Yavin

Car starts and runs great (slight miss, but I think it is a timing issue since I just did plugs, wires etc.) and will do fine until it has run for about 10-20 minutes. Car will shut off like you turned off the key. No sputtering, no bogging down, just turns off. All lights, radio etc. continue to work so I have power to the car. When you try to crank again, it will not hit and shows 0 RPMs while cranking. Once the car cools down it starts and runs fine. Temp gauge shows straight up at the highest temperature while running and appears not to be overheating.

I am thinking it is a CHTS issue. I read that it can act as a "overheat protection" and cause the ECU to kill the fuel supply to keep from warping the head. I also read that this can be a common problem in the Z31s. I looked at the codes over the weekend and think I recall a 13, but I am not 100% sure. Will check tonight when I get home.

Does this sound like a possible CHTS issue to you?

rogerz

NO. chts can be totally disconnected and car still runs. sounds more like an ignitor problem. when transistors get hot they fail but can be okay when cold - nature of the beast. when it happens hit the ignitor with freezespay and see if problem goes away.

Yavin

Where is the ignitor located and is that the part name in the FSM? Can't find it...or are you referring to the ignition module?

Monkies

I had a problem similar to this several months ago and it was my distributor/crank angle sensor. The distributor has 2 UV LEDs inside with 2 UV led receptors and one of my leds would not work consistently. There is a metallic disc inbetween the 2 sets of LEDs that have slots cut in it (picture) which tells the ECU when to send a spark, I'm not sure what the smaller ones on the outside are for but the larger inside slots are for the spark plugs. If it was my car, id be swapping the distributor.

Good Luck!

rogerz

ignitor is the ignition module which is simply a power transistor with a fancy name. It operates to make/break the circuit to the coil which is what generates the spark

Yavin

rogerz...Thanks for the clarification. I was 99% sure that was what the part was so I got a used one last night from a wreck and swapped it out. Same issue.

After talking to a mechanic friend of mine, I am also leaning toward the distributor now. I am just trying to decide whether to go new/re-manufactured or grab a used one from Steve a 300zxpartsforyou.com.

Monkies

I got a used one. But when I was looking around, The remanufactured ones said that they didn't come with the sensor. I found that a little odd because it doesn't really seem like that part can be removed easily and put back together properly. So just keep your eyes out for that. Oh and they are also like $500....

Yavin

I found a used one at a junk yard here for $50. They gave me a 3 day warranty on it too. I hope to put it on tonight. Any tricks or tips to swapping it out?

Monkies

Just to make sure you look at the position of the rotor before you pull your old dizzy. That can be a pain trying to figure out where it's supposed to be. The swap is pretty simple.

Hope it Works!

Yavin

OK. Good deal. I am a little nervous about it for some reason. just seems to be a little tricky lining it up. I will be swapping the rotor button and cap from the existing dizzy, so I suppose I should just mark the cap on the edge and go from there. Runs fine in current position except a slight miss that could be the timing being off just a touch.

Yavin

Great call Monkies! I replaced the distributor last night and all seems to be going great. I ran her in the drive way for about 50 minutes last night and then about a 20 minute road test with no issues. Started her up this morning and drove to work. No cut off, smoother/lower idle and bit more power it seems.

Swap out was easy as well. I got lucky and the rotor was pointing at the corner of the plenum cover so I had a great point of reference to line up with. Thanks for the advice!

Monkies

No problem. Glad it worked! Took me forever to finally think about my distributor when it happened to me.