Super20G

I have a 87 Max and DAMN it takes forever to warm up the colder it gets out. In the summertime, it is bearable... but the colder it gets the longer it takes...

I have an auto tranny, so as you know, it will not shift 5th until it reaches a certain temp. When I get out of school, if I hop in the car and head down the road, from a cold start, it can take upwards of 15-20 minutes before it will warm up enough to shift 5th.

Once it does finally warm up enough to shift into overdrive, then the temp gauge goes up rather quickly, and settles in the middle.

What can I do about this? I cant put cardboard over the radiator because once it does warm up, it is fine, and will probably overheat then... Is there any way to trick it or anything to where it will go into overdrive without meeting a temperature requirement? Because I hop right on the interstate and have to drive like a granny till i am close to home, lol... Really sucks. I can let it warm up, but it will take 10-15 min and then still take a little while to warm up enough to go into overdrive.

Thanks for any insight. I have already did a cooling system flush, new stock thermostat, basic tune up...

Drjmaxx88

There is a part called the Fast Idle Control Device on the car. It faces the firewall,on the passenger side of the engine bay. There are two bolts that you can turn. One on top (idle) and one on the bottom(FICD). Turn that thing(FICD one) counter clockwise a few times. Then start the car up and see if it warms up any faster. You can keep adjusting it till it warms up faster.

Super20G

If you are serious, thank you, thank you, thank you!

cardana24

iTrader: (81)

you can try that...it could be related to the AAV as well...that also has an effect on your idle when the motor is cold....I have a "repaired" (see sticky) that I used to raise and lower my idle while cold (the cars do take a while to reach operating temp though). Also your tranny does not have 5 gears...so I dont know if you are waiting for a shift that will never happen.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

If the engine has worn rings, it will increase the warm up time.

Super20G

I diodnt me 5 gears, my bad, i meant shifting into overdrive...cause when its not in overdrive, i am sitting at like 3 grand at 55mph.. and i hate to go above that until it kicks into overdrive... which all the people flying by and honking is kinda embarassing, lol..

I did find what i think is the FICD, and there looks top be 2 adjustment screws on the side facing the firewall, and MABY one on the bottom, when it is light out, i will have to put a mirror under there and see... id there is one i will back it out a few revolutions and see what that does..

Ohh and yes, it chould have worn rings.. which i just cant get into because the car just isnt worth the effort, it has 260K on it, and has been loosing 'power' over time, so that is a possibility...... i am afraid to do a comp check, lol... but it doesnt burn much oil, maby a quart a month...

oh, and i will look into that sticky about the AAV and see about that as well... hopefully i will have time in the next few days.. I am rebuilding a motor in another car right now which has been running me ragged.

thanks for the great advice guys, i really appreciate it.

turboast4

You def. seem like you know what you're doing as far as cars in general is concerned (more than me for sure). But on the autos the overdrive is activated by a little button. Maybe, could something be wrong with the circuit that controls overdrive???? I only ask cuz you haven't mentioned that the other (1-3) gears have raised shift points, although I am aware that these cars have an overdrive shut-off thingy when cold.

I dunno, just trying to help

Niku-Sama

iTrader: (1)

might be stuck....how ever that 55 thing sounds about right just seems a little fast for it kicking in.....you talkin on the freeway right?

Super20G

Yeah, the temp gauge goes sloooooly up until finally it shift overdrive about 1/4 inch intothe thermo gauge, then once it shifts overdrive, then the temp gauge shoots up to 1/2 way mark farily easily. In ever cold erather, the temp gauge will actually go down if i go fast on the HWY, not a hughe difference, but some... I will look into the tips you all have gven me this weeknd... All i am trying to accomplish is being abloe to get into overdrive quicker than waiting 20 minites before it kicks in... you al have given me some good ideas, so hopefully somethig will fix the prob 1/2 way easy.. I just dont understand how a manual will alow you to shift overdrive whenever... am dthe auto doesnt till it reaces a certain telp.

ASHURA

going by what I've highlited, I'd say your thermostat was either removed, or is stuck open.

Manual tranny can shift into overdrive gear whenever the user choose to put it in 5th gear (overdrive). Heck, I'd usually crawl on the street in 5th gear at 1500rpm if I feel like saving some gas.

From what you're saying, trying to get the car into overdrive faster, i think the shift module may be bad, but I don't know, I'm not an auto tranny person. All my cars had been manuals.

turboast4

It's natural for the car to run cooler on the highway. There is much more air flow moving across the radiator and engine. Also highway driving is considerably easier on the engine. Remember, heat is essentially a by-product of power that's produced in an internal combustion engine (they're only about 28% efficient, the other energy largely becomes heat), and power is needed to accelerate more than to maintain speed.

My 2 cents, I'm sure you're all rich by now.

ASHURA

yes it is natural for the car to run cooler on the highway, but not so much that the temp. needle decided to drop down.

maximase86

iTrader: (24)

Depends how cold it is though....I've actually had that happen on a really cold day (like upper 30-low 40's). In normal 50 degree or higher weather...it shouldn't influence that much.

S

belakithom

That's so true. I was on the highway on a cool day going down a hill heading to an overpass. My temp guage went from near the middle to C on the descent and slowly back up to the middle when I was going straight again. Haven't you notice that if you run on a cold/very cold day, how much cooler you feel? Same applies to a car/truck, etc.

Super20G

This is what I adjusted as said above.. It didnt help any though that I could tell, still takes a long long while to warm up to shift overdrive..

The temp needle dropping a little on the highway is only on extrememly cold indiana days, 30's weather, and isnt a big prob cause it doesnt drop the gauge much, it just takes soo aweful long to reach its desired operating temperature to shift overdrive... I put a different water temp sensor in it and that didnt yield any better results either.


Lower left adjustment screw is what I turned out counterclockwise.. Till it was all the way out and still no driveability difference.

Drjmaxx88

Fist off thanx for the pics.
Your problem could be with the AAV(as stated in this thread by cardana). You can test it with a multimeter. Or just try the fix thats in the stickies. You should probably test before you go drilling anything though. If it is the AAV then you car dosen't go into fast idle. Thats why it takes so long to warm up. Hope every thing works out.

Bleach

I think you should look into the thermostat. Its only about $5 and really easy to replace.

Super20G

That was the first thing I replaced... :/

I dont think I could have did it wrong, heh... So i'd say it's not that..

Nismo87SE

I don't believe there is a problem that much. The tranny ecu is programmed to lock out OD if the coolant temp is less than 145*F. After that temp the TCU (transmission control unit) will allow it to shift into OD.

max95q

iTrader: (10)

Well, from what I am hearing it seems your tranny is normal. When I first got my car it always took about that long to do. Sounds like everything is healthy in your car. Now mine takes about 10-15. That's normal and depending on where you live and how cold it is there it could just take longer. The only thing I could think of that you could do is get a higher temp Thermostat so it holds out longer before opening up but you dont want to do that though because then you could possibly damage the engine or something because of you putting it in there. To tell you the truth dude, it sounds normal. The FICD wont help you too much if any at all because its just for adjusting idling of the car. I have an auto my friend and your car seems to be fine. Nissan did that as a safety mechanism for the tranny for the autos. Why? I dont know. Yes, it is annoying that you have to wait to have it shift into OD, but hey I learned to live with it. My car has the exact same characteristics. The temp is slow in the beginning because the car is warming up, then like you said once OD works it goes up even faster. Your car is fine. I have an auto too.

max95q

iTrader: (10)

Also my temp needle while driving on the highway also drops down when driving at highway speeds. Ive had issues when I lived in Georgia in the winter it would get so cold that even after warming up it would go all the way back down to C and knock my OD back out because of the temp. That use to suck. Its normal characteristics of an auto. A healthy one at that. My temp drops and is noticeable with the needle on my car too. For me Im fine with it. Its better to have it cooler than to overheat, right. Again your car is fine

wylie-c

Yep, same here. My tranny won't go into o/d until the temp needle hits the first line. In winter it gets a bit annoying on the highway because the temp sometimes goes down low enough to kick back out of o/d. Nissan designed it like that to prevent damage to the tranny.

max95q

iTrader: (10)

The AAV doesn't have anything to do with the temp of the car. It is heat activated by the engines heat but does not control or have anything to do with controlling the temp of the car. If he does what you just told him, if he has a bad cold start up idle problem, then it will help with the idling of the car but in no means will effect the temp.

max95q

iTrader: (10)

Now reading everyones post. All of your cars are fine. Oh, and the 5-speeds dont have a mechanism to stop you from shifting into 5th gear, it's only on the autos for the OD. It was done by Nissan. Yes, it can be embarrassing going 55 miles in a 60 or 65 or if you do have some signs that say it a 70 mph highway. Other people may not know why, but as long as you do which now you do just dont worry about them. I stopped that a long time ago after I found out about this information.

Super20G

You all made me feel a lot better now. I am glad to know nothing is wrong with the motor, and that is a normal characteristic! That is great news, I knew it took awhile to shift overdrive, just not so long in the cold.

Thanks a lot for your comments guys. I am still gonna drill the AAV out like the Sticky says, because it has rought idle in the winter when you first start it up, and has died a time or 2 I think.

Have a great weekend.

max95q

iTrader: (10)

You too man, and happy driving.

Super20G

haha, 2 seconds after i wrote my last comment, i left my house and headed towards school to do some work, and the motor died... haha, i think the bearing in the distributor locked, because i can turn the crank, but the rotor doesnt spin.. eh... i am going to search these forums, then post a new thread if i cant find the info...

Drjmaxx88

The problem is that the car takes so long to warm up. When he's on the freeway the car cant go into OD because it hasn't warmed up sufficently. The Air regulator controls the fast idle control. Thats one of the first things you should look at after you've checked the timing of course. Its the next thing that could affect fast idle/warm up. If his car is taking 20+ minutes to warm up then it is a problem. When there is no fast idle it is either the Air regulator,blow by hose is clogged,Ignition timing, or the cylinder head temp. sensor.

Sorry about the confusion I must of used the wrong abreviation.

max95q

iTrader: (10)

Well, for one he lives in Indiana. So, Im sure that his car will take about that long to get warmed up. Fast idling isnt going to help anything. Is all the Air regulator does is allows more air into the intake collector. Doesnt affect warming up whats so ever.

belakithom

That's true. There is probably nothing wrong with his car. Many cars in colder climates do the exact thing, not going into lock-up/OD isn's just confined to Maximas. It really doesn't affect the cars too much, they compensate, by using more fuel when on the highway in cold weather. If you research the 810 and 1981 Maxima with the Auto Tranny, you'll see that there was no lock-up fuel/fuel saving device on them at all, so, they would turn close to 3000 RPM or more@60 miles per hour on the highway. Hope this helps and that your car is indeed fine :}

maximase86

iTrader: (24)

I have to agree with Q. There is much more to warming up a car then just a fast idle. Besides AAV is meant to prevent the car from stalling when cold...bumping up idle. If you started a these car with an AAV, they would stall out when cold. As for warming a car up, it really depends on conditions. In Indiana, it gets much colder than California....**** it gets much colder up here in Seattle than California. So that will affect warm up times as well...even with a fast idle. I can drive from my house in Lynnwood, to downtown Seattle, and it's low to mid 40's out, and my car will never reach middle operating temperature. I could drive in 4th or even 3rd gear while doing 60-65, and it still won't move up. So having a higher won't neccessary help either. Keep in mind,

S