# Chasing a few issues with my 87



## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

I apparently have excessive oil pressure, my distributor seal went twice, my oil pan starting leaking again, and my dipstick pops out. 

The car generally diesels when I shut it off, sometimes it won't, but more often than not it will. 

the car won't go over 55, sometimes 45, now once in awhile over 10 before shaking and apparently now leading to stalling. It generally starts right back up but will shake again. 

Sometimes it revs in neutral, but not all the time. Today it did it every time I put my foot on the clutch.

This is after a Weber swap. Only once a few months ago did it not go over 55, then it never happened again until I did the swap.

Any direct ion as to if this is all caused by one thing or multiple things would help.


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## bob89sentra (Sep 15, 2005)

fairlanephantom said:


> I apparently have excessive oil pressure, my distributor seal went twice, my oil pan starting leaking again, and my dipstick pops out.
> 
> The car generally diesels when I shut it off, sometimes it won't, but more often than not it will.
> 
> ...


this screams of plugged PCV loud!!!


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## NissanPartsDept (Mar 31, 2010)

When you did the weber swap did you chnge any of the crankcase vent hose connections?


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

Yeah, there's two outlets on the cover. Originally, the right one circled around the back of the engine, and went to the PCV. I changed it to a breather filter on that side. On the left one before used to go to my air cleaner. I changed it to lead directly to the PCV on that side. 

One guy at work told me to just put a breather on and cap off the PCV and the other outlet on the valve cover. But on my way to do so, the car started to barely run and stall out. I changed it to it, and it still did it the rest of the way home. My oil cap is also bouncing around enough to be losing oil from it.


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## bob89sentra (Sep 15, 2005)

The PCV hookups on the lifter cover should be hooked in the original locations to work properly (it does make a difference). You do not want to cap it off, or just unhook it. The PCV system along with venting excess pressure off the crankcase and lifter area also provides a path for any moisture or unburnt fuel that has gotten traptd in the oil to be removed. The PCV valve is a constant flow valve that allways pulls air through the system to keep everything clean. If you just leave it venting to atmosphere without the constant flow of air you will build up crap in the oil much quicker.


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

bob89sentra said:


> The PCV hookups on the lifter cover should be hooked in the original locations to work properly (it does make a difference). You do not want to cap it off, or just unhook it. The PCV system along with venting excess pressure off the crankcase and lifter area also provides a path for any moisture or unburnt fuel that has gotten traptd in the oil to be removed. The PCV valve is a constant flow valve that allways pulls air through the system to keep everything clean. If you just leave it venting to atmosphere without the constant flow of air you will build up crap in the oil much quicker.


Alright, then for starters I'll switch it to the other side and put the breather on the left.


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## NissanPartsDept (Mar 31, 2010)

You will be much better off eliminating the breather and connecting it back to the air cleaner.
Under acceleration the intake manifold (pcv valve)looses vaccum and the air cleaner gains vaccum. The purpose of the other hose going to the air cleaner is so that the crankcase does not build-up pressure under these conditions.


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

But what should I do considering that air cleaner doesn't fit my carburetor? The top of the Weber is square compared to my air cleaner being round? The adaptor is expensive for what it is.


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

I noticed in the Weber instructions that some of their adaptor plates have a port for PCV. So would it work to connect the line that used to lead to my air cleaner to a ported vacuum source?


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## NissanPartsDept (Mar 31, 2010)

Most of the weber air cleaners I have seen have a fitting on them to connect the hose to them.


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

Oh, alright, then that's the port on the bottom of my air cleaner. I'll have to take care of that and see how it goes. Do all of those symptoms still sound related to the same PCV routing issue?


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## NissanPartsDept (Mar 31, 2010)

This will mostly effect the crankcase pressure problem. After you get this fixed then you may have to check other things such as: linkage, vacuum leaks, fuel leel, etc. Keep me posted.


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

So now I redirected the vacuum lines so they are about the same as before. Now I'm focusing on ignition. 

My last coil tested out of range so I got another and wired a ballast resistor. The Resistor dropped voltage to the coil from 14v to 12v, isn't it supposed to drop the current almost by half? I used a CR107 Well resistor. We sell a performance coil at work from Accel C8145, it sells for the same price as the stock coil. Anyone know if the Accel coil still requires the ballast?


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

Temperature tested my catalytic converter and it failed. Was getting 240 a few inches before, and 180 a few inches after. The car barely drove as I went to where I was testing it and barely made it home, then forced it out again and positive I blew my fuel pump. Tomorrow I'll have to do my pump again along with seeing how much it'll cost to remove my converter and put in a straight pipe, I'd like to put another on, but I really can't afford it. 

After I do both, I'll have to see what other issues remain.


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## TOOQIKK (Jul 11, 2009)

i had one get clogged...actually the catalyst it self broke and clogged the flow....got super nova red hot! killed performance...and after i dropped the exhaust cleaned out the cat and put it back together it was like a new car......and changed the exhaust note too!...lol
hopin you find the issues and get everything fixand and running right soon!


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

I really hope taking care of the cat clears up a lot of problems. Like I said before about what the car does when trying to gain speed on the highway, when it gets hot, it shakes and jolts like that even when going 20. Everything else under the hood is pretty much new, so there wouldn't be much else if it doesn't clear up.


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

Brought the car into a muffler place today and my cat is apparently completely empty, so I'll just keep it as is. Had them cut the line from the air tube and seal it while they had it on the lift. But it means that everything from the cat is creating a block somewhere else. I blew my fuel pump against last night, and I almost did again today.


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## TOOQIKK (Jul 11, 2009)

take the exhaust apart....the catalyst chunks are stuck some where....been there done that.....lol
you best get the blockage removed or im gonna buy stock in fuel pumps!!!lol


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

TOOQIKK said:


> take the exhaust apart....the catalyst chunks are stuck some where....been there done that.....lol
> you best get the blockage removed or im gonna buy stock in fuel pumps!!!lol


Yeah, I'm going to cut the tailpipe and check for the block there and try to knock it out. If it's in the muffler I'll just get a new muffler for $30. I'm covered for a year on the fuel pump, so my work is going to really hate me with how many swaps I'd have to do. From banging on my muffler it sounds like everything is in there.


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## NissanPartsDept (Mar 31, 2010)

It sounds as if you are making good headway toward solving this problem. I just wanted to add one thing, if you are blowing out your fuel pumps that often, you have another issue. The exhaust being plugged will NOT cause your fuel pump to go bad. The two parts have no relation to eachother.


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

NissanPartsDept said:


> It sounds as if you are making good headway toward solving this problem. I just wanted to add one thing, if you are blowing out your fuel pumps that often, you have another issue. The exhaust being plugged will NOT cause your fuel pump to go bad. The two parts have no relation to eachother.



Could it be from trying to start the car so many times after the car begins to stall? Or could it be that the pumps are cheaply made and mixed with using a fuel pressure regulator, there is too much strain on the pump?


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## TOOQIKK (Jul 11, 2009)

fairlanephantom said:


> Could it be from trying to start the car so many times after the car begins to stall? Or could it be that the pumps are cheaply made and mixed with using a fuel pressure regulator, there is too much strain on the pump?


crap in the tank clogging filter, damaged fuel line, clogged fuel filter, clogged jets, damaged fpr, short on wiring, bad relay, bad pumps.....


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## NissanPartsDept (Mar 31, 2010)

Just to clairify ..... are you using mechanical or electrical fuel pumps?


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

Mechanical. Also has a new filter that doesn't look like it's picking up a lot from the tank. Being mechanical is why I haven't been too annoyed of it going a few times, just takes a few minutes to change.


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## NissanPartsDept (Mar 31, 2010)

Don't worry about the fuel filter. It is common for them to appear very low.
Did you install the insulator block (looks like a 1/2 inch thick gasket)between the engine and the fuel pump?
Is the return line still connected?


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

Yeah, been putting the spacer in there each time. All three original lines I've also been connecting each time so far.


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

Apparently my fuel pumps haven't been going, it was my regulator screwing up. The car sat for a fews days, and when it didn't start, I took off the regulator and the car started after one or two cranks. The exhaust shop cut a hole in my exhaust and told me to take a spin, the car seems to run smoother and have better response. It went up to 65 this time on the highway, so it'll probably be better when I do the job. Going back on Wednesday to just do the pipe and muffler in one shot.


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

What has anyone used to change the PCV on this intake? A deep socket doesn't clear the fitting that leads to the brake booster. I can't remember if there's enough space for a box wrench.

Did my exhaust from the converter back and it seems to sound much better, seems like it still only goes up to about 65, but ti doesn't shake when I get up there. I may put an anti-dieseling solenoid on the carburetor, I got it to sound nice, but it still diesels now and then.


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## TOOQIKK (Jul 11, 2009)

have you thought about getting an aftermarket electric fuel pump? would save a couple much needed HP....


also have you rechecked your timing? and checked that the timing belt and cam gears are aligned correctly?

what size piping did you use for the exhaust? hope you used at least a 2" pipe that will help out "performance"


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## TOOQIKK (Jul 11, 2009)

would also run a compression test on it....just to make sure everything inside is all good.....


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

Got the PCV out, needed an offset box wrench. The car at this moment seems to round off at about 75 mph, I know it used to go at least 80 with the stock carburetor, but I rarely push the engine like that. I generally only drive 60.

I used the stock pipe size, 1.88 inch and stock muffler. 

I did the timing about 7000 miles ago, I haven't been particularly sure about where I should set my timing. Originally for the car, the idle speed is 800 and the timing at 7. When I set it to that right after the swap it still had dieseling issues, I've been running the car now at 650 as it sounds better, but I haven't been sure on the degree of timing that would be best. I've been doing trial and error, it's at 2 degrees right now. It's hard to settle on a setting when it won't diesel for a week or so then it'll do it again.


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## TOOQIKK (Jul 11, 2009)

would suggest putting it back to stock timing and then work from there...also have you checked the jets for the carb? power meter for the carb? 
wish you were a little closer...lol


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

Haven't touched the jetting yet, only adjustments I've made so far on the carburetor itself so far were the idle adjustment and the mixture.


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## bob89sentra (Sep 15, 2005)

With your timing set to 2 Degrees BTDC you would have a more noticable lack of power at high end. You certainly want to put it back to 7 degrees BTDC, and then do some diagnosing from there. 
Dieseling can be caused by alot of things, have you tried putting a cooler spark plug in?


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

Cooler being just the difference from platinum and copper, or going down a heat range?


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## TOOQIKK (Jul 11, 2009)

heat range


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## fairlanephantom (Feb 3, 2010)

I'll star by saying don't consider buying the $100 Actron timing gun we sell at Auto Zone. First one I had died in a week, a took out the one I got out of the swap and it's also broken. They're garbage.

Used a friend's gun and did more adjusting and I seem to have it about where I need it, but maybe up the idle a bit more as my idle drops too low with my foot on the brake. 

Anyone know what the top advance is supposed to be on this engine? Advances to about 32 right now.


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