Unidirectional Ca2+ fluxes (influx and efflux), supported by ATP as a phosphate-donor substrate, were measured without alteration of the lumenal Ca2+ content in longitudinal sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles. The referred fluxes are dependent on extravesicular Ca2+, ATP and ADP. They are unaffected by ruthenium red but inhibited by quercetin. The Ca2+ fluxes at steady state are drastically diminished when ATP is substituted by acetylphosphate although the addition of 10 microM ADP increases the apparent rate constants more than eight fold. The observed fluxes appear to be dependent on Ca2(+)-ATPase phosphoenzyme transitions. The results indicate that: (a) the slow Ca2+ release, due to the passive permeability of the membrane, is a minor component of the total Ca2+ efflux, and (b) the ATPase protein is basically operating as a Ca2+/Ca2+ exchanger at steady state. Kinetic resolution of the Ca2+ fluxes, measured by isotopic tracer and rapid filtration techniques can be recreated by computer simulation of the ATPase reaction cycle featuring some modifications to account for the fast Ca2+/Ca2+ exchange and the uncoupling effect observed at steady state.