New Owner - '96 Q45 Revive

Post by **3Q Jay** » Fri Jul 30, 2021 10:07 am

garageascent wrote: ↑
Thu Jul 29, 2021 10:52 am

Alright guys - if you were a plenum gasket ring (the metal rings for the upper runner to intake manifold) where would you expect to be after a fumble a falling off the upper runners?

I had the plenum off and was in the process of pulling the runners off and heard the sound of the metal ring falling after I bumped one of the runners (runner closest to pass valve cover on front side of engine). Only found one of the two that dropped.

I removed the lower oil pan plastic cover in case it dropped and was resting there. No such luck. At this time I didn’t have any of the runners off and all of my intake valves are closed so it couldn’t have fallen into the engine. Any ideas?

Would you consider looking in and around the pulleys/timing cover? I’m pulling the radiator so there’s more room to look but I don’t like the idea of just ordering another one and cranking the engine over with the potential for that ring to be somewhere unfavorable.

Is it plausible that I am mistaking and it didn’t have a metal ring there to begin with? Since starting this year down I’ve noticed missing fuel rail bolts and the fuel rail spacers sitting in the valley, so I believe someone has been in here before.

Second question is on my FGY33 there is a gasket that goes between the two coolant flanges in the valley. I noticed the FSM only calls for Nissan liquid gasket. I have some but I was curious if you would recommend to move along as the FSM says or consider sourcing the metal gaskets? I believe they were only a few $ on IPD so it’s not a huge hit to the wallet if I get them and they don’t work.

plenum ring---well, you heard something fall.
usually, the metal rings stay inside the rubber rings. but I suppose with age and time and careless mechanics a lot of things are possible.
Maybe try a magnet drag?

I'll respond shortly on the y-pipe gasket

Post by **Ryantzer** » Fri Jul 30, 2021 10:25 am

There are a lot of places the spacer ring could be hiding in the area below the plenum - that would be my first area of exploration. If it fell down the front of the engine then there are suspension members there it could have fallen into as well as sitting on top of the alternator, exhaust, etc.

I wouldn't worry about sourcing new gaskets for the coolant flanges - a good quality RTV gasket sealer will work perfectly. RTV products are so advanced at this point that most newer engines use it almost exclusively.

Post by **Q451990** » Fri Jul 30, 2021 10:29 am

I've always just used the liquid gasket in the valley. I'd be cautious messing with the process in an area that's so much fun to rework if it doesn't work the way you thought it would. The good news is that metal runner ring is fairly large, so you probably didn't drop it anywhere that it can do damage. If you don't have a telescopic magnetic pickup tool, I'd get one and try just running it around all of the nooks and crannies to see if it picks it up.

Post by **3Q Jay** » Fri Jul 30, 2021 11:54 am

OK, you already got two replies on the RTV vs. gasket
I certainly acknowledge that the VH45DE and VH41DE are different in that regard. I'll also offer that on the VH45, positioning the two flanges with wet RTV and prefit interconnecting hoses (yeah you'll want the forward section radiator hose diameter stubby on there too) with loose clamps is not the most fun thing, but is certainly do-able. I used the metal gaskets on the VH41, because that's what nissan intended.
I used RTV on the VH45 both the 94 and the 95, because that's what nissan intended.

Post by **garageascent** » Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:09 pm

Thank you to everyone who responded! Nissan RTV it is - in regards to the metal plenum ring still no luck finding it and this is where my engine sits as of a couple nights ago…

https://flic.kr/p/2meMmV3

On the plus side it’s getting a detailed cleaning!

Had some thoughts about cleaning up the PCV system in a manner of keeping my intake and runners as clean as possible, especially given I’m going through the trouble of getting them thoroughly cleaned - see below for labeled PCV diagram!

https://flic.kr/p/2mePPeN

A - fresh air to driver and pass side valve cover, this would be left in place.

B - PCV hoses from block to valve covers, I would reroute these to a Radium Y adapter to flow into a catch can and bypass the valve covers all together.

C and D - valve cover to intake, these would stay in place in order to utilize OEM mounting points.

E - hose post PCV valve to intake. I would reroute this to the other point in the Y adapter to go to the catch can and route the catch can outlet to intake via a Radium PCV valve.

Do you see any need for the OEM PCV valve to be used if there is a PCV valve at the catch can outlet?

This is my first go at doing any sort of catch can setup and know this a little more uncommon on the q45/g50 chassis but would love to hear any thoughts or comments about the routing described above!

Post by **Ryantzer** » Mon Aug 02, 2021 6:45 am

There’s no need to connect the catch can to any PCV line other than the one that’s going to the intake, as that is the only one that is introducing the oil mist-laden air to the intake system.

Post by **garageascent** » Tue Aug 03, 2021 7:21 pm

Ryantzer wrote: ↑
Mon Aug 02, 2021 6:45 am
There’s no need to connect the catch can to any PCV line other than the one that’s going to the intake, as that is the only one that is introducing the oil mist-laden air to the intake system.

The only reason I’m investigating whether it’s worth it to divert the blowby gas from the crankcase away from the valve covers and into the catch can is to A) clean up hoses that could fail later and B) to keep as much deposits out of places they shouldn’t be.

There’s no benefit to having the blow by from the crank case routed to the valve covers correct? This seems to just be engineered this way so it could be vacuumed with the rest of the blow by generated in the valve cover. My logical side says rerouting this to a catch can diverts blow by from the valve cover and keeps things cleaner…. That being said I know logical and mechanics don’t ALWAYS go hand in hand haha.

Post by **garageascent** » Sun Sep 26, 2021 6:36 pm

Alright….. long time no post. Moving to another apartment, rearranging shelves and storage in a much larger garage all kept me occupied for some time.

But alas, this revive is still going strong. We have decided to pull the engine and trans to investigate all leaks, clean up oil build up and try to minimize the chaos in the engine bay without giving up luxuries that makes the Q what it is.

Follow the FSM for engine removal I’m coming to a point where I am stuck, and likely over a simple solution too haha.

Where is the best place to separate the trans from the driveshaft? Is it at the center guibo that has 6 22mm bolts? Or should I unbolt the driveshaft from the diff and drop it all together? I’m planning on dropping engine and trans from the bottom to not fight with hidden trans to engine bolts.

As always, NICO help is appreciated!

Post by **3Q Jay** » Mon Sep 27, 2021 6:38 am

my caveat is that I have not dropped the engine trans together, although I have replaced both the motor mounts and tranny mount.
I would suggest removing the 2-piece driveshaft by separating at the 6 bolts near the pinion of the differential. Mark first so you can keep the clocking unless you are replacing/re-balancing the driveshaft. you will also need to drop the carrier bearing (2-bolts). examination of that bearing may lead you to replace the driveshaft with a 1-piece unit.

Post by **BCC93QT** » Mon Sep 27, 2021 8:43 pm

When I did my vh swap years ago I lowered the engine out of the car. With trans attached. I removed the shaft from the trana first and slightly lowered resulting in removing it from the rear once it cleared the lift. I found it much easier removing the engine and trans together. From the bottom... 3Q Jay is correct on the 1 piece. As I was a newbie I reinstalled the initial drive shaft which was a 2 piece. Earlier model G50 in which you could not replace the bearing or boot. Resulting in thuds and kick backs. Soon later it was replaced with a newer shaft from that of the later Gen. I have one question also. When reinstalling the exhaust to the headers (after gutting the usdm pre cat) I suspected a crush washer was needed. But I took another route. This exhaust never gave me an issue all the way to 396k miles before scrapped. Was that a crush washer?

Post by **garageascent** » Mon Oct 11, 2021 8:44 pm

BCC93QT wrote: ↑
Mon Sep 27, 2021 8:43 pm
When I did my vh swap years ago I lowered the engine out of the car. With trans attached. I removed the shaft from the trana first and slightly lowered resulting in removing it from the rear once it cleared the lift. I found it much easier removing the engine and trans together. From the bottom... 3Q Jay is correct on the 1 piece. As I was a newbie I reinstalled the initial drive shaft which was a 2 piece. Earlier model G50 in which you could not replace the bearing or boot. Resulting in thuds and kick backs. Soon later it was replaced with a newer shaft from that of the later Gen. I have one question also. When reinstalling the exhaust to the headers (after gutting the usdm pre cat) I suspected a crush washer was needed. But I took another route. This exhaust never gave me an issue all the way to 396k miles before scrapped. Was that a crush washer?

to my knowledge there is not a crush washer - on my '96 I just had a nut for every stud and of course the exhaust gasket. Though I do know it's common for the '96 to be assembled differently given it's the only g50 with OBD (not sure if that applies here).

Has anyone removed the engine and trans with AC still connected in engine bay? Ultimately would be nice to leave that assembled as it worked great before parking the car however I can't seem to see a way to get the compressor out of the way without evacuating the AC system and disconnecting lines. *sigh* not the end of the world but just another cost I'll have to factor in.

New Owner - '96 Q45 Revive

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Re: New Owner - '96 Q45 Revive

Re: New Owner - '96 Q45 Revive

Re: New Owner - '96 Q45 Revive

Re: New Owner - '96 Q45 Revive

Re: New Owner - '96 Q45 Revive

Re: New Owner - '96 Q45 Revive

Re: New Owner - '96 Q45 Revive

Re: New Owner - '96 Q45 Revive

Re: New Owner - '96 Q45 Revive

Re: New Owner - '96 Q45 Revive

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