Thread: New, Howdy yall, Classic 4 dr B13 VVL swap

Howdy, just found this forum after idling too long at the old one which was so quiet. no wonder, I got a B13 Sentra 4dr auto, converted to manual, vvl with lot of new parts from suspension to brake to wheel, blah blah, you know the drill.

still have minor problem since it came from shop in Virginia ,
hope soon solve it then drive it again.

issue are overheating, control arm or odd vibration in right area, speedometer not working, gearbox not lining up good. fun fun


From Texas

Welcome
Where in Texas are you?

Overheating - could be a number of things post your cooling setup
Odd vibration - could be a wheel bearing(ask me how I know)
Speedometer - issue could/will depend on the year of the car/cluster
Gearbox - Might be mounts or missing dowel pins; depending on how it's not lining up correctly.

Fort Worth,
I am doing troubleshooting on the overheating, no therostat at the moment to determine if the water pumping isnt working at all.
will test VSS by spinning it with my hand and check wires. the vibration only occur when the steering is making right, once I move left, it get smooth.

So I'm guessing your car is 93-94(?) since you said vss wire
Could still be a wheel bearing as when you turn right the load is placed on that side.

Once I finish my car we should hang out or meet up somewhere(my dream build would have been a 4door VE. But I have an NX).
There are a couple of us in DFW

I've had 2 of those problems in my VVL swap. Couple questions for you:

1) What are you running as coolant?

2) Are your radiator fans coming on when they are supposed to, and do you have 1 or 2 in there?

3) Did you swap A/C over?

4) What radiator cap are you running?

5) When the motor is getting close to overheating, and you put the heat on (with the setting on outside fresh air) does it feel hot like it should or kind of oddly cool?

6) When the motor overheats, and you shut the motor off and get out and pop the hood, is the coolant overflow tank boiling if you removed the caps? How about if you've ever taken the oil cap off the valve cover after an overheat? Does smoke or what looks like steam visibly rise out of the hole? (BTW run a full synthetic oil if you aren't already)

7) Does the speedometer not work at all? And is your car a 91-92 or 93-94


Overheating: make sure you have your HVAC set so the air that comes is fresh air coming in off the engine, not recirculated, and put it all the way to hot. Sometimes just pulling the air from the engine bay on intensity setting #1 with it set to hot when driving around is enough. You may want to make sure the little setting arm isn't broken too within the HVAC assembly. The arm to alternate between fresh air & recirculated air breaks a lot in these cars. If that's the case I do have 2 full HVAC's for sale in the classifieds, 1 for A/C, 1 without Best case scenario is your fans aren't coming on or something minor. Worst case scenario is your head gasket is about to go or going.

Speedometer: its probably disconnected at the back of the gauge cluster. this is easy to find out. simply remove the trim paneling around the gauge cluster and radio and unscrew the housing assembly (I think there are 3 or 4 Phillips head screws) and gently pull on it. if it comes right out, then the speedo cable is disconnected and should be hanging there somewhere. if it's the cluster is real snug in there, then its connected and the issue is something else. It will be snug enough where you cant really even move it much, which is why it's such a pain to swap out the gauge cluster bulbs when they burn out.

4 phillips screws to remove the trim, and two or three connectors depending on the accessories the car has. Plus the cluster being held back by the cable only applies to 91-92 cars.
And even if the cable housing is connected to the tranny and cluster it doesn't mean the actual cable inside is any good, it has to be pulled out and inspected.