So I posted somewhere in this forum about having a non-functioning, dead weight A/C unit, and a heater that just won't blow air out the defrost... the selector knob does nothing! Well, as I knew before everything mechanical to do with the knobs were functioning as they should. What I FORGOT is that the system is partially vacuum controlled (ie a couple directional flaps, temperature control, fast idle control...). DURRRR!! So today I went looking and of course found vacuum leaks (cut lines, lol) leading to the solenoids that control both the vacuum to the valves in the unit AND the fast idle actuator... but... where's my fast idle actuator?

Here's the N42 non-EGR intake I pulled off the 280Z at chicks last month.

F.I.C.D - Fast Idle Control Device. This is what sets your throttle to a slightly higher RPM at idle with the A/C turned on. As you can see with this 280z manifold it comes in the form of a small vacuum actuator that mechanically pulls the throttle rod.
Here's my manifold:

Its a webbed EGR manifold, no surprise since its a California car, so I've never thought anything of it (besides deleting the EGR for my headers, hehe). I never even tried getting the A/C to work in 5 years until now. But where is my F.I.C.D? The answer is blatantly obvious, I just never thought of it. Like several components in this car, its not original. The previous owners did several things that they never told me about (heck, I have no documentation on this vehicle's history... at all!). This stuff used to baffle me out of my mind when all I had to go by was a Haynes manual which really doesn't even document the 280z in anything that could be considered detail. Now I'm lucky enough to have several factory service manuals at my disposal that I... acquired... when I started this project last August.
This intake manifold is from a 280zx.
My 5 speed is from a 280zx (found out when I installed a short throw shifter).
I *think* my brake master cylinder is from a 280zx, there are fluid level sensors in the caps which do not appear on any parts website I've seen except 280zx (funny, cause someone figured out how to wire them to the brake warning light)
I used to be sure that my engine was original, now not so much. I'll have to bounce the casting numbers off a non turbo 280ZX some time. All I know is that the tranny is something the PO did, as well as this in the process:

Guess they decided the flywheel/clutch needed ventilation. After all, everyone knows how mechanical parts LOVE to eat road debris, and now it won't ever overheat!!

To sum it up, PO's do some weird things to cars, especially if they're the shade tree type. I know this entire post is really full of obvious info, but maybe it'll help someone else avoid the obvious. If anyone needs to check one of the FSMs for an issue they're having, I can help with that too.

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-Chris

Oh Boy, are YOU singing to the Choir!
I love my 240 and remain eternally grateful to the previous owner, who saved it from the crusher and returned it from the dead ~ BUT!!! I do wish he had at least labeled some of the stuff he was changing on the car.
Vinny Bedini is a master mechanic, with four decdes of experience building racing Datsuns, but both he and I are puzzling over some of the stuff we're finding on my car.

All I can say is that people generally have the best intentions at heart when they change stuff on these cars, and they modify them AS NEEDED to make them continue working. But the tricks that work for them today and are stored in their brain-housing groups instead of being recorded in some garage notes, become baffling nightmares for the future owner(s) who have to figure out what the heck kind of a trick was used to make this-or-that system work back in the day.

Is there a lesson in all this?
Probably not.

SO, does your defroster work as advertiZed now?

Frank

Don't know. Ran out of vacuum line.

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-Chris

Phfrog,

You probably already know this, but there's supposed to be a metal plate that covers your Tranny's "ventilation opening". The PO probably couldn't "source" one in the right timeframe...

Phil

Yeah, it looks like he left the whole backing plate off the car!

Actually, HALF of it is there. And I did finally source one from ebay a few months ago. I'm just waiting until I swap engines to do it...

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-Chris