# New to Nissan and a few question



## pathwayus69 (Jan 6, 2015)

Hello all, am new to sentra and nissan, but the deal was hard to pass up on this car and it was junk yard bound.

I picked up a 1993 xe automatic 1.6, with around 220,000 mile and a motor that had a cracked head. So made a few junk yard runs and picked a motor up with around 169,000 miles on it and drop it in. I believe the motor was out of a 93 or 94. Also found out that the transmission has been replaced at some point but shift nice and smooth that's a plus. I've done a lot of work so far to the car replacing some of the interior of the car door panels, head liner replace the gauges for one with a tach (thank for the right up that help a great deal). So on an so on. Also picked a few parts for the outside of the car. The right grill hub cab's ect ect. 

Know for the Parts I could use some help on.

I've been driving the car for a few weeks now but can't seem to get any thing other then barley warm heat form the heater. The Heater core has been flushed both way's and is clean. If I let the car sit and idle the heat will get warmer but as soon as i drive the car it start to cool back off. I have a pressure reless value on the radiator that i have been using to try and bleed any air that could be in the system but the car does over heat. I would like to get this fixed as where getting ready to have some cold weather here and the heater working right would be a plus.

The gas mileage is around 26.8 mpg atm. This is up form the 20MPG it got on the first tank after. I ran some fuel inject cleaner throw in on the second tank and got 22mpg, Filled it up again to day and check it and was up to 26.7. Am starting to think it might have something to do with the timing the car idles around 1000rpm, and to me it feel like it don't have the right amount of power. I've got another set of plug and wires so am going to change them out tomorrow and see if that helps any. I would welcome any input any one might have.

Over all am very happy with how the car runs and drive on the open highway not the fastest but for a DD it does it job well. I do have a few plans for the car nothing major. If you would like to see the work I have done to the car I have made a video and I will post a link to it a lot easier then all the pictures I took.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nri5ZOCer1w&list=UUwB7420BDQ7D8VNG2iwlFFg


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

For the heat, it sounds like the thermostat may be stuck partially open. Have you replaced it? If not, I would recommend you use a genuine Nissan thermostat. It is a bit of a pain in the tail to replace due to its location. Make sure you stick with geniune Nissan or NGK spark plugs and wires, as well. 

Idle should be around 700-750 RPM (in neutral for M/T; in gear for A/T). Idle is adjusted at the IACV/AAC valve. Run the engine at 2000-3000 RPM for two minutes and shut off. Unplug the TPS. Start engine, rev a few times and let idle. Adjust your idle and ignition timing. Shut engine off and reconnect the TPS. Start engine. If there is a lot of varnish build-up inside the throttle body, you'll want to clean it out before you do this adjustment.

You might want to replace the oxygen sensor or test it if you have the equipment to do so. I would also recommend replacing the upper timing chain tensioner. On GA16DE engines with 100,000+ miles, the pad on the upper tensioner can fall off and cause the upper timing chain to jump, resulting in damaged valves and timing gears. It's not too bad of a job and cheap insurance.


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## b13er (Apr 7, 2010)

For the heat I was going to say thermostat too. 

For fuel economy: 

The fact that your engine is always a little cold cold affect fuel economy since the engine wasn't designed to run like that.

Here is a list of things you can do to improve fuel economy:

Properly inflate tires.

Make sure all axles are properly lubed.

Use fully synthetic oil.

NGK Iridium's are the most fuel efficient spark plug I would recommend buying. The laser's will last 100,000 miles, but the non lasers would have to have the ground electrode sanded/cleaned and regapped every 3000 miles or so.

Invest in a better air filter system, like a K&N cone shaped filter. The stock airbox is very inefficient and therefore costs you on fuel economy. You can always buy the 1.6 CAI tubes on ebay for like $20 or build your own airbox around it when summer times comes so you aren't sucking in all that hot air.

Of course a free'er flowing exhaust/muffler will help. Most cars like some backpressure though so don't go too overboard if you change your mufflers pipe sizing.

O2 sensor: for this car they are like $10. It only works during idle and slow acceleration, but a bad one will definitely cost you fuel. Here is how to test your 02 sensor: turn the screw on the front of your ecm fully clockwise, then turn it fully counter clockwise. start engine. warm up engine. hold throttle at 2000 RPMS with no load for 2 minutes. Holding the throttle at 2000 RPMs the check engine light should blink 5 times every 10 seconds. When the light is on it means lean and when it's off it means rich, so this is a great way of seeing how fuel efficient your car is running (idle and slow acceleration only though). If the light is off way more than it's on, you are running rich/wasting gas. Also you might want to considering adding an extra ground wire from the body of the 02 sensor to a good known ground (like the negative post of battery) to improve the accuracy of the 02 sensor. Don't forget this thing has to be sealed very well in order to be accurate. If you do everything on this list and your O2 sensor still says you are running rich it could be from lack of a good spark, say a bad ignition coil or even a bad alternator. One guy on here just said a bad battery was giving him such a little spark that the car wouldn't start. Also it could be a fuel problem like an injector is pumping too much fuel or a bad FPR.

Idle/Timing: it's hard to create a perfect balance between these two but that is the goal. Changing the idle effects the timing, and changing the timing effects the idle, so you have to keep adjusting both back and forth.

Start with your idle:
Warm up engine, turn off engine, disconnect TPS, start engine, race engine 2 - 3 times at 2000 - 3000 RPMs. 
NOTE: don't want the fans on when checking this stuff. 
Adjust the idle to 600 +/- 50 RPM for manual and 725 +/- 50 RPM for automatic. Turn off engine, plug TPS back in, and check idle: 750 +/- 50 RPMs for Canada, 650 +/- 50 RPM for manual, and 800 +/- 50 for automatic.
You also might want to consider cleaning all the gunk out of your idle air control valve to make it function like new again, it only takes like 10 minutes and is simple to do. I do not know if it contains rubber, and when you aren't sure using MAF sensor cleaner is safer than carb cleaner on rubber. My gasket was rock hard and so I added the worlds smallest/thinnest amount of gasket sealer to make sure it was air tight.

Next do the timing: 
Warm up engine, turn off engine, disconnect TPS, start engine, race engine 2 - 3 times at 2000 - 3000 RPMs. 
NOTE: don't want the fans on when checking this stuff. 
Adjust timing to 10* +/- 2*
The marks going from counter clockwise to clockwise are as follows: -5, 0, 5, 10, 15, 20
NOTE:::::::::::::: my car is rare and when I unplug my TPS the idle skyrockets. After many many hours of research I found out I had to also unplug the AAC valve (the fatter of the two) valve on my idle air control valve.

Now do the idle again, then do the timing again, now check your idle, check your timing... lol

You can get a set of NGK wires at Rockauto.com for $45, and I have seen local autoparts stores like Autozone sell the same set for $80.

Make sure to get a new distributor cap and rotor. The best one I know of is a Borg Warner sold at Advance Auto Parts, either the store or it's cheaper online, and then you can do in store pickup. Same with sparkplugs: order online and choose in store pickup and save a lot of money.

Last but not least, check and make sure your EGR valve is working, it can affect fuel economy. You can reach your fingers under it and you should be able to put a finger or two in it and push up on the diaphragm to see how clogged it is. They often get so clogged they stop working, also the air tube on the very bottom of it often erodes and brakes. Someone on this forum pointed it out and sure enough mine was broke and I finally got that check engine light off by replacing the rubber tube and resetting the ecu (turn screw fully clockwise, then fully counter clockwise, then clockwise again, then counter clockwise again). Also you can check it for leaks like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvN2olCzfws The diaphragm's often brake and won't be able to hold any vacuum. Don't get any cleaner on the diaphragm, it can brake it.

P.S. I liked your youtube video. You should just use some white spray paint to fix the bad areas.


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## pathwayus69 (Jan 6, 2015)

Wow lots of good information here, I was going to work on the car today but didn't get to. I did how every watch the idle when i came to stop at red lights and stop sign. The car will idle any where form 800 to 1000rpms. So i think right know i will leave the timing alone and try what has been pointed out first. I didn't even think about the egr value or the thermostat. If the weather isn't to cold tomorrow i will take some time to work on it. 

I'm hoping to get a cheap paint job done to the car to help the look of it. Also after working on a few other project this winter and spring i may do a manual swap.


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

Well, most of the info was good. You don't need to clean and re-gap any NGK plugs every 3,000 miles. The origninal NGK's were copper-core, V-powers and are perfectly good for 30,000 miles without any cleaning or re-gapping. Platinum and iridium plugs are better and have a longer service life, but you won't see any gain in gas mileage by using them. I would also recommend a genuine Nissan cap and rotor instead of Borg-Warner. It's also not true that the O2 sensor works only at idle and slow accelleration; once the engine reaches normal operating temperature and enters "closed loop," input from the O2 sensor is constantly monitored by the ECM and used to adjust the fuel mixture.


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## pathwayus69 (Jan 6, 2015)

I know this is going to be a stupid question but what should the gab be set at?

edit
I think i found it good old google and forum but anyways some where around .031 to .034?


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

Gap is 0.044"

NGK Spark Plugs USA


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## b13er (Apr 7, 2010)

smj999smj said:


> Well, most of the info was good. You don't need to clean and re-gap any NGK plugs every 3,000 miles. The origninal NGK's were copper-core, V-powers and are perfectly good for 30,000 miles without any cleaning or re-gapping. Platinum and iridium plugs are better and have a longer service life, but you won't see any gain in gas mileage by using them. I would also recommend a genuine Nissan cap and rotor instead of Borg-Warner. It's also not true that the O2 sensor works only at idle and slow accelleration; once the engine reaches normal operating temperature and enters "closed loop," input from the O2 sensor is constantly monitored by the ECM and used to adjust the fuel mixture.


Oops I meant 30,000 lol. Without a platinum tipped ground electrode like the laser platinum/laser iridium has, the ground electrode should be cleaned and gapped every 30,000 miles. Platinums should be tossed in the trash after 60,000 miles and Iridiums after 100,000 miles.

Actually the fine tips of platinum's and iridiums produce such a better spark that they should increase your MPG, but in most cases it probably would be so minute that you wouldn't notice it. They say the most likely car to benefit is one that has an old ignition system, but Iridiums are proven to give race cars with high compression / turbos / superchargers a slight edge.

My friend worked at Advance Autoparts and told me Borg Warner was one of the best caps you could buy and when you hold one in your hand and look at it's O so shiny metal, you might too lol.

As far as the O2 sensor, that is what I was told in the racing forums. They said the only way you will have an O2 sensor that makes a difference during hard acceleration is if you have an OBD2. That's what makes this car such a pain to tune, it's always using it's predetermined program, and if you want more fuel during hard acceleration you will have to modify the ECU so you can remap it to actually use more fuel.

If you read this taken out of the FSM, you will see that the car doesn't always stay in closed loop mode just because it warmed up like what you said:








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Looks like it doesn't even stay in closed loop at idle (that explains why they say to hold the throttle at 2000 RPMs during the test), so I was wrong about that. I think we can safely say that when you floor your car it would count as a "high load" operation though.
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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

_"My friend worked at Advance Autoparts and told me Borg Warner was one of the best caps you could buy and when you hold one in your hand and look at it's O so shiny metal, you might too lol."_

I had a guy (mechanic) give me a lecture on how good NAPA Echlin distributor caps were and how they used the same materials as those used in racing engines, blah, blah... He put a NAPA Echlin cap and rotor on a Stanza with a CA20E engine and the rotor melted through ans started cross-firing a month later.
I had an Advance Auto Parts counter person tell me that NGK is an Asian plug and should not be used on non-Asian vehicles, especially US domestics. This was after asking him for a set of NGK plugs for a Chevy 4.3L V6 (I have NGK plugs in everything I own...from leaf blowers on up). I then had to enlighten him and let him know that NGK spark plugs is the largest spark plug manufacturer in the world and they are used as OE plugs in vehicles by VW, GM and Saturn, Mercury, Jeep, Husqvarna, and BMW...not to mention every Asian made vehicle.
The lesson: don't always believe what you hear from an auto parts store worker. There are some that are very knowledgeable, but there are a lot that don't have a clue of what they are talking about.


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## b13er (Apr 7, 2010)

LOL good stories, and O I know, some of the worst advice you will ever hear will come from an autoparts store, but my friend actually races a supercharged S2000 and knows a lot about aftermarket car parts. Ya it makes sense then to stick with a genuine cap and rotor since they will definitely last you tens of thousands of miles. I have just compared the distributor caps and rotors that they sell at Autozone to Advance Autoparts, and Advance has much better stuff, but of course it costs more. Check this cap out: http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/...ap-c751/20170457-P?searchTerm=distributor+cap


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

BWD usually has two different lines of parts, their economy line and their premium line (I think it's BWD Select, if I remember correctly). The premium line is pretty good, but when it comes to Asian cars' ignition systems, I'll stick with NGK, Denso or manufacturer parts (i.e. Nissan, Toyota, etc.). I've just seen too many problems with the aftermarket stuff during my 16-years with Nissan.


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## pathwayus69 (Jan 6, 2015)

I pulled the plug out of the car yesterday it has NGK in it. They where all gaped right but one so i regap it. They looked to be new plugs the tips of them where a little white so i cleaned them up a bit, and I replaced the wires had a better set that i had off the old motor they had less then 3000 miles on them. Today I drove to work and it was a nice warm 0 out side so after work went and picked up a new thermostat for the car. I hope it is the thermostat because the temp gauge heat up and doesn't move after words never seen one act like that and not give any heat. Still need to clean the throttle body and check the 02 sensor. I've never had to check one before but I do have a volt/ohm meter. Am also going to changed the sending unit for the gas hand as it stop reading right after half a tank. I have another one just waiting on the weather to warm up and have some time off. I also have new ball joint on the way as one the on it are shot. Then I can get it alined.


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## Centurion (Sep 5, 2002)

Nice rescue. Where did you buy the headliner, or did you just re-glue it? Mine is in desperate shape and I need to do something.


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## pathwayus69 (Jan 6, 2015)

I got lucky and found it in a junk yard, next i need to find carpet and seat covers for the car I would also like to replace the automatic seat belt's. They do nothing but get in the way.


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## pathwayus69 (Jan 6, 2015)

Thanks for the one help so far you guys have been great, i think i have fixed the gas mileage, when i was cleaning the throttle body i saw the hose going to the fuel rail was leaking changed it no more leak. There must have been air in the cooling system did some more bleeding and the heat is nice and warm now. I do have a new thermostat when this one goes bad. 

Am hoping some one has a idea why the cruise isn't working. When i press the button for the cruise to turn it on I hear the relay click. When i try to set the cruise nothing happens. I checked the break petal the switch is pushed in all the way. So i tested voltage on the control under the hood (can't think of the name of it). There no voltage. Could this be the relay?


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