Thread: OOPS I...

DID IT AGAIN.

1997, 54k miles, autumn sunburst, 1 owner, HORRIBLE bad fuel, idle/power issue, bone stock

This you getting back into an SR?

This is me getting into a third SR (I mean, it's a damn BARN-FIND, HOW COULD I PASS THIS UP???)


edit: I also have
1997 Nissan Hardbody
2001 Yamaha R6
1997 GMC Sierra 1500 4WD package (didn't want, sort of inherited) 87k miles (believe it was flood damaged, and crate engine swapped)
1995 Yamaha Waveventure 1100 (105 hours)
2001 BMW 330i sedan, automatic, (115k miles)

plus, of course:
1992 NX (166k miles)
1995 SE-R Turbo (155k miles)

SO YES, I NEED TO LOSE SOME VEHICLES

Gotcha, wasn't sure what your collection looked like these days.

Ideas on that idle/power issue?

Nice! I like me some autumn sunburst!

I'm working through possibilities. Currently keeping it in a friends garage and working on it on the weekends.

For some reason the timing was way advanced, I assume to get some combustion out of the bad fuel. It was also missing the idle screw entirely, so I have a screw dropped in to hold it up some till I get the correct size.

So far I have:
pumped out all of the bad fuel
replaced fuel filter
retarded the timing some (need to find my timing light)
replaced spark plugs
changed air filter
checked TPS voltage (was in spec)
roughly checked MAF voltage (was like .1.17 at idle and 4.02 at WOT high RPM, IIRC)

So now it holds an idle without stalling, but it idles like it has giant cams, very lopey/surging...

The distributor cap looks to have been replaced recently. If I pull any plug wire, it gets worse, so it's not limited to any one cylinder. Retarding the timing any more makes the power so low it will hardly move. Once in higher RPMs it sounds almost normal when free-revving. It honestly feels like it's putting down about 55 WHP, and it wants to bog when shifting. It also backfires a bit out of the intake, especially when cold.

I'm wondering if it's leaky or dirty/clogged injectors. The crap that came out of the back of the fuel filter was the worst I've ever seen on a Nissan, all brown with rust, and sludgy. Makes me concerned about the pump/sock in the tank also.

Any suggestions on what I should check next? I suspect vac leaks, which is always really annoying. I have a cheap OBDII scanner to check some sensor voltages, but I couldn't get the bluetooth to connect for some reason. I've never had trouble with my other cars, but hadn't used it yet with this phone.

it is! unfortunately the previous owner did a really really shitty respray on it, but the color match looks perfect, just bad paint job. You can see, they actually sprayed over one of the fog lights. The interior is MINT. The motor mounts, clutch, clutch cable, syspension, etc, all seem to be in good shape, and original from the factory.

Yep, that was my next thought. Injectors, fuel filter (sock) in the tank. If messing with that, might as well do the fuel pump too?


Seems like you have a rats nest to deal with, which in some ways makes this easier. Everything you touch will probably be improved immensely. Maybe make sure the FPR is up to snuff? I think it is worth it to just replace or refurbish the fuel injectors, pump, and in-tank filter. Once you get the fuel situation sorted, it should be easier to track down the rest of the idle issues and whatnot.

I would probably start at the intake filter and just go down the whole thing all the way to the intake valves and clean everything, confirm it all works (can test most of the idle valves easily enough with +12v). Get eyes on every hose. Don't forget the brake booster check valve, etc.

Thanks bud, that's a good plan of action. There are dry-rotted vac lines for sure, like those on the ERG, but haven't noticed any gaping holes. Damn, I seem to remember the last time I touched an IACV I regretted it for a while, I'll look it up though, it's been 10+ years.

I seem to remember always having trouble getting my b14 into timing mode, but always got it to work. I almost feel like I remember that it didn't seem to matter if I put it in timing mode or not? But if it's not, the marks on the crank pulley don't stabilize, right?