Last night while driving my 280Z 1976 with fuel injection, the car started sputtering and then stalled!!?? Normally the engine runs flawlessly. I glanced at the fuel gauge and it was near empty... OOPS! I tried to restart it for a while unsuccessfully. Luckily I was close to home. I called my wife and she brought me a can of gas. I dumped in about 3 gallons and tried to restart it. It still would not start so I am not sure if it was out of gas or not. I towed the car home with a rope tied to my wife's Suburban. While she was pulling me, I turned the key on and put the car in gear. It eventually did restart and I was able to drive the 1/2 mile or so home. But now it is running REALLY rough. Any ideas??? HELP!! Thanks, Joe 203-434-2661

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Always wanted one, now I have one!!!!

Try pulling the spark plugs and make sure they are not wet/glazed. I had a '76 and if I flooded it out it would foul the plugs. I used to keep an extra set in the car.

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Bryan Little
Datsunzgarage.com

1970 240Z - enhanced F54 L28 w/P90, Weber DCOEs, 4:11 R200, Nissan T5 5-speed

Does this sound like air in one or more injectors?? I always try to avoid running a Fuelie out of gas, just for this reason.


AND, since this is a '76 280 and you ran the injectors dry, you probably bent all your Scram Rods, scorched the High Speed Muffler Bearings and completely vented the regurgitation valves. THEN, you towed it with a CHEVY! The engine is worthless now, and will cost millions to rebuild. Too bad.

I think you should donate the car to the Club right away.
RIGHT, Paul???

Frank

It is so wierd because the car always ran so perfectly! I will pull a couple of plugs but they are really new. If that is it i will be so happy. Should I just buy a whole new set? I am not convinced now that I was out of gas. It was near E though, I dont know how accurate the gauge is. . Do you think the fuel injectors are messed up? They are also very new. I was thinking maybe the fuel filter?? Or maybe the fuel pump went or is going bad. It is running really crappy. I can barely keep it running. Thanks for the help. Joe

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Always wanted one, now I have one!!!!

Well, seriously, there are a number of things I can think of which might be affecting the engine now ~ all of them temporary.

First, it is common to have one or two injectors actually run dry when the tank is extremely low. The air in them eventually blows thru and the car runs well again.

Second, if there is any sediment in your tank, it would surely reach your injectors when the fuel level is very low. This could include any water (from condensation) or actual grit which might have sat in the bottom of the tank since the last time it was drained. Water will eventually be replaced by good fuel and it will run OK again. Grit will be evident in your clear filter bowl. If there's enough of it, you might actually be experiencing low fuel flow due to a clogged filter.

Third, the sparkies are a real bet, since they might have been trying to fire on a really lean mixture when you ran out of fuel. The gas gauge is not surgically accurate ~ it's a general indicator, like the rest of the Z gauges are. You might have actually run the tank dry, so pull those plugs and look for the signs Bryan recommended.

Fourth, there is a REMOTE chance that your fuel pump might have suffered some damage when no fuel was running thru it, but you were cranking the engine. NOT LIKELY, but if the diaphragm ripped you would have a reduced fuel flow and the car would sputter. I have never done a fuel-flow test on a Z car, so others will have to describe it. I doubt this happened in such a brief time, so check the other ideas first. If you eliminate each of those as being 'good', then you might consider the pump.

It's really hard to accurately diagnose any problem by 'remote control', but these are good areas to start your search with ~ they all have to be eliminated as being 'good' before moving on to anything more serious, anyway.

The FINAL thought would be that your wife rescued you with really low-octane gasoline. My Z refuses to run well and diesels after shut off unless I use hi octane fuel.

Frank

Thank you guys for all of the responses. I will be tinkering with it tonight. I will let you know what happens. Joe

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Always wanted one, now I have one!!!!

Does anyone have a good recommendation for spark plugs to use??
1976 280Z completely stock with factory fuel injection.

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Always wanted one, now I have one!!!!

ONLY use NGKs or Bosch *(poor second choice) in your Z car. NEVER use Champions ~ they will fail you as soon as the first raincloud appears on any horizon. This is the voice of experience speaking! You can trust me on this! The only time I would use Champion plugs in my car again would be to drive the car to a parts store to buy real sparkplugs (which is spelled "N-G-K").

I have known some owners who got good work out of Nippon Densu plugs, but have never tried them.

I took Autolites out of the Club partscar when it arrived ~ they looked like barnacles.

i'm not sure but that car might have a filter in the fuel pump , or atleast a strainer. if you ran the car too low on fuel you could have picked up all the old junk from years past. it only takes a little grit to screw up those injectors.as for plugs, i would look the old ones over before spending your money. clean them and regap as needed.go down to the parts store and buy some injector cleaner, there is alot of good stuff out there to try. mike

Some food for thought from my college days getting stranded with my '76 280. Once in central Louisiana(!)

- If I remember the fuel pressure is something like 35psi. If the car runs at all you're getting fuel to the injectors. I suspect it's electrical.

- Check the fusible links on the passenger firewall. Make sure they are secure. See here: http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/fusiblelinks/index.html

- I mention the plugs because if they get fouled they misfire, even if new. Worth checking.

- Pull the distributor cap and check to make sure the rotor is secure, wires not loose. Make sure the distributor isn't loose and rotating.

- Look near in the center of the motor in front of the valve cover hose. There is a bundle of wires running front to rear. Those go to the brain from the temperature sensor on the thermostat housing. If the wire connections are loose or the sensor bad the brain will dump fuel into the cold start valve. This is what kept stalling me in Louisiana.

This guy has his wire pulled out:

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Bryan Little
Datsunzgarage.com

1970 240Z - enhanced F54 L28 w/P90, Weber DCOEs, 4:11 R200, Nissan T5 5-speed

I write this morning with my heart filled with grattitude. If it is one thing that I cannot stand it is to own something that is not in perfect working order. Usually at the first sign of any issues with any of my cars, motorcycles, boats, toys etc. I promptly get them fixed. This Datsun (if any of you have seen it) is as near perfect as you can get. It starts and runs perfectly every time. I was beside myself all day yesterday because my Z was not running properly. I took the advise of my fellow CTZCC members and bought a new set of NGK BPRE6-11 plugs. I got home and before i went inside i pulled out the old plugs and put in the new ones. I got in the drivers seat, said a short prayer and guess what??? The car started and ran PERFECTLY!!!!! I cant thank all of you guys enough for your help and suggestions. I am a pretty mechanical guy and do most of my own repairs, but the last thing I would have tried was the plugs. I would have guessed a bad fuel filter. It is all of your experience that sent me down the right path. Once again, thank you all soooo MUCH!!! I am smiling on the inside and out. You guys are a super group and I am proud to be associated with you all. Joe Plescia
P.S. Frank, I checked the high speed muffler bearings (just in case) but they are just fine. Thanks for the suggestion.

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Always wanted one, now I have one!!!!

I love this Club.

Try disconnecting your fuel line as close to the engine as possible... put the fuel line in a can to catch the fuel then crank the engine over a few times.. if its electric pump then just turn the ignition on... the fuel SHOULD gush out. If it doesnt then you can probably blame the pump or something with the tank.

Try to eliminate possible problems like this...
once you've isolated the area eg. Fuel/ electric u can go from there...
it might sound dumb, but check fuses just to eliminate that as a problem..
if its electrical check your resistance at the dizzy...