maximapitko

Well, I've been having issues with my engine for some time now. As soon as it warms up I loose around 50% of my power. A few guys here suggested that I have bad injectors but it simply didn't feel like it judging from my past experience. About two weeks ago or so I changed my oil and when I started the car it was running really rough- I had a miss on two cylinders. So...it was time for injector replacement. Well, it just so happened that I had to work that whole weekend so I didn't really get to working on it until 8pm sunday(veeery bad idea). First, I removed the injectors from my perfectly running 89 se after which I proceeded to removing the intake on the 91 se that I am driving right now. Everything went kind of smooth(smooth repair on a maxima is close to impossible). After I had the lower intake removed I started measuring the injectors one by one. It turned out that I have not two but three bad ones(cyl 4,5,6). I though for a second what I should do: 1. swap the whole fuel rail with the one from my 89 or "simply" pull the bad injectors and put in the replacements. Well, for some reason unscrewing four bolts seemed like too much work so I decided to pull the bad ones without removing the rail. It wasn't long before I realized that nissan decided to use the crapiest and cheapest and most fragile plastic on their injector tops. The aftermath was two out of three broken injectors. Still, I couldn't care less since I had a beatiful fuel rail with perfect injectors in it sitting on my table. Or so I though...To make the story short, I ended up braking all three front injectors(these are the spare ones). They simply didn't want to pull out. I was really close to crying at this moment. It didn't make any sence what was happening to me and I couldn't even say my name from anger and desperation. I didn't have any room for a mistake since I had only three good injectors and I needed them all. After a 10 min smoke brake and a few blessings for nissan and it's mother I came up with the idea of swapping the remaining half rail with the good injectors on it. The only problem was that I still had to remove from the car the injector from cylinder 1 and installing it into cyl 5. When that 1st cyl injector popped out without braking, I was the happiest person on planet earth. After another 10-15 min all the injectors were installed. It was already past midnight and I was crazy tired. What was left to do is install the intake and that's it! It's amazing how difficult things become when you are exhausted. It took me another two hours to put the engine back togather with hundreds of opsticles that shouldn't have been there in the first place. Finally, barelly awake, I got into the car and tried starting it...NOTHING...it was cranking but nothing was happening. I noticed at that time that my starter was acting up as well. The time was 3:30am monday morning and I had about 4 hours before work and on top of that I was 1 hour away from home. Did I mention that this is my only car....

After work the following day I made arangements for the car to be towed to the local shop. Two days later they called me just to tell me that they couldn't diagnose the car because of the faulty starter. They also suggested that I might need a new flywheel-uaahahahahaahahah. Go to hell *****es...I told the guy that I've never heard of a maxima in need of a flywheel but anyways. Another weekend came so I decided to have the car towed back to my garage and give it another shot. What I was thinking is that the problem is a huge vacuum leak because of a bad intake installation. So, I started taking apart everything again. This time I decided to do my valve cover gaskets as well since I read somewhere here that it's an extra 10 min job. Well, it is NOT. To remove the front cover you'll have to remove the distributer. After that, you'll have to remove your old gasket which will be as hard as plastic by now and stuck really well into the cover and the only way to remove it from there is by chopping 1/4 of an inch peices of it. When you include the cleaning of the covers from all the old oil on them, it is easyly a 2 hour job(after removing of the intake). Anyways, I took my sweet *** time yesterday making sure that everything is perfect when putting everything back togather. At 9:30pm everything was done and to be honest my engine looked really clean and neat. I got into the car and tried staring it. My started didn't want to bite but after a few atempts eventually did enough for me to realize that my car is still not running(yes, I checked if I have gas). After a few more tries the strated stopped working completely... So, the aftermath is that I know 100% that my injectors are good and that I don't have an vacuum leak which is good news and I can conclude that my problem is fuel related. I picked up a used starter from the local junk yard which is going in tonight after which I am towing the car back to the shop and letting them deal with it. I simply have no time to do this during the week plus I need my ride up and running NOW(sharing a car with the wife sucks).

One mistake that I made yesterday is with the removal of the distributer(sp?). I just pulled it out without putting cyl 1 on tdc or anything like that so even if everything else is perfect this little fact is enough for the car not to run...Oh, well, I guess I'll find out tomorrow when the shop calls me back with the newsss.....thanks for reading. I really apreciate you guys...

92 Max

You can still set the distributor. Pull the plugs. Hand turn the crankshaft till you hit TDC of cylinder one at compression (from timing marks and finger on #1 plug hole). Then look at the distributor cap where the wire to #1 plug is and place the distributor in the hole so that the tip of the rotor ends up at that point. Then you can fine tune, when the car runs, with your timing light.

vansskaterfreek

iTrader: (14)

do VG'sa have a knock sensor???? idf so there may be your power loss when warm... mine does it a little when warm... also anyone out there, are the VG/VE knock sensors interchangeable?

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

VG knock sensor is by the rear exhaust manifold and screws into the block.
VE knock sensor is UNDER the intake and is held in place by a bolt

vansskaterfreek

iTrader: (14)

and it is over $100 for that dam knock sensor for the VE??? DAM!!!

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

yup .

SouthStar019

iTrader: (2)

think of the power restoration. hah

maximapitko

$100 for a knock sensor is your least problem but anyways...On the vg it is unlikely that the knock sensor would go bad so I know that this is not my problem. I've been thinking all day today about my car not running and could be the problem. May be....just may be...I crossed the fuel lines going in/out of the fuel rail and that's the reason the car doesn't want to start. This is my best options so far and it will be the first thing I'll check tonight. Cross your fingers for me.....

wawa92gxe

iTrader: (1)

A dumb question, in case you forgot to put back in the fuel pump fuse?

maximapitko

I never took the fuse out...I simply disconected the batt and released the pressure from the fuel filter....thanks for the tip though...

vansskaterfreek

iTrader: (14)

i do want that VE power back, well i have about 3 minutes of it when it is cold..... and there is nothing wrong with the car besides a $10 bushing, so i may go out and get the KS or maybe a new VE5