While the other gens might see 'mods' as a fancy set of coilovers, or a carbon fiber hood, mods for us are often not found in the catalogs that so frequently exclude us.
More often than not, mods for the 3rd genner come in the form of... maintenance.
And sometimes, that maintenance can result in excitement for the 3rd genner similar to unwrapping that shiny new coilover, but an excitement that the other gens rarely get to appreciate.

And one such mod: 'The Vanishing VTC Clack from hell mod'.

I've been a 3rd gen owner for 13 years now. I've read enough threads on VTC's that I thought I knew a VTC clack when I heard it. I didn't think the sudden onset of clacking my car was making was the VTC's. It was WAY too loud. You could hear me coming down the street. It couldn't be VTC's. But it was.

The point is, it's a very simple mod for VE owners, and for the few minutes it takes to ground a VTC solenoid, it's worth the effort. At the very least, you rule out a potential issue, as opposed to completely overlooking it, as I almost did. I nearly outsmarted myself by skipping the VTC grounding, because I was sure my issue was an issue with my lifters.

And in just a few minutes, I was laughing out loud like Tickle Me Elmo.

I saved money. I saved time. No mechanics needed to be involved, nor were any harmed in the making of this movie.

A quick shout out to Craig Brace. A 3rd gen pioneer, and whose VTC write up has served many for years. Found here: http://www.geocities.com/craigbrace/index.html

And to Aaron92SE, who prodded me to 'just do it' when I felt it was a waste of time.

*This video was actually shot on my cell. The mic doesn't come close to capturing how loud the clack actually is, but it captured how quiet it is - really well.

And now our Feature Presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE-40XYBVhw

 

hahahahaha hadman you're a riot.....

any further consideration for 99 Problems?

 

dyam clackin VTCs sounds like a diesel engine....


and kool wen mine starts to clack i will do dat......it didnt happen in last 3 years anyways...

 

I wish my car sounded like yours My vtc's clack even with them grounded now after the engine runs for a while. I really need to buy that low mile ve engine at the local j-yard, just incase my vtc caps take a crap on me.

 

 

Yeah the exploding cap is a scary prospect. I hope to do a VTC rebuild before anything like that happens.

Absolutely. Now that my daughter is in daycare full time I have a little more time to work on that. Maybe I'll have it ready in time for x-mas.

 

sweet... still got the PM i sent you right? if not i MIGHT still be able to find it on my PM box, if not, it's on my computer in some various backup folder of doom.

 

Did you have vtc clack prior to the above carnage?

 

Yeah I still have it. I was going to tell you to resend it, but it was still in my inbox.

Aaron that picture is just scary.

 

Nov 2007







o and Hadman, i got a few changes to make to it...... so i'll send you the revised version later today.

 

I guess so..

 

Haha. Yeah. It wasn't the loudest I've heard by any means. But you could easily hear me coming up the road.

That VTC cap is the new one too after I've rebuilt them. It was torque properly as well. I really think that if I kept the original cap, it wouldn't have broke. It felt tougher and heavier for some reason than the one that came in my rebuild kit.

 

where did you get that kit from anyways? supposedly an OEM nissan kit? or aftermarket

 

Only OEM. I got it from Courtesy. My 2nd kit came from them as well, but this time, I made sure the spring was stiffer and longer than the original. Kaleb was nice enough to make sure the spring height was measured before shipping it. So the new VTC rebuild kit that I have sitting around has already been confirmed to be the right height. I never got around to installing the new rebuild kit.

The old VTC rebuild kit I got years ago was the same height and stiffness as the original spring that came out of my 150K mile old engine! That's why I think my ticking came back after only 1K miles after rebuilding them.

OEM Part # 13072-97E00

 

yeah, i plan on using my original caps if i rebuild, but i have a source for entire brand new vtc assemblies that i might take advantage of if i can swing the cash at the right moment.