Tungsten
-
Posts
4,885 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
57
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Calendar
Posts posted by Tungsten
-
-
Insert political rant here. Obama is a clueless heap. I like Romney.
-
Low on power and high fuel consumption sounds like a plugged catalytic converter. The only other possibility is having a jumped or improperly set timing belt or some timing issue in general.
-
That kind of thing typically involves removing a motor mount or even dropping the entire sub frame. That's not a bad labor price at all.
-
You would be surprised how many oversights there are in a Gates catalog.
-
Go with the Pathfinder. You will appreciate the nicer interior and ride.
-
Ok so the sprocket on the top left should point 45 degrees to the left and the right sprocket should point 45 degrees to the right. And the bottom sprocket should be lined up with the belt line right? Ok I'm still confused on the tightness part, I read over the manual and I still don't get it. Once you line up the lines to the new belt and all, you then tighten the tenser wheel till the belt is tight that you can flip it more the 90 degrees? Can I just used a wrench to tighten the tenser? Or do I need a special tool that shows how much pounds I put onto it?
Correct. Ignore the tightness procedure in the manual. The right way to set the tensioner is with a $600 tension gauge. The second best way is to slowly rotate the tensioner with an allen key to the most optimal position where you can twist the timing belt to almost 90 degrees. Don't forget to spin the engine over twice when you are finished and check for tension again. The 5mm allen key hole in the tensioner should be set to about the 5 o clock position. The spring in the back should just become dead weight. When you are done setting the tension, you have to tighten the nut that holds the tensioner in that specific position to about 50 N/m or 37 ft/lbs. If you over tighten the timing belt will whine and the tensioner can break. For the record, I think it's 40 teeth between the two sprocket punch marks and 43 between the driver side one and the bottom one. The FSM has that information. Use a highlighter to make the marks more visible.
-
Sounds like fun. It's going to reduce the unsprung weight in the rear and make it ride nice.
-
You can change the thermostat without removing the timing belt cover. It's preference when you want to change it.
Having the rotor point to plug 1 and having the timing belt sprocket marks point to the valve covers at 45 degrees is more than enough for verifying TDC. Sticking something down there is optional unless you are doing something crazy.
-
It's usually the contact points in the cluster or in the connector to the cluster. You can try pulling the cluster and tightening the screws like Precise1 said. The other option to try is to go and see if the connection to the distributor is good. There is a little wire that goes to the distributor to send the tachometer signal. Sometimes that gets really loose and you lose good signal to the tachometer.
-
OK first off i wanna say is THANK YOU ALL!!!!! for all of your replys!!! I cant say this more enough! you guys are really going indept and helping me understand.n
ok so now thats out of the way, i now know it has to be the water pump
^ this video is 3 parts and this guy does a really good job showing how to do it
but the only thing im getting confused about is this guy didnt do the tdc and the part when he tightens the timing belt. i dont understand what he means when he puts it on 40 degrees and stuff.
to tell you guys the truth i felt much better of how to install the timing belt before i watched this video but now that i saw this i am afraid i might f$%k something up
the mechanic that said he will do it for $350 will get all his parts from pepboys or autozone (water pump, timing belt) is it worth it?
The engine is at TDC when the balancer pulley center mark lines up with the arrow on the timing belt cover and when the distributor points to spark plug 1. Since the camshafts and distributor spin at half the crankshaft speed, you only have a 50% chance of getting it right. The best way to verify that you have it correct is to look at the rotor in the distributor.
Put the transmission in N or P and spin it over with the crankshaft nut until it is at TDC. That will also make sure the camshaft sprocket marks are exactly in the top left and top right corners.
He cranks the engine over a couple of times with the belt on to make sure that the timing belt is set in before tightening the tensioner.
Here is how I tension the timing belts:
http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/33505-alternative-way-to-tension-a-timing-belt/
^good call.
*oops, that was in reference to Trogdor's last post*
There is absolutely no harm in using tap water to flush the cooling system. You DO NOT want to use it to fill the radiator or mix with antifreeze for vehicle operation unless it is an emergency. That is when you use distilled water.
B
The FSM calls for flushing with distilled water only. Many mechanics will flush the block with regular tap water though. The coolant should also have some mineral absorbing properties if there is any tap water droplets left over inside.
For refilling the system, you can buy pre-mixed coolant and just pour it in. The only downside to that is you are paying 50% for distilled water.
-
I don't remember how the guy did my water pump way back, but I don't recall him removing the timing belt. It's been so long since that was done, probably around 1996
I think I might know how the guy replaced the water pump in my old hardbody, just remembered, I had that done after we moved down here to Florida, I had already had the engine replaced with a JDM engine before we moved down here from NY. I think maybe the JDM engine was out of a car so it may have had the 2wd style water pump.
As I said in another thread the JDM engine I got had ribbed belts not the "V" belts like the VG30's have in the PF and pickups, and the fuel injection was unlike any I had ever seen from a US model, and it had a belt driven fan so I know the engine was out of a rear wheel drive car.
That sounds exactly like a 2wd VG30E. They have ribbed belts and water pumps that are separate from the timing belt covers. You have to watch those engines because the ribbed belts need more tension and are very prone to breaking the entire balancer right off the crankshaft. They updated the crankshaft later on to resolve that issue.
-
The fan and the shroud are enough. You can remove the radiator if you want. The balancer is that thing at the bottom with a big pulley on top of it. TDC means top dead center. It's the optimal position for the engine to be rotated to when taking it apart or setting the timing. You can look it up on YouTube for an explanation of what it is exactly. The rotor I'm talking about is the rotor under the distributor cap. It should point to spark plug 1.
If your thermostat works, leave it alone.
I suggest buying the water pump from Nissan. You can get one off RockAuto but they are not the same quality as the dealer part and will probably not last as long. The Gates timing belt kit sold on RockAuto is plenty good though. I usually try to get all parts from Nissan but last time I bought a Gates water pump and a Gates timing belt and tensioner. The water pump ended up failing on me but I had no issues with the belt or tensioner. I had to go and replace the water pump with a Nissan one.
You want to wait a few minutes when you apply the sealant so it doesn't squeeze out everywhere.
-
If you remove the torsion bars then it's really not that bad to take the transmission out.
-
That depends on the design of the engine. The Pathfinder VG uses the water pump body as a seal for the timing belt chamber so the water pump can only be taken off if you remove the timing belt. I have done this job and there's nothing to it. All you do is basically drain the coolant, remove the fan and shroud, remove the hoses, remove the balancer, and remove the timing belt cover. Before doing that though, don't forget to position the engine at intake TDC and not exhaust TDC. The rotor under the cap should point to spark plug 1. Then you can go ahead and loosen the tensioner and pop the timing belt off. Loosen the water pump bolts and remove the old water pump with your big hammer. Rub some sealant on the new water pump gasket and pop it back on. Be sure to put the timing belt on the right way with the proper tooth count between the sprockets. All the torque specs are in the FSM. When you put everything back together, just refill the coolant. Don't worry about opening the thermostat since this engine does not need to have its thermostat open to be refilled with coolant. The coolant will fill the engine through the return line in the intake manifold.
If you got any questions there's plenty of write ups here and don't hesitate to shoot me a message.
-
1
-
-
Awesome. Looks exactly like mine! Except it has more paint and clear on it.
-
1
-
-
Don't forget that it is also the thickness that matters in exhaust piping when it comes to durability. A really cheap thin aluminized steel parts store pipe is going to last maybe 2 years in snow states compared to a proper thickness aluminized steel pipe. Same goes for stainless steel piping. The stainless will last longer than aluminized overall but stainless won't last forever either.
-
Yes, the VSS communicates with the ECU. If your VSS is not working then the ECU will throw a VSS code. Yes, you can use the older cluster speedometer connections for VSS.
-
Looks good to me.
I'm skeptical if that's a true 2.5" because it looks like a 2.25" from the picture. Could be my eyes though. Can you measure the outside diameter of the tail pipe?
Here is mine for comparison.
-
When was the last tune up? Old spark plugs, wires, and rotor cap can have some effect on fuel economy.
-
My 87 did not...or at least I wasn't aware of how to get the signal to the cluster/ecu
You didn't see the black thingy behind the speedometer? If you notice the circuit board also goes to the speedometer behind the cluster. I know mine has it and it's the VSS (vehicle speed sensor) in the service manual.
The 1993 cluster is similar but it is even closer to the 1995 one because it no longer has the voltage regulator on top.
-
You should still check it just to make sure. Perfect timing might get you the remaining 2 or 3 mpg you are looking for. There are other things too. Your exhaust doesn't leak, right?
-
17 is not too bad. Where do you keep your base timing? Do you have a special EGR-BPT valve?
Also I noticed that I get much higher MPG in the summer than in winter time because there is no winter gas and the warm up times are shorter.
-
Yep. Nissan makes their blocks perfect. That's the reason they can go for so long before needing a rebuild. The down side is that Nissan engines are very picky and can be a pain to take care of but are worth the effort.
However the main advantage to going SBC over VG is aftermarket parts. The SBC is an enthusiast's dream for aftermarket. If you can get a perfect aftermarket SBC block, some long rods, and some high compression pistons, you can have big power for very little money.
-
I run highway tires, Yokohama Geolandar H/T-S and they are 31s. I run them at 31 PSI (cold).
I try to keep my engine in top shape and only use synthetic oil. You can also check out my list of mods in my profile.
To ahardb0dy: You need the overdrive transmission to get decent gas mileage on the highway. Locking torquing converters is what made the automatic transmission so much more efficient.
The VG30 is a small displacement Japanese motor with no room for imperfections. Anything on it that's less than perfect is going to make it perform poorly. American V8s have huge displacements so they will allow for some imperfections and you probably won't even notice but on this Japanese V6 any imperfections will show up instantly and you will have a gutless motor. It must be absolutely perfect to actually have any power and efficiency. The reason people complain about power is that over time stuff that supports its efficiency starts to break down. Even with that it still runs just fine but becomes really gutless and thirsty. Now it still doesn't make a lot of power in naturally aspirated form because it was designed for a turbo in mind but still manages to have as much horsepower as most of the N/A V8s that came in its time period and the torque isn't too far behind either.
Download forum content
in General Forums
Posted
Theoretically it is possible as everything you ever posted here is stored in a MySQL database on a server. You can click My Content in your profile and access your posts that way. If you want to download them there is a special query you can run but you will need administrator privileges.
I do this for a living so I know.