OK, I posted on here on Fri about my issue with stumbling and hesitation in 1st and 2nd gears. I think I have the problem solved so anyone with a similar issue listen up...

I changed my Berk Intake with a silver Frankencar and while doing so decided that it wouldn't hurt to clean the throttle body. Following the instructions of fellow members, I cleaned the outer lip then open the throttle plate. The first time I took the rag out I was amazed about how much black soot was in there. Getting excited at the prospect of having a smooth Max again I eagerly scrabbed the holy hell out of my throttle body then proceeded with the install.

Fired the car up and...

Man, that Frankencar sounds sweet...

IN the first 30 sec of driving I was greeted with a smooth, and responsive power curve. SUCCESS!!! I won't say that I noticed any increase power from the Frankencar simply because I would be biased by wishful thinking, but my Max was definately happier. Unfortunately I also noticed the beginning of the end of my current clutch (engine revving in 5th gear when accelerating), but I have been suspiscious of that for awhile so it isn't a big shock.


I DO have a question as well. For those that have replaced the rear brake rotors, did you reuse the bearing nut or purchase a new one? The ESM specifies only using a new nut and therefore I had to stop mid-process. It seems a poor design choice to have to disassemble the entire rear hub just to get the rotor off, but oh well...

 

you had to remove the wheel bearing locknut to remove the rear rotors?????????

Granted one of my rear rotors was STUCK on there pretty tight, but removing the dust cap and using a timing gear puller (from autozone) with appropriate-sized bolts from a steering wheel puller helped me remove it...

FYI, I doubt the wheel bearing locknut needs replacement, but you will need a new cotter pin to reinstall it (goes into a little hole in the spindle bolt at the end, after you've reinstalled the wheel bearing locknut)

 

You shouldn't need to take off the rear bearing. The rear rotors should be floating ones like the fronts. They might be seized on. Give then a tap with a hammer and a piece of wood.

 

MY rear rotors were free floating (meaning there was no screw holding them in place). I wouldn't replace a bearing just for a rotor. My $.02. I'm not a mechanic and I don't play one on TV

 

Fair enough, however the only place in the 2k ESM that I could find that mentions the rotor removal was in the Rear Axle section (not the brake section) and the steps were quite clear:

1. Remove Caliper Assembly (check)
2. Remove Wheel Bearing Lock Nut (NOT check, and mine has no cotter pin)
3. Remove Rotor
4. Remove Hub

I would be happy to link the pages from the PDF to see if someone has any other ideas. I did in fact try tapping with a hammer and there was absoultely NO give.

Also, as far as the Nissan literature says, you can't reuse the nut. It is indented on mine (presumeably what makes it a non-reuseable piece). IN contrast, the front rotors ARE free-floating and use to move. Bizarre.

 

ah whoops, I didn't go by the shop manual when I did my rears, and they clearly did come off

Then again, being in the Rear Axle section, perhaps they put it in that order for no particular reason (i.e. you could remove the rotor w/o removing the wheel bearing locknut, but they put it in that order anyway, since it wouldn't matter which order you removed the locknut/rotor to get to the axle beam)

 

If it will come off without removing that nut I am ALL about it. It is very possible that it is actually rusted together. I was just leery of permanent damage to the axle so I stopped.

Thanks for the insight and advice

 

Using a hammer did not do the trick for me, I actually had to use a puller tool--"Timing Gear Puller" from Autozone (~$17) was the right width, but the bolt thread size was incorrect, however I had a "Steering Wheel Puller" (probably around $17?) I bought from Autozone previously, which was too big/wide to work with the rotors, but it came with several sizes of bolts, one of which did fit the rotors' threaded holes. I put those bolts inside the timing gear puller with the center bolt braced in the small hole in the spindle, then tightened it slowly until the rotor popped off. Before all this, I drenched the backside of the rotor/spindle in penetrating oil (GUNK Liquid Wrench).

I also had to use this for one of my front rotors, so I had already bought the timing gear puller tool by the time I did my rears

 

You mean, just whacking the hell out of it won't work? Since when did brute force NOT solve a car problem?
Thanks for the heads up!

 

Well actually I didn't try the hammer with my rear rotor, I tried it with my front... ended up putting dents in the old OEM rotors from the hammer and it still didn't budge... the puller worked though