Slartibartfast

Finally got my ECU trouble light relocation done thanks to some scrap parts and a thread on Infamous. Would've been easier if I installed the LEDs the right way around the first time but it's done now. Hopefully I don't need to use it any time soon, but if I do have a problem, at least I won't be screwing around under the passenger's seat.

If you suspect an injector is stuck open or closed, or clogged, try pulling the plugs and see if one cylinder is notably richer/leaner than the rest.

Dunno if it did, but I've got a few dead switches I've been meaning to get to, and some LEDs that are easy enough to hack in. I fixed the dimmer already and IIRC the hazard switch illuminates but the rest are dead. Of course, the fun part is getting them out of the dashboard... if/when I work up the enthusiasm for that I'll take a few pics at least.

What kind of shape are the belts in? Any cracking/glazing? A friend of mine had an annoying chirp on his Blazer that ended up being that the P/S pulley was driven onto the shaft just a little too far, so it wasn't lined up quite right with the other pulleys. That one took a while to figure out.

Doesn't sound like a torque convertor issue. I think you'd have no gears at that point. I would investigate those hanging wires. Could be they got torn loose by road debris or something. +1 on the service manual, if it's got a shift solenoid that's not connected it can tell you that.

I've heard of knock sensors going off for things like loose heat shields but not for exhaust leaks. If the leak is bad enough, I guess it's possible that your oxygen sensor could be confused. If the leak got much worse at the same time that it lost power, this might make sense. As for disconnecting the knock sensor without pulling the manifold, all I can think of is removing the relevant wire from the ECU plug. I remember someone talking about re-pinning that plug to use a different ECU so it should be possible to pop the connector out, then put it back, without cutting wires. I would also be very surprised if the knock sensor was retarding timing enough to make it idle that low. Thinking about this I have two dumb suggestions. One is that the timing could be wrong (loose distributor moving around on its own or the timing belt jumped a tooth). The other is that the EGR valve could be stuck. You can check timing with a light (though it won't be the 15° you're looking for until it's warmed up) and see if the distributor will turn in the head by hand. For the EGR valve, it's got that diaphragm you can see from underneath. If you push that diaphragm up, it opens the EGR valve, which should at least drop the idle. If it doesn't change the idle, or you can't get it to move, it could be that your EGR valve is either stuck inside or getting vacuum when it shouldn't.

That sucks! Unfortunately the way the pump is built, it sort of has part of the side walls of the timing cover built into it, so, no, it's not coming out without the belt coming out.

And check your frame!

The knock code is probably because it's running funny. Not uncommon for it to crop up with other codes. As for the MAF, the grounds on them go bad sometimes. How's the connector look? You might try running an extra ground wire.

First I've heard of that being an issue, guess it depends on how much you're going to use the air with it idling though. Seems like the easiest thing would be to tap into the idle kickup switch on the power steering. Doesn't kick it up far but might be good enough. I haven't done it myself but I know at least one guy on here has repurposed his A/C compressor for air.

When I did the TB on my '93 I ended up taking the manifold off and cleaning out under it. There was a lot of rat crap under there and I was a bit worried that I'd drop something crunchy into the cylinders when I replaced the plugs if I didn't give it a good cleaning first. One tip, don't get the crap stamped-steel Victor Reinz gaskets for the intake. I did and they were useless. Too thin so nothing lined up properly, and with the pitting on the heads, there was no way they'd hold coolant for long. I tore that crap back out and got a Fel-Pro set that fit perfectly. Good call on the valve cover gaskets, but yeah, the head gaskets are not a common weak point on these.

I'm thinking of something sort of like what Nissan Nut did, shove the e-brake over/add cup holders and make a new riser for the arm rest/console box, except use the ammo can instead of the rattly plastic bollocks. I'm toying with the idea of making the ammo can removable, buckled down or held in by magnets or something. Might be helpful in an emergency to have road flares/aid/etc in there so I can just grab it and go if needed. I'll make a thread when I get around to doing something with it. I've got the can already and it'll fit no problem, it's just a matter of making up the rest of the console to go with it.

Interesting. Yeah, my guess then would be that you've got a small injector leak. The fuel rail is still pressurized when the truck sits, so a small leak would mean that over time that fuel makes its way into that cylinder. On a hot start, it wouldn't have time to leak much; on a cold start, the fuel would drain past the rings into the sump. How's your oil look? Any gas smell? You don't want gas thinning out your oil, that happened to my cousin's Spitfire (mechanical fuel pump diaphragm failed) and by the time she figured out why the oil level was so high, the bearings were toast. You could pull out the injector rails, turn on the ignition so the pump pressurizes the system, then see if one or more injectors are piddling. That means taking the intake apart but it would give you a pretty good idea of what's going on. You might be able to get some idea from pulling the plugs and looking for a rich one, on the off chance the leak is fast enough to make it run rich once the engine's running, but if it is a leaking injector you'll likely have to dig in to get them out anyway. You might also try sticking a boreoscope camera down the spark plug holes. I got a cheap USB one for $20 off Amazon. That might help you see which cylinder has fuel puddled in it, though you'll want to crank the motor over a couple times before checking, as the fuel may be puddled behind the intake valve instead if the engine stops with that particular valve closed.

Tough to know. Could be the amps crapping out, could be wiring issues. If your '95 is like mine was, both audio amps are behind the plastic on the passenger's side of the cargo area. Unplug those and see if the remaining speakers quit. If they do, then your stereo is wired though them... if not then they've been bypassed already. I would take out the head unit and see what the wiring looks like behind it. Stereo wiring isn't that complicated but boy do some people screw it up. When I got my '93, the passenger's side door speaker was kaput. Turned out the last guy's crimp connector had trapped water and rotted through one of the wires.

I have no idea how to work with that box but I'd check the service manual for ideas. The WD21 alarms have a button hiding under a label, and pressing the button lets you pair it to your remote. I don't know if they did something similar for later models but I imagine something of that nature will be required for your keyfob to work. The flickering dome light sounds more like the door switches to me. When I converted my dome and footwell lights to LEDs I noticed that they flickered if the passenger's door was open. (Harder to notice with the factory bulbs.) Turned out that little push switch was dirty/corroded inside. If your switch is making intermittent contact while the door is shut, that could explain why your alarm keeps going off. No idea if this was causing alarm issues, it's not as integrated on a WD21 and also I keep mine turned off.

Yeah, the round dash trucks have the cruise going through wipers behind the wheel but a '91 should have it on the stalk.

Huh. It's like the starter is hitting much higher compression on one cylinder. And then it starts up fine. Any loss of coolant, oil consumption, horrible fuel mileage, codes? I'm wondering if something is leaking into one of the cylinders, raising compression like a hydrolock, and being blown out when the engine starts.

Bearing wear? Like the main bearings are bad enough for the crankshaft to move around and wallow out the seal? I agree with Cuong, you'd have more to worry about than a leak if that was the case. I find it easier to believe that the shaft was nicked (by them removing the seal or by the last guy to try and fix it) and either they didn't get it smooth enough or they sanded too much material off to where the seal doesn't seal. That, or the leak is coming from somewhere else.

Worth a read: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/33748-harbingers-automatic-to-manual-transmission-swap/

Not the greatest pic through the wheel well but should give you some idea.

IIRC I just hacked off what I could and wired up the rest like you would a bread bag. Hose clamps would be better if you can get them in there. It's still parked out by the shop (what's left of it) so I'll see about getting a picture when it's light out.

Possible I guess, and I have heard of some weird issues caused by failed or failing temp sensors. I would expect it to continue running rich after it starts up though. That's the confusing bit, that it runs fine once it's started. The regulator is by the firewall on my '93 and I didn't have to remove the manifold to replace the vac line, but it is kind of a braille job. I haven't tried it on an R50 so I don't know if they managed to mount more stuff in the way of yours. Again, though, I would expect a screwy regulator to give you trouble while it's running, not just starting. When you turn on the ignition, the pump starts and makes up for any lost pressure in the fuel line pretty quickly, so I'm thinking your fuel spray and the engine starting may have been coincidental. Also, I doubt this is the issue, but you did set timing with the engine warm, right? And the dizzy's still locked down?

Can't really make out the sound in the video but my first thought is heat shields. My '95 had a pretty good rattle off the shields on the downpipes. The shields rot around the spot welds, get a little loose, and rattle against each other and the exhaust. I tried to work mine free but the other welds were still holding and were tough to get to with tools, so I just wrapped baling wire around them and twisted the ends until what was left of the shields were held tight against the tubes.

Went out with a friend and tried to take the long way around on a National Forest road. Decent road, great views, nothing challenging (unless you count the rear end getting light on the washboards) and then we come around a corner and there's maybe 8" of wet snow (with more in places). Neither of us had the right tires for snow and it was deep enough that we were both dragging our skids. His Blazer got stuck, the Pathy pulled it out, and we decided that we'd come back later this summer once the snow is off. Nice to get off pavement though.