# HELP! - 1982 ZX Dies After 15 minutes or running



## Zcrazy (May 26, 2004)

Please I was wodering if you could spare me a bit of your time. I have a 1982 280ZX Non Turbo. It runs ok but once it gets to operating temperature of say 130 or approximately 15 to 20 minutes or running, it chokes and shutters and dies, If you let it cool for a couple of minutes, you can always start it up again but this time it will die in about 7 to 10 minutes since it is already warm. The car does not overheat. I have changed the following, 1. Brand new ignition module 2. Brand new pickup coil 3. Brand new plug wires 3. Brand new distributor cap and rotor. 4. Tested with a new fuel pump but same effect so I returned the new pump. 5.Tested with another coil from another Z but same effect. 3. Changed all injector plugs. 4. Cleaned all contacts I can see in engine bay. I am currently confused and at my wits end. No body has been able to help. Your time and any input you may have will be invaluable. Thanks Frankie Frustrated Owner of a ZX


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## Ruben (Oct 15, 2002)

Guessing... Altenator?


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

Coolant temperature sensor. I'm assuming this is an EFI car. The CTS tells the ECU to run rich during the startup , since it will take a lot of fuel to make the engine run when cold , most of the fuel goes out the exhaust and gets burned in the cat. However , after the engine warms up , the CTS is supposed to tell the ecu the coolants temp so that it can back off on the richness and the car will continue to run as normal. However , if it does not , the car will now be running VERY rich while its warm , which in a lot of cases will make it die out. Now , I may be way off base here , but I've seen it happen to a couple of Buicks , so I'm basing it on that.
Now , there may be more than one CTS , one is generally reference for the ECU and one is for the guage and in some cars the electric fans. CTS's are fairly cheap , between $15 and $40.
Other than that , I'm pretty unfamiliar with the earlier Zs , but most cars use the same types of sensors , so I'm guessing it's a sensor and not any kind of component failure. I'm about to eat my words right here , it might possibly be the idle air control valve. Might. A simple test would be to crank up your idle a few notches and see if that still happens.


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## Zcrazy (May 26, 2004)

*NO Rube*

No Rube,
Alternator is will affect the charging system which will affect battery,
Charging and battery is superp. Alternator is Ok. Thanks for you input. I appreciate it.
Zcrazy


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

To my way of thinking , it's basically the same as a choke on a carbed car. You pull the choke closed to make the engine run when it's cold , but it WILL die out when it's warm if the choke is not opened (I've had a few manual choke cars , including a couple I converted myself). A bad CTS is the same as a choke staying closed , it will kill the car.


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## Zcrazy (May 26, 2004)

[email protected] said:


> To my way of thinking , it's basically the same as a choke on a carbed car. You pull the choke closed to make the engine run when it's cold , but it WILL die out when it's warm if the choke is not opened (I've had a few manual choke cars , including a couple I converted myself). A bad CTS is the same as a choke staying closed , it will kill the car.




I will be doing an allround text sometime this weekend. You might just have a point there.
Zcrazy


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## nizmo559 (Mar 4, 2003)

Mine did the same but my egr tube had fallen off. Wish they all came off that easy.


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

nizmo559 said:


> Mine did the same but my egr tube had fallen off. Wish they all came off that easy.


Your EGR tube falling shouldn't have any affect on how the car runs at idle. The EGR is not active at any time except part throttle cruising , and a missing EGR tube might make it run a touch lean but that's about it. Your EGR may have been stuck in the open position , it's fairly common.


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## nizmo559 (Mar 4, 2003)

[email protected] said:


> Your EGR tube falling shouldn't have any affect on how the car runs at idle. The EGR is not active at any time except part throttle cruising , and a missing EGR tube might make it run a touch lean but that's about it. Your EGR may have been stuck in the open position , it's fairly common.


So your saying if I take off the egr valve completely and leave the big whole on the side of the manifold empty the car wont die out?


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

nizmo559 said:


> So your saying if I take off the egr valve completely and leave the big whole on the side of the manifold empty the car wont die out?


  That's a little extreme. The EGR body does port onto the intake manifold. NO , what I'm saying is that your EGR tube falling off , which is the tube coming up from the exhaust mani , should have no affect on how your car runs at all at idle. The EGR was not meant to be active at idle , and if it is , it's stuck open.


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## nizmo559 (Mar 4, 2003)

hmm well either way my friend straight handed me a 350 small block for free today. Thinking about just chucking that dang 2.8


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

nizmo559 said:


> hmm well either way my friend straight handed me a 350 small block for free today. Thinking about just chucking that dang 2.8


I'm a bit prejudiced against engine swapping of that kind in a Z. But hey , do whatcha like.


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