fixinto

I am not sure of the year range of the power valve screw problem. IF that is what happened ....ouch. Does the noise sound like it is in the valve train or the block? is it a deep booming ping or more of ticking? Did you make sure your oil was at a good level? Does the noise ever stop for a brief period of time and then continue? Did you double check everything and make sure something isnt into your pulley system or rubbing on the belt? "probably wishful thinking there" I have a 96 so i am not overly familiar with this problem, from what i have read sometimes the screw will work itself free and pass through the head without touching a thing, sometimes it is completely catastrophic. If you are sure it is inside the engine. I would at least go down far enough to investigate the screws themselves and see if any came out. if so....the only thing left to do is to assess the damage and figure out if you need a new or "new used motor" or if you just need head work or whatever. If it didn't scare up your cylinder walls, you may be able to scope it and remove it through the spark plug hole without removing the head.. if not. You have a lot of work ahead of you sir. Just try to think logically, and scope out the situation the best you can before determining your course of action is all ic an tell you at this point. GL with your Pathfinder Pat

I align mine using strings tied to jack stands laid along the back sidewall on the tire, then tie it to a jackstand in the front "along the sidewall again. "do that on both sides and measure the distance between the sidewall and the string in the front. "rear of the front tire and front of the front tire, "along the sidewall to the string" If it is different on each side, adjust it until both sides are within spec. I love only being able to adjust toe, as long as your suspension components are good. saves a lot of jack, not going to give anyone 100 bux to undo a lock nut and do half a turn retighten lock nut. same mind set as i am not paying 600 per side for struts. /shrug havent messed anything up yet doing it that way. Pat

DANG!, was watching this with interest. hope he didn't have to ditch er. Maybe we will get an update whenever he gets time. Sad situation for sure.

My 3.3 only takes 3.8 qts with filter. ;P

Nice job, looks really good man.

Effin sweet!! Happy to hear you are pretty much there!!!! Been a long road, congratz. Hopefully its not a premature gratz "again" Pat

T belt is 100k for R50 IIRC. Jeff, A timing light will just tell you that the crank is in time with the number 1 ignition. I personally would also think if it was a tooth off it would be an all the time thing as well. Same with a compression leak on that cylinder. P0302 cylinder 2 misfire. I didnt realize our ECU setup could monitor individual cylinders, thats kind of cool. So 2 steps. 1 figure out if the misfire is due to fuel or spark. 2. find out what the heck it is. so the theory about the clogged rail may be out, because it seems like all of them would be fuel starved, not just the #2. Ohming the injectors seems ok. you don't have to look up what the resistance are, just hit 3 and they should all read pretty much the same. change the number 2 spark plug wire with another one to see if it follows the wire. that will eliminate that if it isnt faulty. For instance, just swap the number 2 and number 4 on plugs and the dizzy. "if you can get the length out of them" or if you changed them and saved some of the old ones as backup like i do, swap it with an old one. You cant really reach the injector plugs on the even side without ripping the intake off. kindof a long way to go for an ohm reading. I would do that after i ran out of options, if the injector plug was damaged or corroded, it seems like the misfire would be more consistent. General air intake, or General fuel delivery is out because it would take out bother sides of the motor, so its something specific to the number 2. While you are pulling the plug wires to swap them, inspect the number 2 spark plug, during the starter fluid days, it may have simply fouled that plug for whatever reason. while you have the plug out, get a step stool or something and look down in the spark plug hole and see if you see any liquid. If you do see liquid reflecting back at you, shake the truck and see if the liquid moves easily, if not, its oil, meaning your valve stem seal is probably leaking badly after its warmed up, or coolant if it moves easily meaning the dreaded Head gasket leak. Now that the hard start is fixed "hopefully" I am starting to think maybe it is something easy. Let me get this right, u have new plugs, wires, and dizzy all done as maintenance while chasing the hard start? I am curious as to when it started doing it. when it was having a problem with hard starts and you used starter fluid, did it misfire when it started? or did it start misfiring and stumbling on fire up after you replaced the vacuum cut valve? Just as a precaution double check all of your work back there, im not sure why it would cause a #2 cylinder misfire, but the gurgle gurgle when it misfires is still bugging me. the thing that keeps bugging me is how a vacuum cut valve or any of that system in general would cause a number 2 misfire. YOu said you got your obdII ready at HF? next time you have an issue stop at an auto parts store and have them read the code for you just to verify the OBD you bought is doing its job correctly. Some things from there i would by all day long, other things, well not so much, i have seen some fairly shady quality control stuff from there. Rear is dragging on a Friday night have a large list of "to do" for tomorrow, going to hit it. Hopefully you get her lined out man Pat

Good point, ^ i hadn't even thought of that. pat

cool i hope that fixes it, fingers are crossed. but thinking about it logically, i see misfires in your future ;P reason being its only one bank. usually a vacuum leak bad enough to misfire causes misfire on both banks due to the way our intake system is set up. but here is to hope, i even have a slim theory to maybe fit it. The EGR tube "metal one connecting to the egr valve" could be sucking clean air in through the egr vacuum leak and back into the exhaust manifold causing too much O2 to be read on that sensor. =) So slim as it may be, it is possible that you are good to go. Pat

Also, there is a rubber tube in the front and the back connecting the rails together. The manual says do not disassemble blah blah blah. However.....what if the rear tube is clogged to the even number cylinder rail? then misfire till everything gets up to speed and the fuel regulator closes to get max pressure once vacuum drops. LONG shot again. but im running out of things that are bank 2 related. almost has to be an injector clogged, or the fuel to the rail isnt happy. but if it were a "bad injector" or "bad wiring" it wouldnt line out once it stumbles and misfires. It would generally misfire all the time or work all the time. unless the wiring is "just now" going bad or a little loose and the vibrations cause it, but thats pretty slim. so im leaning toward a clogged injector bank 2 or clogged rail delivery. after the ecu has the initial +20 it makes it rich enough to get rid of the misfire and lean reading on the O2 so it smooths out. hmm thats all i got right now man. hope it helps. pat

OK, this is a new thing. Ask yourself "what did i change or mess with before this started happening" I know you messed with a lot of stuff before you made it to the vacuum cut valve for the hard start problem. OR did it start directly after the cut valve replacement? I was going to suggest that the Long term trims are just needing to adjust for no vacuum leak at start up, but its only bank 2. So what would cause lack of fuel on bank two when the truck is warm. I keep coming back to injector problems. The down stream O2 don't control fuel trims at all on our ride, they r there for emissions monitoring only. "under normal circumstances" so that leaves you with poor fuel delivery on bank two. you said you replaced the number 2 cylinder injector? what if its bank 2, so it could of been 2, 4, or 6. u went all that way and swapped the wrong one? May be worth investigating. The only reason i keep saying bank two is because i didn't think we could monitor each cylinder on a misfire, but i havent had misfire codes on mine so i havent seen it first hand. it wouldn't be spark because it is adding fuel. so we are left with, number 2 wiring harness issue, but you confirmed your number 2 injector was clicking away. I could be wrong but bank two cylinder misfire from a lean condition fits here, and there are 2 more injectors there. Maybe one of those are not energizing properly when hot. I am not sure, I am reaching a little or maybe even a lot. but bank 2 fuel trims match my theory. I am out of ideas right now. I will check back every now and then to see what the deal is. But hopefully my rambling will at least get you headed in the right direction. Good Luck and please let me know Pat

Strong smelling exhaust on start and not starting when damp and cold seems like electrical. I don't think it would be a plug wire, one wire shouldnt cause a no start just a miss after start. I would start with the Dizzy work that was done. Make sure the seal is good, the cap isnt cracked. Next time it happens, dont crank it overly much if it dont fire the first few cranks. Unplug the MAF connector and see if it will fire up. It may not rev over 2k rpms but it will give you a starting place. I think most of what i said was mentioned above. hope you get it lined out pat

Thanks for the info. =)

the small "box" under the intake piping is to reduce noise during the air intake. I have been thinking about a straight shot setup to just increase efficiency of air intake. But right now, the top of the list is the clutch.

Howdy, I just thought of something else. When i did some work on my R50 the driver side exhaust manifold was cracked in a couple of places but it didn't have a super loud exhaust leak or anything. But if you have a cracked exhaust manifold and it is letting outside air come in before the O2, it has been documented in places that it will cause the O2 sensor to read lean and try to comp for the extra air. /shrug, long shot i know, but who knows, I just figured i would throw it out there in the pile of other things it could be. pat

Cool man, I am rooting for you. Let me know how it turns out. I am getting ready to Drop the Trans in mine to put a clutch kit in it. Probably throw a new rear main seal in the engine, and front main in the trans while she is down. Fun times indeed. =)

Happy you got it going, however i threw up in my mouth a little when you said 7500. I paid 3100 for my whole R50 in 2008. just noticed this thread was a million years old =( Pat

LOL, Ya i feel ya about diggin the spooky chicks. I will also tell you what i Tell everyone else after they get the intake off and put it back on. Double , Triple, Quadrupedal, check the very small vacuum line in the rear of the intake that goes to the fuel regulator, that little sucker loves to pop off and make life poopie. Also, double check the IACV solenoid plug. A quick and dirty check would be to bump your steering wheel to one side while in park and see if it idles up a bit. Not sure how that would cause a cylinder 2 misfire or even a bank 2 misfire. still leaning toward something going on just with bank 2. wonkey O2 or something, not sure. Another question i am curious about is this, after it lines itself out and starts running normal do the fuel trims come down on bank two? SO strange. IF it wasn't such a pain to track down the nutty stuff, i would dare say it was interesting. "sorry i have a thing about puzzles or something" Not the pieces u put together, more like stuff you have to find with logical deduction mixed with some knowledge of what your doing. I hope you get it lined out. pat

I had another thought. Maybe its throwing a bank 2 misfire instead of a cylinder 2? look at the trims on all of the even cylinders see if they are large. -6 idle "ok" plus 14 idle WAY not ok. sounds like it is flooding out bank two during start up. the reason it does it warm is because the O2 sensors are active and it is reading a lean condition. so it sprays more fuel. this is classic intake gasket leak symptom. or clogged fuel rail on 2nd bank or perhaps a defective fuel regulator since bank 2 is furthest from the rail. Just a thought and a few things to consider before giving the stealership 800000000000000 dollars. You sound super resourceful and there are many many videos on finding a vacuum leak on the web. hope it is something easy like that. but hard to say. the way the intakes are put together it would be a little difficult to just leak on bank 2, although possible. Like i said check 2 / 4 / 6 fuel trims and see if they r all reporting lean. If they are, yep you guessed it, swap your O2's from side to side and see if the problem follows them. then u have it. I dont trust new parts 100 percent. I had to order 3 new waterpumps before i got a good one and lucky i checked them over before installation because i would have been pissed. lol Pat

IF it is only the number 2 cylinder. It has to be isolated to that one. I would probably inspect the wiring to the injector from the harness. If you have an ohm meter, or a test light just find the pin on the ecu that is a control wire for the injector #2 make sure it is doing its job. I would say just check it at the injector but with the 3.3l and the 3.0, and probably the 3.5 we all know its a huge pain in the but to get down there, plus the intake would be off when you can get to the plug. Not the easiest thing to do "pulling the ecu" and metering to make sure it is sending signal to ground the injector to activate it. Being that it clears up after getting going it is really a head scratcher. compression check that one cylinder and compare it to number one before u start the truck after its been sitting in the sun. unless you have damage internal to the dizzy cap at the number 2 post. "think you said it was new" wow, you pathy is being super naughty. =( be sure to talk nice to her while your looking at it. usually works on stubborn stuff. ;P i really hope you get it figured out. i would start to be getting frusterated at this point too. but the stealership would probably charge you a bucket of money just to go down and take a look because of removing the intake thing. Pat

not sure about the VQ but on the VG passenger lifter replacement wouldnt take long at all. after you pull the valve cover you have a few bolts holding the rocker rail on and after those come out there is the lifter guide plate, lifters will pop right out. Be sure the cam is on the flat side when you torque the rocker rail back to spec. or bad joo joo may ensue hehe. as in breaking a bolt off trying to torque it to 16ft lbs, seen a guy do it. he was not happy at all. pat

ya i was going to say throw a new plug and probably wire at it and tighten the plug down using German torque specs this time. (gudandtight) and you will probably be good to go. lol Pat

If you have an ABS error, it could be something as simple as debris in the toner wheel on the CV axle or damaged wire where it plugs in. or even the sensor could be unplugged if someone has worked on it recently. so i would yank my wheel on the front and check the toner ring on each side as well as the wiring to the sensor. Sometimes the rings crack and get just a hair out of spec so the sensor doesn't see them. but i havent had any problems with mine so far. Good Luck Pat

Good advise up top in a comment above this about pulling the cluster and cleaning it and tightening stuff up. Just use 90 percent alcohol and a q-tip and clean the contacts. where it plugs in. My dash cluster is the non-digital type and my tachometer went nutso and pegged past red line while i was idling, i bumped the dash a couple of times and could tell it had an effect on the tach so i pulled the cluster cleaned the contacts for the plugs and reflowed the stepper motors and electronics for the needles. That was over two years ago now and it still works like a champ. If you are not getting a CEL for O2 faults or rich / lean condition i wouldnt jack with the O2. usually if they are malfunctioning you will get some kind of check engine light. and if you have a code for bank1 or 2 sensor 2 they have nothing to do with fuel trims so no biggy. If you have a knock sensor ninja code that does not throw a light thats pretty much the norm for the mid to late 90's R50 and probably before that too. pretty much all i have right now. Pat

Maybe your AC compressor clutch is starting to get iffy? Whoosh sounds like Vacuum leak also. The squealing noise could be something as simple as a slipping Belt on the Compressor. Try to adjust the belt tension as they stretch over time as they wear. good rule of thumb is no more than 90 degrees of deflection. not sure why hitting the brake would make the squealing sound stop. .../shrug maybe the whoosh and the squeal are related, and maybe they r separate issues, its hard to say without sticking my head under the hood and poking around. I believe i saw above where someone said look for a leak in the vacuum and gave you a few good places to start. Dont forget the brake booster and the related hoses during your inspection. pat