Ever had the system worked on, any leaks in the past?

It's possible that the system is low on refrigerant.

Can you get the gauge readings?

 

Never had it worked on. Dont know about any leaks. I added another can of refrigerant but still the same issue. If I remember correctly the gauge reading that came with the can of refrigerant read around 30psi on the L pressure side. Does it usually cost anything to take a car in and have them diagnose the plm?

 

You just added a can of refrigerant without knowing anything about the current state of charge?

Don't do that. That's like adding oil to an engine without reading the dipstick.

Check around, see who has free diagnostics.

Just the low pressure reading, without knowing engine speed, ambient temperature, etc doesn't mean anything. Would also need both high and low readings.

 

Yeah, goes to show what the people at Firestone know. I was thinking about the problem being a shim that has worn thin and needs to be replaced. The closest sounding video I could locate for a Maxima engine that has the similar rattling sound to mine is this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQgua...eature=related
What does that sound like to you?

The ticking noise I was hearing for over a year before this happened was this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGJVy0UbIIc

I found a local shop that I can have my car towed to for ~$45 and they were confident that they would be able to remove the valve cover, locate the problem, and reinstall the valve cover within an hour which would mean I would be charged for an hour of diagnosing.

 

First one I'd peg as rod knock, or some foreign object in the valvetrain.

The second, can't really tell.

 

I have a 96 GLE with leather seats. My car does not have the heated seat switches. My question is, are the leather seats prewired and come with the heating elements?

 

Nope. You'll either have to add aftermarket heating elements and the appropriate switches,

or

buy/swap for Maxima leather heated seats, then purchase some OEM heated seat switches and do a little wiring. Do a search for "heated seats" with my name in it. Some good threads should come up.

 

The FSM specifically calls them "valve lifters"

 

Hey there pmohr,

I went to check the car and the problem aint that bad:

When I accelerate and it goes from 1st to 2nd gear, you can hear/feel a small knock (1 or 2) before it switches gear. If I floor it, it will cause a big BANG before switching gears, and if I accelerate extrement slowly, it is barely noticeable... it only happens on the 1st gear, after that it runs quite smooth.

Sounds familliar?
He could not provide me with any codes, the check engine was on but he says it is for the oxigen sensor to be replaced.

Thanks again for your help

 

Ok new issue that may be related to this plm. This all started happening around when I installed my sub and amp. So I decided to disconnect the power cord for the amp from the battery. The temp outside was kinda cool today so I'm driving to work and everything seems fine for the first 10 minutes so I try to turn the air up to nbr 3 and nbr 4 and then I hear this loud rattling right behind the dash like where the defrost vents are on the drivers side. It sounds like a fan going at highspeed and someone sticking a playing card in it. so I turned it back down to nbr 2 and it went away. But then few minutes later the air starts smelling different and when that happens I know the air will stop being cold. Now, it doesnt blow hot or warm air, its just kinda room temperature air but has a different smell to it. So it seems that the amp and sub wasnt the plm as its still doing the same thing with it disconnected. Hope this new info helps to solve my plm. Thanks!

 

So, the shop got back to me and they said it is either that the timing chain is loose which would suggest that the guides need replacing or that it is a rod bearing. In either case it would be at least $2,500 worth of work. They found an engine with good compression for about $900 and with another $200 in parts and $1500 labor (17 hours), it would be about $2,600 for them to replace the engine. I have the cash so I'm leaning toward just having them replace the engine with one with fairly low miles. The engine would have a 6 month warranty.

Or, I could find someone who can help me put in a low mile DEK. This option would be a PITA in my opinion and I'm not sure if all the hours of planning, prepping, wrenching, troubleshooting, and wishful thinking would be worth it.

So, does $2600 to have a lower mileage engine put into my 1998 5 speed SE (bose, leather, wood trim, clear tails, budget Y-pipe, all around good condition but with 180,000 miles) seem worth it to you guys?

EDIT: WTF could have caused this to happen? It has made a big dent in how much I respect the VQ30DE.

 

A loud bang right before it shifts? The only thing I can imagine would be a motor mount, but that would generally happen when you let off the gas.

Probably an internal problem, take it to a trans shop for a free diag.

I'm assuming you think that 'plm' stands for 'problem'? And 'nbr' for number? Seriously, it's easier on you and on us if you actually spell words, not throw some keys at them.

Why would the amp or sub be a problem with your air conditioning?

Anyway, for one it sounds like something is stuck in your blower motor.

Smelling different...how? Musty? Like something is burning? What?

It'll probably be easiest for you to just go to a shop and have them do a diagnosis on the air conditioning, especially if you can't come up with some gauge readings to at least try and pinpoint the issue.

$1500 labor to swap in basically the same exact engine? Damn. Ha, 17 hours labor...

And $900 for a VQ30 is a ridiculous amount, even for a DE-K.

Check car-part.com, see what's available in your area. Even with shipping, you can get a VQ30 for less than that.

A DE-K is all but drop in, really. Chase around some vac lines, some new injector harness connectors, basically good to go.

If the timing chain was loose, 90% chance it's just the tensioner, and not the guides. If you pull the cover over the tensioner, it should be relatively easy to see whether or not it's actually working.

 

Without knowing exactly what happened, can't really say. Sounds like they didn't take the time to pinpoint where the sound is coming from, just assuming based on noise.

 

Sorry about the spelling. Bad habbit from when I worked as a relay operator. We were required to abbreivate everything. I thought maybe the amp was pulling too much juice from the battery causing something that the A/C needs to shut off. As far as the smell goes, I would say musty describes it pretty well. Is the blower motor easily accessible? The only gauge I have is the one that came with the can of refrigerant that you connect to the Low pressure side. Anyway, thanks for the replies and I guess will just take it in to the shop on friday for a diagnosis. Thanks again.

 

Blower motor is relatively easy to get to, right behind the glove box.

Musty could be some sort of buildup on the evap core, which tends to happen on some cars due to condensation.

 

P0325
P1400
P0110
P0105

 

KS is a given, no problem there.

Did you do any work immediately prior to throwing these codes?

Code: P1400 | Description: EGRC Solenoid Valve


Code: P0110 | Description: Intake Air Temperature Sensor


Code: P0105 | Description: Absolute Pressure Sensor

 

i recently replaced the starter, egr valve, fuel filter, and pop charger
EDIT:which one of the codes would cause the rpms to drop and car to cut off?

 

Did you happen to turn the key to ON in the middle of working on the car?

Have you reset the codes to see which came back?

None would cause those symptoms. Under what conditions does that happen? Deceleration, idle, acceleration, etc?

 

no. battery was disconnected

disconnected the battery for about 10-15 minutes

sometimes at idle. sometimes at start. sometimes while i'm driving it will start jerking and if i put it in neutral i will drop down to about 4-500 rpms and then drop to zero then other times it will drop from 2k to zero when i put it in neutral. when it is about to cut off it smokes (black) and kinda chugs and sometimes sounds like its a small backfire

 

Have you tried cleaning the TB/IACV yet?

Have you cleared the codes to see which came back?

 

not yet

i thought when i disconnected the battery it cleared them?

 

Well when did you disconnect the battery? You never said if it was after you got the codes, or what.

No need to disconnect the battery, takes 10 seconds to clear the codes with a screwdriver.

 

hey srry took me a long time to getting bck on you but FINALLY im driving the car bck. and thanks alot pmohr on the help it was the resiviour that was empty i added some fluid then needed to bleed the clutch.. thinking about changing the slave clinder also but now i got another problem cant start the car by just pushing the clutch i basically gotta press really hard and turn the key at the sametime which is VERY ANNOYING .. got any solution or reasons to why is that happening??.. and yea i did the heating swap also it wasnt a pain in the *** like how everyone said it was.. i paid a shop 250 to do the swap and its working pretty good and have that nice luxury look that i like in the inside..

 

when i was replacing the parts it wasnt connected. i havent taken it off since then.

 

So then again...clear the codes, see which come back.

 

Well, if I can find someone from the ORG who knows their way around a DE-K swap and can help me out I am curious how much less than 17 hours it would really take. Are we talking one day to pull the old engine and put in the new one? I found a DE-K for a 5 speed with 64K miles for about $650 plus shipping on car-part.com. So, I'm looking at $650 plus shipping, miscellaneous hoses, fluids, ECU (?), and other parts, and 'fair compensation' for someone to help me with it. Not too bad. So, it sounds like if you were me you would just go the DE-K swap route?

I was under the impression that even simply replacing the tensioner was very involved and if I had this shop do the work it would still be over $1000. Regardless, I will ask them to double check that it's not just the tensioner that is bad.

This may be a dumb question but could the fact that Firestone put in 5Wx30 oil in instead of 10Wx30 cause a rod bearing to fail like this? I do pay attention to engine temperature before revving it up past a couple grand.

 

Very unlikely that the choice of oil caused this.

The tensioner itself isn't very expensive, and takes probably a half hour or so to swap out.
Tensioner:
13070-31U02, $65.88 each at Courtesy

No need for the ECU, to get the DE-K running at it's best you'd just need an RPM switch and some form of tuning device.

A day, maybe a day and a half to swap them out.

If I were you, and I was prepared to already spend that much to swap over to another VQ30, I would throw in a 3.5 and still have money left over.

 

how

 

So you didn't search, or read the stickies?

http://vbxmaxima.8m.com/ecu.html

 

hi dudes i am a newbie here and posting on this thread because i am trying to decide on getting buncha Cattman stuff (jwt pop charger, header/ypipe, fast cat, b pipe) on me 99 se auto

OR

sell da car and get an 03 that i found with leather n nav with 60k mile for 7k flat (private seller retiree - woot! u know those miles were put on with kid gloves)

what i want is a "sleeper" maxima that makes me want to wake up every morning early feeling refreshed and alive for the simple fact that i drive a sleeper max that will unleash its fury and strike down with great vengeance and furious anger all those who oppose me when the light turns green



please help! i am prepared to receive newbie flamage as well

 

 

Hmm?

 

i didnt search but read the stickies a long time ago

 

Ok, i've got a newbie question that isn't worth making a thread about.

When you have gaskets (IACV, TB, valve cover, etc) how do you know:

a. Which gaskets require RTV/sealant?
b. Where to use RTV - I.e. on the gasket itself or on the car, in the corners, around the entire gasket...
c. How much RTV to use for gaskets (ie size of a dime, a quarter, a football)

Thanks guys.

 

Generally speaking, if there's a gasket, it doesn't need RTV. In most places if you need RTV, that's the only gasket there is.

Off the top of my head the only places you need RTV are valve covers, inner/outer timing covers, upper/lower oil pan, cam brackets...that's all that comes to mind.

The only place I recall that uses both a gasket and RTV (valve covers), you put RTV on the gasket side in a specific place to avoid leakage:


Then with anything else that needs RTV, it should be relatively easy to tell where it goes. There's usually some sort of groove or such where it's supposed to go.

 

So in the cases of say, the valve cover gasket, would you put some RTV in the corners or around the whole thing?

 

No, there's no need for the TB gasket to have RTV.

The only reason the valve cover gaskets need RTV at the corners is just because of how it's set up, it doesn't get a good enough seal with the gasket alone.

 

oh gotcha, thanks Paul, I appreciate it.

I may have to do my GFs valve cover gaskets in the summer so this is useful.

 

by the way it only cuts off when the A/C is off. when i cut it on the rpms stay normal, if that helps at all.