'82 280ZX fuel economy tips?

[mazikowski]

With gas prices getting so high, I figure it is time I look into improving the gas mileage my NA 82 280ZX gives me. I bought the car about a year ago and the entire time I've owned it I have been getting 15-18 MPG (more toward the 15 than the 18). Almost all of my driving is city rather than highway. I know it's an older 6 cylinder, but that just doesn't seem right to me. I hadn't worried about it all that much, but now it is becoming more of an issue with prices the way they are.

Shortly after I bought the car, I gave it a basic tune-up (coil, wires, plugs, cap, rotor). That didn't do very much for the mileage, but at least the parts are new(ish).

The CA18 in my Pulsar has an on-board diagnostic mode on the ECU that will tell if various sensors are bad; does the L28 ECU have any sort of on-board diagnostic mode?

Any suggestions? I have seen a lot of people claiming at least 20 MPG city...

[evildky]

sadly the bosch L jetronic had no obd, but a few tips

a new O2 sensor might help a bit
synthetic oil in the engine trans and diff can also reduce internal friction
make sure that you brakes don't drag and taht your wheel bearings are all good
make sure you have enough air in your tires, underinflated tires are harder to turn
narrower tires offer less rilling resistance
lightweight wheels take less energy to turn, the stock pieces are decent, most oftermarket pieces weight more and therefore hurt economy, especially if they are alrger diameters
tire diamter can play tricks on you, a alrger diameter means you are traveling further per rotation than you think so your milage will calculate ut lower than it actually is
a clean air filter si always a good thing
remove any excess weight form the car, I don't mean gut the interior but heavy speakerboxes, toolboxes etc can really add up
get a vac gauge and when driving try to maintain as much vacume as possible
make sure you idle is correct, a higher than stock idle is just burning more gas

the advanced tip is to adjust the air flow meter, if you aren't comfortable wiht it don't touch it, if you dare, there is an adjustable wheel inside that adjusts tension ont he flapper door, one way makes it richer, the other leaner, and i can't recall which si which off hand as I havn't run an aof in many years

evenmore advanced, a modern engine managment swap with wideband and tuning can lean out the mix and yield better economy

[mazikowski]

Just to make sure we're on the same page, I don't mean OBD as newer vehicles have where you can check it with a code reader. The ECU for my CA18 has 2 LEDs in the side of it that flash to indicate error codes. I have seen what appears to be an LED flashing while I'm driving the Z. Is this similar to what the CA ECU has?

[evildky]

lol, OBD = On Board Diagnistic's, your sentra is OBD0 or OBD1, neer cars form about 96 are OBD2, OBD0 cars have lights and no data port, OBD1 has lights and ports, OBD2 uses wideband O2 sensors and electrinic speed sensors allowing many more functions, the bosch system has no on board diagnostic mode, the Z didn't get OBD0 until 84 on the Z31