Sunbaked '76 Cali 280z

[MCBladeRun]

I tried my indicators the other day after starting my car up and it's the one thing that doesn't work on my lights. Hazards work fine except the lights flash out of sequence lol.

Good job on figuring it out though George

 

[Robotsan]

I tried my indicators the other day after starting my car up and it's the one thing that doesn't work on my lights. Hazards work fine except the lights flash out of sequence lol.

Good job on figuring it out though George

Cheers Martin, got there in the end!

If the hazards work but the indicators don't, maybe that could mean the flasher unit for the indicators is dead?

 

[Robotsan]

Decided to tackle one of the more important jobs today - changing the old fuel hoses for new ones.

Not without issue though.. I tackled the small one from the engine bay filter to the fuel rail first. All good.

But then I unplugged the one that comes from the lines, down on the chassis rail. Managed to catch the fuel from the actual hose into a container, but a minute later I noticed fuel was steadily dripping onto the floor from the chassis rail. Pretty sure I didn't damage the line as the pipe came off *fairly* easily.



I wiped around the line to dry it but it seemed to be getting wet just as fast. Didn't look like it was flowing out of the open top of the line, but maybe it was? It had stopped once I got the new hose on, but I don't know if it was the hose that has sorted it, or whether the pressure just equalised and the fuel stopped coming out.

2 questions..

1) Would there be pressure in the line from the direction of the tank, pushing fuel out?

2) I've cleaned up as much as possible, and the majority seems to have evaporated, but some went on the alternator. I won't start the car today just in case, but should it be safe to start again tomorrow, presuming the fuel doesn't start leaking from that line when I start the car?!




Looks nice and dry now:

 

[jonbills]

1) yes, if the fuel level is above the outlet level.
2) it'll be fine.

 

[Robotsan]

1) yes, if the fuel level is above the outlet level.
2) it'll be fine.

Cheers Jon, good to know. I ended up starting the car just now as I couldn't see any fuel anywhere and there was no leaking from that area, so it must have been just overflowing from the line.

 

[Robotsan]

Noticed a funny bodge in the engine bay.. I'm guessing this additional 'aftermarket' spring is there because the one at the other end of the throttle actuator (kind of below the thermostat) has lost its springiness.. as when I disconnect this alien spring, the actuator doesn't spring back on its own.. which I guess would result in the throttle staying open?

So guessing I need to get in there and replace the old rusty spring.




Here's the rusty one that is no longer springing:

 

[Robotsan]

When clearing up the fuel spill, I realised how bad the oil leak is.. looks like it is the sump gasket?



Pretty mucky around the gearbox too though?

 

[Robotsan]

You may find a 12v test light simpler for your purposes of fault finding. A multimeter doesn't put any load onto a circuit (like a test light does) and sometimes you can see voltages or activity on a circuit that can be misleading. A test light is a simpler strategy for simple car fault finding like this.

A 12v Power Probe is also a useful tool. It does the same as a test light but it also allows you to push power onto a circuit or earth onto a circuit. In your case above, you could "push" an earth onto the horn contact itself to see if the horn sounds. Amazon is your friend for a cheapy one.

@Faster Behr Got a cheapie power probe today, but not quite sure where I'm putting it to try and sound the horn.

Do you mean the horn contact on the steering column? Or on one of the actual horns themselves?

They appear to just have one contact point/terminal.. and nothing happened when I put the power probe on that..


I'm confused about the horn contact on the steering wheel.. I understand that this little copper spring gets compressed and that makes the contact.. but when this circular metal plate is properly screwed down, that spring is being compressed all of the time. So I don't understand how pushing the horn pad is going to do anything else .. unless the spring is meant to be contacting all the time, and it's the horn pad contacting the metal plate that sets the horn off?

Here I'm just holding the plate.. when it's screwed down it's a good inch nearer the hub and completely squashing that spring:

 

[yellowz]

Noticed a funny bodge in the engine bay.. I'm guessing this additional 'aftermarket' spring is there because the one at the other end of the throttle actuator (kind of below the thermostat) has lost its springiness.. as when I disconnect this alien spring, the actuator doesn't spring back on its own.. which I guess would result in the throttle staying open?

So guessing I need to get in there and replace the old rusty spring.

View attachment 56523


Here's the rusty one that is no longer springing:

How heavy is your foot on the accelerator? That looks a strong spring!

 

[Robotsan]

How heavy is your foot on the accelerator? That looks a strong spring!

Haha well it's funny you say that, I was thinking the accelerator pedal was quite firm!

 

[SacCyclone]

Always best to clean up the visual oil around the engine and transmission first, run it a bit and actually figure out where the leak is coming from.

 

[yellowz]

Wiring diagram extract for horn

 

[Robotsan]

Always best to clean up the visual oil around the engine and transmission first, run it a bit and actually figure out where the leak is coming from.

Thanks Mike, I will do that once I've got the car road worthy again.

 

[jonbills]

My recollection is that the spring makes the plate live, and when you press the horn pad, the plate earths on the wheel boss.

 

[Robotsan]

Wiring diagram extract for horn

View attachment 56539

Cheers Jim! Not really skilled at understanding wiring diagrams .. but is there 2 wires going to the actual horns themselves? Is the black one the ground?

 

[Robotsan]

My recollection is that the spring makes the plate live, and when you press the horn pad, the plate earths on the wheel boss.

Ahh ok, that makes sense cheers Jon.

 

[MCBladeRun]

Cheers Jim! Not really skilled at understanding wiring diagrams .. but is there 2 wires going to the actual horns themselves? Is the black one the ground?

IIRC the horn should be ground itself, as it attaches to the chassis, although you do have a 280z unlike me. It could be 2 wire, black is almost always the ground wire. But you do need to be careful as, you do get black with white stripe, black with yellow strip (I think).

 

[Robotsan]

IIRC the horn should be ground itself, as it attaches to the chassis, although you do have a 280z unlike me. It could be 2 wire, black is almost always the ground wire. But you do need to be careful as, you do get black with white stripe, black with yellow strip (I think).

Ah ok, that makes sense. I can only see the one wire going to it. So with the power probe, should the horn work if I send a positive (or negative?) charge directly to the horn's body with a power probe?

 

[Rob Gaskin]

If the relay is clicking then I would say the problem is nothing to do with the switches. It’s at the horn end.

Bump

 

[Robotsan]

Bump

I don't understand what you're saying Rob? I am trying to test the horn end