Scaramoche

Thanks m8, gonna start that in a couple days! I just passed emissions! woot, im legal again

Thanks everyone. Well Yesterday I took my pathy to a shop to get a cat put on it....while i was there I found out they do suspension and alingnemetn. The owner said he would check alignment for me...about 20min later he called me to garage and showed me that my balljoints were shot, and a couple of other joints(i have then written down). He also said i need a "Shim" pack. So either way, looks like im going to learn alot about suspension in the next week. thanks

Well, looks like im getting new tires in the next week or two, but before i tear them up i need to adjust camber. the top of both my tires lean 9into the body(i believe this is negative camber). I have a feeling this occured when i crankecd my torsion bars. either way i tried cranking them down, driving back and forth then checking, but tires still have camber. How do i adjust this? i hate it cause on uneven roads or bumps the stearing gets squarly. I know about the string and tape method for aligning, im just not sure what to crank, ie like the torsion bolts, do i let them in or out? help, chiltons for all the good it's done my says" you have neg camber, take it to a mechanic...well hell, i cant offord one ) thanks Frank

welcome! ya im in the market for another pathy myself, my wife thinks she owns mine, so i need to get her a toy

lol i need to post some pic's of NM, looks very similiar lol and Welcome Sir Fig, do you happen to know my alter ego, Sir Grapenutt, he, i mean me, is the grand wigwam of the one legged chicken goddess MaTiLdA, creater of Poo on a stick, and vindicator of the Coup rebellion!

UPDATE: Yup that was the problem. I set tdc, verified my dizzy was correct(which it was) and sure enough the pully was wrong. I unbolted 6 bolts, lined up, and wham...i can time it. thanks again guys. funny how this thing isnt keyed lol

welcome!

Check parts of your emissions system because i have seen similiar issues with mine. Basically after i rebuilt the motor i noticed that i idled like hell. So being the rocket scientist i am, i removed all my emissions parts, capped all vacuum lines etc, and it ran great(a bit rich though). Either way over the last 2 months ive been reinstalling, repairing, cleaning parts, replaced all vacuum lines. Either way At first it ran like hell, then slowely i got everything done correctly and idling is stable(still a little erratic) I still have an issue with the AB valve(ie when it's connected my idle goes to hell again), may need to replace. either way if all else fails test your emissions components. UPDATE: i just finished passing emissions, and noticed my gas milage has improved dramatically, I think the bigest culprit was my O2 sensor. I also fixed my AB valve(seems it was seized, so i dumped a ton of bolt penatrater, let it sit for about an hour, then sprayed with 2 cans of brake cleaner) either way i cant beleive how that improved my milage. Note: also i added a new cat, not sure if that helped or not, but it sure as hell helped me pass emissions hehe my 2 cents scara

thanks guys. I'm almost positive the dampner is installed wrong. I know cause after doing timing belt(i lined everything up, verified teeth count etc, cause i didnt want to do it wrong) I basically slapped on the dampner. Infact thinking back i remember vaguely wondering about that. So tomorrow(just had tooth pulled) Ill fix that. thanks again scara

Ok fill ya in. last year i rebuilt the motor, installed all my self, but had a Mechanic friend do installation of distributor, and time it. Either way, I havent had issues since, it runs strong, and thought the only thing i had left to do was pass emissions. So taking the advice of you folks, ive been installing all my smog gear, 02, and new cat(still waiting on this). Either way, this weekend i finally purchased a timing light....and.......was completly stunned. There were no timing marks lighting up. After further investigation (flashed the light under the truck) I found them at the bottom of the enginer. What am i missing? how can i be running? is it an issue of with dizzy installed wrong? please help, im completly lost

lol

just curious what im missing. every time i type in the search box to look for something in the forums, I dont get any results. am i missing something? never mind seems it just doesnt like to search for MSD hehe

I am having a problem hooking up my msd 6a ignition. Im trying to wire it up, but here is the problem. I just took a look at my coil and the wires going to it. It has a wiring harness that connects to the power transistor which is part of the coil. the coil plugs directly into the power transistor(no wires between the two), and from what i gathered from the awesome right up, there should be a harness between the coil and the transistor that i can wire up to. i do not have one(just the one to power transistor) so my question is where do i connect? thanks scara Never mind once i pulled coil out i notiece there WAS a connecter, just finished and it's running awesome

Sorry guys, I have another emissions question. I have reinstalled all my emissions, im idling a bit rough, but I need to pass emissions. My question is how do i test that my cat is working? Once i pass emissions, Ill do a complete write up so others dont have this problem. thanks scara

I completely took apart the air box, and cleaned, and verified it works(it is rusted like mad.) but it seems to be working, my "gas smell" has come down a bit, but now i think my cat is bad.

Wow! Thanks Fill everyone in on where i am at. I finally figure out the aiv, plus i took apart the whole thing, dumped 5 cans of breakcleaner in it and got all the odd's and ends working(ie reads, vacuum lines etc) I think the solenoid is crapped, so i bypasses it and ran it to the valve that it enables. The filter that was rusted out is now somewhat functional again(by the looks of it, it's only purpose is to.....filter . Either way I have notices an improvement, ie a reduction in what i smell(before sitting in cab i could smell exhaust, now i dont). I also believe my catalytic is trash(There is NO water vapor comming out) so i started to soak bolts holding cat in, and on third(payday) im swapping in a new cat. Hopefully this will fix my issues. I appreciate all the advice folks, and to make it up, this comming month Ill hit the U-Pull-It yard here in albuquerque and grab you folks what ever gear you need. (they usually have 5+ wd's on the yard, and because were a desert, there are tons of great parts) thanks again Scara

up untill this week, i was running without my AB, and seen no difference. Then i tried hooking up, and noticed i ran like hell(think the valve itself was open), so recapped. just my 2 cents, but i would be cautious, cause truth be told when it comes to a)emissions gear b)ab im all about trial and error....but im learning fast

Thanks that helps alot...my big issue not is where the vaccum lines connect. seems this is whats causing me to fail emissions. im golden on everything, except low HC's im supposed to be at like 200, im at 3000, not even playing in the same ballpark. I know something is completly fudged, persise1 or kingman said it's because of this...sigh, i need to fix

ok smog pump aka aiv. Here is the problem, when i purchases vehicle mine was completely trashed, any alternative? other vehicles that may have same system? Also I did a write up for forums a few days ago, and got a good understanding of all emission systems .....except 1, aka aiv. can someone please help me a)understand it(from my understanding durring operation, specifically idol, the valve(reed type) allow for fresh air to be pumped into exhaust, allowing for better burn of fuel in exhaust). b)how do i wire the thing up? ie what hose goes where?

Ok here is are the values of my emmision Make Nissan model pathfinder model yer 1989 type 1 engine size 3000 cylinders 6 transmission m fuel g exhauste single odometer-(148027)not acual miles Visual Results cat PASS V Smoke/emission: PASS V Gas Cap PASS Emissions Fail Reading Limit Hight speed RPM=2599 RPM HC 72 200 pass CO .64 1.20 pass Low speed RPM= 0744 RPM HC 3977 200 FAIL CO .15 1.20 pass My Smog box doesnt exsist anymore, it was completly trashed when i purchased PF. So I capped any vaccums to it. I was also told this would not make me run rich, ie hi HC's from a mechanic, but he did say he didnt know rubish about PF's. Thanks!

I'm not sure what to do now? fill you in. I have re-installed all emissions equipment to my rebuilt motor(all except aiv aka smogpump cause i cant find one). Either way some people i talked with said it wouldnt matter for the low end HC's. Either way I PASSED everything else, including High rpm HC(hydrocarbons). The only thing i failed was low end (idle) HC. My pathy smells "rich" when at idle, and only idle. What am i missing? what "Leans" out my exhaust? PLEASE HELP this is my only car and only have a month to fix.

you wouldnt happen to know if they have an AIV cannister? I cant find one around here that isnt rusted out.

I have spent the day trying to teach myself the emission systems for my 89 pathfinder. In doing so I began documenting it, and figure I would share what I have found. One system I'm still having difficulty understanding(because of lack of documentation, and diagrams) is the AIV system, so if somone can explain it I would greatly appreciate it. Also over the next few days...weeks, im fixing my emissions, and will take pics, to aply to this right up. Also if I got something wrong, please let me know, cause this is the first time ive ever tackled emissions. Thanks Scara PCV system The pcv system(positive crankcase ventilation) was created to decrease sludge, and unburned hydrocarbons. This system is based of the fact that when the engine is running a small amount of gas escapes the piston rings and gets pumped into the crankcase. The pcv systems purpose is take these gas's and pump them back into the combustion chamber. How it works. From the Air cleaner/filter assembly clean air is directed into the valve covers. From here it enters the crankcase where the air combines with the gas's in the crankcase. Once the gas's are combined, they exit on the alternate valve cover. From this valve cover, the gas is directed to the PCV valve which is connected to the intake manifold, to be combusted. NOTE: at low speeds, the valve is partially open, as speed increases, so does the opening of the valve. NOTE:if PCV is closed, broken etc, it can cause oil leaks at gaskets, oil pan, etc. Evaporative Emission Control system The purpose of this system is to resolve the problem caused by escaping gas(from tank) fumes. The parts involved are the GAS TANK, VAPOR/LIQUID SEPARATOR(ALSO KNOWN AS FUEL CHECK VALVE), VAPOR VENT LINE, CABON CANISTER, VACUUM SIGNAL LINE, AND CANISTER PURGE LINE. How it works. From the gas tank a vent line runs to the FUEL CHECK VALVE. The FUEL CHECK VALVE has 2 inputs. The fuel tank runs one end of the valve, while the other connects to the carbon canister side. Inside the valve, liquid gas funnels back down the input of the fuel tank, while the vapors continue on to the canister. Once the vapor has left the fuel check valve, it goes to the charcoal canister. While stopped or at idle, the canister holds the captured vapors. Then as rpm(throttle) increases, this causes a vacuum which opens the purge control valve, cleaning out trapped vapors. These Vapors coming from the purge valve, go directly to the intake manifold, to be burned. NOTE: the canister has 3 lines. 1-vapors coming from the Fuel check valve 2-Vacuum line that connects to the throttle body(top connector) 3-purge line, which goes to the intake manifold.(bottom connector) NOTE: to test the Fuel check valve 1-blow through gas input, you should have a lot of resistance. 2-blow through the canister side, you should have no resistance. Automatic temperature controlled(ATC) air cleaner. This system deals with how temperature effects air/fuel mixture, and ultimately the atomization of fuel. For example when the intake air is cold, as well as the engine has a more difficult time atomizing. The result is more hydrocarbons in the exhaust. So this system basically does the following, when the engine is cold, it causes hot air to be drawn in, when the vehicle reaches operating temperature, it draws cool air. How it works. Inside the air cleaner there is the ATC temp sensor. When the vehicle is “cold”, it causes a vacuum, as it heats up there is less vacuum. From the ATC sensor a vacuum line runs to the ATC vacuum motor. The ATC opens or closes(ie directing cold or hot air) altering the intake air locations. The 2 air intake locations are from the manifold(there is a shroud where the snorkel connects), or from outside the vehicle. Exhaust Gas Recirculation(EGR) system. The purpose of this system is to take exhaust gas's from the engine and direct them back into the combustion chamber. How it works. Behind your intake manifold, is the EGR valve. This valve is bolted to the intake manifold. It has 2 connections. 1-connection one is from your exhaust(it's the big connection) 2-is a vacuum line connection, that is on top of EGR. When there is no vacuum pressure applied to the EGR, the recirculated gas IN NOT entering the intake manifold. From the EGR Valve vacuum line, you connect to the Thermal Vacuum Valve(TVV). This valves function is to keep the vacuum off, until the engine is at a temp of 134-145 F. At which point it opens allowing the EGR control solenoid to apply a vacuum. There are 2 connections to this device. 1-vacuum line from EGR Control Valve 2-Vacuum line from EGR Control Solenoid The EGR Control solenoid has 3 visible connections. 1-Vacuum line from TVV(and ultimately EGR Valve) 2-Vacuum line that connects to the air cleaner. 3-Wiring harness that controls open/closing of the EGR control Solenoid. Air induction Valve(AIV) system. The purpose of this system is to allow air into the exhaust. When these hot exhaust gas's are introduced to Air(oxygen), additional “burning” of the exhaust gas's will occur, reducing your emissions. What makes this system seem complex is what occurs in the air induction valve. NOTE: The air induction valve(round clam/shell looking device). While it seems relatively easy to “Push” air into the exhaust, but because of physics, there is a chance you can get “blowback”, ie exhaust gas's not going out your tailpipe, but rather exiting at the AIV. So the AIV has 2 reed valves to prevent this. That all I can figure out on AIV so far

Cheers all Well it's been a year, and time for emissions. My problem is im still abit intimidated by what to do. I failed last year, and recieved a year waver. Durring that time i rebuilt the motor. I believe im running rich right now(can smell alot of exhaust), and when i got my pf running after engine rebuilt, I basically plugged all the hoses, vacuum lines etc. Now im having to "reinstall" everything, and dont have a clue. so if you all could help it would be appreciated. tomorrow im doing my MAF cleaning, and try to check my temp sensor(i just read this can cause me to run rich) 1st-what is the most important emissions device(other than o2 sensor) EGR? And if it is egr, where do the vacuum lines, etc connect? 2nd-on the drivers side, there is a canister(black and round, carbon cansiter?)what does it do, and how do i wire the vacuum lines? 3rd-infront of the canister above(near the grill, and next to the coil) is a clamshapped looking box(smog box?) that has more lines running to it with some valves etc, My problem is a)dont know what the hell it does, b)how it's wired. and lasty ITS RUSTED OUT. I have checked the scrap yards for a year looking for a replacement, and they are either rusted out, or somone else got before me. 4th-My chiltons has a real bad "wiring" diagram i cant make sense out of, could somone please simplify, what vacuums go where etc. If you guys would please give me some guidence, and list what the most important emissions devices to the least. Thanks folks