CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

Capedcadaver = n00b? at this, yes:

i've never quite understood the whole offset thing with rims. I've seen all this talk about spacers, longer studs, rubbing, and whatnot. I usually ignored it, because i have stock rims and of course they fit b/c, well, they're stock rims. But today i was in craigslist and found some 17x7 w/ 22mm offset... except I can't find anything mentioning 22mm offset in the 3rd gen section on the advanced search, and the only 17x7 i saw was those mags from last week, and Matt said the +40 'sucked' for those... so what's the deal with the ones i'm looking at? will they rub? stick out too far? I just never quite understood what it all meant...

edit: http://images.craigslist.org/0101010...4ca5004f65.jpg
also curious... is that one bent too badly to use until repaired or can i use it in the back while still bent and be OK until i have money to get it straightened?

300zmax

oh wow, great, thanks for all the help! ill post up if was able to solve the problem. thanks again capedcadaver

djfaka

Okay, I tested a few things and here are the results:

Unplugging the sensor does activate the fan so at least that works. I guess it turns on when necessary, and maybe I just dont notice, or is it possible that the sensor is faulty (and thus doesnt trigger the fans)?

I bought some connectors, and even a new temp sender, but to no avail, the gauge still doesnt move. Anyone have a work around or alternative solution to having a temp gauge?

As far as the A/C goes, I've decided to just give up on it and I will take it in to a shop when I have more money.

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

wat year/trim are you again? i have some spare cluster internals and if you're lucky, i have a spare temp/fuel portion you can buy for cheap. that is, if it's not a wiring problem between the cluster and sensor

djfaka

94 gxe. I am trying to figure out if theres a way to test the wiring in between because wouldnt that be a waste.

djfaka

Autometer makes a digital gauge that works with electronic temp senders, not sure how much it costs, but im sure its expensive, but begs me to question if that can be done, if the wiring is bad, couldnt I bypass the existing wiring and wire directly into the gauge?

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

letsee... it should have voltage coming down that wire that plugs into the sensor.... have you checked for voltage there? the way it works is that the sensor is the END of the chain. power comes from battery, thru fusebox, thru needle, then onto sensor which acts as a resistor varying w/ temperature, and grounds into the body of the sensor and into the engine. so basically just test volts from the wire to the intake manifold.

BenStoked

iTrader: (7)

quick definition on offset: the space from the inside lip to the hub mounting surface, usually in mm.
22's may stick out a little, but they wouldnt rub (unless you get some insanely wide tires, and make them fit on the rim...)
that isnt bent too bad(from what I can tell), and most shops i have seen will fix that as part of the tire install.

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

cool. i'm looking at them tonight. $75 for all 4. i'll stash 'em for a month until install my new LCA busings and tierods and balljoint and rear link bushings, FINALLY get the car aligned, then i'll get some new rubber to wrap those wheels with. it'll look good with the z31 rear bbk i'm installing the weekend after this coming one. q45 2piston front calipers are in the works (they're sitting in my 89se's trunk, along with my VE5 tranny that i haven't installed yet)... just gotta reread the writeup and get the approropriate grinding tools or whatever was involved to do that.



planning to run P215/50R17 tires. leaning toward tripletreads (tho they are like $180 apiece for that size)... i've heard good and bad about every tire out there, but i'm just looking for a tire that is quiet, good in all road conditions, is decently responsive and confident, and will last a while. def not looking to hit .85g on a skidpad while drowning out my radio with road noise...

djfaka

Tested. The wire gets 11.9v (12v) disconnected, and approx 5v when connected to the temp sensor.

I'm pretty sure that means the wiring is good.

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

is the 5v what you got when you undid the sensor from the water neck and put the probe to the end of the sensor, and the other probe to the IM?

djfaka

5v is just the sensor (still in the neck so i dont have coolant all over the place) grounded to the IM

if i connect the harness to the sensor, it reads the same 5v . When disconnected the wire harness reads 12v.

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

gah. i'm not understanding what you did to get te 5v. you had the spade thingy unplugged and had the multimeter going from the harness to the tip of the sensor? one style won't let you stick the multimeter up on there when the connector is in place, but one will.

djfaka

hmm lets see if i can better explain...

If i disconnect the harness, so theres the sensor on the neck and the harness is dangling free:

The harness reads 12v
The sensor reads 5v (why I have no idea)

If I pull off the spade connector which I did on accident (need to crimp a new one) and connect the wire to the sensor (basically the same as having it plugged in) No matter where I put the multimeter probe whether it be on the exposed wire or the metal prong for the sensor, I get approx 5v.

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

i'll look at the fsm for you later... too sleepy atm. but that's weird that the sensor by itself has voltage. maybe my mental image of the schematic was wrong.

djfaka

Maybe my multimeter is nutso. Let me know what the correct voltage when its all connected should be. I'm going to be out of town for the weekend so I wont be able to check anything on the car, but I'll still be checkin the boards.

blk91maxse

I own a 91 Max SE that I planned to be my project car. I have owned this vehicle for 5 years and I did some cosmetic work besides the cold air intake and lowering springs. The car have been sitting for over two years as I lost my motivation to move forward. The reason I lost my motivation was the tranny and the fact that the car only have 60 hp. I had to replace the tranny amonth after I got the car. I chose to have the tranny rebuilt which this costed me $2100. I drove the car for about seven months and the tranny went up again, but they fixed it fro free in spite of it being past the warranty. In another eight months after being fixed after the rebuild the tranny went up again. I did not go back to them for two reasons, the tranny was out of the warranty again and I figured even though they were highly recommended their work was not that good. I will post some pics after I clean the car. I am thinking about replacing the tranny again....I found one for 540 bucks and I know a few guys that will install it for 350 bucks.


I have a few questions.....
1. How can I tell if my engine is SOHC or DOHC?
2. Should I gett a manual tranny instead of auto?
3. Should I go ahead and replace the engine/tranny with the 300 ZX setup or should I just?


I joined forum along time ago but new to posting so please let me know if I am violating any rule.

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

your 91 is an SOHC. the VE (DOHC) was only used on 92-94SE models, never on GXEs and never on the 89-91SEs. VGauto is a weak trans. I'm one of many whose vgauto died. i swapped to an m/t. it's a good workout. gear-gates are REALLY close side-to-side so you may mis-shift a few times early on but once you get used to the spacing you'll be fine. 1/2 is where 3/4 usually is, and so on... i plan to bend my shifter a little to the left eventually.

no way you can put a 300zx tranny in a maxima... 300xz is RWD tranny and maxima is FWD transaxle

blk91maxse

Thanks for the info. I will research wht it will cost to convert it to manual.

kobedaman24

hi,

lol i am a true noob at this stuff. i dont understand half the stuff being talked about here, but im willing to learn. i currently drive an 89 maxima se. it was given to me by my parents at 163k. it currently has 165k. i had a problem with the steering. it became really tight, but we got that fixed. right now it runs ok. im afraid to drive it very far because of its previous problems. i have seen some of the nicest cars of my life on this forum. lol. im looking to do a few mods here and there or maybe some tweaks to the engine. any ideas; ie some certain rims??

BenStoked

iTrader: (7)

first, welcome to the org!
second, what was the problem with the steering? what was fixed? you may be worried about nothing.
third.
mods.... where to begin? assuming the car has been maintained, this is how i would mod my car if i weren't perpetually broke...()
1.) tokico struts and eibach springs (better handling)
2.) better brake pads, and rotors
3.) stereo stuff
4.) better clutch (amusing 5 speed like mine, if not, this would read 5-speed swap)
5.) now is the time to start the go fast mods. this is the harder part to do, because you have to budget more stuff carefully. every factor depends on other factors. if one thing doesnt work right, a mod may not work as well as expected.
___a.) wsp y-pipe
___b.) this air box mod with a k&n filter (all i have to say is, "ROAR!!!!") who needs a cai?
___c.) now is the time to start researching stuff. there are so many options, but they will start to get into fabrication, digging into an engine, etc.
6.) wheels should typically go here. I say this, because they (usually) do not benefit the car, or the driver while driving, just the owner's ego. don't get me wrong, my car doesn't have anything, except the stereo (durabrand, el cheapo stuff), the mentioned filter box mod, and the wheels. but the wheels came with the car, so that doesnt count.

there's hella other stuff to do to the car, but this is a basic list to get you started. modify it as money is available

sleepyvg30e

iTrader: (1)

dont tell him to do the swiss cheese intake mod everybody knows that things is just for show and sound nobody can really say they see any performance from it leave your intake alone till you can get a custom CAI or for now just clean out the throttlebody and put some manifold spacers on their from nwp

forget all the struts and springs for now if you got a steering problem you might wanna replace evry single part of your steering system that is effected by any power steering fluid cuz if one part broke the rest are on their way

check your ball joints and cv shafts they break easy if you drive too aggressive

definately get warpspeeds exhaust kit everybody seems to love it

and if ur transmission needs any work do that first the weakest part about the third gen is that we have a weak transmission that was built for a 4cyl altima

i hate too say it but spend a few hundred on some speakers the bose sysytem in your car is probably rotted out

and remember when looking for rims always spend more on the tires wheels may seem ricey but they play a big part in downforce which basically means that if the power cant get from the engine to the ground then what good is all that power

dont worry too much about aftermarket performance rotors and pads im on my 4th set of rotors and their still OEM

oh and if you get the k&n air filter make sure to clean out your MAF regurlarly

BenStoked

iTrader: (7)

(first, quote, that is the rule in this thread)

I saw a hella performance difference from the swiss cheeze intake (henceforth "sci") I did it about 3 months ago, and butt dyno says mass improvement. do not forget, the process is also "porting" the tube, so you get essentially a hai for free. I also added the K&N filter, bumped up the butt dyno a notch there, too, but that may be because my old one was dirty, and nearing time to be replaced (had about 2,000 left on it). also, I am not sure, but how do you show off something that looks stock? all the holes are covered from a glance by the battery, the strut tower and other various stuff around the box.
btw, I have no problems with my maf from the K&N, and have had it installed for about 15k

next, most people with 169k miles on their car have OEM original struts on their car. the life expectancy is about 60k if i remember correctly. this is a safety issue.

brakes: before you do any real mods to go fast, you may have to stop quickly. I should have said "brake upgrades", since I was mainly talking about the pads.

tranny: I did say if he has the auto, to do a 5-speed swap. I hardly hear of people killing a manual (I should say it happens, but that is due to stupid drivers, not engineering flaws)

speakers: now we are starting to agree. I cheaped out, and spent about $250 total, and at lower levels sounds pretty good, compared to the stock equipment, now.

wheels/tires: couldn't have said that better myself. okay,yeah I could but its good enough.

3g94MaxGXE

Good job Ben, you've got me thinking about getting the eibach and tokico setup...I don't really want to normally. Last I heard the Eibach springs lowered the car 1.2 inches and I'm already worried about parking stops at factory ride height and this car is too long to just not bring the front bumper over them in most places.

For me though the modding went like this
1. Head Unit - was broken, replaced with a Sony
2. Front Speakers - didn't know if they were broken but they fell apart in my hands changing them the same day as the Sony, replacements are Polk Audio db461s.
3. Rear Speakers - I knew my mom blew one a while back, replaced with Polk db650s
that was $200 down the drain
4. Short Ram Intake - ~$50, the sound is well worth it - I'd like to say it feels faster and my mom and girlfriend think it is but I'd rather not go against what everyone else here says.
5. Front Strut Tower Bar - Seems to make it a bit easier to turn at 20+mph
6. Ground Wire Kit & Oil Catch Can - Well they are bought but I'm having some problems installing, probably won't make much difference and I know the catch can will give me nothing but peace of mind.

Ominae

I bought a 1991 Maxima about a month ago. Everything is fine but the driver's seat gave out (felt like something pulled loose, the seatback reclines up or down freely now) about 2 weeks after owning it. I went and found a used '91 Maxima being parted out and bought the seat, installed it and everything was fine until yesterday. I got into the car and insteady of looking out the windshield I was looking out the sunroof.

My question is, is there a way to fix the seat or do I just need to find another one? Also, does anyone know if the driver's seat from a '94 Maxima would work?

Thanks.

PS: This is my first post. I tried reading the rules but if I did something wrong I'm open to a little "constructive" criticism.

3g94MaxGXE

I haven't heard of the seats being changed on the Maxima, only difference I know of is cloth/leather. So it should work.

I would think it would be a fairly easy fix though however I've never had a problem of this nature.

Welcome to the org.

BenStoked

iTrader: (7)

yeah, it definitely sounds like something broke (your neck maybe? lol)
I have heard of this happening once or twice on our cars, and a few times on other cars. your best bet is to find a local junk yard (pull-a-part or u-pull-it type places are cheaper) or another car that's being parted out. you may check out the 3rd gen parts for sale forum (will pull a link momentarily) and see if one of the people there are locals who would let you pick one up.

the seat out of a 94 will work, providing the car is a true 94 (a third gen, not a mis-labeled 4th gen).

Ominae

Thanks for the info. I bought the car as a daily driver/gas saver (it was a better deal than selling my GMC Yukon) but I've been impressed with it so far. I like it a lot better than I thought I would.

3g94MaxGXE

Gas saving isn't exactly what a Maxima is good for. We get horrible gas mileage compared to Hondas.

Ride quality and power are what Maximas are known to have. I've gotten as low as 18mpg with my automatic. Capedcadaver gets upwards of 24 but a certain Honda made in the same years I can think of gets twice that according to the EPA. I'm currently testing low rev mileage with my car since I tend to do alot of italian tune ups on the fast roads, I don't think I'm going to make 24mpg even staying under 2000-2500rpm.

BenStoked

iTrader: (7)

somebody recently said to keep rpms between 2-3k per the owners manual. lower rpm will cause higher gas consumption because its straining the engine, using more fuel to maintain/increase speed.

3g94MaxGXE

Yeah idk. Fuel economy is damn close to rocket science. There are less restrictions in the air flow at WOT, the engine produces the best power to fuel ratio at the high revs, and then aerodynamic drag and etc. messes everything up and makes us drive like grannies.

What I'd give to know this stuff.

sleepyvg30e

iTrader: (1)

would i get better gas mileage with overdrive on or off

3g94MaxGXE

On for sure. Try driving in first for a day and you'll see that lower gears = bad. If you don't know overdrive is 4th gear.

sleepyvg30e

iTrader: (1)

overdrive is 4th gear? then whats up with the button

BenStoked

iTrader: (7)

overdrive option is to keep the revs higher when off for acceleration(on the freeway, behind a car putting along at 50, you want to pass, but there are cars coming along soon at 70. pop off the od, punch it, and you will get to 70 quicker... in theory) or on to save some gas. many trucks have this option for sure. I havent driven any auto cars in a while, so I dont remember if there is a switch for most. I know the newer f-150's and e-150's have the option (dad's old work trucks, had to drive 'em sometimes. turning OD off resulted in quicker accel around town... )

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

the button is to lock out 4th gear.

sleepyvg30e

iTrader: (1)

so if overdrive is off then i cant reach 4th gear?

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

overdrive IS 4th gear

L limits you to 1st
2 lets you use 1st or 2nd
d w/ button OUT is 1 2 or 3rd
d w/ button IN is all gears

kobedaman24

just when i was making plans to do some mods to my car, it doesn't start. this car has had previous problems of not starting up and it seems to be happening again. im not sure if its a problem with the battery because the lights seem to turn on when i open a door, but the car won't start. previous times when it had done this, it was because i accidentally left the headlights on for about an hour, and the car wouldn't start and needed a jump. this time i was dusting the dashboard and cleaning the back with the door open, meaning the light was on for the door. i cleaned the car and was getting ready to go to kragen and the car wouldn't start.

when i attempt to start the car a bunch of lights turn on on the dash. the battery icon being one of them.

anybody know what i can do to solve this problem?

p.s the battery is rougly 2 years old. do you think i probably need a new battery? (this is what i thought the problem was, but i thought i'd get some professional help)

p.s.s i also think my car has a transmission problem because sometimes when it didn't start my dad used to hold the little overdrive button on the front of the shifter and move it to drive then to park. then it would start. i tried this and it didn't happen.. oh yeah and another transmission problem this car has is with a direct shift to "drive" gear. sometimes when i switch to D, it doesnt move, so i need to switch to 2, then D. my friend says i need to change the transmission fluid. do you think this will fix the problem?

this is probably the third time this has happened.. im having thoughts of selling the car if i cant get these things fixed with a low budget.

thanks for all your help

BenStoked

iTrader: (7)

check the battery cables/terminals for corrosion. if there is some on there, it needs to be cleaned. I can leave my car with the door open and the stereo running for about an hour, and still crank the car. of course, I have a brand new battery, so that may be why.
drive the car to autozone and have the battery/alternator tested. they can tell you if the battery is being charged, if its holding a charge or whatever.

also sounds like you have a problem with shifter bushing(S?) I dont drive an auto, so its a little different for me. I know this is a problem that has been discussed before, so its not totally uncommon. the bushings are worn down, leaving slack in the cable, preventing the car from shifting into the right gear.