Quick one: Installing Cardone reman Dizzy question?

[Graeme - CZ]

Hi all,

I'm replacing my Dizzy. Have a 280z remanufactured one from cardone.

It has two wires. Red and green. They of course don't match any on my car (240z). So just wanting to double check. I'm kind of assuming the red is the positive power and the green one would connect to my present black wire.

Any tips appreciated before i do this?

Regards, Graeme

 

[Bazzateer]

Can't you ask the supplier?

 

[Graeme - CZ]

Can't you ask the supplier?

I've written to Cardone and asked the question, though I hold little hope in them provide concrete wiring details. What we tried didn't work, so rather than do a bit of a trial and error, keen to establish how it should be correctly wired.

Wondering if anyone on the forum has done one of these upgrades?

Regards, Graeme

 

[Bazzateer]

Strange it didn't come supplied with wiring instructions. Hopefully what you tried and didn't work hasn't fried the internals. I'd wait to hear from them or call them before trying anything else.

 

[Graeme - CZ]

Strange it didn't come supplied with wiring instructions. Hopefully what you tried and didn't work hasn't fried the internals. I'd wait to hear from them or call them before trying anything else.

yes, fingers crossed with that. Thankfully wasn’t too expensive.

 

[jonbills]

Cardone aren't going to tell you how to fit their parts to cars they didn't supply the parts for.
I'd search for a wiring diagram on US forums.
have you still got a ballast resistor?
I'd move all the wires on the ballast resistor to the same terminal and connect the red there too. And then the green to the - ve terminal of the coil.

 

[Graeme - CZ]

Cardone aren't going to tell you how to fit their parts to cars they didn't supply the parts for.
I'd search for a wiring diagram on US forums.
have you still got a ballast resistor?
I'd move all the wires on the ballast resistor to the same terminal and connect the red there too. And then the green to the - ve terminal of the coil.
I'd think the red should go to

Hi Jon - the ballast resistor was removed when i replaced the coil. The test we tried was red on positive terminal on the coil and green on the other side. That of course didn’t work, so decided to stop there and do so some further research.

Given the ballast is already gone, I’m curious what you’d maybe think?

Cheers, Graeme

 

[jonbills]

is it a 280z distributor or 280zx?
if 280z, do you have separate ignition module too?
https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/60473-260z-or-280z-distributor-into-240z/

 

[Fairlineguy]

If it’s like the one I have on mine .
It will have a black igniter on the side of the distributor with x2 wires
One marked B the other C
B goes to + on coil. (Battery)
C goes to - on coil. (Contact breaker)

 

[Graeme - CZ]

is it a 280z distributor or 280zx?
if 280z, do you have separate ignition module too?
https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/60473-260z-or-280z-distributor-into-240z/

It’s a 280z distributor, as I have a L28 in 240z.

Hmm, not sure, I’d have to ask Stuart who was helping me (he knows an awful lot more than me).

 

[Graeme - CZ]

If it’s like the one I have on mine .
It will have a black igniter on the side of the distributor with x2 wires
One marked B the other C
B goes to + on coil. (Battery)
C goes to - on coil. (Contact breaker)

Being a remanufactured dizzy, you can tell it’s been optimised. We kind of did what you mention, with the Red and Green wires. Red to + and green to - on the coil. No spark.

 

[jonbills]

the wires from a 280z distributor go to the remote ignition module, and then wires from it got to +ve and coil - ve, as that classiczcars.com thread explains.

 

[Fairlineguy]

Being a remanufactured dizzy, you can tell it’s been optimised. We kind of did what you mention, with the Red and Green wires. Red to + and green to - on the coil. No spark.

I’m guessing that you might have the remote module type dist tha Jon mentioned
Here’s a photo of the distributor I have and the wiring I referred

 

[Graeme - CZ]

Thanks all, that’s really helpful.

 

[Graeme - CZ]

So it would appear I had a (faulty) 280zx Distributor on my 280z engine which is inside my 240z. I bought a remanufactured Distributor from RockAuto for a 280z (not knowing what I had) Somewhat stumped by the wiring now.

I think we’ve ascertained that I need to retain the module from the old one, assuming it can just be detached and placed somewhere else on the car. Assuming I can do that (does anyone know), then the question is then how do I do the wiring. All i had coming off the new one was Red wire and a green wire. Any ideas?

@stuart barrie

 

[jonbills]

if you look in the 280zx distributor, there are red and green wires that connect to the e12-80 module. so I suspect you can take the red and green wires of your 280z distributor and connect them to you e12-80 module, and then connect the C & B terminals on the e12-80 to the coil as @Fairlineguy described above.
(that assumes that the e12-80 module isn't what was broken on your 280zx distributor, which is a long shot, because it often is the bit that breaks)

 

[Mark N]

As discussed above, the 280Z distributor requires a separate ignition module that is found in the passenger footwell.

Early

Late


The later 280ZX distributor has this ignition module mounted integrally as the 'matchbox' module (E12-80 on @Fairlineguy's photo).

The two wires on the 280Z distributor run to either side of the pick-up coil.

 

[Graeme - CZ]

Is the consensus that I could potentially connect to the e12-80 module which is currently attached to the old ZX dizzy? Maybe just attach it to the wing, adjacent to the coil.

If so, then the question becomes just how to wire that correctly.

 

[Fairlineguy]

Just to double check If you have the module I’ve attached in the photo .
(It’s the same as the one I’m running.)
When I wired mine I Simply took a wire from the B terminal and connect it to the + poss side of the coil and connect the C terminal to the - neg side of the coil. (This module is all self contained)

 

[Fairlineguy]

Just to double check If you have the module I’ve attached in the photo .
(It’s the same as the one I’m running.)
When I wired mine I Simply took a wire from the B terminal and connect it to the + poss side of the coil and connect the C terminal to the - neg side of the coil. (This module is all self contained)

Oh forgot to say you don’t need to run a ballest resistor and coil
A standard 12v non ballest coil is all that’s needed