I've recently purchased an automatic (unfortunately D:) 1990 Z32 with 180xxx miles. It was a little rough, being a stock NA, but I decided to buy it, and in the next few months I plan to show it some love, and hopefully get a 200% return
The transmission was rebuilt about 10xxx miles ago and is really tight! The guy that I bought the car from changed the starter and the battery around the same time.Anyway, was driving its own version of perfectly for two weeks. Then this morning I came out to start her up, and there was no response when I turned the key. Just two faint clicking noises coming from what seems to be the area right above the driver's left leg. One faint click for when I push the key to the full start position, the other when I release it. The headlights still work and the HUD lights up like normal. Regardless, tomorrow I'm going to pick up a voltometer and see what the battery reads at the terminals. The CEL is on when the key is turned passed the accessory line; I'm not sure if this is normal or if it's indicative of something else going on. It wasn't on the week prior when I was driving the car around. Took off the passenger kickboard and checked the ECU in mode II, and it's giving me a 5-5 "no errors" readout. The starter was also recently replaced (10k miles ago, with the transmission). I don't hear whirling or grinding to really suggest that there's anything wrong with the starter or the flywheel. But I hear that sometimes new starters can lock up at the motor, and giving them a whack or two with a screwdriver can fix that... weird, but I'll try it tomorrow.
So I'm thinking it's most likely the starter relay. I looked under the dash on the driver's side, and there's a relay connector that's unplugged. It's a medium sized white connector, and I couldn't find it's companion connector. I looked along the sides of the floor panel, in front of the fuse panel. All the relays there were in place, so I'm thinking that the starter relay for the Z may be tucked behind the wheel well, but I've been reading that it's not. I don't even know if what I found is for the starter. I can't imagine how it'd get disconnected between the 20 miles that I drove it last week.
I also don't think that this car is a keyless entry, so there wouldn't be any issues with the anti-theft relay, would there? Besides, I think that the alarm would be going off in that case.
Would the ECU be telling me if there was an issue with the starter?
Kind of a jumbled post with multiple questions. Thanks in advance for advice!
