. So far Ive assembled: new shocks (guy had a pair, they look pretty sporty,) got new spark plugs (ngk v-powers,) new fuel filter (wick) and gonna give her an oil change as well. Ive been searching the forum just to gather a list of good mods to increase her daily driver fun and reliability, but some suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Let me know what you think!

NICE! Stock turbo with a 5-speed is a good car.

Buy the other two shocks, then get springs. ST springs will firm up the ride and make it handle better. I think you'll like how it feels for daily driving. Bigger sway bars will also be a good addition.

Wyatt,

Good buy, all under the hood looks 100%

Seems you picked a good one. Mileage is not an issue with a L28ET
It's just broke in.

Regards, John

WOW that thing is CLEAN!

Friggin nice find

That thing is beautiful!! Nice buy!

Nice car!! I agree that mileage doesn't mean anything on these cars. You got a good deal.

Thanks guys, thats one thing I was excited about when I got this car, I was a lurker on this site for awhile and you guys are incredibly helpful around here.

so now to the good stuff, I was sitting in the drive-in at taco bell and all of the sudden I couldnt get her in gear! Arrggggggg!! so i rolled her to a parking spot (incredibly embarrassing) and finally with some clutch pumping and slamming my shifter i got her into first and limped home. so now im thinking the most obvious culprit is the master/slave cylinder (which you should change at the same time anyways?) or a leak in the line. the clutch pedal just goes all the way to the floor with no resistance, and half-way engages when all the way pressed (loss of pressure somewhere?) but ill climb around tomorrow and see what im gonna have to replace. but some opinions would be greatly appreciated!

checked fluid level and it looks really full. But that could just mean a small leak?

between the two of these im hoping i wont have any trouble tomorrow, ill keep you updated.

You can try bleeding the master and slave cylinders. Sounds like you have air in the line.

Yea I definitely have air in the line, but something has to be causing it right?

+1

I had the same problem with my 240Z. Bleeding the cylinders corrected the problem. Not sure what caused it though.

Well yall are gonna love this, so I figured out what the issue was, couldnt see it when i looked last night, but some idiot put transmission fluid in the master cylinder. why? I couldnt possible begin to guess. so got a new master ($20) and slave cylinder ($12), gonna replace that and bleed the air out then get this baby running like new again.

On a side note, the helicopter pilot I bought the car from, found a sweet set of tokico springs he bought for the car a while back and just gave them to me!!

On another side not, I found a vacuum hose (blue) that was dry rotted and completely disconnected from the device (red). Its right next to the A.A.C. valve, and from the diagrams ive been looking at it may be the F.I.C.D. valve? which i have no clue what that does (Forced Induction Control? or Fuel Intake Control?) but the hose i believe it was attached to runs all the way to the other side of the engine bay. I replace that as well which may be the reason it hesitates between 2000 and 3500 rpms. But im not sure, this engine is very new to me. Im used to working on domestic v8's

But im loving the L28 engines, so easy to work on (for the most part)

Score on the springs! I need some of those!

I believe the FICD solenoid valve has to do with the idle of the engine when you turn on the AC compressor. It lets more air into the intake manifold. (Correct me if I am wrong.)


I had an odd hesitation in a similar rpm range. May want to check out your CHTS (Directly below spark plugs 5 & 6 on the passenger side of the engine block). To check it, let you engine warm up all the way and unplug it. If there is no change then your sensor is bad or getting no connection.

Yea I cant wait to install the springs, It sags pretty bad under acceleration, kinda fun though.

I think the hesitation might just be it needing an extensive tune up (which she will be getting too) and it also has a turbo lag, but im gonna adjust the wastegate if possible (ive never worked on a turbo before) and maybe eventually breakdown and replace the old t3 with the t3/t04 turbo ive been hearing so much about on here

The clutch feels amazing now btw

I mean how long do these turbos generally last on these cars? after 170,000 wouldnt you say its due?

I'm not an expert on the turbos of these cars, but out of general knowledge I would say it definitely can't hurt haha.

I have a T3/T4 Hybrid turbo in my Z and it's definitely nice. Spools very quickly. I have it at 10psi at the moment though. I don't want to go any higher without an intercooler.

Ahhhh thanks pimpshrimp, that was my next question. what would I have to adjust to support that t3/4 turbo. bigger injectors and the whole nine yard?

you havent dyno'ed it since you put that new turbo on have you?

I would definitely do an intercooler with the swap just for reliability issues. I plan on putting ALOT of miles on this baby. I just dont wanna shell the $400+ for a quality intercooler lol

No I actually just got my car recently. Most of the tuning was one by the previous owner. At the moment I am having title issues which is why it's still not on the road.

As far as upgrades to the car to go with a bigger turbo:

Probably want to do an upgrade to the ecu.. I have the Z31 ecu swap. You'll need a boost controller, bigger injectors, intercooler, blow off valve, alter or remove the pop off valve. Not sure but you might have to alter other parts of the fuel system too (fuel pump/fuel pressure regulator) dependent on how much boost you run.

To be honest with you though a lot of that isn't necessary. If you want to keep this car for a lot more mileage I suggest just running a minimal amount of boost. Enough to give it a kick but not enough to hurt the engine too much.

Minimal boost definitely, at the very least for mpg reasons, but then again with a boost controller you can have the best of both worlds

i bet your Z is a monster with turbo on it, too bad you cant get out on the road yet. ive never had title issues before. Is it salvage or something?

Yeah it is but that's not the problem. It's been registered and insured fine before (Also it's theft recovery not accident) but the guy I bought it from technically never owned it.. so I have to get a duplicate title or something. I have an appointment with the DMV tomorrow to find out.

Have you or anyone else found a way to address this lack of cup-holder situation ive got going on here??!!