Kingman

Cylinder Head Temperature Sensor. Its the yellow plug on the left cylinder head behind the timing belt cover. It relays via resistance the engine temperature so the ECU can adjust the air fuel ratio (injector pulse width) and timing.

Did you mess with/replace the CHTS at all when you did the timing belt?

Depends on the size of it. A small one will lean it out just enough to raise the idle. Larger ones and they go to sheit. A vacuum line undone makes the TBIs idle high and "miss" or "pop" out the exhaust.

A vacuum leak will make the engine idle high anyway.

Yeah there's two idle screws, one for cold idle and the other for warm.

The 3.0 and 3.3s are some of the best engines Nissans made... Anyway, have you even checked the work you did for errors? If you've messed with something always double check especially when the vehicle acts up soon after. Backfiring is almost always timing related. When was the last time the timing belt was replaced? Make sure the rotor is pointing at the No. 1 point on the distributor cap when the No. 1 cylinder is at TDC on the compression stroke. If that's fine, check the ECU for codes.

7-800 is normal when warmed up.

Just a case of the bean counters getting a hold of Nissan and they're overbuilding ways. Pretty sure they swap just fine.

Yes, the FPR definitely needs to be hooked up. It uses vacuum to adjust how much fuel pressure is being fed to the injectors, with no vacuum it's stuck at full rich.

For those that haven't seen this, check it out if you have a spare hour or so. Very informational and is by far the best analysis I've read. http://540ratblog.wordpress.com/

Without tearing the entire front of the motor down, dropping the front diff, and removing the oil pan there is no way to manually prime the pump.

Glad you changed brands, keep that Fram garbage out of there!

Put a tsp or so of ATF in the cylinders before cranking it with the fuel pump fuse removed so the rings aren't bone dry.

Try this. Disconnect the battery to reset the ECU, install the temp sensor and plug it in, then try and start it. If it doesn't start after a lot of cranking, don't do Anything before checking the ECU for codes. By doing that you're giving the ECU a fresh start with everything plugged in to record accurate codes and give a better chance of telling you what's wrong.

Yeah its a perfect excuse for me, been looking for one for a while. Sheitty circumstances to toast a 20K mile engine but that's life! Getting excited now, my buddy knows some one with a mint T3 sitting in a box...

Did a ton of diagnosing a locking up when cranking with fuel and spark issue. Came to the conclusion that an injector stuck open, hydro locked it, and bent a rod. Remove fuel or spark and it doesn't lock up. Locks up with a loud thud too. So the only sensible course of action is... VG33 time!!!!!!!!!

Only time I've hit the bump stops was towing 2,800lbs with saggy stock springs and blown shocks. You don't need them...

Eh you'll be alright.

Welcome to the forum. Underlying problem is lack of maintenance.

Sat in it and tried to tune the CB. Its shot...

Head gaskets blowing are a common issue with those engines. Overheating to the max is probably what cracked the head, hopefully it didn't cook any bearings with the oil having no viscosity.

And flush the cooling system really really well. Hopefully you have a new thermostat as well.

Check the block for squareness, scrape all gasket material and rust off, tap the head bolt threads in the block to remove all the crap after blowing them out with compressed air, oil the head bolts before torquing, remove the old basket material from the intake and exhaust manifold before putting the head on, make sure both alignment dowels are perfect, replace timing chain and tensioner with quality made in Japan parts , clean the cylinder walls thoroughly, check the valve lash, thoroughly clean the valve cover inside and out, clean the carbon and rust off the pistons, and if you're using a factory Ishino/ Stone head gasket make damned sure you retorque after 500 miles!

If you're looking for a free fix, crush the pipe closed down near the manifold, or weld it closed and rock on. Make sure to unplug the EGR solenoid though. Running it like it is is not a good idea like B said.

The ground straps help, you can just bolt it to the valve cover. As far as the ground on the fender well goes, it's because most of the electronics are grounded on the body so a direct ground from the battery to the body is best.