My 1983 Nissan 280ZX

I work on my own car, a 1983 Nissan 280ZX.  For a little while now I’ve been trying to track down an intermittent problem that is preventing the car from starting.  Because it doesn’t do it all the time, the car runs, but not reliably enough to trust taking it anywhere.

One thing we have wondered is whether the air flow meter is causing problems, perhaps locking shut and cutting off the flow of air to the engine.  It is a large flow controller set in the nose of the car, right behind the air filter.  This mass air flow sensor also has a swinging door that opens to let air through.  The car’s computer, which tests the content of the exhaust via the oxygen sensor, tells it how far to open and therefore how much air to let through into the intake manifold.

Another thing we’ve considered it could be is the computer that controls the electronic fuel injection system.  The fuel injection is an early system, so the computer does not control very much, but it does control fuel delivery to the engine.  So if something is wrong with the computer or the wiring harness, the engine might not be getting fuel.

There are so many things this could be, and all I can do is wait for the car to have problems and then try to narrow down the possibilities.  I hate electronic car problems — they are the most difficult things to track down, especially when they are intermittent!

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