Slartibartfast

I pulled out the evap box to figure out why my heater whistled and struggled to move air. The evap core was chock full of pine needles and mud that probably used to be pine needles, which explains a lot. With that in the bin, and a fistful of mouse nest removed from below the heater core, the system is stronger, quieter, and at least 70% less likely to give the gift of hantavirus. Cuong, do you hear the pump priming when you turn the key?

I would start by pulling the belt and checking that the pulley spins without obvious play, noise, or tight spots. I would try cold-starting it with the belt completely off to see if the noise goes away. If it does, you're on the right track. If not, your princess is in another castle. If the bearings are fine, but something's still squealing, you might try a different brand of belt before taking the clutch apart. The service manual doesn't even show that there is a bearing. I assume it's pressed into the pulley, and would come off the compressor snout with it, then come out of the pulley with a press (or a hammer and a socket). If the bearing is roached, chances are it's an off-the-shelf part that you could look up by the numbers on the sides. Before tracking down the bearing, examine the clutch and pulley to make sure they're not worn out, too.

Good to hear you got it! Intermittent failures can be a pain to track down.

As usual I would start with the service manuals for the Z and the R50. They won't come right out and say "yeah, you can totally bolt a transfer case to a Z tranny and here's the part number for the adapter," and they don't call out the part number unless there's more than one option, but the gear ratios are in the SDS at the end of the MT section and the exploded diagrams might give you some idea of whether the 2WD tailshaft unbolts and shares a bolt pattern with the transfer case. I wouldn't be shocked if you needed a different output shaft for the trans to couple it to the transfer if it does bolt up. You might also compare the Z to the 2WD R50. If they're built similarly, you might be able to find a 2WD to 4WD R50 thread explaining what's needed, though given the rarity of manual VQ R50s, you still might not find one to meet your specific needs.

Interesting. Does the actuator itself look like it comes apart? I opened one of the actuators in mine just to see what was inside and it came apart pretty easily, and wasn't all that complicated inside. I'd be curious to pop the actuator open and see if there's obvious dirt or wear on the contacts and pads that report what position the door is in. If the blend door has spent most of its life in or near the one position, all the wear on the internals will be in that one spot. A faulty sensor could be making it telling it it's more open or closed than it is, so the computer is trying to correct it based on faulty data. I would also want to check that the door isn't hung up on something that's preventing it from closing all the way (making the servo push, realize it's stalling out, back off, try again). I dunno, something to check if the new HVAC control head doesn't sort it out. I'm working on a neighbor's '66 C10, and two of the three climate control levers are busted off. He said he would just reach under the dash a few times a year and set it "for the season." Much easier to do on that truck!

First thing to do is check the injectors and see if they are in fact out of spec again. If they seem okay, you could unplug the computer and check the resistance of the whole circuit to see if there's a wiring issue. EF&EC 120 of the '89 manual has a circuit diagram and list of checks that I assume is the same for '88, I can send you a link to the PDF if you want.

My dad's Allroad has air ride. It's a cool feature. It leaks down overnight, and we haven't found the leak yet, but I'm sure whatever's losing air will be expensive to repair when it finishes dying. I've heard of 4x4s with air-ride, usually in similar terms. Neat party trick until it goes wrong. I won't call bagging an R51 impossible, but it wouldn't be easy, and any fuel savings you might see would absolutely not pay for the parts and the fabrication you'd need to make it work.

That's unhelpful. You may be able to measure the air gap from the outside of the clutch. Set up a piece of flat stock across the clutch hub, measure the gap between that and the clutch disk, then press the disc against the pulley and measure the gap again, and the difference is your air gap. Or, if the clutch isn't recessed into the pulley enough that it's completely shrouded, you could press the disk, measure from the back of the pulley to the front of the clutch with calipers, then release the clutch and measure again. If measuring fractions of a millimeter while holding a clutch down doesn't work out, and it's not obviously dragging or sticking out half an inch past where it should be, I would just send it and see how it goes. If it engages and disengages and doesn't make horrible squealing noises, call it good. If not, adjust as necessary. I had to adjust the aircon clutch on my friend's S10 to get it to quit squealing (brand new compressor that came with the clutch installed, guess they didn't set the gap right) and it didn't take much additional gap to shut it up. Looking at the diagram, a piece of aluminum foil tape over the spacer might do the trick if you find yourself in a similar situation. The service manual suggests engaging and disengaging the clutch about thirty times to break it in.

Wow! Yeah, no surprise that's making it unhappy. The auto climate in the WD21 has a hose off the back of the climate control head unit and a little fan drawing air constantly. The service manual says to check if it's working by holding a lit cigarette in front of the grille, which is next to the buttons and sliders. Speaking of smoking, the PO did, so I'll bet mine looks like yours inside! Something else to check the next time I've got the dash apart.

I've heard that the VG30 heads will fit a VG33 block, but the coolant passages don't match up, so there's some screwing around you have to do to make them work. Easier (and almost certainly better) to use the right heads. I'd be concerned about what else was wrong with an engine with a blown head gasket or that was already stripped to a short block. Your VG30 intake will bolt to the VG33. Use the VG30 intake gasket set. The VG33 exhaust manifold studs are larger, so you'll have to enlarge the holes in your manifolds if you're re-using them. IIRC the oil pan and possibly the pickup tube need either swapping or modification to clear the front diff, depending on what your donor is. Rockclymr's correct on the sprockets. Make sure you get the round-tooth belt to match the round-tooth sprockets. The balancer is the biggest stumbling block to the VG33 swap. The VG33 crank snout is thicker, so your VG30 balancer won't fit. I've heard of people using the VG30 crank and oil pump in the VG33, so they can keep the stock balancer, but that's an awful lot of work just to use inferior parts. Boring out the VG30 balancer leaves it scary thin from what I've read. There was a one-year-only Canada-only factory balancer that would marry the VG33 crank to the VG30 pulleys, but naturally they're unobtanium now. Mr. 510 makes an aluminum ring that replaces the balancer and allows you to bolt the V-belt pulleys to the VG33 crank without modifying anything else. He reckons the engine is fine without the balancer. The other option is to forget about keeping the v-belts and run the engine just like it was in the donor, accessories and all. Xterra/Frontier VG33s have their accessories in the same places and are supposed to fit pretty well. R50 VG33s swapped stuff around, so they'll fight you more, but I think someone on here made it work anyway. I'm not sure whether the later aircon pump will take the WD21 lines, but the alt and the power steering should be pretty easy to set up. If you haven't seen it yet, Mr. 510's VG34 swap thread has a lot of good info for the VG33 swap, even if you're not boring yours out for bigger pistons like he did. He doesn't come around here much anymore but he's active on the NPORA Facebook page (as David Carroll).

There is some variation in actual tire diameter vs what it says on the sidewall, and not just on worn tires. It's also possible the Australian market got a different (locally sourced?) tow bar with slightly different dimensions.

I think DBW started in '03, but Nissan tends to change stuff over mid-year just to be that way. I would assume you're on the right track, and an auto trans engine from the same year with your old intake and the right pilot bearing would do the trick, but I don't know the VQ. Might be some good info here, though that's more between years than auto vs manual. The only other idea I've got is to check the service manual for your year and see how much in the EM section is marked as different for AT vs MT.

Good to hear you got it! Sounds like it was pretty far off.

My '95 didn't idle or shift any differently after I cleaned its throttle body. That was an entirely different computer and a different idle control setup, of course, but I'm still surprised cleaning the TB threw yours off that much. If the vac lines are correct, the throttle body gasket isn't trashed, and the FIC isn't stuck wide open for some reason, maybe someone adjusted yours out of spec to compensate for the dirty throttle body? If that's the case, then it sounds like you're on the right track towards sorting it out. The '97 service manual (I assume '99 is the same) shows a procedure to set the FIC on EC-27, and idle speed/timing/mixture adjustment starting on EC-29. The flashing OD light indicates a trouble code. If it does it again, and you happen to note which flicker is longer, you can decode that using the AT section of the manual. I assume anything that would trigger a code via the old blinky-lights OBD will also set an OBDII code, though, so if you've got an OBDII scanner, just use that. You may have already addressed what it was unhappy about. I very much doubt you messed up the throttle body that much with a Scotchbrite pad.

It would be the PCV that's sending the evaporating kerosene into the intake, but yeah. Should be alright. The risk of doing a flush like this is that the schmoo that comes loose could end up somewhere it shouldn't be, potentially clogging an oil passage. Unless your engine's heavily sludged and your oil filter is bypassing, it should be fine. Years ago I did something similar with ATF, which I was told had more detergents in it than engine oil and would help clean things up. I thought the oil came out a little darker than usual, so it might've done something. EM-33 of the '95 manual says to check the lifter by pressing forcefully with your finger. If the lifter moves more than a millimeter, it's got air in it. This suggests that your lifters not moving when pressed does not indicate a problem. Their recommended fix for a lifter with air in it is to run the engine at 1000 rpm for ten minutes. If that doesn't do it, replace the lifters and then do the 1000 rpm for ten minutes again. The only inspection they show for the lifters is to make sure the outside isn't scuffed or scratched, the OD hasn't worn undersize, and the bore in the head that the lifter slides in hasn't worn oversize. The manual has specs for the lifter, head, and clearance between them.

Sounds like the rear suspension link bushings are going.

You can suck out what's in the res with a turkey baster and refill it with fresh stuff to replace some of it. Draining everything would mean disconnecting the rack, and I wouldn't bother unless the old fluid is dead awful nasty. Either way, new fluid won't do anything for the steering play, though the pump might appreciate it. When I replaced the steering box on mine, I took the res off the truck, cleaned it out, cleaned the little filter inside, and stuck a magnet in there while I was at it. This was almost certainly more attention than it deserved. Can't hurt. Might help. My steering still sucks, but at least part of it is clean.

No heat could very well have been a symptom of low coolant. Coolant in a cylinder ain't good. Figure out the engine side of things and see if that doesn't resolve your heater issue too before messing around under the dash.

Yeah, mine looked fine too until I tried to scrape the loose rust off. Hopefully it's not worse than it looks and plating gives it a new lease on life.

Doing one side should be fine. Make sure everything's properly lubed going in. I haven't done a lifter replacement, but the IIRC the service manual has a whole procedure for making sure they're primed right before you put them in. Do the compression test first. If a valve isn't closing, you'll have no compression on that cylinder. If that's the case, you will need to remove the head to correct whatever is wrong with the valve. (I would have a look down the intake or exhaust port before pulling the head to see if there's some obvious foreign object or chunk of carbon holding the valve open, something I might be able to pull out without removing the head, but this is a very long shot.) If it's not a valve, I'd assume it's a lifter, unless you see something else obviously wrong. You might be able to identify the bad lifter by which rocker arm is loose when its valve should be closed, but I'm not sure this works the same on hydraulic lifter engines as on solid lifter engines. Mr. 510 had a retainer bolt come loose on his somehow which caused a ticking noise and some unusual camshaft wear. I haven't heard of anyone else having that problem, but if you don't find a smoking gun, it's one more thing to check. I've seen Seafoam recommended, but I haven't done a crankcase flush with it myself. Might be worth a shot if it passes the compression test. I can understand being leery of letting it run and warm up while it's making that noise, though.

Failing as it warms up makes me suspect a sensor or other electronic component flaking out. Position sensor, maybe? I'd say coil pack but I'd expect that to code. If you have a scanner that can read pending codes, see if it's got any of those. I would also check the fuel trims with the scanner to see if anything's obviously weird there that could indicate an air or fuel issue.

Sounds like a lifter to me. Mine clatters on cold starts in freezing temps, but only for a moment until oil pressure reaches the lifters. You may have a lifter that's not pumping up, possibly due to schmoo buildup if it sat a lot and saw infrequent maintenance. How's the inside of the head look under the oil cap? You might get lucky and get the lifter unstuck with an oil flush treatment. If that doesn't do it, you can get to the lifters without pulling the head. Expect to replace the valve cover gaskets while you're in there, they're almost certainly shot if they're original. If you haven't yet, download the service manual here and check out the EM section.

Side patches would buy some time. I would want to cut out as much of the rot as possible, but if it's like mine was, you'll have to stop somewhere before you run out of metal. I like the idea of the box section, seems like that would add a lot more strength than just plating the outside. The quarter plate might be a bit overkill, though. When I found the frame rust on my '95, I knocked off the loose stuff and my uncle welded plates (I think we used 1/8") over the outside of both rails. We made the plates the full height of the frame and as long as we could get to through the wheel well (though one side stopped at the panhard bracket). When my uncle welded them on, though, he said the welder kept blowing holes in the frame rails, suggesting that the frame was thin in a lot of places that hadn't broken through yet. Then I found rust in the bottom of the driver's side frame rail, where it runs parallel to the exhaust. I suspect the bottom of both rails was compromised from the lower link mounts back. Cutting out all the cancer and rebuilding it from fresh steel wasn't possible with my skills and resources at the time. We went looking for a frame donor and instead found my current '93.

This thread's probably got the best pictures you're gonna find. There should be a diagram in the service manual (get it here for free) that makes their location and function clearer. If you have a '98, though, good news! Your VG33E doesn't have power valves or swirl valves.

Been there, though thankfully not on an auto trans. Running it without a magnet isn't ideal, but I wouldn't call it unsafe. I doubt slapping a magnet on the outside of the pan would do a whole lot. If you can work out what threads the stock drain plug uses, you might find a magnetic plug from something else that will fit. That would be better than nothing. The Magnefine filters are nice because they catch non-ferrous crap, too. I've got a plastic one on my '93 and haven't had any issues with it, though I've heard the same about some of them not being sealed right. You wouldn't have to drain the trans to install it. It can't catch anything until it's already gone through the pump, though. I guess it comes down to whether you're gonna worry about it if you don't do it right. If you're not that worried about it, put a Magnefine on it, find a magnetic plug if you can, and send it, and it'll probably be fine. If knowing it's not right is gonna bother you, drop the pan again.