Bigworm

i have checked the wiring and it all seems ok to me its was completely out of the way when we put the engine in and then all reconnected to the new engine the same way it came off the old engine so i cant see why it is doing this, its cranks fine and you can hear the fuel pump going and feel fuel going through the line, it sounds like it wants to start and you can actually hear it start catching fuel and turning over but it seems like the electrics are fighting it somehow. thanks guys

hi guys it looks like the starter is wired correctly but ill double check tomorrow to make sure, im thinking it has to be something simple but it is a strange thing as we didnt even take the starter out of the engine bay to do the engine swap we just moved it out of the way all still connected up! Im trying do find the problem myself as i dont have the money for an auto-electrician due to all the money i spent on the swap lol im now broke:( thanks for the info

Hi guys just wondering if anybody knows where i have gone wrong with my 280zx? I have just done an engine swap with another L28, but now i have got everything in and all hooked up it wont start. It does kick over, seems like its getting fuel, but there must be a problem with the voltage in the car because the engine and body all the parts that are supposed to be earth give a positive charge instead of negative (with battery in the car and pos terminal on the battery, touching neg terminal on to the battery gives a big spark and putting the test light from the block to the neg battery terminal creates a circuit!?) Does anybody know what could be happening? Any help would be very appreciated! Jesse

hi tony, did you do the upgrade yourself? if so was there much work in it or did ya have to do any custom work to get it done? What parts will i need for the standard setup? (apart from the turbo), im just trying to see how much money i need to get this done any info you can give me on the subject is much appreciated!!

well if it will work that will do fine and then if i want to up the boost i can upgrade the compnents as money permits, i think i have a small intercooler laying around somewhere.....might put that on for a test run, its gotta be better than nothing

thats what i said but because it is losing compression in cylnders 1.4,and 5. it seems a bit irregular to be a gasket but i guess only time will tell.... and also on the turbo if i run that little boost do i need an intercooler or can it run without one??? sorry for all the questions its just the first time im attempting to do this so i dont quite know all the details cheers

i thought about the head gasket but someone told me it would more likely be the rings since there is no coolant in the oil but i wanna have a look at all the valves and the head when i do the job. can the sump be taken off from the bottom while the engine is still in the car? and is there any other external mods needed for this conversion?? i dont want much hp just a bit more go around town as it is a daily driver thanks

i dont think it blows any smoke but its worth a try anyway thanks:) i think ill go the rebuild with new rings and do all that first and see if it runs nice i might even think about bolting on a turbo just gotta find some parts in qld (turbo manifold, dump pipe, ecu etc...) and wheigh up how muh it will cost extra to do so. i have a stock turbo off an RB20det at home that i have been waiting to bolt on to something by the way do you know if i have to take the engine out of the car to hook up all the turbo stuff or if it can be done in the car? thanks

thanks gareth thats probably woth a look. if i end up ripping apart the engine i wanna put a vrs kit through it aswell and just clean up the head a bit while im at it, also does anybody know of any cheap peformance upgrades while its apart that i can put in to give it a bit more go??? keeping it N/A (for the meantime anyway) as i dont have the money or knowledge for a turbo setup yet? thanks again guys

yeah thats what i thought about the conversions.... as for my engine i had a poke around today and its got good spark and the fuel seems fine but i pulled the plugs out and tested the compression and it was fairly low in 3 cyl so im thinking it might need rings but even before it stuffed up i was having a similar problem and i think its electrical, when the car is at running temp i can turn it off and leave it for 10 minutes and try to start it and it coughs and splutters really bad untill it cools down enough to start again. just dont know which aspect i should try to fix first i would hate to do all this engine work just to still have the same problem with the electrics and vice versa...... thanks for the info

haha na its a nickname my friends gave me because i got a big american car like the character bigworm in the movie friday...

hi zedman!! since im new to this whole website forum thing im haing a bit of trouble finding the info i need (due to the sheer amount of info on here) so i guess ill just ask ya direct... I find myself at a tough decicion because i have done some damage to my engine the other night on the way home from work and now my car wont start at all so im looking at a few options: - spending some time to take it apart and analyze the problem and if its not too major reco'ing it to get it running nice again. - maybe swapping the engine for an rb30 i have at home but i dont know whats involved with doing so - or maybe finding on old v8 to put in it instead as these are simple engines and i have been having a few electrical problems with my L28 I have about $1k to try to get it sorted but just dont know what to do!! any help would be much appreciated!!!

Hi fellow z lovers, my name is jesse and i have a 1979 280zx I love my 280zx, but i have run into a few probs with it lately and thought i would check out this site for some expert opinions see ya guys around!