found the problem with the racecar

[Andris Laivins]

I havent been able to turn on my racecar since i recovered it, and i finally
got a chance to track down the problem today...

After staring at the wiring diagram and going over the car with a
multimeter, I finally found the problem that was keeping my car from
running.  Its a bad fusible link providing juice to the ignition circuit.
The reason I didn't catch it before was the bad link looks fine, just like
all the others.  Everything non-key related was working, but anything that
would be powered up by turning the key was not.  So i unplugged harnesses
one by one in the cockpit and narrowed it down until I was left with just
the key harness without power.  Traced it back to the fusible link box in
the engine bay, pulled the link, and it tested bad. Whoohoo!  swapped in the
radiator fan link to double check and the car turned on fine.  I didn't try
starting it yet, but everything came on (fuel pump, dash lights, etc..) so I
know that was the problem.  Do i have to get these links from a nissan
dealer?  There was nothing like it at the auto parts store.. Also, I want to
pump my fuel tank dry because it looks like the asshole added gas (or
something else) and i want to make sure there is only gas in the tank before
i try cranking it.  Can I just jump the fuel pump at the fuse block and
connect  a hose to the supply line in the engine bay and pump it out?  or is
there some other procedure for emptying the tank? (dur, i guess i should
check the service manual for that..)

I think my car's ghettoness saved it.  Here is my current theory on the
sequence of events: Once the bastard made off with my car, the unsecured
relay box in the engine bay flopped over onto the turbine housing and
melted.  One wire related to the ignition circuit melted through (there is a
melted wire, but i haven't identified it yet) and shorted out on the
turbine, blowing the ignition fusible link and killing the car.  The
theives, thinking they had run out of gas (fuel level was really low), tried
to add more gas to the car (gas cap was in passenger compartment, and fuel
gauge was slightly higher than when i got jacked).  When that didn't work,
they took what they could from inside that was valuable and abandoned the
car.  I suspect that if the car hadn't died, It would have been a lot longer
before it was found, and probably wouldn't have been intact.

I still don't know if the motor and tranny are ok, but we'll see when I get
some fresh gas in it..

Andris Laivins
turbo roadrace car being nursed back to health.