720 from Russia

Vitaly · #1

I welcome all participants of this forum and immediately thank you for the useful, necessary and necessary information on the maintenance and repair of Nissan cars. My name is Vitaly, I am from Russia, Vladivostok. I have several cars:
- Nissan Datsun 720 1984 SD23 (RHD)
- Nissan Datsun 720 1982 Z16 (RHD)
- Datsun 720 1982 SD22 (LHD)
Every car has its own story and they are not perfect yet.
Glad to meet you!

#2

Welcome, obviously I have a few diesel engines, what type of injection pumps do your diesel engines have, VE or inline?

Vitaly · #3

Thanks!
My engines have mechanical inline fuel pumps.

I found and bought an SD23 in the middle of nowhere. The previous owner used spare parts that were available at the time of repair. The engine starts and runs smoothly, but the original spark plug glow does not work. I am currently trying to restore it. I also have a donor engine, an SD23, and all the wiring from a Nissan Datsun ag 720, but I am unsure if it is functional. Please forgive my English.

#4

The first photo appears to have a VE type injection pump, the second photo appears to be an inline injection pump, the inline pump has 4 injection lines coming out of the top of the injection pump, while the VE has the 4 injection lines coming out of the back of the injection pump, I personally like the inline pumps because they last a lot longer(300,000+ miles) while the VE type do not last near as long.

The glow system is electrical controlled by a relay and glow plug timer, it is complicated, some people use a button on the dash and relay to warm the glow plugs(about a minute or less), most use a choke lever/cable to shut down the engine when things are not electrically working properly.

What is a "Nissan Datsun ag 720", not sure what "ag" is, is it a gas or diesel wiring harness?

This is a VE type injection pump.

This is an inline injection pump.

Vitaly · #5

Thank you for your clarification. Now I understand the differences between these pumps. The VE-type pump is installed on my restyled version. I assume that before 1983 (pre-restyling), inline pumps were installed on diesel engines, and after 1983 (restyling), VE pumps were installed. This is my assumption, and if I am wrong, please correct me. I rely on the cars I have and the Japanese catalogs, which I have several of. I will try to upload them here.

Regarding the glow plug system on my cars:
- Datsun 720 1982 SD22 - the original glow plug system works properly! This is very pleasing to me!
- Nissan Datsun 720 1984 SD23 (right-hand drive) - the original glow plug system does not work. The glow plugs are currently being heated using a button from the interior. I do not like this!

Additionally, I mentioned the ag720 earlier. This is the configuration of the Japanese Nissan Datsun 1985 Sd23, which is my donor car. Unfortunately, it also has a glow plug button on the dashboard. I purchased this car for spare parts. I am glad that it also has a diesel engine. However, this car was purchased as a non-functional vehicle, so I cannot determine which spare parts were in good condition. Currently, my goal is to assemble at least one working glow plug system from the two sets I have and install it on my Datsun 1984 SD23 4WD. (4WD is the term we use for the all-wheel drive system in Japanese cars). In Vladivostok, 90% of all cars are right-hand drive Japanese vehicles!

Please forgive my English. I type the text in my native language and then translate it using an online translator.

Vitaly · #6

#7

I have looked at all my photos and cannot find a glow plug timer(box inside the cab) that controls the relay that warms up the glow plugs, it is on the right side of my LHD diesel trucks right next to my passenger's right knee above the kick panel, do your glow plug timer?

I will decide if I will need take a photo after your response.

I have never seen a US version of a SD22 with a VE type injection pump, but I did import one that had the VE type injection pump from Australia when I was trying to turbocharge the SD22/SD25 engines, I finally figured out how to do it with the inline injection pump so there was no need to do a VE type conversion.

I do not know how to wire a glow plug timer box to work as a stand-alone system; does the button you use to warm the glow plugs use the glow plug relay?

Vitaly · #8

Good afternoon! I apologize for the long silence. There is good news! But first things first.

In your question, do you mean the dropping resistor timer or the glow control unit?

As I mentioned, I have two sets of all the glow system components, one from the donor car and the other from my car. At the moment, I am not sure about the proper functioning of each component.

To address this issue, I took my car to an electrician who previously worked at a local Nissan dealership. Additionally, I found pages from the repair manual for this system on this website. I also purchased a new set of Japanese glow plugs and two new glow relays, which I gave to the electrician.

After diagnosing the glow control unit, the electrician stated that one of the components was faulty, and the other was not providing a specific diagnostic signal. I did not delve into the details of the signal. The remaining components were functioning properly. As a result, the electrician replaced the glow plugs, relays, and created a new bus for the glow plugs. He also inspected the entire glow system wiring from the battery to the glow plugs. Now, the car starts, and the dashboard indicators are functioning correctly.

Additionally, the electrician repaired the heater, windshield wipers, and installed a relay regulator.

I will address the remaining electrical issues after completing the welding work on the cabin.

You also asked about the button in the cabin for warming the glow plugs from the previous owner. This button was present on both cars. The electrician removed it. Now, there are no unnecessary buttons in the cabin!