Questions and Answers

Datsun 280-ZX Blowing Smoke Q. Hello, I have a 1979 Datsun 280-ZX, 6 cylinder 2.8 liter, manual transmission, 43,600 miles, fuel injected, ABS brakes, A/C, no cruise control and rack and pinion steering. My problem is this: When I bought the car it ran awesome then I sold the car back to the original owner and a couple days later he brought it back to me because his check wouldn't clear.

Anyway when he brought it back to me it ran horrible. When you try to start it it doesn't want to start at times and sometimes it does. When it does start it doesn't accelerate and bogs down after about 30 seconds then if you don't keep your foot on the accelerator pressed down it will die and not start up again for awhile.

I figure it was the fuel filter so I replaced it. It still does this. Also while it is running it smokes really bad. It is a white colored smoke. I checked the compression in the spark plug holes and each of them are within 5%-10% of each other so I know I don't have a bad head gasket.

I am just merely a 25 year old shade tree mechanic. I know my basics and that is all. It seems like there is to much condensation in that white smoke so I figure there must be a vacuum hose misplaced with a water line or something. Do you have any ideas? Do you know a vacuum hose diagram I can look at if that's the problem?

I even took the gas tank apart and had it cleaned because I thought there had been very old gas in it because of back firing when it is running. Any solutions would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Daniel

A. I would not rule out a blown head gasket quite yet. If the white smoke has a sweet pungent smell to it, then it is anti-freeze and a blown head gasket. What you can do is apply pressure to the cooling system and watch and see if any coolant starts leaking into the cylinders.

By the way, the 1979 280-ZX did not have ABS.

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