I'm in the middle of the rear VTC one, it spilled over from this weekend so the work continues. That chain tensioner just wont go back in!

If you’ve done these or consider doing any of them in the future, what’s your opinion on the “PITA”-ness of the work? I'm still looking forward to the other two.

Edit: I should've mentioned, if you say Other, please elaborate... it would be great to know what you managed to do.

 

Yeah the rear tensioner is a pistol to get aligned, since the only thing that aligns it is the bolts. If you have the front tensioner in place, pay attension to the angle it and the engine is at. That's what I had trouble with. The angle that seems correct is actually off from where it needs to be. Try also giving yourself some slack in the chain by turning the cams slightly with a 24mm wrench.

 

I did the front a while ago so I dont remember visually how it was placed. The tensioner is under the chain, but yeah the bolts are not aligning correctly. I've been giving it the slack, but that has left me with only one hand to awkwardly align the bolt with... spent about 1 1/2 hours on that last night before quitting, more tonight but I'll probably get a second person to lean on the wrench this time.

 

Man, I had no issues with that....

 

Yeah, I dragooned my wife into helping.

 

Yep the rear is a pain, if i remember correctly I put one bolt in and then rotated it to get the other in place.



But from all I have heard I would think that the rear studs would be the biggest PITA.

 

If you guys are having issues with that little tensioner, try doing a clutch in a 944 sometime. You will want to light it on fire and walk away.

 

head gasket. HehE

 

Said your mechanic..

 

(said me biaaaaaaaaaaaoooootch)

 

broken rear studs FTL

 

front or rear head gasket? either way... touché.

I finished with the blasted thing last night around midnight, couldn't start it though because the battery is down to 7V and the way the car is situated I cant get jumpers to it. Then I came up with the plan to shift into neutral and roll it off the ramps so I could connect, but its stuck in park (laugh it up 5-speeders). Today I should be able to get another set of cables, connect both for one long cable, and resuscitate the VE.

The poll result of the rear exhaust studs being worse is not making me look forward to it, either way I'll most likely be doing that sometime in July.

One more thing, I have discovered something interesting on the car, something I like to call the Maxima Abyss. This is the space into which all the missing bolts, clips, and small tools fall into, never to be seen again. It cannot be spotted with the naked eye, nor will a flashlight help. This space is between the crossmember and the rear engine mount, go check yours now I'm sure you'll find something!

 

Got any pics?

 

nope. i do have a scar from the job. does that help?

 

Shift lock release?

 

Im not too familiar with the shift lock system beyond just a layman awareness of it, and it was too late to deal with it last night so I just let it be. I'll search around a bit and try to get a clue though.

 

Its the little button at the base of the shifter.

 

Oh I messed with it a little, didnt seem to do anything, I may just need to press harder.

 

if u have enough battery power to hav interior lights on. turn ur key all the way like it would be on. push in brake. and shift.

 

First thing I tried, didnt work. There was marginally enough power to move the seatbelts.

I had a failing starter that drew a lot of power and killed the battery. Its off in the mail for a warranty repair now, I just popped in a junkyard starter and jumped it to get the car in the garage so I could start work, but the battery did not have enough time to charge up.

 

Yeah, just push that in and hold the shift button and you can shift.

 

Shifted to N so easy, its even written right there! I must have been really exhausted the first time to miss something so obvious.

Engine seemed a bit lazy during the first test drive, then I flipped the tiny little round nozzle on the top-rear of the plenum and VRROOM, the thing is like a rocket now, cant even imagine how well it will run after the rear studs are fixed.

 

whatchu talkin bout willis?

 

I'll try to get a photo of it today, but maybe a description will help anyway. At the rear of the plenum there are 3 vacuum hookups IIRC, 2 large and 1 small diameter. The small one is at the top. Out of it, a short hose comes and meets this tiny nozzle/valve, and out of there goes into something else, I don't remember what. I've also never seen this nozzle/valve on any diagram.

This nozzle/valve does not let any air into the plenum when the plenum tries to draw air in, but it will open if the plenum tries to push air out. I just dont know what its overall function is.

If you run the car, take off the hose (its not on tight) and it will start to run like crap, then put your finger over it to block incoming air and the engine will be fine again.

I've never seen a VG up close so as far as I know this only applies to the VE.

 

I've never seen a VG up close so as far as I know this only applies to the VE.[/QUOTE]

Is this the small (~1/8") nipple at the top back of the upper intake plenum? This is the the vacuum tap for the heater water valve. That's the unit clipped to the firewall behind it. This hose goes through a one way valve then plugs into the water valve.

 

Yeah, sounds like thats the one.

 

i did all three of those things...

 

it's called a water **** solenoid. i was trying to find a vaccuum leak on my car (haven't found it yet...) but that's one of the places i looked. it's part of the hot/cold system that allows coolant flow into your heater core when you switch over to heat. FSM page HA-65

does anyone know if it's a really bad idea though to just pull off hoses like that? aren't you letting unfiltered air into your engine?

 

It wont hurt the engine to unplug vacuum lines while it is running,unless you are stuffing dirt into the vacuum line while it's off..

 

I got you beat....
fit that fat beotch in there and get it running..

 

yeah Matt, checkmate.

Is this an old pic, or something you're doing now while also moving?

 

nah.. that's last summer.
I was putting my rebuilt VE in, and I had the VG30DE leftover from a customer's engine swap... I thought I'd put it in there for grins to see if it would actually fit in the hole.

it *did* fit, but the thing had so much crap on the front of it(water pump and accessory drive are HUGE on it) that I couldn't line up the engine mounts- leaving no room for a transmission. there was also so little room on the sides of the engine, it would have been nearly impossible to hook up any of the hoses and wiring, which are all hidden on the sides and bottom of the intake manifold.

 

VG30DE is a negatory

 

... wow thats pretty huge looking

psss **( thats what SHE said )**

 

ut uho a lotta ppl will have to eat their words of a vg30dett being stuffed into a maxima...


do yous got room for turbos in there or is it tight?

 

Are you high?

 

a lil

...............

 

Best response ever.