Kingman

dammit, dammit, dammit. Just started doing it again, WTF. but for only like 2 or 3 seconds and then it would stop and then do it again. Ugh. Now when I start it, it sputters and blows black again. Can't get it back in the shop until monday...

Woohoo, got it back today. The shop charges $100 to change the plugs, and since they have been fowled 4 times now, and were sitting in gas for a few days, they had to be changed. It just wouldn't start. I told the guy I wasn't going to pay that just to have the plugs replaced, so he allowed me to come in and change them myself. Costless was having a good deal on NGK plugs, $1.19 a piece for the V-powers, which is the price of the crappy AutoLites. Fired right up after, and the exhaust no longer smelled rich like it always was, even when it wasn't having...issues. I was beginning to doubt his claim of the 117 amps of power, or ohms, whichever, so I had him show me the print out. Yeah, as the engine started to heat up, the sensor went nuts. Actually peaked at 179. Crazy huh? She's back, and running a whole hell of a lot better, has more power, doesn't bog, and I would assume better mileage now that the exhaust doesn't smell of gas, which I would assume it's not dumping as much gas into it on a regular basis.

What's the name of the shop you took it to?

That's exactly what it is. I replaced the thermosdat and coolant hoses almost a month ago, it was stuck and overheating like mad.

Just got the word. A Temp sensor inside the engine shorted out, giving the ECU 117 amps instead of 2.7-.3 amps. Basically, telling the computer it was -110 degrees in the Arctic. Therefore, flooding it out. Bad news: the sensor is INSIDE the engine, so they have to take basically the top end of the engine apart. $873.23 total.

Started acting up again, barely made it up a hill and died as I pulled into a parking lot to get it off the road. Then a few min later it started, and ran like crap and was blowing black, so I had a buddy follow me to school. I was barely able to nurse it there. Tow truck picked 'er up, and now I'm waiting to hear back from the shop. I took it to Ron's Automotive to see if they could find the problem when it wasn't acting up, they couldn't, but already have me on file and know all about it, so I'm priority. It was a cold mofo out this morning, I had ice on my windshield. Now to figure out how I'm going to get to school...

Z24 4 banger, or the 3.0 V6. Mine is the V6.

I'm not sure. I know it wont pass emissions without it, though. And if it's totally missing, the hole that it covers makes an extremely obnoxious noise. Hence why I stuck a cork in it till I could find one.

You can make anything work, it just depends on how much time, effort, and money you want to put into a project. I would just wonder if the engine is skinny enough to fit inside the engine compartment, and short enough not to interfere with the suspension

X2

Yeah, 8-10 are just things I threw out there, but they'd be nice You got it spot on with mother's day =P

Should have told them you were a Longshoreman, for the Port of Seattle The ports on the west coast use Americas Tire (Discount Tire) for all their tires, it's usually a 50-60% discount. I got 2 new all terrains that were usually $155 a piece for $82 a piece. Pretty good deal, eh? So with the discount, coulda gotten em for about $360 or so installed. Oh, they don't check to make sure you're telling the truth, I'd imagine since so little people know about this, they don't really pay attention. All I had to do was mention the Longshore discount, and he marked me off.

My mom knows how much I've been struggling to save up and pay for parts for my Pathy, so she decided that for my Christmas present, an early one at that, she would pay for any work that needs to be done to it, and maybe a few mods, within reason. So far I have: 1) Reed Valve (on the way, thanks Alkorahil!!!) 2) New oxygen sensor (on the way, from www.autopartswareouse.com, 3 wire) only $42 3) CV axle boots (both are busted) 4) Alignment 5) Valve cover gaskets 6) Fuel injectors (ecu finally gave me the code) 7) Blacked out rims from America's Tire CO. (with my dad's Longshore discount, save about 50-60%) 8) Steering stabilizer 9) MSD ignition, and all that good stuff 10) Fan shroud So, while I have the go-ahead on most of these parts (the essentials for now), is there anything else anyone would advise looking into and replacing while we're at it?

It might be your ignition switch shorting out? By the way you describe it, sounds like the engine is turning off for a split second? Like if you're driving down the road and you twist the key off then on quickly? Do you hit any bumps when this happens?

OMG! I've been going round and round with every single auto shop and the nissan dealership on what the Haynes manual calls a "reed valve" it's hooked to the air induction thing, which mine isnt really in that bad of shape, surprisingly. someone PLEASE tell me what the part is!!!!!! mine's totally rusted and gone, so I stuck a cork in the hole that little thing it covers.

Yeah, I'll ive that a shot next time it acts up, not gonna mess with anything because its running perfectly fine at the moment

how much was it to replace? and BTW...your bug thing made me flick my computer screen, and I got yelled at by the teacher LOL =P

It's not giving any codes at all, and I put a thing of Lucas in last time it happened

Well, this is the third time this has happened. Story goes, came back from the store, parked my truck, went to leave about a half hour later, and the damn thing wouldn't start, well run right. It started sputtering immediately, black pouring from the exhaust and reeking of gas from the engine. The only way to even get it barely started is to floor it and crank till it starts sputtering, but it won't rev above 1500rpm, and running like total crap. The last 3 times this has happened (about 3 months apart) I've had to pull the plugs and dry them off (they are soaked with gas) and take a wire spindle to them to remove the fouling. This is the solution to the problem when it happens, because it starts up, sputters and then clears out and runs PERFECTLY fine again afterwords. It's not putting out any codes or anything. I think it's a sensor of some sort, because of how intermittent it is, and it's literally a black and white situation. It does it, or it doesn't do it. I just don't know which one it could possibly be. Now that I think about it, the second time it happened, I was actually driving down the road and it started kicking and puffing out black. I was able to nurse it home, clean out the plugs and keep driving till earlier tonight when it did it again. Repeat, now it's running fine. The ignition is good, perfect spark on all cylinders. I'm also wondering if my poor fuel mileage and this problem are related... I drive 26 miles a day to school, I need this problem solved ASAP. Any ideas?

LOL, I used a standard grease gun, but I lost the needle-type attatchment, and went looking for the little thin straw you get with mosd WD40 cans, but I couldn'd find it anywhere. I ended up using a straw from a Caprisun juice packet. Was a tight fit, but it worked

What is that, and where would I find it?

I would think mine is also a late build, because after the 3 initial shifts, a 4th seems to happen shortly afterwords, it's only about a 200rpm difference, but its noticeable. It also disengages when I go up hills and it bogs down enough, then the rpms raise and I can make it up the hill fine. This isn't mistaken with kicking down to second gear, because if I manually kick it down, it really goes, then there's first. That was actually something I was wondering about, whether or not there was a tiny 4th gear. Like 3 and a half...lol.

No, everything is constant, the only time anything dims is if i switch my blower fan from off to high quickly, and even then its only for a split second. My voltage also stays at a constant 14 volts. I would also doubt the idle problem and bad gas mileage are related, but it's worth a thought.

I thought overdrive was avaliable after 1990, as far as I know, It's only a 3-speed automatic. I forgot to mention that all the fluids were changed 6 months ago. I'll take a look at the MAF tomorrow if I have time, thanks for the advice

About 3 months ago, my '87 pathy started idling low, about 400rpm in drive, when its fully warmed up. It is actually the norm now, I noticed however, that rarely it will idle normally about about 700rpm. Also other times, it will idle normally, and then suddenly drop down to about 400 or so. Then on the very, very rare occasion, pop back up to 700rpm. Only done that about twice, though. I'm just wondering if I should start replacing sensors or what... I adjusted the idle to cope with that, but sort of forgot what would happen when it was totally cold in the mornings, where it would start up at 2,000 rpm. Oops. I tuned it back down after that. Another thing, it seems that if it's idling low, I can turn on the rear defrost and it will idle normally. ehh? Is that just engine raising rpms to cope with the added power needed for the rear defrost? But it's not acting like low fuel pressure, or anything like that. It still idles smoothly, no matter what.l Just low, or normal Ideas?