[john]

Well, I'm back again and on the verge of losing what little mind I have left.
My 83 280 z non turbo will still not start. I've replaced the distributer cap and rotor. I get good spark at the coil. I get spark at the plugs. I've got gas at the injectors. I get a pulse at the injectors. I don't know where to go from here. The plugs, after cranking, appear wet with gas. The only thing I've done to this car before it decided to quit on me, is replace the oil sending unit and the slave cinlider (sp ?) on the clutch. The starter rotates the engin and on occasion one cylender (sp ?) will fire. Timing has not been changed. I found, of all things, a tiny ball bearing in the ditributor wedged between the distributer plate and the distributor housing. That has been the only thing out of the ordinary. Please, can someone help me before I light a match and drop it on top of the engin.

 

[Chris]

> Well, I'm back again and on the verge of
> losing what little mind I have left.
> My 83 280 z non turbo will still not start.
> I've replaced the distributer cap and rotor.
> I get good spark at the coil. I get spark at
> the plugs. I've got gas at the injectors. I
> get a pulse at the injectors. I don't know
> where to go from here. The plugs, after
> cranking, appear wet with gas. The only
> thing I've done to this car before it
> decided to quit on me, is replace the oil
> sending unit and the slave cinlider (sp ?)
> on the clutch. The starter rotates the engin
> and on occasion one cylender (sp ?) will
> fire. Timing has not been changed. I found,
> of all things, a tiny ball bearing in the
> ditributor wedged between the distributer
> plate and the distributor housing. That has
> been the only thing out of the ordinary.
> Please, can someone help me before I light a
> match and drop it on top of the engin.

in your distributor
maby it could be the reluctor air gap or the phase is so far out, your out of time
could the ball bearing have caused the adjuster plate (in dist.) to move and change timing
did you mess with the oil pump that can screw up timing(whoa did i find out!

good luck

 

[Unknown User]

Has the distributer been out of the car at any time, I'd make sure it isn't 180 deg. out, also you might have to make sure the timeing chain is ok and it didn't jump a tooth or 3. You might also try draining out the gas and putting known good gas in it, maybe it was a bad batch you got? Did the car run before? What did you do with it before it quit? it's hard to guess from this side. Did you check the fuel pressure to the injectors? Take off the valve cover and check out the cam/timing chain, rotate the engine to make sure it's on TDC on #1 cyl and check out the distrib. to make sure it's lined up close and check out the plug wire's at the cap to make sure they are in the proper fire order also. It's a place to start. Make sure the plugs/cap/roter are new also, I've seen moister in the cap cause a car to stall. It sparked but most of the current went to ground in other ways besides the right spark plug.
> Well, I'm back again and on the verge of
> losing what little mind I have left.
> My 83 280 z non turbo will still not start.
> I've replaced the distributer cap and rotor.
> I get good spark at the coil. I get spark at
> the plugs. I've got gas at the injectors. I
> get a pulse at the injectors. I don't know
> where to go from here. The plugs, after
> cranking, appear wet with gas. The only
> thing I've done to this car before it
> decided to quit on me, is replace the oil
> sending unit and the slave cinlider (sp ?)
> on the clutch. The starter rotates the engin
> and on occasion one cylender (sp ?) will
> fire. Timing has not been changed. I found,
> of all things, a tiny ball bearing in the
> ditributor wedged between the distributer
> plate and the distributor housing. That has
> been the only thing out of the ordinary.
> Please, can someone help me before I light a
> match and drop it on top of the engin.

 

[Phantom]

John,
Had a similar problem with my '77.
1) Your plugs are gas fouled. Pull them out and thoroughly dry and clean them or replace them or you will never get it started.
2) NOW - how did they get gas fouled? In my case it was a faulty connection on my engine temperature sensor. The bad connection made it seem like the sensor was reading infinite resistance which means a dead cold engine. That cause the ECU to run a long duration pulse on the 6 injectors and essentially super choke the engine. I tested my sensor - it was fine. I cleaned up the connector where it connected to the sensor and still had the problem. Then I followed the wiring back about 12 and found a lump in the wiring that was a shrnik wrap over some aluminum bullet connectors that were extremely corroded. Cleaned them, cleaned the plugs - car runs fine.
Good luck
Phantom

> Well, I'm back again and on the verge of
> losing what little mind I have left.
> My 83 280 z non turbo will still not start.
> I've replaced the distributer cap and rotor.
> I get good spark at the coil. I get spark at
> the plugs. I've got gas at the injectors. I
> get a pulse at the injectors. I don't know
> where to go from here. The plugs, after
> cranking, appear wet with gas. The only
> thing I've done to this car before it
> decided to quit on me, is replace the oil
> sending unit and the slave cinlider (sp ?)
> on the clutch. The starter rotates the engin
> and on occasion one cylender (sp ?) will
> fire. Timing has not been changed. I found,
> of all things, a tiny ball bearing in the
> ditributor wedged between the distributer
> plate and the distributor housing. That has
> been the only thing out of the ordinary.
> Please, can someone help me before I light a
> match and drop it on top of the engin.

 

[Jerry]

> Well, I'm back again and on the verge of
> losing what little mind I have left.
> My 83 280 z non turbo will still not start.
> I've replaced the distributer cap and rotor.
> I get good spark at the coil. I get spark at
> the plugs. I've got gas at the injectors. I
> get a pulse at the injectors. I don't know
> where to go from here. The plugs, after
> cranking, appear wet with gas. The only
> thing I've done to this car before it
> decided to quit on me, is replace the oil
> sending unit and the slave cinlider (sp ?)
> on the clutch. The starter rotates the engin
> and on occasion one cylender (sp ?) will
> fire. Timing has not been changed. I found,
> of all things, a tiny ball bearing in the
> ditributor wedged between the distributer
> plate and the distributor housing. That has
> been the only thing out of the ordinary.
> Please, can someone help me before I light a
> match and drop it on top of the engin.
Replace breaker plate assembly in the distribuator - breaker plate assembly keeps rotor and reluctor in line and maintains the proper gap. Braker plate rides on three ball bearings to keep it straight and aligned.