and yes they did reseat after i torqued em back down they werent loose but they did need some torquing.. all is well now.. EXCEPT.. ok this is really odd but my Z is out of commission now.. just the other day i was making a standard errand and i put 15$ worth of gas in my car that turned out to be really shitty and well it bout killed my car so i put some acetone in the intake and 2 bottles water remover in the tank and she started up and was running rough but shes running.. well out of nowhere my car just ran to **** and died and i ended up having her towed home and now she wont even start.. i cant figure out one reason why and i looked in my chiltons and narrowed out every possibilty besides engine management.. ie the ECU.. ok well my computer hasnt given me trouble before but now she just cranks over without starting and if i fiddle with ther harness shell chug but wont start.. WTF!!! this is really gay and i NEED my car in the next week or two.. any suggestions/comments etc.. im in a desperate situation and i need a vehicle pronto.. can anyone give me any rerason why my computer would start acting up and is there anything i can do or do i need a new computer/harness? this is really gay and really bad timing.. not to mention im strapped for cash seriously bad.

 

Did it die slow and rough or did it just quit?

To be more specific by slow and rough I mean: Like someone was strangling the life out of it.
And by just quit: Like someone just cut its head off and it died instantly without a fuss.

 

From your description, it sounds like it was a 'slow' death. If it changed it's behaviour when you fiddled with the harness (from bumping against the vacuum hoses), it would definitely make me think vacuum leak or bad electrical connection.

I would go through every electrical connection on the harness/ecu and clean them.

I would pull every connector, clean both contacts, re-connect it and seal it with dielectric grease.

 

Sounds like he may be describing the tragic death of another 280ZX fuel pump... After going through a couple myself, I wouldn't rule that out. Especially if it happened after 1. buying "bad gas", and 2. putting the water remover in the tank. Seems like every time you put anything in the gas tank of these cars other than gas... pump goes bye bye.

Rod.

 

well i had cleaned off the connectors on the ECU and they are clean as a whistle and the vacuum lines are good andf when i turn the key or pull out the first plug(top) on the ECU the fuel pump kicks on and i can hear it.. its just like it keeps turning over and over and if i fiddle with the harness itll chug a few times but wont crank over i think its either the ECU or the harness personally.. like a maybe a wire isnt making contact completely and when i fiddle with it itll maybe contact a lil but not enough to start her or keep her running this is really mindboggling to me..

 

Do you have a multimeter assimilated? If you do you can check things like continuity and check that the ECU is recieving or sending a signal. A DMM wont tell you if the signal is any good(need an O-Scope for that) but it will atleast tell you if theres voltage present or if the circuit is open or closed.

 

no i guess i should invest in one but the financial situation has a noose around my neck