No Power

[iandecjak]

I have recently purchased a 280zx 1979 and ma really impressed with the car overall. Went to start it yesterday and initially the warning lights came on and then when turning the key nothing.
Afterwhich there was no power at all to any interior lights or the one mounted in the engine bay which seems odd.
Checked the battery with a meter and all seemed ok and not knowing much about the fuses etc I sat down with the trusted haynes manual but without much idea.
So today I stuck my battery charger on and it confirmed a good charge and then the interior lights came on.
So turned the key and nothing all lights went off.
Connected up charger and again lights came on and this time engine started fine.
Checked everything out and no issues even stopped and started a few times with no problem.
Does anyone have any ideas before I begin to pull stuff apart?

Sorry for long thread - its my first and I am quite pround of it

 

[rallymanDP]

Check the obvous things first - Battery Terminals tight ?
Earth Leads connected to Engine & Chassis ?

 

[datsfun]

Check the obvous things first - Battery Terminals tight ?
Earth Leads connected to Engine & Chassis ?

What Duncan ^^^^ said...had a similar problem many moons ago and I went through the wiring and retightened and replaced terminals etc

 

[iandecjak]

Thanks I will start looking over the weekend and see if there is anything obvious, I was hopign someone would tell me its a common problem with a simple widget tightening fix but life isnt always that easy.........if I find out anything unusual I will post back.

Cheers

 

[Nigel Brook]

From memory the two battery earths on the 280zx are connected to the bulkhead and starter. Most likely one or both of these.

 

[iandecjak]

Not sure what the problem is, went to investigate and everything is now working fine until at least today.
Just took the car to Bristol Classic Car show, was the only Datsun Z there and only one of two Jap cars - got a few odd looks but everyone was impressed with sound coming from exhaust at least......problem now is indicators not working, well they come on and stay on, everything ok when hazards switched on, Am now wondering if all is connected.

 

[Throttleton]

It may take a while investigating to sort the electrics out.....
If you are still driving the car to places take a jump lead or thick wire so you can connect the bat to the starter in case you get stuck!!!

 

[iandecjak]

Yes thanks, good idea.........

 

[jay_portishead]

I would make sure the battery is all good, have you measured the voltage drop on the battery while starting?

 

[morbias]

It sounds like your flasher unit has died, there is a separate one for the hazards

 

[johnymd]

Sound like the battery connection or main earth connection. If it started working when you connected the battery charger, look at the connections where you attached the charger leads. With regard to the indicators, looks to be unrelated and probably flasher as has already been said.

 

[iandecjak]

Thanks for all the advice, am planning on taking car to JapFest so need to sort out a few things this bank holiday weekend to see if I can get to bottom of problem - hoping it is no more than earth and terminals need cleaning up............................

 

[iandecjak]

Having looked at the battery terminals I found the + to be loose although both clamps were tight together with no gap. I took both off, cleaned the terminals and inside of clamps and refitted as best I could. Will keep an eye on and may have to replace or pack clamps if problem comes back.

 

[AndyMinto]

Also check out the fusible links in the plastic cover on the right wing. The connections to these corrode and cause lots of 'intermittent' electrical probs.

 

[iandecjak]

Checked fusible links today, all ok - took it for a good run and all seems well - thanks for feedback........