SO yeah i have a 1980 280Zx and it will not go into the higher RPM's. It accelerates fine just when i try to get into the power band it just stalls and struggles to get there, sometimes it will reach 5600RPM's but 90% of the time it stalls out and feels like it hits a wall.

 

same here. mine is a 79... I gave up man, and bought an L28ET (getting dropped in next week). Pretty bad when you get smoked at a red light by a 1988 Dodge Aries, b/c you have to shift at 3k

 

Yeah it pretty much sucks....Does anyone have any ideas? what kind of things have you tried to do to fix it?

 

It may be lack of fuel. You could try the cheapest things first. New fuel filter and fuel injection hoses in the engine compartment.
Then try cleaning the contacts inside your throttle position sensor. (dry it out before reassembly) Then see how that goes.

 

ok, cool, how do you clean out the TPS? do you have a online diplay of it i can look at? pics and instructions?

 

It sounds like not enough fuel to me. I had the same problem on my Z...found out I had too much rust in the tank that my fuel pump was struggling to push through the rest of my fuel system. It'd be nice to change your fuel filter and check your fuel pump output volume and pressure, especially pressure at high RPM.
Bleach is talking about the green fuzzy stuff that builds up on your throttle position switch. Remove the connector on your throttle position switch and just take a small wire brush and some electrical contact cleaner and go to town. Just be sure not to damage the pins on the TPS while cleaning it.

 

same for me my 79 would bog down on me when would rev it up i took of the fuel filter and the gas that came out of the filter was brown i put a new filter in and it runs great

 

You can also pop the plastic cover off the side of the (black) throttle position switch. This switch is on the driver's side (left) of the throttle body in case you did not know. There are some long contacts in there. Clean them with WD-40 for something with a toothbrush. Be gentle on those.

 

Sweet!! thanks man i will have to try all of that.

 

well when I first boght my 1980 I had the same problem at 3000 rpm runing way to rich boging out i had too much preasure of fuel, put new regulator, tps, and spark plugs in didn't fix the problem but it did better. I would stedly let it run and warm up befor throtle action, and once it warmed up it wouldn't do that. my temp sensors are non active by the way so I figured that was it. still dose it here and there still havn't replaced any of my temp sensors. runs fine if I let it warm up first befor beeting on it.

 

Well i was looking at my engine and i noticed that i have two catalytic converters, looks like i have a cali model 280ZX, well any ways the cat that is closest to the engine is smashed, it does not leak or have any holes but it restricts the air flow a great deal, i am looking to replace the entire system and wanted some exhaust ideas.


Can i dual out the 280Zx? and if so any good exhaust websites with prices and sound clips you guys know about?

 

MSA has a fake dual exhaust thing in there catalog. I dont see it on the website though. Its one of the Targa exhaust systems.

I have a Dynomax muffler on my 280 right now and I love the way it sounds. Soon I will be running headers and a straight pipe though. I might end up putting the Dynomax back on if the straight pipe is too loud.

 

Hmmmm......MSA? is that motorsport?

 

Yes it is. Motorsport Auto www.zcarparts.com

 

Sounds like your air-regulator ain't working. Either it's defective or it ain't getting a signal from the thermotime switch. Check those. I'm 99% sure that's where your problem is EatmyDust.

 

It has to be thermotime, I already performed test on my air regulator, everything els checks out on the car just no thermesters in action.

 

Did you check the Thermal Vaccum Valves?