Hole in the front of my engine... needs attention

[CanuckQx4]

Cant believe I never noticed this HOLE in the front of the 3.5L engine at the top above the water pump. I was following various threads and links and came to an fsm page for the actuator for the swirl control valve. I got an "animation" view of where it was and went to look at my own engine, expecting to see this arm and linkage and actuator junk on the outside of the engine that Im "common" with, but instead, found this gaping hole!



Is there a way to get access to the things behind there relatively easily? I think my problem is that my swirl control valve is not opening and Id like to look at the assembly and lube it up and get power back to my truck.

This thread is what inspired me to think a stuck control actuator was the problem, at the end of page 2 he figures it out.
http://x.nissanhelp.com/forums/pathfind ... -here.html

So how do I get this baby working again? What "should" be mechanically moving in there?

[miamiheat3332]

i noticed in your recent threads you seem to be finding a lot of surprises in your engine bay, like those vaccum tubes missing or not going anywhere and now this. Did you buy the q from someone that took random sht off, or is it people in your neighborhood taking parts for their q/path?

Seems fishy that theres alot of unknowns and findings. Hope you found them all and get them fixed to get it running up to par.

[CanuckQx4]

Your engine has this hole to. Ive just never looked under the a/c lines and noticed it.

This is the last known problem (albeit a big one , not being able to accelerate quickly) with the car other than needing some front suspension TLC, gotta stop hitting those train tracks so fast haha

I just want to know whats supposed to move under here, and how to make it move freely/manually like the guy did in the link, he never explained

[Pwnin O'Brien]

That hole is there specifically for that reason, it allows you to watch the movement of the swirl control valve actuator to ensure it's operating properly. The swirl control valve has specific operating characteristics that you can check out in the FSM. Just download the Engine Control manual and search for P1130, the characteristics are listed under the swirl control valve control solenoid valve. There you can find out when the swirl control valve moves in relation to engine temperature and engine RPMs.

[CanuckQx4]

Ya ive read that section, but Im a picture person lol, I read all about when it gets vacuum and when it should be on or off depending on coolant temps. But just like the guy in the thread I posted, Im getting no power above 3k rpm

The FSM says nothing about what I can do to check/maintain the assembly I can see, or what Im looking at. Or where and what direction (that I can understand) in real life.

I was hoping maybe a spring would need replacing, or a sepcific arm lubed, or manually oppened/closed a few times.

I dont know what Im looking at in the picture I posted. But it looks very dirty

[Pwnin O'Brien]

Assuming your engine is cold in the picture, the swirl control valve is open. When it closes, that arm will rest on that peg.

[Pwnin O'Brien]

If you want to test for free movement of the swirl control valve, just put your hand in there (with the vehicle off, obviously) and move the arm. It will take a little bit of force since the spring is super high tension, but you don't need to be that gentle.

I should note that you may want to remove any vacuum (If any exists) in the actuator before moving the arm by hand. Just unplug one of the vacuum hoses going to the actuator.

[CanuckQx4]

Yes the engine was cold, so I want to pull the lever on the far far left of the picture over to the metal tab??

He didnt mention exactly what he did or "lubed" to make it work, but his symptoms or identical to mine

[Chuck Tribolet]

This is the last known problem (albeit a big one , not being able to accelerate quickly) with the car other than needing some front suspension TLC, gotta stop hitting those train tracks so fast haha

Is that to say you got the temp gauge problem sorted out?

[CanuckQx4]

yes sir, was a shorted wire caught under a bolt somehow being grounded to the engine block. Thanks to you, easy diagnosis and fix

Just pulled the truck into the garage and turned the heater on, Im gonna give that hole a few treatments of engine cleaner to get rid of that grime, clean it as best I can and then libe the assembly and see if I can manually move it while lubing to free it up.

Im hoping its just stuck, and I can got full throttle again!!

[CanuckQx4]

Should that level be moving when you rev the car in neutral?? Mine was not moving at all when in park and reving it via throttle body to approx 5k, seen no movement

I tried lubing it the best I could with Wd40

Then I manually pushed the lever over to the stopper pin and held it there with a screwdriver, it seems to affect the idle a little, then when I revved it while still holding it to approv 5k rpm again, the engine seemed to sound better and rev quicker

I dont know if its supposed to move while revving in park or only while in gear, figured I should ask that first.

[CanuckQx4]

[CanuckQx4]

I almost want to ziptie that lever against the stopped pin and go for a drive just to see if it would make a difference....

Hoping someone has played with this mechanism before and would know if and when it should be moving so I can see if mine is functioning or not

[Ron Burgundy]

Do you have reason to believe its not functioning?

[CanuckQx4]

the car barely accelerates on full throttle, and Im throwing code P1165 (swirl check solenoid error)

So thats why I think it may be faulty, and my symptoms are the same as he described, I just dont have a scanner that rear the air flow readouts like he had, would be nice