# '90 Stanza engine rebuild troubles



## dv8or (Jan 31, 2005)

I'm new to the board, so my intro will be included with a couple of questions. What brings me here is searching for some expertise with those that have worked on Nissans. I've put in 11 years as a Chrysler tech, and have been out of wrenching for about 5 years now. 
I have a friend that has a 1990 Stanza. The engine is a 2.4L (KA24E). 

Here's the story......
She had it die on her and had a friend try to fix it. He did the tune up stuff....plugs, dist cap, rotor, & wires. Of course that didn't fix it. Well along comes me 1.5 years after. It's been sitting in her driveway since it died. 

I found it had a bad fuel pump, replaced it. The car did start, but was very noisy, and smoked REEEEAAALLL bad. It also would not idle on it's on. I found the timing chain guides were worn out, one was gone(broken and in the oil pan). Compression sucked, rockers rattled, etc. So I proceeded to tell her it needed rings and such. At least a minor rebuild. 

I did the rebuild....rings, bearings, chain, guides, and such. One thing I did notice, and did not replace....the lash adjusters(lifters) have some pretty badly worn spots. 

Ok...all is fine, got the car to start. However, the lifters are noisy....shoulda replaced them, but at approx $20 each.....figured I'd take the risk. The smoking isn't there. But it still won't idle on it's own. Cylinders 1 & 4 miss. 2 & 3 are carrying the load. The plugs get the dry carbon on them....looks like running rich. On some of the Chryslers, this would indicate a MAP sensor. I think I've seen similar troubles from a bad EGR valve too. This does have the EGR, but no MAP sensor. 

Plugs, wires, cap, rotor are good. EGR valve is probably not, but the budget is real tight, so I don't want to replace parts without knowing I need to. It does smoke a bit....but it appears to be just from a rich mixture. 

Any ideas what I could look at that would cause the missing? It could even be the wear on the lifters.....but I gotta know before spending $250 on that. If any additional info is needed, ask away! Thanks for your help.


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## KA24Tech (Feb 2, 2004)

Have you tried pulling the distributor cap to inspect the inside of the distributor for oil? Also pull the cover plate off to inspect the trigger wheel. If you do find any oil in there spray it out with electrical parts and contact cleaner. The crank angle sensor is located in there and is a Hall-effect sensor.
Cylinders 1 and 4 are 180 degrees apart so that is what is some what puzzling.
Also what are the compression and /or the leakdown values and if possible the oil pressure readings?

I'll see if I can figure something else out for you on Monday when I can look at the service manual.

Troy


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## dv8or (Jan 31, 2005)

KA24Tech said:


> Have you tried pulling the distributor cap to inspect the inside of the distributor for oil? Also pull the cover plate off to inspect the trigger wheel. If you do find any oil in there spray it out with electrical parts and contact cleaner. The crank angle sensor is located in there and is a Hall-effect sensor.
> Cylinders 1 and 4 are 180 degrees apart so that is what is some what puzzling.
> Also what are the compression and /or the leakdown values and if possible the oil pressure readings?
> 
> ...


The cap is clean/dry, I'll look under the cover plate and see how it looks. I don't have a leakdown tester (wish I did) and haven't ran compression test since the rebuild. I'll do that next time I get on the job. Yeah, #1 is carrying a bit of the load, when I kill the cylinder it does affect the engine, just not much. #2 & 3 affect it a lot when I take them out(one at a time, of course). #4 isn't doing anything, although the plug is firing and has the same carbon soot on it as the other 3 cylinders. 

This is a driveway job, and it's her driveway. I make it over 1-2 times a week to work on it. And hauling tools back and forth is an issue too. So it's a slow, but steady job.

Anyway, thanks for the input, I'll let you know what I find. And look forward to hearing anything else you might come up with.


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## KA24Tech (Feb 2, 2004)

I have been thinking this over as well as being busy but we need to check the valve timing first. With the no. 1 on TDC, the cam timing mark should be at 3 and the crank mark at 4:30. Both of the sprocket keyways should be straight up. For the rocker arms if they were layed down flat, air may have entered them. To check for air in the rocker with the rocker arm in the free position, push on the rocker and if it moves more than 1mm the lifter may have air in it. To bleed the air, run the engine for 20 minutes at 1,000 RPM under no load. If the rocker still has air then it probably will need to be changed.
The next thing would be to check the igniton components; the coil, the condensor, the resistor, the power transitor, and the crank angle sensor in the distributor. The crank angle sensor should be inspected because the tone wheel 1 degree increments and two 180 degree slots. The coil should have .7 ohms on theprimary and 8K ohms on the secondary. 
To check the ECU codes access the ECU under the front of the center console turn the ignition key on then turn the screw on the ECU fully clockwise hold it for 2 seconds then turn it back fully counterclockwise. The red led on the ECU and the Check Engine light will flash the codes with long and short flashes. The long flash is the first digit and the short flash is the second digit. To get the ECU out of diag mode just turn off the key.
Codes are:

12 air flow sensor malfunction
13 engine temperature sensor
14 vehicle speed sensor
31 engine control unit
32 exhaust gas recirculation valve
33 exhaust gas sensor
35 exhaust gas temp sensor
41 air temp sensor
43 throttle sensor
45 injector leak

The timing should be 15 +/- 2 degrees BTDC with the eng rpm below 800 with the TPS disconnected then with the timing on the RPM should be 650 +/- 50 RPM M/T or A/T (N)

The fuel pressure regulator is 43.4 PSI.


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## dv8or (Jan 31, 2005)

KA24Tech said:


> I have been thinking this over as well as being busy but we need to check the valve timing first. With the no. 1 on TDC, the cam timing mark should be at 3 and the crank mark at 4:30. Both of the sprocket keyways should be straight up. For the rocker arms if they were layed down flat, air may have entered them. To check for air in the rocker with the rocker arm in the free position, push on the rocker and if it moves more than 1mm the lifter may have air in it. To bleed the air, run the engine for 20 minutes at 1,000 RPM under no load. If the rocker still has air then it probably will need to be changed.
> The next thing would be to check the igniton components; the coil, the condensor, the resistor, the power transitor, and the crank angle sensor in the distributor. The crank angle sensor should be inspected because the tone wheel 1 degree increments and two 180 degree slots. The coil should have .7 ohms on theprimary and 8K ohms on the secondary.
> To check the ECU codes access the ECU under the front of the center console turn the ignition key on then turn the screw on the ECU fully clockwise hold it for 2 seconds then turn it back fully counterclockwise. The red led on the ECU and the Check Engine light will flash the codes with long and short flashes. The long flash is the first digit and the short flash is the second digit. To get the ECU out of diag mode just turn off the key.
> Codes are:
> ...


Thanks for the list...I'll be going over sometime next week to check these things out. Hopefully I can return with good news! Although I am thinking the lifters are going to need to be replaced. They were in pretty rough shape, but at $21 each, I wanted to try these before replacing them.


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