280zx Trouble Codes

Yeah, what Palladin said. The first car I owned that had even "blinky" codes was my 1986 Chrysler Laser, with 2.5L and 5 speed stick. It had a special green triangular light in the tach dial, which was a shift indicator when the engine was running, but was used to read out the primitive engine computer codes when stopped. (I wish I had kept that car)

The light in the Nissan 280ZX ECU, as mentioned, is used to tell the mechanic or owner each time the computer interrogates the oxygen sensor and gets a reading. And that is all it does. Further troubleshooting must be done manually, using the Nissan shop manual and an ordinary analog or digital volt/ohm meter. Or, if you are lucky like me, you can use the actual ECU or CECU shop analyzer device that plugs into the computer's connectors and the wiring harness. They come available on Ebay, now and then, as dealerships continue to get rid of their oldest equipment and manuals. But even with the analyzer, you get no codes. You must use the shop manual to interpret the indications you get when using the analyzer. It is just a little quicker using the analyzer, than using a hand held multi-meter.

palladin said:

Bob, is this the analyzer mentioned in the FSM?
The ECCS analyzer page EC28 of the 82 FSM?

Click to expand...

Yes, exactly. That analyzer is used for the ECCS (turbo) cars. The non-turbo EFI cars have a different shop analyzer, on page EF/EC-82.

The biggest advantage of using it is not actually the greater efficiency versus a DMM, but the fact that you can sit upright in the seat while using it! You don't have to crouch down under the dash each time you need to do something else. Plus, using the analyzer, you are doing it while the engine is actually running, which can sometimes provide critical clues to problems, such as intermittent sensor signal losses. Plus, you can see the injector pulses from the CECU. If you get a pulse on the analyzer, but your noid light shows nothing, at least you know that the CECU is trying, but that the wiring is open somewhere (probably, very near the misfiring injector).

When the subject of the CECU Analyzer comes up, several forum members often in the past made a big deal about how unnecessary it is, and that "real men" use the hand held DMM instead! I am not sorry I bought mine, nor am I sorry I bought the analyzer for the Auto Climate system. Yes, you can do without them. But I like having all the tools I can get my hands on.