Pulling the intake manifold isn't *that* hard
03-27-2011, 09:27 PM
#41
Scott: I REALLY recommend waiting to replace that rear valve cover until you have a set of NWP spacers in your hands! Highly recommended!
Also, bypassing the coolant lines is fine. I (as I think many others) can attest that the electronic throttle body still works just fine at start up and otherwise without the additional "heat blanket."
I'd also verify your VIAS is working properly. If you have a vacuum tester (can get one relatively cheap at Harbor Freight) then you can make sure the butterfly is moving properly. I think something like this is always good to inspect becuase those actuators can go bad after several years use and exposure to heat.
I know you're knowledgeable, but in case it's slipped your mind, you might want to let the dealership run the vin to verify all recalls have been done. Had my care checked, and the position sensor recall had never been done. Just say'n, since you're in there and "moving and shak'n" getting that car moving down the interstate properly!
Also, bypassing the coolant lines is fine. I (as I think many others) can attest that the electronic throttle body still works just fine at start up and otherwise without the additional "heat blanket."
I'd also verify your VIAS is working properly. If you have a vacuum tester (can get one relatively cheap at Harbor Freight) then you can make sure the butterfly is moving properly. I think something like this is always good to inspect becuase those actuators can go bad after several years use and exposure to heat.
I know you're knowledgeable, but in case it's slipped your mind, you might want to let the dealership run the vin to verify all recalls have been done. Had my care checked, and the position sensor recall had never been done. Just say'n, since you're in there and "moving and shak'n" getting that car moving down the interstate properly!
Last edited by Chris Gregg; 03-27-2011 at 09:37 PM.
03-27-2011, 10:24 PM
#42
That's Mr. Detail to you
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Location: Arlington, TX
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Chris-VIAS is definitely working right for now (probably do a block plate on this one like the other one) and the car makes excellent power all the way to redline-noticeably quicker than my 4AT 5.5 gen.
I do need to check to see if the recalls were done on my 6MT, I do know the wind noise TSB was done, I can see where they pulled the molding down. Also want to make sure I have the latest ECU programming as well.
New plugs definitely helped, last time I drove from the east side of the Dallas area home to Arlington, trip computer was showing just over 29 mpg, today it was 32. First few times I started the car after putting in the new plugs, I thought it had stalled the engine was so smooth.
I do need to check to see if the recalls were done on my 6MT, I do know the wind noise TSB was done, I can see where they pulled the molding down. Also want to make sure I have the latest ECU programming as well.
New plugs definitely helped, last time I drove from the east side of the Dallas area home to Arlington, trip computer was showing just over 29 mpg, today it was 32. First few times I started the car after putting in the new plugs, I thought it had stalled the engine was so smooth.
03-30-2011, 10:05 AM
#44
This is important to know thanks...is that because... of the re applied sealent dry time?
09-02-2011, 08:50 PM
#45
Newbie - Just Registered
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 7
In replacing the intake mani gasket, does it get applied dry? In the past on oler vehicles I have always sprayed my gaskets with a copper gasket seal prior to setting it on the heads and then setting my manifold on that.
Thanks-
Thanks-
09-02-2011, 10:14 PM
#46
ME:
"Is that a plenum in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"
GIRL:
"Drop dead freak!!"
09-03-2011, 07:31 PM
#48
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Posts: 10,349
The De-K's don't require pulling the UIM to replace coils or spark plugs.
09-03-2011, 08:32 PM
#49
But I can definitely say the (02-03) VQ35 intake is easy than the (00-01) VQ30 to remove....I realize that UIM removal isn't necessary when doing coil packs/spark plugs on a VQ30 but all those vacuum lines, EGR, and those support bracket can be a pain!
09-03-2011, 11:15 PM
#50
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 7
I am doing the change on a 3.5 (2003). I guess it is not technically the intake manifold, but the UIM/intake plenum/intake manifold collector that I removed for easy access to the rear bank.
To be honest I didn't see how I could get at plug#3 without removing it, but I'm no expert - still learning. Would I just have to remove intake elbow (#5 in the earlier post)?
To be honest I didn't see how I could get at plug#3 without removing it, but I'm no expert - still learning. Would I just have to remove intake elbow (#5 in the earlier post)?
09-04-2011, 05:17 AM
#51
The gasket was applied dry in the write ups I've seen. Don't hold me to that though.
09-04-2011, 02:29 PM
#52
WE MAXIMA GUYS ARE REALLY BLESSED WITH ALL OUR V6 ENGINE DESIGNS ESPECIALLY THE VQ30 AND VQ35.....Here's a 2002 Saturn Vue V6 I'm working on! Their intake system cover both valve covers, both coilpacks, all spark plugs, and the thermostat.....here same pics! WTF are yall complaining about?
09-04-2011, 02:36 PM
#53
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Posts: 10,349
WE MAXIMA GUYS ARE REALLY BLESSED WITH ALL OUR V6 ENGINE DESIGNS ESPECIALLY THE VQ30 AND VQ35.....Here's a 2002 Saturn Vue V6 I'm working on! Their intake system cover both valve covers, both coilpacks, all spark plugs, and the thermostat.....here same pics! WTF are yall complaining about?
09-06-2011, 05:35 PM
#58
You know, when Saturn first came out, I was excited. I thought "Finally, new fresh air coming out of GM, they really have their act together." After the second generation of the S series was retired, it was the same old tired GM crap where everything felt like a Grand Am/Cavalier.
09-06-2011, 06:59 PM
#59
Actually after a while Saturn contracted with HONDA to make all their 6 cylinder engines towards the end. I had a 94 Saturn SC2......HATED it.....cheap...it was EXTREMELY loud if you accelerated hard....no insulation at all...the entire outside of the car (doors, front fenders, rear fenders, etc) was some plastic crap...I remember it cracked too...I was surprised...I thought it was metal.........the only thing I liked about it was the seats...they were REALLY comfortable other than that...cheap....CHEAP plastic everwhere...alot of stuff broke and cracked....especially when I replaced the speakers....the plastic speaker cover cracked.....CHEAP GARBAGE.....eventually ended up returning the car to the dealer...no questions asked......and bought a 97 Maxima..but we supposed to buy American though.........
Last edited by ranmas2004; 09-06-2011 at 07:02 PM.
09-07-2011, 07:11 PM
#60
Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Bradenton, FL
Posts: 25
Last night, I went from 6th to 4th to get around a slow moving left lane moron on the freeway and as I am accelerating, I feel a distinct loss of power and a hard misfire. SES light started flashing so I got off at the next exit, pulled over and checked the codes. P0303. Of course, the rear bank under the intake. I babied my car home, if I gave it too much gas it would flash the SES light, which is bad. Anyway, pull up at home, very rough idle and a bad miss with any throttle.
Pulled up my Maxima FSM and checked for the P0303 code, plus typed it into search here and seems the predominate cause is either bad plugs or a bad coil. The search here led me to this link: http://www.greghome.com/Greg's%20Gar...eplacement.htm which was very helpful and made me realize it wasn't too complicated.
Started on my car at 9 AM this morning, got it all apart by around 10 AM (the driver's side upper elbow bolt is a PITA!) and pulled the coil and plug on #3. My guess is the plugs had never been changed, the gap was HUGE. Nominal plug gap for us is .043 I believe, looked to be more than double. The plug in #3 had what looked like melted metal at the base of the side electrode. Since I had purchased a set of coils from a fellow .org member a while back, I knew I had 6 good ones so I could replace coils as needed. My son drove me down to Pep Boys to get some NGK platinum plugs, then down to the Nissan dealer (a good 15 minutes each way) to get the manifold gasket-better safe than sorry, right? Got back home just before 11 AM and by 12:20 I was done. I had changed all 6 plugs (all had huge gaps), two coils, #3 (just to be sure!) and #5 since that tube was filled with oil,plus. Took a few minutes with towels to get as much oil out of #5 as possible before removing the plug. All other tubes were pristine. Wish I had picked up a 6th gen rear valve cover too, but I'll do that in a few weeks when I have more time.
Car started right up, a little blue smoke from the oil in #5 that got into the combustion chamber. No idle issues, car feels very smooth now. So far, the hesitation I was having when I went from light to heavier throttle appears to be gone.
Pro tip: If you separate the elbow from the manifold, you don't have to remove any coolant lines. Nissan didn't have that gasket but the old one seems to be working fine. However, in the future, probably best to make sure you have both the manifold and elbow gasket should you decide to do it the way I did.
I'll post up some pictures I took later, I'm hungry!
Pulled up my Maxima FSM and checked for the P0303 code, plus typed it into search here and seems the predominate cause is either bad plugs or a bad coil. The search here led me to this link: http://www.greghome.com/Greg's%20Gar...eplacement.htm which was very helpful and made me realize it wasn't too complicated.
Started on my car at 9 AM this morning, got it all apart by around 10 AM (the driver's side upper elbow bolt is a PITA!) and pulled the coil and plug on #3. My guess is the plugs had never been changed, the gap was HUGE. Nominal plug gap for us is .043 I believe, looked to be more than double. The plug in #3 had what looked like melted metal at the base of the side electrode. Since I had purchased a set of coils from a fellow .org member a while back, I knew I had 6 good ones so I could replace coils as needed. My son drove me down to Pep Boys to get some NGK platinum plugs, then down to the Nissan dealer (a good 15 minutes each way) to get the manifold gasket-better safe than sorry, right? Got back home just before 11 AM and by 12:20 I was done. I had changed all 6 plugs (all had huge gaps), two coils, #3 (just to be sure!) and #5 since that tube was filled with oil,plus. Took a few minutes with towels to get as much oil out of #5 as possible before removing the plug. All other tubes were pristine. Wish I had picked up a 6th gen rear valve cover too, but I'll do that in a few weeks when I have more time.
Car started right up, a little blue smoke from the oil in #5 that got into the combustion chamber. No idle issues, car feels very smooth now. So far, the hesitation I was having when I went from light to heavier throttle appears to be gone.
Pro tip: If you separate the elbow from the manifold, you don't have to remove any coolant lines. Nissan didn't have that gasket but the old one seems to be working fine. However, in the future, probably best to make sure you have both the manifold and elbow gasket should you decide to do it the way I did.
I'll post up some pictures I took later, I'm hungry!
And quickly realized that even that write-up (as helpful as it is) is too complicated.
It's a pretty simple matter to remove and replace all 6 coil packs and plugs in a 5.5 Gen in less than an hour with hand tools......
Anyone want video?
09-07-2011, 07:49 PM
#61
last week I was trying to tackle an intermittent problem with a vq35. Ended up removing the intake manifold at least 5 times. By the end, I was removing and reinstalling everything in less than 30 minutes. Found my problem too, bad grounds (the ones next to the intake 
)
)
09-11-2011, 10:21 AM
#62
Me and my buddy tackled a P0301 misfire yesterday by replacing the coil...the write up that Scott reference was perfect! It was both our first time doing this and it was very successful. It did take us 5 hours though LOL but that includes lots of laughs and a washer and dryer delivery that took a while as well, we definitely took our time with this. we lost all the coolant out of the radiator(new plan of attack to prevent this next time) but hey its can be replaced and he wont need a flush for a while either. Taking it apart took the longest because we wanted to be careful but we put everything back together and had her running smooth in 20 minutes...we'll be doing this again in a few weeks because he wants to replace all the plugs and get new front coils(all the rear coils are now new). Next time will be faster now that we know where everything is. For anyone looking to try this I definitely recommend that writeup and i finally got my buddy to get out of the mindset of paying for everything to be done to his car when he is capable himself FTW
07-06-2018, 11:03 AM
#63
Newbie - Just Registered
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 14
50 hp is pretty ambitious. (jk jk) The bypass is part of NWP's instructions when installing phenolic spacers. In fact, he gives you a hose connector with the kit.
So back to my noobish question: can you or can't you get at the back plugs by just removing the Intake elbow, instead of the entire UIM?
So back to my noobish question: can you or can't you get at the back plugs by just removing the Intake elbow, instead of the entire UIM?
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