hello everyone.

i am 17 and i just got this car and i love it. it is a 4speed manual v6 with everything original on it and i was able to get it started a couple of weeks ago. being a newcomer the car seems to have no power! i know that these cars can go pretty fast, but every time i would accelerate, it doesnt want to go faster, im sometimes even stuck on first gear cuz its goin soo slow. im thinkin it might be a transmission problem, but it just doesnt want to move. please give me some suggestions of what might be wrong or similar dilemmas you have been having. im only a high school student workin part time pouring all my money into this baby, please help me so i dont end up in the mechanics shop with a thousand dollar bill. thank you for your time.

well first off, it's not a v6... it's an inline 6 (most likely, unless someone has swapped engines on the thing)... anyway, first thing i would try is changing all the filters and doing a basic tune up on it (plugs, fuel filter,air filter, spark plug wires if they look really old, and open up your distributor and take a look at the cap (6 contacts along the edges of it) and the rotor (thing in the middle with a blade-looking piece of metal on the outside) for rust or excessive wear.... just be careful when touching the rotor, as bumping it too hard might mess up your timing..

secondly, the 280z in its stock form isn't that fast... probably around the same 0-60 and 1/4 mile as your every day mildly modified civic.. but this can be solved easily by doing a bit of modification (mainly forced induction) however, it won't be super cheap to do, but it is one of the least expensive z car's to modify depending on what kind of shape the car's in...

depending on how long the car's been sitting you will also want to do an oil change (should do it anyway regardless) flush the coolant, and maybe even change the tranny and rear diff fluid... this requires a bit of work (moreso for the last 2) but with good solid ramps or a good jack and jackstands, almost anyone can do it... if you've got any more questions feel free to ask..

thank you for ur time responding to a newbie. i took ur advice and in the past two days if put brand new spark plugs, changed the oil, installed new distributor cap, added gas treatment and found there is no rust on the rotor or any part of the engine. unfortunately, the car is still bumpy and doesnt run smoothly. i was told it might be the fuel injection. so i got some carbuerator spray and checked for any leakage. there was no leakage. is there anything else i can do that might solve my problem? thank u for being the only one on this forum who has helped me.


well first off, it's not a v6... it's an inline 6 (most likely, unless someone has swapped engines on the thing)... anyway, first thing i would try is changing all the filters and doing a basic tune up on it (plugs, fuel filter,air filter, spark plug wires if they look really old, and open up your distributor and take a look at the cap (6 contacts along the edges of it) and the rotor (thing in the middle with a blade-looking piece of metal on the outside) for rust or excessive wear.... just be careful when touching the rotor, as bumping it too hard might mess up your timing..

secondly, the 280z in its stock form isn't that fast... probably around the same 0-60 and 1/4 mile as your every day mildly modified civic.. but this can be solved easily by doing a bit of modification (mainly forced induction) however, it won't be super cheap to do, but it is one of the least expensive z car's to modify depending on what kind of shape the car's in...

depending on how long the car's been sitting you will also want to do an oil change (should do it anyway regardless) flush the coolant, and maybe even change the tranny and rear diff fluid... this requires a bit of work (moreso for the last 2) but with good solid ramps or a good jack and jackstands, almost anyone can do it... if you've got any more questions feel free to ask..

did you change out your fuel filter? that might be clogged up and stopping the engine from getting a good clean source of fuel... also the gas could have gone bad from sitting in the tank (i'm assuming the car was sitting for a while before you got to it) so you might want to try draining it all out and filling up with some new stuff..

yeah you'll find that most of the members around here aren't for helping out the datsun z guys... not sure why that is, they're probably just jealous :D

yeah you'll find that most of the members around here aren't for helping out the datsun z guys... not sure why that is, they're probably just jealous :D

i think its because most of us dont know much about the older Z's...

neither do i lol... it's just basic car theory... they're not ALL that different you know...

neither do i lol... it's just basic car theory... they're not ALL that different you know...

you would be surprised...

anyways, unless i have a lot of spare time then i ususally let someone else handle all of the non-300zx questions. when im not busy i may sit down and read it and respond. :D

well first off, it's not a v6... it's an inline 6 (most likely, unless someone has swapped engines on the thing)... anyway, first thing i would try is changing all the filters and doing a basic tune up on it (plugs, fuel filter,air filter, spark plug wires if they look really old, and open up your distributor and take a look at the cap (6 contacts along the edges of it) and the rotor (thing in the middle with a blade-looking piece of metal on the outside) for rust or excessive wear.... just be careful when touching the rotor, as bumping it too hard might mess up your timing..

secondly, the 280z in its stock form isn't that fast... probably around the same 0-60 and 1/4 mile as your every day mildly modified civic.. but this can be solved easily by doing a bit of modification (mainly forced induction) however, it won't be super cheap to do, but it is one of the least expensive z car's to modify depending on what kind of shape the car's in...

depending on how long the car's been sitting you will also want to do an oil change (should do it anyway regardless) flush the coolant, and maybe even change the tranny and rear diff fluid... this requires a bit of work (moreso for the last 2) but with good solid ramps or a good jack and jackstands, almost anyone can do it... if you've got any more questions feel free to ask..

:werd:

neither do i lol... it's just basic car theory... they're not ALL that different you know...

:werd: :werd:

i was told it might be the fuel injection. so i got some carbuerator spray

This is kind of an oxymoron. Fuel injection is fuel injection and carbueration is carbueration. The 260Z is carbuerated...not fuel injected. Fuel injector cleaner will do you nothing because you HAVE no FUEL INJECTORS...:biggrin:. I know NOTHING about carbueration, so I'm sorry...I can't help you here.

llz i dunno what the hell you're on but he's got a 280z... not 260 lol

HA...damn contacts...helps if I blink every once in a while...thought it said 260...not 280...lol...oops.

Besides...I thought they were ALL carb'd until 84...:dunno:

lol no sir... nissan seemed to be ahead of the game with their efi.. started in freaking '75!! could you imagine the hype back then?

EFI back then is like the headlights that rotate now-a-days...:lol:

man those things are fancy i tell ya... i gotta get me a set of those and find a way to install em on the zed... would be hilarious to see them moving around when the lights are down... :D

How about a bad clutch. Doest it slip or smoke? bearing or the fork can be bad. There is no reason for the car to go that slow. Otherwise you would hear a all sortsa knocks hesitation and other crap. If it has a catalytic converter thats plugged that would be tthe case. Still need info.

man those things are fancy i tell ya... i gotta get me a set of those and find a way to install em on the zed... would be hilarious to see them moving around when the lights are down... :D

That'd look like someone squinting trying to look for something...lol