BigDaddyChris.com Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 today I did the seafoam treatment. sucked 1/3 bottle through the pcv valve, 1/3 in the oilpan, 1/3 in the tank (1/4 tank of gas) drove it up and down the freeway, changed the oil. no noticeable difference. I took the big intake tube off and checked it for cracks. none that I could see. got a can of throttle body cleaner. sprayed the throttle body, and replaced the pcv hose, and a hose coming off the intake tube. used the rest of the can spraying all over all the vacuum lines that I could see, in an attempt to notice any change in idle but no change. it had a whistling from one of the inlets on the throttle body tube. I stopped the whistling noise by twisting the tube so the inlet was at a different angle. no change in idle. stumped again... I did notice on the mass air flow sensor plug theres three wires on the plug, and a mare metal wire just dangling there. no plug on the end, no insulation on the thin wire. where is this supposed to go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarehouseRat Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 the extra bare metal is a sheilding for the maf wire harness just tuck it into the plastic covering and tape over with electrical tape to seal the opening, as for your drivability issue running rough is a pretty broad discription need to be more discriptive, none of what you did will fix whats wroung you have a worn ignition part/s ie wires,plugs etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDaddyChris.com Posted June 13, 2011 Author Share Posted June 13, 2011 the extra bare metal is a sheilding for the maf wire harness just tuck it into the plastic covering and tape over with electrical tape to seal the opening, as for your drivability issue running rough is a pretty broad discription need to be more discriptive, none of what you did will fix whats wroung you have a worn ignition part/s ie wires,plugs etc. oh, forgot to mention that. in an earlier post I talked about how we changed the plugs, wires, cap, rotor, fuel filter, set the timing, and adjusted the idle. we pulled one plug at a time checking each one for spark, all were working properly. pulled one plug wire at a time and a noticeable change occurred. so it has fuel and air and ignition in all cylinders. the catalytic converters were getting hot and stinky. so I removed them thinking that may have been the problem. nope. its like a miss, or sputter. but its not a steady rythmic or pulsing miss. its random, yet constantly there. it has no low end power. it bogs down so bad climbing hills its ridiculous. sometimes the CEL comes on. but when I check the code its 55 "no error" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDaddyChris.com Posted June 13, 2011 Author Share Posted June 13, 2011 I think I'll start posting pictures of all the loose connectors I am finding everywhere under the hood. maybe that will help? lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozenrotors Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 Did you clean the Mass Airflow Sensor on the throttle body? There is a thread on hear to do that. Take a Q-tip and dip it in rubbing alcohol, and GENTLY WIPE OFF THE VERY FRAGILE WIRE on the end of the sensor. May make a difference in how it runs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarehouseRat Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 did it run rough before you did the mini tune-up, ifit ran fine before i would say check the proper locations if plug wires and make certain you set the timming correct my money is on the timing due to the cat over heating due to fuel not being burned correctly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozenrotors Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 I'll tell you what! I just found 2 major vacuum leaks over the weekend that I have been chasing for 2 years. Every one I took the truck to, said I had a leaking intake gasket and the estimates ranged from $6-$ 800.00. I finally found a decent MECHANIC, who suggested we try hooking the truck up to a smoke machine which is usually used to detect leaks on A/C systems. Well, after taking the air cleaner body off, and plugging up the throat of the throttle body, he went about injecting the smoke into the manifold. Smoke poured out from 2 MAJOR areas, which turned out to be vacuum lines running to the EGR and one to the Cruise Control. Even thought the cruise control worked, the vacuum leak caused very rough running, un speakable fuel mileage, and was just an all round PIA !. After those leaks were corrected, the damn thing purrs like a kitten and warms up properly with out any rough running when at normal temperature. These leaks could never have been located and discovered without using this machine. (Unless I wanted to spend an enormous amount of time (which I did) trying to locate the source of the leaks. (they were both up against the fire wall, and down on the back side of the manifold). The hoses cracked were actually 'splits' in the hoses. Maybe you could use this method on your truck ? Hope this helps, Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 I would check the o2 sensor, you can unplug it and see if it runs better, does it miss all the time or only when its warmed up? Also I would just go ahead and replace all the vacuum lines as it is cheap and easy to do. There is a diagram in the FSM of where each goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDaddyChris.com Posted June 13, 2011 Author Share Posted June 13, 2011 what kind of smoke machine? where do I get one? runs rough all the time, cold or hot. We checked the timing, and its right on the mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozenrotors Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 It's a portable smoke machine used to test for leaks in automotive A/C systems. I am not sure where or who he purchased it from, but it sure does the trick for chasing down vacuum leaks ! We just disconnected one of the vacuum lines coming off of the bottom of the air cleaner. (The line that operates the vacuum motor for the hot air valve on the 'neck' of the air cleaner. Then we plugged the throat of the throttle body (center) and pushed the tapered nozzle into the vacuum line. Push the button to inject the smoke (while the engine is off) and got a 1970's type disco show complete with SMOKE! Then it's just a matter of locating the source of the leak, and repairing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 you play around with the MAF wiring? Apparently theres issues with that I've read about many times over round here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarehouseRat Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 smoke machines are used for more then just a/c i have one and they work great for finding vacuum leaks, you can buy them online but they run about 400-500 for a good one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Or just make yourself a little smoke bomb, put it in a Coke can, and set it off. Much cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDaddyChris.com Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 Or just make yourself a little smoke bomb, put it in a Coke can, and set it off. Much cheaper. well I have a smoke machine used for halloween, you now, dance club style. dont think that will work though. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozenrotors Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Well you can always drop a chunk of dry ice down the throttle body and wait for it to dissolve ! LOL. However you'd have to have the rotating 'glitter ball' in your shop to see the vapor, and have a few cuts from the Village People blaring in the background !!! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarehouseRat Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 here you go a diy smoke machine you need to be able to control the air pressure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozenrotors Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 I like that idea. Now all you have to do is implement a small pressure regulator to control line pressure. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarehouseRat Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 (edited) lol there is one in the design lol right next to the air pump, although you could add a gauge after the valve to monitor the air pressure accuratly Edited June 14, 2011 by WarehouseRat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahardb0dy Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 I always recommend replacing all the vacuum lines on vehicles that are as old as ours, it doesn't take long, cost much and is easy to do one at a time, you all know rubber gets brittle and starts to crack especially at the ends over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozenrotors Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Very good advise, I just failed to locate ALL of the lines and had 2 that were so well hidden that they leaked enough to cause some very frustrating idle and mileage issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahardb0dy Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 I understand, sometimes it's not possible to do all the maintenance that a vehicle requires when you first purchase it. When we bought the Infiniti Q45 we used to have the guys on the NICO forum were telling me "if you spend about $1400 on the car it will run like new" I was like we just paid $4500 for the car not looking or able to spend $1500 more on it at one time !! LOL, we do what we can when we can Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDaddyChris.com Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 I understand, sometimes it's not possible to do all the maintenance that a vehicle requires when you first purchase it. When we bought the Infiniti Q45 we used to have the guys on the NICO forum were telling me "if you spend about $1400 on the car it will run like new" I was like we just paid $4500 for the car not looking or able to spend $1500 more on it at one time !! LOL, we do what we can when we can oh, it's definitely a project. we got it as a wreck at a dealership for $395. though it doesnt have a salvage title, it was sold to us for parts or salvage cause the thing was not at all street legal when they sold it to us, and dealerships arent allowed to sell vehicles like this. it's been a work in progress finding whats wrong with the motor. we wrench on it a lil here and there. it still runs and drives and we have fun with it. but theres some hills out there we really want to go up, and we cant. probably couldnt even if they were paved! (previous post) I mentioned earlier that I twisted the intake tube and it made the whistling go away. well, it's back! grrrrr. so I looked closely and theres tiny cracks, but light doesnt go through. its a $20 part, screw it. I'm gonna get a new one and see what happens! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDaddyChris.com Posted June 15, 2011 Author Share Posted June 15, 2011 turns out parts guy was mistaken. he does NOT have an air intake tube "on the shelf" he suggested looking in the junkyards. lol, yeah, like those arent cracked too. looks like I'll be spending the night alone, just me, an intake tube and a bunch of Goop adhesive, trying to seal any visible cracks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDaddyChris.com Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 cleaned the MAF sensor. totally gooped over any visible surface cracks on the air intake. gooped the metal fittings that go into the air intake. no whistle, still runs rough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5523Pathfinder Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 (edited) Can you isolate it to one cylinder? Do a power balance test by pulling a plug wire(or injector connector) while its running. Be careful not to get shocked. If one cylinder has no/little change, focus on things for that cylinder(spark plug, wire, injector, vac leaks, ect). Edited June 16, 2011 by 5523Pathfinder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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