She was so idiosyncratic, sometimes she worked, sometimes not, so wonderful cranky but now .... and after weeks.... I shed all hopes. The clock of my 240 is broken, it was it's dying breath.



A rare part? Difficult to replace when a full face dash cover is installed? Glad about your advices, friends.

Thor

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T. Link
Germany
1971 240z (HLS30-16506)

I have spares. I will send one. There were several types and I will shoot pictures soon.

Frank

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1970 240Z

Frank, great! Would be fantastic. Thanks

Thor

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T. Link
Germany
1971 240z (HLS30-16506)

I had great luck repairing mine when I restored the car. Of course the clock needs to come out of the dash.

The clock is removed from behind and can be done without removing the dash or dash cap. Remove the glove box liner for access. A wing nut holds the clock in place, there are two power cords and one light bulb that pops out. After the clock is free and hanging down, the wires can be easily disconnected.

The original 240Z "JECO" clock was very much 1960s technology. Simple gears driven by a small electric motor. What causes them to stop running, or running accurately, is when the gears gum up over time with dust, etc. Removing the battery or cutting the power source, such as for winter storage, will actually promote clock failure. It is better to keep the gears moving at all times.

After disassembling my clock and exposing the mechanism, I thoroughly cleaned the assembly with an alcohol based spray. The spray that I used is actually designed to clean out firearm mechanisms. It is a strong stream of liquid that literally dissolves deposits and runs them off. It dries very quickly. I then drenched the mechanism in WD40, let it sit for a day or two and reassembled.

The clock has not missed a second since. And that is after NOT working for over 20 years!

There are also vendors on the internet that sell quartz conversion 240Z clocks. I think the website is ZCLOCKS.COM or something like that.

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John Taddonio
1970 240Z
1977 530Z
1984 300ZXT
zcarnut@hotmail.com
FB: Zccr zcarclubofrochester

http://zclocks.com/

I disagree about the WD40, and won't use it for firearms, either. It gums up over time on many small mechanical items. There are better sprays which either take longer to gum, or don't gum at all.

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1970 240Z

Thanks John. The clock stopped running every time I cut off the ignition (battery: not disconnected). When I started the car again the clock continued working sometimes after a while. But now it has quit it's job - finally I'm afraid.

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T. Link
Germany
1971 240z (HLS30-16506)

My 240 died as well, it went full speed in time just before it did, very odd, but I filmed it for proof, because it was odd. So I got one working on my bench by just cleaning it, brake clean, and a quick air dry, no lube, and yea WD-40 will gum up. Water Displacement, 40th formula. It's for putting a coating on metal so to protect from rust. Coating via build up of fluid. It is not a lube like people think it is, very misconceiving. Silicon lube is more appropriate. But clean no lube works, hasn't missed a beat, it's a JEDCO, the other one I have says quartz, and I am thinking that's a better made one, so I will fuss with that next.

So just remove the glovebox and thats it? I need to fix my clock as well.

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240zgoldie.blogspot.com

Yes, it's easiest to remove the glovebox insert, so you can get your hand around behind the clock.

But it's difficult to remove the cardboard glovebox insert without destroying it (for me, anyway). If you can lay down under the dash and look up, you can access the clock carefully. Nuts and washers fall into your eyes, but that's not important. Take a light under there with you, or you won't see anything.

Each of the three center instruments comes right out the back. Some year Zs had a bar across all three gauges, which must come off if your car has it.

Most dashcaps prevent removal of the Speedometer and Tachometer, since those slide out to the front. Some very good dashcaps *JUST* allow removal of them if you're very lucky. The cap doesn't interfere with removal of the 3 cluster gauges, since they come out to the rear instead of forward into the cabin.

Frank

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1970 240Z

Sounds like im going to use my wrist watch instead

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240zgoldie.blogspot.com

Interesting comments on the 240Z clocks.....

After looking at my tool bench, I realized that I did not lube the clock mechanism with WD40, instead I used a synthetic spray lube. The label says it is by Valvoline, but who knows who actually produces it.

All I know is that the clock keeps great time almost 3 years after being put back in service. The key here is that the mechanism must be cleaned of dirt, dust and deposits.

OR you can go with the quartz version at $100 +.

OR you can use your wristwatch.

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John Taddonio
1970 240Z
1977 530Z
1984 300ZXT
zcarnut@hotmail.com
FB: Zccr zcarclubofrochester

Or could use a sundial. Just mount it to the hood as a hood ornament. So I should not sell my quartz clocks for $5 anymore, and keep some for me.

My clock isn't broken. When I'm in my Z, time stops. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

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-Chris

Nice.

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John Taddonio
1970 240Z
1977 530Z
1984 300ZXT
zcarnut@hotmail.com
FB: Zccr zcarclubofrochester

Very cool.

I'd like to quote that a lot ~ maybe on our Homepage.

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1970 240Z