my SC is falling apart

Lvcien

Registered User
1.) Whenever cruising at about 45, it'll seem to lose the ability to accelerate... Kinda like, if I had a manual, and I pushed in the clutch while driving and revv'd it... all it does it rev unless I take it up slowly

2.) sometimes whenever I punch it, it jumps up and then the tranny shifts down and the whole car bogs down and the transmission (or engine) seems to make low pitched whining sounds

3.) My transmission doesn't like to shift.. it seems to stay at 2.4 - 2.7 rpms and won't shift down unless I release the gas for a second...

4.) when it's shifting down, if I give it gas it makes a deep low pitched whining sound

5.) some shifts are real slow, others are real hard

6.) still doesn't idle well (haven't looked far into that)

7.) where is the temp sensor for the temp guage? it's dead :(

8.) My door sags and doesn't fully make contact with the sensor for the belt, so that little parts that moves back and forth to control the belt spazzes out while I'm driving...


I'm afraid to "ride it like a ford"...can't have it blowning up on me...

I'd rather have a Datsun Z ...

any advice?
 
Sell the car and save yourself the agony if you are not in love with it. If you would rather have a Z, then get one. These are not cars you can have and not love, because of their undeniable ability to screw you at the worst times. If you ARE in love with the car, then i would do a tranny swap, even better if its an M5R2 5 speed. If you want the auto, they arnt that hard to find around here.
 
go for the Z

I too have an undying love for the Datsun Z cars, as my first car was a 78 280z. They too are somewhat finicky cars with similar parts availibility issues as the SC unless you go the V8 route. However, if you are willing to repeatedly perform repairs on the SC or learn to live with their quirks, sell it. However, when they are running well, is there a car you would rather drive? Is their a better sleeper car out there than the SC? I love hearing "I didn't know those were that fast," from camaro and mustang owners.
 
the problem is finding a nice Z in my area...

but the SC... sounds like the tranny is dying?
 
All of the problems that you are having can be fixed....

However, the problems with the auto transmission sound terminal...:(

If you are going to keep the car, than I would suggest and Art Carr or Lentech transmission swap.....

I have been screwed royally by transmission shops, so be careful if you go that route....

The cost of a complete tranny overhaul isn't much cheaper than buying a new Art Carr or Lentech....

I wish I had the opportunity to do that when mine let go while I was visiting relatives down in your neck of the country, but that is another story.....

Don't take it to All Transmissions!!!!!!!

As for the temp gauge, are you sure it is the sending unit and not the gauge?
 
The oil gauge isn't working?

Are you getting the check gauge light?

Sounds like a problem with the intrument cluster......
 
1 - 6: Your transmission is almsot certainly going to die in the very near future. Get it checked ASAP. I had similar symptoms last summer. $1600 for a rebuild - ouch. But it works now. :)

7: Temp sender is right above the thermostat housing. Easy to test - ground it and see if the gauge responds.

8: Oil pressure sender is below that and to the right. Hiding behind the belts.

7-8: It does sound like your gauges could be bad. You can take them out pretty easily - don't even have to remove the whole cluster, just pull out from the front. Then test them with some AA batteries in series and a couple jumpers.
 
temp and oil gauge

Mine too were acting up, and my harness had wiggled it's way loose. I put them back on and it worked for a while. Then I resorted to tightening the connectors with some needle nose pliers, and it has worked fine ever since. It is little quirks like this that can drive you crazy about these cars.
 
Watch them Z's my buddy had one a few years ago and he was trying to race a 5.0 and his car made a few bad noises and died. He towed it to my house and we thought maby the head gaskets? But we found the lifters had over expanded or something and a few of the valves stayed open and smashed into the pistons. He tried to find a motor but could not and I ended up takeing it to the junkyard. Sucked because he still owed 2,000 on a loan he got for it. But I think they are nice cars just don't tack them to high.
 
the-big-e said:
How do you do this?

Can you elaborate?

Well, this is sort of the "backwoods" way to test these things, but I found that these gauges respond to a straight DC voltage signal. I was trying to test some temp and oil pressure gauges I had sitting around, so I got some AA batteries (I think it was 4 total) and some jumper wires. I put the batteries together in a line, then used a jumper from the battery positive to one of the 3 metal terminals on the back of the gauge, and a jumper from the battery negative to another terminal. I don't remember which terminals they were, but if you get it wrong, nothing seems to happen. When you hit the right terminals, the gauge should either shoot to full hot or full cold. Reverse the wires, and it should move the other way. Anyway, varying the voltage (number of batteries) should vary the gauge reading.

So, this whole thing is completely non-scientific, but doing this should at least give you an idea if the gauge is totally broken or not.

(Wow, typing this out makes it sound pretty ridiculous. :p )

While you have the gauges out, you can take a multimeter and check for voltage at the contacts that the gauge terminals fit into. (With key on, engine off). If you aren't getting voltage between any of those contacts, then you probably have a problem with sender or wiring.
 
just a heads up on these transmissions man. I'm not a trans guy and truthfully I hate opening one, so I'll just drop the list of TSB's and Recalls for them for ya.

.
  1. Sort titles by number Sort titles by date Titles sorted by title
  2. ATRASIL8910 890301 A/T - AOD 3-4 Accumulator Change
  3. 8912689614 890601 A/T - AOD 3-4 Shift Accumulator Deletion
  4. ATRATB045 910301 A/T - AOD 4th Gear Complaints
  5. 911612 910807 A/T - AOD Delayed Shift Times
  6. 932318 931110 A/T - AOD Diagnostic Information
  7. ATRATB063 910701 A/T - AOD Direct Clutch Failure/Excessive Case Bore Wear
  8. 92236 921104 A/T - AOD Gear Whine
  9. ATRATB8922 890701 A/T - AOD Governor Pressure Leaks
  10. ATRATB277 950101 A/T - AOD Harsh 4-3 Kickdown/Valve Body Repair
  11. 911114 910530 A/T - AOD Harsh/Rough Shifts
  12. 9139 910202 A/T - AOD Noise/Delayed Shifts/No Engagements
  13. 89237 891115 A/T - AOD Separator Plate Gasket Changes
  14. ATRATB254 940101 A/T - AODE Cooler Return Line Filter Installation
  15. ATRATB9002006 900201 A/T - Choosing the Right ATF
  16. ATRATB089 920101 A/T - Diagnostic Trouble Codes for 1983-1992
  17. ATRATB088 920101 A/T - EEC Trouble Codes
  18. ATRATB028 901001 A/T - Engine Vacuum Testing
  19. 01-15-7 010806 A/T - Fluid Application Charts
  20. ATRATB8754 870901 A/T - Front Bushing Wear
  21. ATRATB078 911101 A/T - How To Use A Pressure Gauge
  22. 00-23-10 001113 A/T - In Line Fluid Filter Kit
  23. ATRATB8923 890801 A/T - Math Formulas Part I
  24. ATRATB8930 891001 A/T - Math Part II
  25. 951610 950814 A/T - New Rotunda Fluid Changer Service Tip
  26. ATRATB8748 870801 A/T - Slipping or No-Shift/Metal Sealing Rings
  27. 99-15-2 990726 A/T - Transmission Flush and Fill Tool Available
  28. ATRATB8927 890901 A/T - Twenty Steps To Successful Repairs
  29. 96249 961118 A/T Torque Converter - Leak Test Procedure

Not real optimistic I know but hopefully this will get you some ideas. The only thing I can think of outside of this is if your speed sensor was having issues or if your tach signal was skewed somehow. The trans does post and record codes which can be pulled by a diagnostic system.
 
So, after posting my explanation, I had to pull out my old gauges and try it again. It turns out that 1 AA battery should be enough to move the gauge. I was checking out the temp gauge (which I replaced because it didn't seem to work), and I noticed that the gauge was binding at one particular spot in its travel. It took a second AA to get "over the hump" to "H". So I guess that explains why my old gauge wasn't working.
 
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