# New Owner! 90 HB SE v6 4x4 couple questions!



## SpencerS (Feb 28, 2012)

Hey guys I'm new to the forum. I just purchased a 1990 Nissan HB SE v6 4x4 extra cab auto

Over all I like the truck but I have a few kinks to work out to make it perfect.

1. When I'm going easy on the throttle under 2krpm it sort of misses and hesitates. But when above 2k it runs fine no hesitation or missing. Also at idle it has a slight misfire. Could this be a bad o2? Sensor of any kind? How do I test said sensors? Dirty iac?

2. The power windows and locks do not work. The power mirrors do work however. I checked all the fuses in the box and they are all good. Where else should I check? Any ideas on how to get the windows working?

3. The heat does not work. When I turn the air up it sounds like a squirrel running around inside a tin can. Bad or clogged heater core? Bad blower motor?

4. The temp gauge does not work and the fuel gauge works but is finicky. All the other gauges work fine.Any ideas? How to test for the prob?

I thank you guys in advance for any help givin. I hope to be proud to own a Nissan. Thanks!

-spencer


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## veesix (Jul 18, 2004)

Start with the tune up basics. When I got my truck, the inside of the dist. cap was a total wreck. The contacts were burned down, and covered with slag, and the rotor was worthless (worst I have ever seen.). I changed the cap,rotor, wires and plugs; and the truck ran like it was new again.

If you have a MAS, look at the wires and if needed, clean them right away. Use a que-tip, some cleaner, and a VERY light touch (go slow.)

Because the heat does not work, check the coolant level asap. Fill up the system and, from a cold engine; start the truck and let it warm up in the drive way. When the top rad. hose gets hot, you know that the thermostat has opened and, that the water pump is moving coolant through the engine block.

You said "the heat does not work" and I take that to mean that no hot air comes from the vents. But, you also said that the fan makes noises, so I am not sure what you meant. Do you have a "no heat" situation, or just "noisy heat?"

Welcome to the forum, put up a few snap shots if you get a chance.

veesix


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## SpencerS (Feb 28, 2012)

Ok i will start with a tune up. Also i found a unpluged 2 prong connector right near the distrib cap. Is that for the ac unit? The truck didnt come with the ac setup. Or is it a unpluged sensor?

Also another i notice when it misses it puffs a lil white smoke? Is that normal for a miss? Ill try and get some pics up later today

On the heat issue the squrrel in a can stoped however i still have hot air coming from the vents. Also the vent selector doesnt work it only blows at my feet. Any ideas?

Thanks for all the help


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## SPEEDO (Jun 9, 2003)

#1 start will changing out the plugs, wires, cap, rotor, fuel filter etc
#2 do you have power going to/out of the switch?
#3 sounds like a bad control head, it was common, might try pulling it out, it might just be a broken cable attachment point or something easy to fix.
You might also pull the glove box, then pull the blower motor, probably some leaves in there. Then pull the cowl grilles (black grilles behind the hood by the w/shld) and clean that out.
#4 behind the instrument cluster is a voltage regulator (maybe a inch & half square, black or silver) that is probably the issue with your fuel/temp gauges, also a common issue


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## SpencerS (Feb 28, 2012)

where is the fuel filter located? i looked from the gas tank along the fuel lines up to the hood but couldnt locate it, did i miss it?

also i found these plugs unpluged.
















that one had some 4 prong plug or something stuck in it and it doesnt connect to anything, i am holding it in the pic.


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## veesix (Jul 18, 2004)

Hey. The fuel filter is visible in the 3rd photo. It is the thing that looks like a can, with a black hose connected to the center. Swap it out for a new one, but remember it will have some gas in it that will spill. Get a rag, and don't be smoking a cig.

Wires that look unplugged, just forget about for now. What does the inside of that dist. cap look like?

veesix


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## SpencerS (Feb 28, 2012)

so i pulled the d cap and all the posts looked bad. They had white marks on all of the rotor contact points. Also the rotor looked worn out. 

I am going to replace those but the dilemma is, the rotor and cap looked brand new, no oxidation on the cap or rotor, what could cause them to wear out so fast? bad distributor? Timing belt skiped a tooth? (godforbid)

thanks for the help guys!


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## SpencerS (Feb 28, 2012)

so i replaced the rotor and cap, and it is still idle'ing rough. here is what the old d cap and rotor looked like:


















any ideas?

thanks -spencer


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## SpencerS (Feb 28, 2012)

ok so i did a little more tinkering around. while the truck is running i pulled the vac line off the top port of the egr valve. this didnt make any difference in the way the truck ran, still idled rough the same way with it plugged in. Possibly a failing egr valve?

also another thing i noticed is there is some oil residue on the vac ports going into the air cleaner tube. I noticed a little on the rim of the throttle body. IS this a bad sign that engine has too much blowby? what am i going to have to look forward too?


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## veesix (Jul 18, 2004)

Hard to say from the picture, but the cap and rotor show real wear. They might go bad fast, because they are the cheap knock-offs, and not real Nissan parts. The expensive set is all copper, and I think the cheaper parts are aluminum. 

Do you have records from the previous owner; the work he did and the parts he replaced? 

Now you have a new cap, it's time to shop for a set of wires, and plugs. Buy the best you can afford; these things are expensive, but worth it (cheap wires are good for now, but get the best plugs, NKG.)

You will want to blast air into the spark plug recesses. They collect dirt, and you don't want it falling into the cylinder after you pull the plugs. I picked up a small compressor from Sears, and they are extremely useful.

When you pull the plugs, keep track of what cylinder they are from, and give them a good looking over. The Haynes manual has a nice section on "reading" plugs. Also, check the gaps and adjust. It's a breeze to do with a cheap gap tool.

And this last thing, don't get too worried if the truck idles funny, that describes just about every Nissan truck on the road today.  Just ease it around town and enjoy.


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## SpencerS (Feb 28, 2012)

This weekend im going to be pulling the plugs and doing a compression check. with the oil residue coming out of the pcv vac port to the air intake i either have a malfunctions pcv valve or its time to tear down the motor. so i should stick with nissan stealership(dealership) parts only?

I have my fingers crossed that i still have good compression.

edit: idk if its called the pcv but its the vac line coming out of the valve cover. Also tested the MAF and its good.


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## SpencerS (Feb 28, 2012)

well it looks like im going to have to go get new spark plug wires anyway(and plugs). I was advised to take off each plug wire and see if it made a difference.the first time around all the wires were good, Welli did it a second timejust to make sure and now it has a huge misfire to where the whole truck shakes. Runs worse now, i checked and rechecked all the connections just to make sure. I narrowed it down to number 3 plug wire so i think i may have shorted it out or something idk.

Starting to become more of a headache than i wanted it to be lol

thanks -spencer


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## veesix (Jul 18, 2004)

I have a suspicion, that spark plug wires break a little , every time they are pulled off a plug. I have had them completely fall apart more than once. So, if you are going to do a compression test (fine idea,) I'd wait until finished, and new plugs gapped and installed, before putting on an expensive set of wires. That way, there is no real reason to touch (break) the wires for a long time.

The dealership charges crazy prices for parts. The best deal for Nissan parts is to use everythingnissan.com although I was just at that site and it looks like they do not stock hardbody parts anymore.

Unless you have oil in the water (coolant,) or coolant in the oil, or blowing lots of strange smoke out the tail pipe, the engine is probably fine. More than likely it needs a few new parts, but is otherwise in ok condition.


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## SpencerS (Feb 28, 2012)

Ok so i replaced the wires and plugs today and it still has a huge miss. What could cause it to start missing badly when pulling the wires one by one?
before pulling the wires one by one it didnt run nearly as bad, just a putt...putt putt sound was what i was trying to track down.

new parts to date are: Dis cap, rotor, plugs and wires.


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## SpencerS (Feb 28, 2012)

Ok well i have good news and "ehhh" news. I think i may have tracked down the problem. I was tinkering around again and pushed on all the injectors. When i pushed on the number 3 injector it went back to the slight misfire it had before and the stumble. SOOO i think i have a couple bad injectors. Will a noid light suffenciently test the injectors? How do i make sure all the injectors are in 100% working condition?


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## veesix (Jul 18, 2004)

Look at it this way; you have a 22 year old truck, and all this stuff is due to be replaced anyway. My 88 has just 2 injectors, they were 300 bucks each, but I am glad to have spent the money, the engine has been running great ever since.

How many injectors do you have? It's 6 right? Take a close look at the combustion end of the old spark plugs; if the injector was flooding the cylinder it will show on the plug, if it was starving the cylinder, that will show on the plug.

Unless the previous owner just installed all new injectors, replace. You can get noid lights anywhere. They are very cheap and no fun at all: it will tell you if the injector is getting a signal but it won't tell you if the thing is working correctly. Back to this point, she is 22 years old now, and probably needs new injectors.


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## veesix (Jul 18, 2004)

And a word about vacuum lines. New line is very cheap and easy to buy at any parts store. Look at the engine, do you see a vacuum line? Replace it. There is a good chance you have some lines that still work, and some lines that are falling to bits, and some lines that look good, but are junk.


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## Rklnd Upstr (Oct 17, 2010)

Do you have a haynes manual? run the codes...

like said above replace fuel filter, clean mass air flow sensor, (be very careful very delicate wires). have you checked the air filter? run some fuel additives though her. Pick up a new or used blower motor, located under the glove box. 

these are all quick/cheap things. to do. After you have it running decent check/change fluids and belts...


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## SpencerS (Feb 28, 2012)

this coming weekend i am going to change the timing belt because i found a pretty good oil leak coming from the crankshaft area.

so heres my parts list so far:
-timing belt(nissan oem)
-fel pro crankshaft seal
-fel pro camshaft seal(do i need two?)
-fel pro water pump gasket

question: any other cheap'ish parts i could pick up to replace while im down there? call it preventative maintenance


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