Damn it i think i put the damn thermostat in backwards ! Which way does the spring face ?

 

Hi,
I was wondering how much weight could be shed if I strip the whole interior of my car out except for the front 2 speakers, driver seat and the dashboard ofcourse

 

as in door panels, centre console, rear seat, passenger seat? IMO if youre not getting into heavy racing just take out the passenger seat, rear seat doesnt weigh much and neither does the centre console. door panels would shed a bit but i would leave them in. would be best to just get some aftermarket seats like Sparco's or Recaro's that dont weigh much and try to even find a carbon fibre hood (kinda slim odds) and carbon fibre trunk (sliiiiim odds)

 

agreed. you would be better served by buying a 240sx, or some other already light weight car, and gutting it. the weight reduction (including taking out the dash, and heater/ac cores, carpet, etc) would total less than 200lbs. I know, for myself, I weigh more than that, and my best bet for weight reduction would be, well, a diet.

 

some people go as all out as removing some fluids to lose weight i cant see that at all, for a light car your best bet would be a S13 or a 80's RX-7

the only person ive seen with a 3rd gen that even stands a chance of staying up with performance cars like 350z on the 1/4 mile is JoeBoost, and as far as i know he still has all of his interior but again hes got a big @$$ turbo and engine swap.

did anyone even make carbon fibre trunks for 3rd gens? i know one person on here has a new CF hood they arent using that i would kill for but i cant even find CF hoods for sale anymore. i would kill for a CF hood and CF trunk, probably have to go custom in a year or so to get them

 

Damn! quick responses
Well thing is i'm tryin to get better fuel economy over the summer. Gonna be commuting to an internship and its like 80miles each way. I'm the only one who uses the car and i never care about comfort. The best i've manages on my 93 SE slush-box is 26MPG on Premium only. I was thinking that maybe stripping out as much of everything from the car might help. Takin out everything from the trunk, the rear bose speakers even the interior carpeting. That way i was hoping that I could get better MPG's and semi-restore and clean up the interior.

 

these are fairly large V6 cars, not the best for fuel economy. i would maybe consider a 4 cylinder like a Civic if youre worried about gas consumption. raping your interior will minimally help MPG, if youre still set on the 3rd gen doing regular maintenance is the best way to keep up MPG

 

nobody makes the CF stuff anymore

and how on earth are you gonna do a RHD swap? buy a RHD chassis and just put your car's motor and stuff in it? otherwise it's semi-impossible. since the cutouts and indentions and mounting points for the brakes and pedals and steering column aren't there..

 

hmm. i guess your right about that Chrome91. If only I could run the Max on 87 octane then that would somewhat take away from the pain at the pump

 

if you have a VE engine (92-94 SE) then running 87 will reduce power output, meaning you might end up with worse MPG from having to push the gas harder. MAYBE even enough to end up costing more per mile than 93 octane. run a tank of 87 and see what mpg you get compared to the 93.. but if your engine seems to be knocking or pinging on 87 then i would go back to higher octane stuff.

 

your really only spending a like 2 dollars more a full tank than regular.

 

meh, i dunno if i can even find a JDM 3rd gen donor for it all. theres alot of people i know who overnight parts from Japan and no luck and a guy i know over in Japan says he rarely sees a 3rd gen because Maximas failed over there. best bet would be to find a NZ or AUS donor but thats gonna be such a bish i might have to live with LHD. apparently its possible to do it with your LHD chassis and all but i'll probably be happy enough with things after the turbo and 5spd swap

that guy in January's Import Tuner in the US converted a newer Acura (TL i think) to RHD, kinda ghey to do it on a Acura but the poor guy works 7 days a week so he deserves it i guess, its turbo too and all. the huge CF GT wing looks horrible on it though

 

you need some mental help, son

 

well that's a good idea i guess. thing is, my knock sensor is bad and currently i'm runnin 2 1Mohm resistors parallel for a total resistance of 500k's. When I got the car from the previous owner it was runnin like crap on 87 octane and would stall every other minute. i'd imagine that it was gettin crappy milage as well. but its worth a shot i guess (after I hook up the KS back ofcourse).

 

Hi everyone, I am new to the forums.

I have inherited my Mom's 1989 Maxima. It was running very well up until recently, when it started to feel like one of the cylinders was dead. I checked for spark and even changed all of the spark plugs to the stock plugs. Every cylinder is getting spark.

Standing at the back, near the exhaust, you can hear the chugging of the engine. Sounds like a single cylinder motorcycle. It idles at normal speed.

I researched this problem on the site before registering. I learned that there's a diagnostic computer in the passenger footwell! I opened up the side of the center console and there it was.

The plastic film seal over the adjustment screw was still intact. I took it off, and then turned the screw to activate mode 3 diagnostics: error codes.

Here's where I'm puzzled. My car is displaying signs of a failed injector. But I get code 55: normal engine operation.

What's going on? Can an injector fail and not trigger an error code?

Thanks for reading,
Zack

 

injector on a code 55 is EXTREMELY common. my car was running on 3 dead/failing injectors and displayed a code 55. disable the iacv (turn the ECU screw all the way to the right while car is running and then unplug one spark plug wire at a time until you find whichever one doesn't cause the idle to dip. that's your dead cylinder.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll diagnose my failing injector(s) that way.

Is IACV Intake Air Control Valve?

 

stupid question but any downside to remote starters? i have to park outside at work and in -40c i cant stand making her barely start, it would be easiest to fire her up 15 minutes before my breaks and at the end of my break go out and shut her off. a friend of mine said that remote starters can fukc up your wiring, true? i would be going to Best Buy or Future Shop to get it and get it installed, and not a cheap one either like $500-$1000

 

idle, not intake. basically just a plunger valve that controls how much air comes in when the throttle is shut. bumps up airflow to compensate for a/c, power steering pressure, alternator load, and cold high-idle.

 

Thanks again.

Just went outside to diagnose and all of my cylinders started to fire again. They know you're onto them!

 

remote starters are fine. the INSTALLERS are teh ones that **** stuff up. I would take it to a car audio shop, rather than best but (you really want "geek squad" working on your car? really? I don't trust them to help me find the bathroom).

 

it happens. when an injector dies, it usually stops for a shor time, then works again. you know how to do it, now, so when it starts to act up, you can do the test, again, and find it.

 

geek squad is really that bad? lol. theres a audio place that i have VIP tickets to for their sale that has stuff cheaper than boxing day, wont be busy because you can only get in with the tickets and they will have remote starters for 75% off. was gonna throw out the tickets but i might go and get it there and installed by them, they have a good reputation.

 

another question lol. found a remote starter on sale but i would have to get it installed ASAP. problem is my Max still does that **** where i will turn the key and nothing happens, and i have to rock her back and forth until something clicks and she starts. i had a mechanic look at it while i was getting other work done and he said my whole shifting system is fine (still think its my shifter bushing thats causing it)

if i get a remote starter, and try to start my Max with the remote while it would have to do that crap where i have to rock it, what would happen? would she again not even try to start or would something bad happen? it'll be a week or two before i can check the dam bushing

 

it's like turning the key; nothing'll happen.
definitely sounds like shifter bushing, to me, too.
if it really is a good deal, go for it. it may end up being worthless in the mean time, until you get the starting issue fixed.

 

the worst time was i went into one of those carwashes where you drive in and stay in the car and its fully electronic, there was a lineup behind me and i had my 6pt harness at the time so i had to get that all undone and go to the trunk to rock my Max and it looked like i was @ssraping it. i have to wiggle the shifter in Drive for it to engage too so i'm 99% sure myself its the bushing.

checked and the starter only comes for auto trannies and since i'm doing the 5spd swap within the next couple of years its not worth it, i think i might just manually start her for the time being and see what happens when i do the 5spd swap

 

got sick of being put on hold so i'll just ask you

found one thats good for both auto and stick, but would anything have to be changed with the starter when i 5spd swap?

 

Guys... can't seem to search yet but a couple quick ones. Looking at an old 89 for a kid to drive as first car. Got a couple of questions so I can do a bit of research

89 had a Timing belt or chain?

if the speed indicated is fluctuating up and down like 4-5 degrees through the range is this fixable? This is a digital display with HUD. Speed indicator sensor in tranny possibly?

Noise on or near lock up but not a groan or moan like steering pump or rack, more of harmonic grind sent out near lock up both sides? "scrunch" is more like it. Suspect maybe tie rods or something like that. Input?

Car has 135K on it.

HUD not working, Any hope for it? or just best fugedaboudit?

 

timing belt

lock up = transmission? or you mean when you turn the steering wheel to full lock? maybe need new strut-mount bearings or balljoints or tie rods... will it still make a crunch if the car is jacked up in front or only while on the ground?

 

i'm guessing its a Brougham edition because of the digital display? i would get it lol

 

Lock up meaning lock up from steering turned to left or right all the way.

Have not been able to jack it up. Will be doing further testing on it tomorrow so that a good idea. Keep em coming.

Is the digital with HUD a fairly unusual set up. Would rather have simple there but... it is what it is I suppose.

 

i always fill my car with 93 shell v power and have never found a fix to the cutting
out problem but if i put octaine booster in with a tank of gas it stops stalls out does any one now what it could be ? its a 93 ve
thanks

 

its uncommon because i'm 99% sure only Brougham 3rd gens came with digital gauges, GXE had black face and SE had white face. its sought after because i'm going as far as swapping my GXE gauge to a digital gauge i got from a wrecked Brougham

either that or the 280z pod swap. if you wanted you could swap to a GXE or SE gauge but you would have to re-do the wiring, same as going from non-digital to digital

 

ok i put my max up for sale. if no one buys it by the end of this month, i will buy the timing belt myself. it will just be hel! putting it on.

 

i always fill my car with 93 shell v power and have never found a fix to the cutting
out problem but if i put octaine booster in with a tank of gas it stops stalls out does any one now what it could be ? its a 93 ve
thanks

 

sounds like the knock sensor may be bad, or going out, or an injector may be having some issues.

 

you will want to check how they recommend wiring it, but if you do a 100% correct M/T swap you would also be swapping in the clutch interlock switch which prevents the car from starting when the clutch ISN'T pressed. Bypass that and make sure your neutral safety switch is working. that will prevent the car from starting in gear.

 

Interesting. I had no idea. There are no badges on this car at all. And no original paper work I don't think. For sure no original manuals of any kind. Has the odd dash and odd place on the windshield for the HUD as well.

The problem with the digital gauge is the Speed indication number wanders. Well show Zero then creep up to 5 and then back down. Also will creep around while driving about that same 5 mph range. I verified that it is random with a GPS. When first started cold it might show as high as 20 mph sitting still until it settles down. Runs closer to correct when warm.

 

so the speedo is kinda correct? or is it always 0-5 mph except the intermittent 20 at startup? also, is this reflected by the HUD, the digi-gauge, or both?
Does cruise control work fine?

 

there should be a brougham badge on the back in fancy writing, but if a young guy owned the car before he probably debadged it