[Zblues]

Well I finally got the ZX to replace my 81 rustbucket, but I have a problem. The car will start up and idle great. Hit the gas and it does rev up, but under protest, and when you get on the road, it's just not fun. The car bucks like crazy, almost like your kid sister flicking on and off the lightswitch, power is there and then not, the more you push on the gas the more outragious the problem. The previous owner thought it was the cat converter, so I removed it and checked, the problem is still there, although after looking at the converter, I'll change it anyway. Looked around for vacuum leaks,and didn't find much. I did check the wastegate, and found the lever frozen. Is this my problem? Is it possible to load it up with rust-eze to free it up? I also thought the fuel pump might be the culprit, but I just don't know. I've made my 81 N/A run like a top, but this turbo stuff is a whole new ball game. If anyone can shed some light on this for me, I sure would appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

 

[1982jetblack280z]

Hey there, welcome to the 82 Turbo world, trust me, its fun once everything gets workin


I had the same problem when i first bought mine. need some more info but heres what i can give you.

Cat's not the problem, dont bother with it, those things RARELY clog up.

Check your fuel filter ( passenger side by the shock well incase you dont have the manual or anything like that ) take it out, empty the gas into a glass bottle ( i used a miller light ) and then hook some tubing up to it and blow through, make sure its nice and clear, no restriction to the flow. If everything goes right there, put it back on. ( before you start the car for everytime and especially for this time,. turn the key to the on position but dont start the car, wait till you hear that "hummm" stop, its the fuel pump filling up the system )

If that doesn't solve our problem, get a new filter anyway ( their only like $15 and a good just incase buy )

Next thing to check is your Ignition Coil, another one of those, change it if you suspect it, another $20 repair that can solve alot of problems.

Now what i found to be the final problem on mine, was that the distributor was replaced, it was off, it was fireing retarded on the rotor, so take the beast into a shop ( all computers on the 82, nothing you can personally do to fix it that i know of ) and have em check the fuel/air ratio, timing and such.

now there are also a few things else, old gas, water in the tank, fuel pump, a few things. So drop some octane booster in it, F-injector cleaner, and put some 93 octane in it ( the owners manual recomend at LEAST 91, so that could be a problem )


Try this stuff and if you have ANY questions write me an e-mail and i'll see what i can do for yah

Matt ( P.S. thanks for everyone who gave me this advice, cause now i can give it out )

 

[zakaron 79zxt]

The above is all good suggestions, but when I had a similar problem, and took me a month to figure out, it was the fuel pump module thingy located by the control unit. You know, that extra little box hangin' by the control unit... I pulled mine off and it help greatly. You don't need it on either, so don't worry about it when you pull it off.
-zakaron

 

[103kzx]

It almost sound like a knock sensor, when those things find your engine knocking/pinging dues to lower grade gas it will shut down the engine to prevent damge and start it up again. Or so i heard, someone stop me if this is wrong.

 

[TonyV]

My zxt did something similar,try cleaning your afm conector .Its easist to pull the afm off and take it to a table,you need somthing like a real small file or somthing to get in there.

 

[zakaron 79zxt]

103kzx -> Actually the knock sensor will just retard the timing to a safer level until the knock goes away... however it can only retard so much so the knock or ping will still detroy the engine if let go for too long. It doesn't shut down the engine, just helps it run safer
-zakaron

 

[chastryan]

Snug up every wire connection going to each ECCS component, then check you TPS. This switch is connected to the side of your throttle body and it tells the ECU whether or not you are idling or stepping on the throttle to get going. The switch is set to give a signal to the ECU at about 750 rpms.

I had this problem and snugging the wires to the TPS helped until I realized that they were hanging on by a thread. I fixed the connector and everything was fine. Also, pull the AFM connector and look to see if the pins are corroded. If they are, clean them and the connector with CRC electrical connector cleaning fluid.. This is a good idea for all of your ECCS components.

Chas