Thanks!

The car today will be cool enough when I get back home, so...
1-Lift the car from the ground about 10"
2-open bleed valve
3-start the car and run it for about... 5 min ok? can't run it longer

Unless I disconnect O2 sensor and see if the smoke stops or if bleeding helps, BTW why is the lifting needed? I assume this is to make the coolant go somewhere. also, should I expect some behavior by running with the bleed valve open? boiling? noise? anything?

 

speaking of ruining engines.... if by chance you ever want to, say, re-seal your oilpan, remove both eng-to-trans gussets BEFORE hoisting the motor and dropping the member, otherwise you'll have to put her back down and well, i almost smacked my oil pickup/screen when trying to realign the member to re-mount the stupid motor to remove the rear gusset. ugh. will finish that today, put new rear main in, and hopefully a few other things. i need my max back by friday evening!!

but yeah, see, i'm still not sure if it'd be best to just put in the other ECU, because that one presumably worked. that way after you test compression, bleed the radiator, and all that jazz, you should be able to have a reliably running engine, as long as the comp test comes out OK... the ECU is an unknown variable right now... since you have another one i'd say screw the idea of using a NOID light (free already-got-it spare ECU vs paying for a light to test your injector drivers off the ecu?), and just toss in the other ECU and hope it helps.

edit: lift the car so that the highest point in the system is the radiator cap. air always goes to the highest point it can... the more you get the radiator cap up in the air, the higher percent of the stuck-air will collect up there. meaning as soon as the coolant heats up and expands, the air will come out, once it's at the top, put on the cap and let the radiator cap do its thing.

some say you don't need the BV at all (my car doesn't have one b/c of a bypass i have installed) and to just jack the sucker up. is there anywhere nearby that you can park the car on a steep-*** hill?

 

didn't recall the pic of the plugs. the plugs will tell whether you are running rich or lean, burning oil, have a head gasket leak, and other maladies.

 

actually, opening the radiator cap and raising the front bumper about 3 ft is better.

 

3ft?? are you serious? I can't lift that height from a regular jack, and nope no uphill around the corner, closest one about 3 miles, there's a huge bump on the entrance of the apartment complex but I doubt I can park there and being unnoticed

What is a NOID caped? should I unplug the O2 sensor before the bleeding?

 

Dont run. One issue at time.

O2 may be behind high idle - do this tst whenever...

Bleeding will hlp in getting air bubbles from coolant system. Think of a heap of hosing: how could u get all bubbles out? By tilting he water keeps bottom, air get top. Now bleeding is opening a hole for the air to escape. Doesnt matter how u grt the air out, but air wont cool... instead, on spots with no coolant, heat builds up, and may damage engine.

---> 10"

As said, I bleed while driving, hose ajar. Works as train toilet...

 

you can unplug the 02 whenever, and leave it unplugged, until your other issues are solved. the 02 sensor is the icing on the cake at this point.

NOID is a kind of LED sort of light that is resistance-matched to an injector and lights up when the injector is pulsed by the ECU. if it lights up, then you know your injector signals are good. testing injector ohms are part of how to see if the injectors themselves are good.

 

Ok! I just wanted to know if it's better to unplug the O2 sensor first before heat up the car, so I will, I'll get home today and unplug the O2, then jack up the car a minimum of 10" but the higher the better right? and I will start the car and run it for the time said (about 5 minutes) if the smoke doesn't start to come out I will run it longer, but how long? 10-20min enough?

After this I'll run the compression test and I hope every thing is ok, I was thinking to wait until I get the reading but I guess is better to know right now, maybe the FSM has the spec but, do you know what is the healthy PSI compression reading?

I know, one issue at a time, but I'll be doing this today as soon as I get home, one by one

 

not off the top of my head but by the time you post up your results one of us will have said what it should be.

 

yes I am serious.
personally when I added coolant I let the motor run until it was warm and then I would keep squeezing the top hose and adding coolant until the squeezing made fluid come out of the radiator more than bubbles.
of course that was on a VE not a VG.

 

Sorry guys, can't locate the O2 sensor, like I said before the drafts on the FSM are so confusing, could you please tell me if this is the one...

 

U can locate exhaust pipe? Below pass seat:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/9


Then follow the wire... unplug.

One there is for the front ABS, another is for the O2.

Think about the "water container". Take 5feet bundle of transparent hose, fill it with water. Bubbles will be there... HOW will you get all bubbles out? By tilting the whole "water container". Now your container is the max... If it helps to turn max on its head, the do it. When youre tilting, optimally there should be air oulets in all "four" corners, tilting should be in 3D axles.

Driving causes variations in all directions, pumping rpm's. This will get the bubbles going. One leak will let all minuscle air bubbles out...

Just raise the car, open bleed valve when cold, and you get most air out. But alas, not all... Only the drive/bleed and/or collecting bottle will give perfect results. If it satisfies yall ppl, 99.99% drive like that

In compression test youre seeking for evenly spread numbers. Guess it was
over 11 kg/cm2

 

My dear friend, are you asking me to disconnect the O2 sensor from the exhaust pipe?
if not, then it will be more helpful a yes or no to my picture

cable color matches... but I'm not sure!

 

No. Leave the sensor in place ... follow the wire until u hit the connector. Pulling/pushing and following feelin the wire move.This is often painFULL, but what isnt here on earth

Why I am telling like this, its because I am wet behind ears - never disconnected the O2 sensor in maxima, never went to tha expedition youre about to go... Its justs so reliable... so I am lying if I answer yes or no. (Cape is sleepin already?)

The sensor wire length is about one feet, then there IS a connector.

 

that pic you took... UNPLUG THAT BIYATCH!!!

compression instructions and specs on page EM-8

well it's 01:18 my time haha. i SHOULD be sleeping. but no, alas, i was outside, in the dark, experiencing the ineffable joy of trying to re-member and re-mount a crookedly-hoisted engine, after resealing oil pan, replacing rear main, and swapping the axle carrier bracket from a/t style to m/t style. and then 2 hours of putting the engine back on its mounts. next time i'll pay more attention to how i'm hoisting the sucker.

 

But laying under tha max is like in a nice dream, sleepin?

Minor correction: Yes my O2 sensor wire connector [like ALL connectors] has been open, contact grease added. But that job didnt require any IQ, just dumb legworks. For unawares there this : http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/14

 

it's like a dream until you get sliced by every sharp edge on your ypipe, get trash fallin in your eyes, and your light-green shirt turns black! fortunately the rest of what i have to do under the car is familiar territory, already once covered during the swap.

 

GEEEZZ!!!! Thanks caped! I really appreciate that!

I have 2 hours looking for a picture or waiting somebody to post and confirm that's the BIATCH I'm looking for!

Appreciate the advice Wiking, but can't get under the car, no jack stands available for me, (no, no bricks or piece of wood either... and yes I'm a chicken who don't want to get under the car when it's lifted only by the jack )

Thanks all for the help, now it's almost 11pm here and I'm out to work on my car

 

You have been spoiled.

Now I demand a video from that connector, greasy picture isnt enough...

The 10.000 other 3gen repairmen here wont post & wait for 120minutes, they do 'risk their lives'... (mabe use spare tire under vehicle as life vest, rip that brick from a wall).

Cape is our hero. He risks his life every day for us. But that 120minute lag, its unforgivable...

 

nah! I was using my time wisely reading the FSM over those 120 min

LMAO---> (mabe use spare tire under vehicle as life vest, rip that brick from a wall).

You do sound like a teacher I had back in high school man! "the real man has to risk their life" he said "always take the hard way, not the easy way"....

ok that's enough for philosophical thoughts...

Back to subject:

I disconnect O2 sensor, then I lift the car... not as much as I would like but I did lift it, at least 1ft, then I open radiator, I start the car and after two minutes coolant start to spill from the open radiator cap, not much but start dripping until it became a significant small pond then at minute 5-6 smoke start coming out again, idle still 2k RPM, so what should I do next... adjust idle? swap ECU?

Compression test tomorrow... it's 1am...too sleepy.... sleepy rmdl readings no good... posting no good.... ZZZzzzz.... uh..oh yeah click post quick reply...

No seriously, I do appreciate all comments, opinions, advice from everybody posting here doing their best to help me, I really do. see you guys tomorrow

 

Thats good start before u fully humble under uself tha max...

Trace the smoke, where from?

Try idle adj the ECU swap.

Tomorrow is now here

 

free fix.. amirite? ^^^

 

I still suspect air leak. Excluding compression problem, seems almost drivable?
Anyways, controlling mars rover would be easier ? than being this abused max midwife.

 

but why the coolant was throwed out? IIRC you said that shouldn't happen.

Maybe I'll try to swap IACV too, you said a few posts back, if ECU find something wrong it will send a signal then start again, so it looks like when cars warms up is when the car fails trying to compensate a problem with... I don't know..vacuum? air leak? fuel?

 

have you pulled the outer section of the IACV and cleaned off the plunger and valveseat? if it's stuck, it will not work right. it gets gunky crap in it the same way a TB does over time.

and i'm guessing the grammar in the first sentence is because you only got 5.5 hrs sleep? jk man. well, the coolant will come out upon expansion. if it's got a lot of air to burp it could possibly come out more violently than a well-bled system.

 

I dont own that: of course and always playing with cool ants, some ants will walk around... No see video what u did, what happened: I said don't open bleed valve when engine is hot.

Bleeding means bleeding: when coolant can flow out, air pockets can be filled as air also has a route to pass out.

ECU is constantly in the compensating business. When one spark/ign fails, that is known immediately from campos signal. The corrective response at idle comes via IACV. Except when rarely stable idle [I do have] , the IACV steppermotor is constantly being stepped back and forth by ECU - adjusting the airflow valve.

If excess air can get in, ECU is programmed to compensate with more fuel delivery - injectors will inject the amount fuel needed to burn all oxygen. Thus good air leak causes idle to be very high.

Still cant figure out your smoke: why cant u trace it? Why wont u take some water and pour on, just to locate it? Take a bucket, tea cup and start pouring. When u hit the smoke generator, surely youll be able to see difference.

 

hehe, you are right about my grammar, it's because always the same situation, before bed a quick check on the org, and right after stand up from bed directly come to the org.

What is a TB? I haven't pulled IACV at all, but I will today, I checked my old one and it seems very dirty inside, what should I use to clean that up?

when smoke comes up I keep spraying starter fluid with no effect last time, but actually I was looking for air leak so I focused on the air/vacuum tubes/hoses, I will try again with water today.

 

TB = Tuberculosis

Cleanup with gasoline or some other mild solvent. You may also always buy cleaner spray cans...

Starter fluid is no good for smoke

The Btw = also Throttle Body.

 

Cleaner, but what kind, there are so many, engine degreaser is appropiate? what about the MAF cleaner I already have? is it safe to use it?

 

Try on plastics and on alu, if they vaporize, dont use. If the tst pieces are still around next year, just use...

I'd use what is available. But then, I accidentally painted part of my RV thinned with coolant...

 

You see, damn it! I'm the master of the bad luck, I just got a warning for working on my car from the security guy on the apartments...

I was doing the compression test and I was just on the first cylinder, I start with #6 which BTW gives 170 PSI

 

Mabe he didnt like u smokey signals or was just jealousy: cant figure out how to open a hood?

Note: aNybody with a max is lucky...

 

then go drive it to a shopping center, park behind a long row of stores, and do it there.

 

Problem is the smoke, if I manage to drive it to the closest shopping center (about 1/2 mile) I will get there with a huge cloud of smoke, and shopping center also have the security cars driving around, but I will try again in my parking apartments tomorrow at daylight, the security guy spot me because it was 1am, so I'm thinkig if I do it at afternoon, he won't be around, speacially saturday when most people wash their cars in the driveway and that's prohibited too.

I have done many jobs on the car, of course small ones, with amounts of time no longer than 1 hour, except when mechanic came and replace intake body (3 hours) and never been bothered, like I said probably was the time, maybe just my luck, who knows, if he spot me again I guess he's gonna report me to management and they will talk with me if that happens then I won't take any chances again, in that case I'll probably drive into a local auto zone and work there, however I hope I can get rid of the smoke soon.

BTW! that 170 looks healthy right? FSM says standard 173 minimun 128 or I'm looking at the wrong #

 

170 is awesome. keep checking the rest whenever you can. how far is the autozone? you can do it in the woods or anywhere, as long as nobody will bother you. compression doesn't change depending on what type of pavement or lack of pavement your tires are on haha. so do whatever you gotta do.

 

Has anyone asked what the "smoke" smells like yet? That can give HUGE clues on where to start looking. A sort of "sweet" smell would be coolant. A sort of "burnt bad" smell is usually auto transmission fluid. Motor oil has it's own "burned" smell that is not quite as bad as auto tranny fluid.

170 would be good. But it's not the raw number that matters so much as it is the consistency accross ALL cylinders. Off the top of my head I believe you want no more the 5% difference between any of them. So 170 across all 6 cylinders with no more then 8.5 psi difference between high and low readings would be great.

160 across all cylinders with a 10 psi difference would probably even be acceptable.

 

hehe, the woods could be a great idea! specially because I hate people staring on what I'm doing.

AZ is about 2 miles away, so, a little too far, but if I have no choice...

shoult, yes caped asked before about the smell of the smoke, first smell like burnt oil, I know that smell because old engine was leaking oil, but I guess it was just some oil drips because it doesn't smell like that anymore, I'm bad describing odors and I have no idea how to describe current odor of the smoke, no sweet odor, but rather I would say when you boil just water it has that smell of hot mixed with some combustion, I would say gas but don't think so, gas smells different, like I said it's hard for me to describe odors, specially if I don't know the odors of the fluids when they are hot. another clue I post is I see the smoke coming from under the front valve cover, can't spot the exact location, but If I can work on my car tomorrow I'll try pouring water as suggested.

BTW, Transmission was checked a couple of weeks ago and I was told is in perfect working condition. which makes sense since I had a plug swapped (F16-F21)

You're right about the consistency of all cylinders, but at least that 170 gives me a light of hope that the engine have better than great compression, now if I happen to get at least 160 on the rest of them, that will be enough proof to discard any gasket problems right? or am I going ahead too many steps?

 

good compression will mean that your head gaskets & piston rings are in good shape and that your vavles are fully sealing

2 cylinders with low compression side-by-side means a bad head gasket usually unless they BOTH have valve/ring issues.

 

Ok! finally some good news, well looks like good news, please let me know:

Cylinders compression:
1-175 psi
2-170 psi
3-170 psi
4-175 psi
5-175 psi
6-170 psi

now please consider the tester is analog and I try to get the most accurate reading but it could be mistaken by +/- 3 psi

 

Excellent!

Now take tha waterbucket and coffee cup ... pour on engine all around until the smoking point is located.

This is smtg I cant figure out: you can do about just anything, but locating smoke stays mystery... are the fans ON, full blow? Also how can it continue if oil level and water level stays the same, no spot on ground = what everlasting substance is smoking. Something is amiss in this story: show a 5min video... of smokeys