ibag8rfan

iTrader: (4)

Upon recent inspection of the VIAS box, I found that it stripped completely beyong the JB weld fix (which had already been done). When i pulled the VIAS box off the little brass cup was still stuck to the power rod, where its supposed to be inside the VIAS box.

So for now, my only option to get top end power back is to completely remove the rod. I know it can be done without removing the intake manifold, but if noone can help me with that, can anyone tell me which bolts on the back of the manifold must be removed in order to raise it?

NewLoveI30

The rod actually broke free form the JB Weld???

Holy crap. How hard is it to turn the valve inside the IM? Maybe it's a problem of that valve seizing up and not the cup being too weak (or maybe both).

Did you re-grease the contact points after you did the JB fix?

As for your question... I haven't taken my VIAS apart (yet), so I cant help you with that.

ibag8rfan

iTrader: (4)

the actual rod still turns freely inside the manifold so I doubt its caused by that seizing. I think it's probably because my car sees redline so often that it just completely stripped it out over the past few months. I can get the VIAS apart no problem but I don't need to in order to get the power valve out, because while it was apart last time I removed the spring that will fall in by removing the rod through the passenger side.

BlackBIRDVQ

iTrader: (15)

Power valve can be removed without pulling the intake manifold off. I've done it on my Maxima after my cup has completly came apart beyond any JB Weld fix.

You will wanna remove the VIAS box, remove the cup and spring. Then move over to the passenger side of the engine and you will notice a SILVER end cap that will be on the side of the plastic intake manifold- its held on by 2 screws. Gently pry the vacuum lines etc out of the way and remove this silver cap off the intake manifold. After that you MIGHT have to move the power steering reservoir out of the way- as I think it might hit the power valve when U try to remove it out of the intake. After you get it out, put the VIAS box back up, make sure nothing is left inside it or it will get sucked into the motor, put the silver end cap back on also.

Be advised that the LOW end and midrange power will suck, it will feel very sluggish till bout 5K RPM. At that point the engine becomes a monster and pulls like MAD till fuel cut. Based on conversations with SR20DEN and others who tried the power rod removal, they came up with conclusive results- power doesnt drop off till you hit the fuel cut. There are some substantial top end gains to be had with the removal of the power rod, but at the expensse of the low to mid range power.

Try it out, if you dont like it you can always put the rod back in and have the lousy top end back. In the mean time I will try to talk to some Nissan reps/engineers bout a possible avalibility of repleacement VIAS box, so that in case it breaks we can repleace it with a good one and not have to remove the whole intake to fix it. A redesign should really be done, but I am not sure if that would be possible.

alpinestars™

iTrader: (6)

Is there a write-up here with pics on how to get to your VIAS? I wanted to inspect mine as well.

upstatemax

iTrader: (15)

This really needs to be redesigned by Nissan, it is total BS that this thing breaks sooo easy. I have en extended warranty, so I might have mine replaced just because....

Kevlo911

iTrader: (36)

Well his cup broke off completely... And he already took out the spring and cup.

Kevlo911

iTrader: (36)

From the looks of it, isnt the timing chain cover in the way?

Nismo3112

iTrader: (12)

I would take it out via the left side of the car (pull out towards battery)

Kevlo911

iTrader: (36)

You cant

Kevlo911

iTrader: (36)

Stripped screw FTL!!!!

chris'smax

iTrader: (3)

uuummmm i have done it when i was checking mine. I removed the vias acutator assembly from the driver side of the manifold and was able to pull the rod out. Unless something is wrong with my manifold

chris'smax

iTrader: (3)

Isn't there a way to check if the vias is operating witout opening it up?

Kevlo911

iTrader: (36)

I pulled the **** out of it and no go. Yours must have a bigger hole

No you have to take off the VIAS and check out the cup.

ibag8rfan

iTrader: (4)

Guys, not to be a jerk but if you havent removed the rod yourself or know someone who has, I don't really need new ideas. There is only one way the thing comes out, and it's on the passenger side of the car. It's just a matter of whether or not it can easily be done without lifting the entire intake manifold (not fun). I stripped the top screw on the little end cap, and BlackBird if you could tell me what kind of tool you used to get to the bottom screw it would be awesome. I have a philips screwdriver bit and sockets but damn its hard to apply enough pressure to avoid stripped the head.

chris'smax

iTrader: (3)

yea my cup was perfect looking and my car has 80,000 miles on it. I drive like pu$$y all the time because i am scared of blowing my transmission+i can't afford the gas. The needle litterally drops when i floor it w/ the 510cc injectors

chris'smax

iTrader: (3)

Look buddy i am telling you mine came out from the driver's side. Just gotta have magic fingers i guess

Kevlo911

iTrader: (36)

Can you take a pic of the hole? The ones I have taken apart have a hole that is barely bigger than the small part of the rod where the spring goes in.

ibag8rfan

iTrader: (4)

on both mine and kevlo's manifolds, while the vias box was removed the rod had about an inch or so of free play. It would push in and pull out not more than 1 or 2 inches. Maybe we both have messed up stuff?

BlackBIRDVQ

iTrader: (15)

Mine would not come out through the driver's side of the engine, and the passenger side came right out.

IBAG- I used a impact driver to free up the screws. Its basically a screwdriver that you hit with a hammer. The blow of the hammer puts lots of instant torque at the tip of the impact driver and loosens the screw with a smiliar effect to a air impact to remove lug nuts on your car.

Timing cover is not in the way, I have removed mine completly in the past. I even had it warrantied by Nissan with the rod removed, they took my intake for warranty claim with the rod missing. I even still have the rod sitting around in my toolbox at work.

I'm going to be having lunch with the regional parts director for the midwestern region, from Nissan. I will mention it to him, that we are having problems with the VIAS. I doubt normal people notice the power dip past 5K RPM with their intake not operating, like we do. Most people are affraid to push their car past 4K RPMs, they think RED means engine blows up so they keep it below that. Hence why Nissan probably doesn't even know bout this problem as VERY little people complain bout it.

igzy

iTrader: (18)

On the same topic, I am currious to see if you remove the rod, why would lower end loose, would it be because of air pressure or wrong A/F mixture. Has anyone played with this? Say if it is wrong A/F, could we add a fuel regulator or larger injectors to add more fuel in case it is too lean, or if it's air pressure issue, to make the intake air passage smaller... Just some thoughts... I know that SR20DEN did some experiments with both the cup reinforcement and rod removal, just that I have not seen any updates in a while... Any thoughts on this?

ibag8rfan

iTrader: (4)

There are a few tuning measures you can take that make the low end loss a little less significant, but even then I dont think you can get ALL of the power you lose back.

michaelnyden

iTrader: (15)

well...since they just got the EU working...the software was released today, we can add timing now...so we could get most if not all of that low end mid range back hopefully...

MaxBoost925

iTrader: (33)

I got mine off. But I had to pull the plenum off. Stripped bottom screw with no clearance to work with FTL.

I had to use aligator clamps to get them out.

mad2kmax

iTrader: (4)

I've done this many times in the past and gotten fed up with it. I've been riding around for almost a year without it. Now that my engine is burning a quart of oil per 500 miles, (unrelated to taking out the vias) and a coolant leak that I cant find, I've decided to say screw it and just throw in a 3.5. I'm tired of dumping money into this engine, and with the mods I have now, the only other option is to go FI for more power, and I dont want to do that.

BlackBIRDVQ

iTrader: (15)

you need a water pump, all thanks to your wonderfull maintenance history.

How many times in the 6 years of your car's life has the coolant been changed ?

3.5L might be the way to go for you, you probably have enough extra oil laying around to keep on feeding the newly swapped 3.5L.

sloppymax

iTrader: (8)

is the cooling leak due to a rotted out vacuum cap used to cap the coolant flow to the tb?

mad2kmax

iTrader: (4)

no, I had that scare before, about 6 months ago. That was a pain in the ***, but I've fixed that and keep an eye on it. good suggestion though. The oil burning isn't really as bad as I embellished, It's more like 3 quarts every 4000 mile oil change. I think I just am trying to give myself a reason to do the 3.5 swap. I've pretty much reached the limit of this 3.0 and I still want more power.

mad2kmax

iTrader: (4)

you talkin' to me? haha jk. My coolant has been changed regularly. The car is maintained well and SR20DEN is my mechanic & he takes pretty good care of the max. Do you think that the water pump is the source of the coolant leak? Or do I just need to replace it after 6 years of use? The engine has 83k miles, btw.