1983 280zx will not start

[steven]

First of all Hi, Just registered with the club.

I have looked through the info on the club but cannot see anything that i have not tried yet.

I have just recently bought a 1983 280zx which i drove for approx 100 miles without fault and then parked it stopped the engine and locked the doors. Approx ten mins later i had to use the car again so unlocked doors tried to start but will not fire. The engine turns over and all red lights come on dash as normal but will not fire. The car has had new coil, new leads, new plugs all by previous owner. I have taken the wire off the + on the coil and tried earthing it on chassis when the engine turns over and sparks fine but the main lead coming out of the coil to the centre of the distributor as no life at all (will not spark).

I have put a new coil on myself but is exactly the same. I have also tried fixing a wire from the - on the coil to the - on the battery to earth it properly but still no good.

I cannot smell fuel and there is no petrol on the plugs. There is no spark to the plugs either as ive taken one of the plugs out, put the lead on and earthed the side of the plug on the engine whilst the engine is being turned over. I have taken the fuel pipe off which goes into the main fuel pipe into the injectors and has plenty of fuel coming out when the ignition is turned on so the fuel pump is working fine.

I have also checked all the fuses under the drivers side dashboard which are all fine.

The only thing i have not checked yet is ive heard there are some fuses in a black box above the drivers side wheel in the engine bay which i will check properly tommorrow as it was getting dark when i finished all the other checks earlier.

Any help much appreitiated.

Thank you.

 

[candy red]

Hi Steven and welcome
Could be ic unit,the little black box on the side of distributor also check all connections good luck keep us posted on progress there are plenty of helpful people on this forum most who no
more than me good luck .

Derrick

 

[AndyMinto]

Hi,
Try checking the fusible links are seated properly and not burnt out. There are two behind the battery and in the smaller black box on the drivers side near the windscreen. Mine sometimes died on me whilst cornering to the right. The battery was loose and was pulling the two fusible links apart behind the battery.
Hope this helps

 

[steven]

Hi
Thanks for the replies, I will check all those points and let you know how I get on.
Steven.

 

[monza]

hi steve,

check out the following fan site
http://xenons130.com/index.html

its got alot of original tech manuals for download including the electrical guides for the fuel injection

given the age of these cars, its worth checking methodically through the whole efi system so you can be confident that the car is going to be reliable on hot days, cold days, wet days.

As the other replys state, any old 280zx is going to be subject to its fair share of oxidised or bad connections here and there and tired relays that wont latch properly. Worst case you've got a broken part like the ecu or airflow meter.
The efi system is an L-jetronic variant.

You are definately going to need a multimeter and a can of electrical contact cleaner is going to be a worth while purchase.
for info - mines an '83 and aside from the obvious has the efi relay hidden by the battery in the wing.

Andy minto - you mention fuseable links near the battery - mine doesnt have these... ( only those on the drivers side inner wing ), what year is yours ?, is it rhd ?

cheers
richard.

 

[niroshann]

If you find that none of the fusible links in the little rectangular black box are gone, then provided that there is fuel entering the fuel rail on the inlet manifold (I presume that you can hear the fuel pump also). I would:

1) check the coil to distributor lead (I have had one die in the past - no continuity). I would take a spark plug out and put it near the engine then crank the engine with all the coil and spark cables connected up to make sure that the spark is reaching all the way.

2) See if your injectors are being activated. Best way is to take a long screw driver and putting it in contact with each of the injectors (near the connectors) while cranking the engine. You should hear distinct clicks on each one. Note that they all fire at the same time and not sequentially.

An after thought is that maybe you have an old immobiliser hidden somewhere in the car from a past owner.

These cars are super reliable and very hard to kill. I have worked on many in the past and only had issues when I have meddled around with them. I am sure you will have it up and running asap! Keep us posted.

 

[AndyMinto]

Richard,
Mine is an 83 MK2 RHD 2+2. The car I am breaking is a 81 MK1 and does not have them behind the battery, so I am guessing it is only the later version (but there again the query related to an 83).
Hope this helps.

 

[niroshann]

Adding to Monza's post, I've previously had to clean (gently file/sand down) the contacts inside a relay. It clicked and appeared to work, but there was no continuity.

 

[steven]

Its finally stopped raining so hope to have a look tonight.

 

[steven]

Hooray, I've found the problem. It was a dodgy lead from the coil to the distributor. I did not give this my full attention to start with as it was a brand new lead put on by a previous owner. I first checked all the points you guys mentioned. I first removed the battery and checked the 2x white links behind the battery which were quite corroded so cleaned them up. Then I checked the links in the black box above the drivers side front wheel which did not look too bad but cleaned the terminals anyway to be sure. Then cleaned all the terminals on the fuses/relays in the other black box. I then put the battery back on but still would not fire. I then had another check round the coil area and tried sparking the lead which comes from the coil to the distributor but no life at all. I then took that lead off completely and tried shorting it across the battery terminals which did not spark so automatically knew there was something wrong with the lead. I then found an old lead which my dad had. It had the wrong size fitting on the ends but got some pieces of wire and shoved in the ends just to try it. I tried starting it and hooray fired first flick of the starter. It was like someone handing me £200 to hear it run again. I love mechanical work but car electrics do my head in. Thanks for the advice guys. It did the car good cleaning all the terminals anyway as this will help stop anything from not working in these areas in the future and I know my way around the engine bay of the 280zx better now.

 

[steven]

Off to buy a new coil lead in the morning.

 

[candy red]

well done glad you've sorted it I had an intermitant electrical fault took me about 6 weeks to sort out after swapping part and testing with ohm meter so frustrating when you think you may have sorted it only for it to happen again I know your relief, enjoy the sunny weather in your 280zx

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Good news.

Just a word of caution - it's not a good idea to test a wire by placing it across the battery!

I've seen a spanner that has dropped across a battery -

 

[niroshann]

Great to hear!

I had an intermittent electrical fault that I couldn't fix for a couple of years - cost me a lot in tow truck callouts, new battery and parts like starter motors. After converting to a manual, the problem was gone!! It turned out to be a dodgy switch in the auto gear selector - I even tried to start in neutral by moving shifter etc in the past. This was the worst I have ever had with a ZX.

 

[steven]

Good news.

Just a word of caution - it's not a good idea to test a wire by placing it across the battery!

I've seen a spanner that has dropped across a battery -

I know its not the best of ways to test it but was just there lol.

 

[steven]

Great to hear!

I had an intermittent electrical fault that I couldn't fix for a couple of years - cost me a lot in tow truck callouts, new battery and parts like starter motors. After converting to a manual, the problem was gone!! It turned out to be a dodgy switch in the auto gear selector - I even tried to start in neutral by moving shifter etc in the past. This was the worst I have ever had with a ZX.

Sounds like a nightmare. I hate electrics.