Last year, my car would go up to red on the heat gauge, when I turned on the heat and rolled the windows down, and kept at a high speed then it would be fine. So I did a fluid flush and burped the lines, hasn't done it since.... I hadn't really noticed anything as far as smoke goes, however recently I noticed that when I start the car, and give it a quick 2k RPM rev, I have quite a bit of "thin" white smoke coming out with a gasoline smell, but this could just be condensation. Because I noticed after it runs for a bit, it goes away, however this is quite a bit more then normal. I may just be jumping to conclusion, however Id like to play it safe as I'm sure you all can understand.


So that has been going on for a bit. Kept an eye on coolant oil etc...and noticed my oil was pretty low one day with no leaking present and that same day I throw the P0021 code. I did an oil change and looked again for the smoke.My buddy thought he could see dark smoke instead, but I couldn't confirm that when he was at the helm.

About the code -
P0021 - IVT Control (Bank 2)

I have changed the oil as it was a little under (was only 2k after oil change), and reset the ECU, it still comes back. It could be other things however...

Harness or connectors (Intake valve timing control solenoid valve circuit is open or shorted.)
Intake valve timing control solenoid valve may be faulty
Crankshaft position sensor (POS) may be faulty
Camshaft position sensor (PHASE) may be faulty
Accumulation of debris to the signal pick-up portion of the camshaft

Any thoughts on how to narrow it down? Could this other "issue" be related? I might just bite the bullet and have the dealer diagnose it though...

 

with all those, either take it to he dealer for a a good mechanic

 

If the vapor doesn't have a sort of sweet smell, then likely it's not a head gasket problem. Plus usually there are other warning signs that might indicate that (oil looks like milk shake, or oil in coolant). A pressure test on the coolant system can give you a definitive answer.

However, your smoking issue is probably nothing to worry about judging from your description. It's just the car running rich while in open loop which would be normal.

Your list of items are a good start. You should go through each one, test and verify operation (I assume you have a copy of the FSM that can show you what to test for).

S

 

water vapor is normal when warming up, and the gas smell is becasue your cat is cold.
a head gasket you could check for coolant level see if it goes down.

as for the codes, clear them and see if they come back.

 

Bleh was to lazy to check things out today, but its running damn good...performace wise

 

Ok so now its under hard accel and I have black "carbon" stuff on my whole rear end.....

 

i had black carbon stuff all over my bumper then i got a reflash from technosquare because i knew i was running to rich after the the headers and what not.

 

Yeah I need to get a tune really badly...but I'm just hoping it's nothing real bad....

 

Yeah well turns out it is really bad, the smoke got worse, and its more excessive and blueish hue to it now...great

 

Well first and foremost, revving a cold engine right after startup is never a good idea. This actually could be part of your issue if you do it alot. Very good way to pop a head gasket, crack a head or burn up a cylinder or rings. The oil is not fully circulated throughout the engine and revving it will make it warm up too fast. Not saying this is the cause but its possible.

 

Have you checked the plugs to see if they have oil on them? It could be something as simple as a guide tube seal leaking.

 

Yeah its not something I do on a daily or regular basis....

I have not yet, left the car at my buddies house until I can do something futher...

 

It couldn't be a seal where the coils are I don't think...Correct me if I'm wrong though. I did have one of those seals go bad and I replaced a valve cover at the same time.

Maxima has been sitting for a week now while I figure out what to flippin do.

 

getting new engine most likely dont wanna mess around any more

leaks to much oil, has a ton of smoke...as i said its parked now until i can find an engine...dont feel like rebuilding it until its out, then ill rebuild and sell it

 

Replaced the engine - turns out the cats were clogged - didnt have any codes for that which in turn caused extra stress on the piston rings causing them to burn up

 

Ouch. How much did it set you back?

 

1200 for an 05 Altima engine with 43k on it. and 800 labor. I get to keep the old engine as well =) was only a 100$ core.

 

I tell my story of this in multiple threads, but no one seems to listen (not faulting you, just everyone in general).

The cats are junk and should be thrown away as soon as we buy these cars. Like the op, they fail FAST with no codes, no nothing (even when my engine overheated and stopped). You won't notice a perf. problem until it's too late (b/c of the gradual clogging at 1st, it just makes more TQ). Mine completely failed on the hwy and ruined the engine from low oil. It was at 75k miles. Nissan should probably be sued over this, but good luck. I'm not even sure the altimas have been successful at that (they are REALLY bad for blowing motors).

At the very least everyone should get a Y pipe and hollow the main cat.

 

Yup - that's what I did...I was going to get a set of headers while the engine was out, but I had to get the wife a new car as well so money was tight enough as is.

I ended up just hallowing out the cats all together...sucks, but it is what it is. Wish I would've seen info on the cats earlier - as I never searched for it.

 

Bad precats are a performance killer. Swapping them out with much lower mileage used ones and putting in a test pipe to replace the main cat dropped my 45-85 time by nearly 3 seconds. I'm sure the NWP block plate helped but pretty sure the majority of the improvement was due to better exhaust flow.

Not a bad price for the engine and install, that's something like 5-6 car payments worth of money.

 

I can't wait to get back on the dyno - I had this thing on the dyno at one point and pulled ok, but not what I thought. I guess I will see if there is a difference.

 

old engine just made it back to my house - gonna see what i can do with her

 

$2k for a 05 motor w/install.....not bad at all!

 

yeah they had to fab a bracket for the MPU as its on the other side, and swap intake manifolds..other than that it was plug and play

 

And swap knock sensor...

 

I'll have to ask/look - thanks for lettin me know

 

Well, you'd notice it if they didn't. It would drive like a civic lol.
They probably didn't at 1st, but if they scanned for codes it would've came up.

 

Absolutely. My car is paid for and since the paint and interior are holding up nicely, $2 grand to freshen it up should the need arise is more than reasonable.

 

Junkyard searches can yield a brand new motor for about 1k shipped
Might be hard to find, but doable. Bought my 05 engine (for the old car) from an org member for 950 I think (what he paid plus shipping). Donor car was totaled in the rear on a test drive...

 

The shop I went through I trust and have dealt with the place many times. So it seemed logical for them to search for the engine, as they are responsible in a sense if something that was not stated appears to be wrong. I'm skeptical buying anything used and take my time, because it's hard to trust people when it comes to used items.

Now I just gotta figure out if I want to repair the engine and build it, sell it as is, or repair and sell. It was only 100$ core charge so it just made sense to keep the engine.