VStar650CL wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 05, 2022 8:24 pm

Do you have the Auto Positioner or no? I can get you the OE diagram for either one, they're a lot more descript.

Yes, it has the memory seat function and the auto positioner.

I did some more looking after the drive back from the shop. For whatever reason the seats and their diagnostic procedures are listed under BF not EL in the manual. That threw me for a loop. Clearly my emotional attachment to the car amongst other things are not helping me keep a level head. Thats embarrassing.

Thank you for offering helping hand. I will gladly use the diagrams if they are different from the ones in the manual.

No, they're the same ones from the FSM. I didn't see the '90 here in Nico, but Identifix had them so I offered. The OE diagrams at least show current flow and limit switch function.

HAIL DAMAGE

My car was getting dusty inside the shop and we were supposed to get some light showers so I figured it was a phenomenal idea to leave it outside for a free rinse. Im chilling at home watching a movie when I get the alert on my phone that the rain is going to be worse than anticipated and that hail is possible. Oh boy, better go cram some cars inside!

I walk out to my vehicle and theres only a gentle pitter patter

2 minutes into the drive it starts raining harder, no worries my trusty prius has brand new tires.

4 minutes into the drive and its pouring down hard, low visibility, old people with their hazards on, the works.

6 minutes in it starts to hail and my heart sinks. Its all coming down like a monsoon, the interstate is flooded and i slam through some deep a** water, its legitimately knee deep at some points, possibly higher.

10 minutes into the ordeal i arrive at the shop and guess what? Its not even raining anymore, theres a small river coursing through my shop and all the cars have hail damage. I cant even bring myself to glance at my beloved infiniti. 32 years of no exterior damage and this is what brings her down. SMH

My passenger isnt great with the camera and i wasn't filming for obvious reasons so ill see about posting a quick Snapchat video that was taken.

Man. I literally had a sinking feeling in my stomach reading this.

Oh no! Hopefully there's nothing that can't be removed via paintless dent repair.

The damage isnt crazy but it's noticeable. Luckily it wasn't enough to destroy any body lines. The sunroof looks the worst; it kind of has the golf ball texture going on. At least now I don't have to worry about dings and scratches in the parking lot

I also got the power seat issue taken care of. Major PITA to diag that intermittent condition but its all good now.

It's prime AC season and that got me thinking about my car. When I got it the AC never worked and I found some paperwork from the previous owner stating that it didn't work when they bought it in 2006. I started off by pulling the evaporator core and cleaning it off/ flushing it out. Of course I had to replace the expansion valve while in there as well. It didnt look terrible, i was expecting to see more dog hairs. Im going to install a cabin air filter like WES posted about



Then I replaced all the o rings and drier. It held vacuum so i charged the system and turns out the compressor needs to be replaced (big shocker i know). The pressures are wack and it's damn near ambient temp at idle. I can get a reman for ~200 and the condenser for 150 ish. I have a few years worth of points saved up with the AC parts supplier so im hoping to cash in and get that all a bit cheaper.

Man, I'm glad to see you back! I need to replace my leaky evaporator on the Q. It's a fairly slow leak, but it's enough that it's never right. The compressor and evaporator were replaced at some point in it's service history prior to me buying her in 2001.

I just finished replacing the compressor, condenser, and evaporator on my truck this week. I'm trying to decide if I want to go ahead and knock out the Q while my HVAC skills are finely honed, or wait until it's cooler. How bad was the evaporator R&R?

Q451990 wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 24, 2022 2:26 pm

I just finished replacing the compressor, condenser, and evaporator on my truck this week. I'm trying to decide if I want to go ahead and knock out the Q while my HVAC skills are finely honed, or wait until it's cooler. How bad was the evaporator R&R?

Thanks, glad to be back.

Id say go for it! Wiggling the entire housing out was kind of tricky. There is a write-up with pictures on here I'm sure you have seen it already though. I think my biggest issue was locating the two wrenches I needed for the bigger fitting next to the modulator. I also had some foam tape on hand to replace the original stuff that was peeling. It was one of the more pleasant things I've done on this car.

The compressor seized up on my 90, and with Phoenix summertime temps already here I decided to overhaul the entire a/c system. New compressor, condenser, evaporator, expansion valve, and drier, and an evac & recharge with R134 had it blowing cool but not cold. Talked to a mechanic friend of mine and he recommended using an OEM expansion valve and recharging with the original R12. We’ll hopefully see how how that works this coming week. An additional issue that has cropped up is the a/c control panel shuts off and comes back on occasionally when the a/c is running, which it wasn’t doing before the a/c system overhaul. Has anyone experienced this before?

Ryantzer wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 25, 2022 5:02 pm

The compressor seized up on my 90, and with Phoenix summertime temps already here I decided to overhaul the entire a/c system. New compressor, condenser, evaporator, expansion valve, and drier, and an evac & recharge with R134 had it blowing cool but not cold. Talked to a mechanic friend of mine and he recommended using an OEM expansion valve and recharging with the original R12. We’ll hopefully see how how that works this coming week. An additional issue that has cropped up is the a/c control panel shuts off and comes back on occasionally when the a/c is running, which it wasn’t doing before the a/c system overhaul. Has anyone experienced this before?

Did you take a pic of the guages? I only know the basics but my understanding is that the oils do not play well with the different gasses.... Flushing and reverting to r12 seems like a lot of work (and expensive!!). I personally wouldnt be so quick to switch back. Mine got as cold as 60 with r134a using the crapped out comp and condenser and an aftermarket expansion valve.

It would be wild coincidence if your climate controls just decided to die at the same time you're fixing the ac. I would imagine its something else possibly interfering and temporarily knocking it offline? I would start by double checking the elctrical connections. Make sure there aren't any pinched/chafed wires maybe.

Ryantzer wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 25, 2022 5:02 pm

The compressor seized up on my 90, and with Phoenix summertime temps already here I decided to overhaul the entire a/c system. New compressor, condenser, evaporator, expansion valve, and drier, and an evac & recharge with R134 had it blowing cool but not cold. Talked to a mechanic friend of mine and he recommended using an OEM expansion valve and recharging with the original R12. We’ll hopefully see how how that works this coming week. An additional issue that has cropped up is the a/c control panel shuts off and comes back on occasionally when the a/c is running, which it wasn’t doing before the a/c system overhaul. Has anyone experienced this before?

A/C compressor manufacturers will tell you that you can't successfully flush a modern condenser. I don't know if the Q would be considered a modern design, but if you're planning on flushing and switching refrigerants and oils, you might need to replace the condenser again. My controller had something weird that wasn't the usual failure mode, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was doing. Something where the display would go blank, but there would be little red lines across the display. I sent it off for the Jerry Tucker fix, and it didn't really fix it. Those connectors can be tight, so I'd check to make sure they're fully seated. If that doesn't cure it, I have a nice stash of spare controllers with the display fix already done. Let me know if you need one and we'll figure something out.

Talking about all of this air conditioner stuff, I'm not sure I've heard the electric auxiliary fan in a while. I should probably check on it when I do the evaporator swap.

Just a quick AC update, i decided to go ahead and replace the condenser and comp. I got both in today and im not too happy with either. I went with the reman from autozone (4 seasons). The AC supplier I normally use essentially told me to pound sand. They are no longer honoring the price match and giving me the runaround regarding the saved up "points". Given that the reman from them is double the price I'm not surprised and I should have jumped on the offer the first time I called for pricing.

Anyway the compressor i received is slightly damaged. The pulley is a little crooked and it looks like they didn't replace the clutch. We normally don't have issues with remans so this is surprising to me. I know there are a lot of aftermarket horror stories and ive for sure dealt with my share of garbage. You get what you pay for though.


The problem with flushing out condensers are how thin the tubes have become. If he bought OE style it shouldn't be an issue. I was wondering if i can fit a '94 condenser due to the size of the tubes it looks like it would have the design shown in figure 1.2. I dont think the original tube and fin design is going to suffice. Ill swing by tomorrow and try to compare, ill post the measurements and take a few pics.

From the research I did it sounds like Nissan changed the fittings to make sure the later R134 system parts were not interchangeable with the R12 system parts. Even though they should fit physically I'm thinking you'll find the hose connections to be different.

Ryantzer wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 30, 2022 3:55 pm

From the research I did it sounds like Nissan changed the fittings to make sure the later R134 system parts were not interchangeable with the R12 system parts. Even though they should fit physically I'm thinking you'll find the hose connections to be different.

Great! If in fact that is all that needs to be done i already have someone in mind that can just swap the old fittings over. I think the later model is also cheaper than the previous. Ill let you guys know what I come up with

The A/C specialist I was planning to use is understandably swamped with work and currently isn't able to fit me in for a while so I chose to pop in the reman compressor for a quick spin.

I lost my analog temp gauge and I'm not 100% sure this cheapo HF laser thermometer is too accurate but there it is

EDIT: NO WAY LMAO this thing has got to be defective. It did feel pretty cold though....

Nice!
I have a 'cheapo' digital/analog caliper that sometimes and sometimes not has a 0.200" offset. So I have to remember to double check the analog scale.
But cool air is better than hot air for sure. If you have your original calsonic compressor, save it....even if it's r-12. Might be able to find a local rebuilder to do yours. I have a couple of old 12oz cans of R-12 if you're looking for some.

3Q Jay wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 14, 2022 4:50 pm

Nice!
I have a 'cheapo' digital/analog caliper that sometimes and sometimes not has a 0.200" offset. So I have to remember to double check the analog scale.
But cool air is better than hot air for sure. If you have your original calsonic compressor, save it....even if it's r-12. Might be able to find a local rebuilder to do yours. I have a couple of old 12oz cans of R-12 if you're looking for some.

I was wondering about that. My car had already been "retrofitted" when I got it so I dont know exactly whats been done to it in that aspect. The compressor it had originally was equipped with a larger pulley. The regular serpentine belt that comes up when ypu search for it at the parts store was way too small (373K4). I had to put in a belt that measured 382K4 for the old compressor. The reman used the smaller belt. Also it was missing the rear bolt..... I appreciate the offer for R12 but the performance I have now is satisfactory. I think I'll just stick with R134a just so I dont have to switch back when r12 is officially extinct.

There is some discrepancy with the compressor belt size on the 90. Apparently they had vibration issues that they tried to cure with, among other things a different compressor. That updated compressor came with a larger belt.

NGL I had planned to do the overhaul myself but for all the hours spent research/studying I retained maybe 20% and I knew I would be in over my head. So I swallowed my pride and started the search for someone that knew what they were doing.

I called maybe 7 or 9 places. Of the 5 that returned my call or even answered for that matter there was only 1 guy that was willing to take on the job. His name is Joe and he used to work for "certified transmission". Certified is the go to place for remans and they are the best in terms of warranties and quality (from a shop perspective). He explained how he used to rebuild these all the time back in the day. Honestly I dont think I could've found a better shop. Joe gave off immaculate vibes and was extremely competent. Customer service skills were also over the top. All in all I dont mind the price tag.

Now to find some time to pop it in!!

Nice to see progress being made! I'm looking forward to hearing all about how this transmission rebuild feels.

Ill preface this by saying that it's been raining all day and it's still overcast so the streets are cold and wet. I was not able to do any spirited driving since pressing down more than a 1/4 of the way on the gas broke traction. I definitely need new tires but I got flashbacks to driving in the snow with this thing LOL.

Anyway, the install went great I clocked roughly 9 hours from start to finish (on the ground, no lift!). No error messages and the transmission shifts beautifully. In my limited driving I did notice a slight hesitation while at speed, ~30 MPH. I'm not sure what to attribute that to since I've tested/replaced just about everything at this point..... Joe did mention that there might be some barely perceptible funky shifts the first 50 miles or so while the frictions settle in, whatever that means. However this felt more like a throttle response issue.

Also the reman compressor gave out. I noticed it was a bit noisy while filling the trans and it quit about 3 minutes into the drive so that's another thing to look forward to i guess

It's going to be cloudy and rainy here for the next week and a half according to the forecast so no clue when I'd be able to really give 'er the beans

Well, I got lucky today in the fact that it was nice and dry this afternoon so I conveniently had to run a bunch of errands around town. This is a fun little car! Much better than I remembered. The transmission itself shifts PERFECTLY I could not have asked for more. Literally the only indication there has been a gear change is the RPM dropping. It's so smooth! I cant believe it!

Now, on to some more issues that have arisen. For one there is a pronounced misfire. Its a solid 4 on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being sputtering backfiring mess. I believe that is the main culprit for the lack of power. It's pretty bad at the lower speeds and low RPM ranges. When you hit the gas there's a 50% chance it just won't move even at WOT, I mean this thing is slower than my Prius!! I'd be surprised if its anything other than the coild which are original or maybe the MAF. I already mentioned shocks, an alignment and new tires but its getting there! Im excited to finally have this major issue out of the way.

Also, I just scored some new (but old) subs and amp. I wasn't planning to acquire them so soon but they just fell into my lap and they were free so might as well.

Glad you got the trans installed and it's working good! I did note the torque converter. it is just a stock version, or did you have them up the stall speed?
remind me, do you have an aux cooler for the trans? would be good to invest in one if you don't.
ok, on the misfire--is it there at idle too? Or does it run 'clean', but stumble under load?
What is the recent service history on engine, and did the misfire only start after trans replacement?

3Q Jay wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 16, 2022 8:17 pm

Glad you got the trans installed and it's working good! I did note the torque converter. it is just a stock version, or did you have them up the stall speed?
remind me, do you have an aux cooler for the trans? would be good to invest in one if you don't.
ok, on the misfire--is it there at idle too? Or does it run 'clean', but stumble under load?
What is the recent service history on engine, and did the misfire only start after trans replacement?

No, the torque converter is all stock. They sent the same one out to be refurbished so technically it's " original matching numbers" but im not a stickler on that.

Yes, I took your advice and added a trans cooler + inline filter! I went with a spin-on type so its easy to swap out for the yearly fluid changes. Also 1st gear start.

Its the most noticeable at idle. However the throttle response and RPM increase are instant in P or N. It only seems to stumble sometimes while in gear and most often from a stop. It'll either burn rubber and fishtail or barely move at all, there does not seem to be an in between. I do explicitly remember this being an issue many years back when I first got the vehicle so it would be great to finally resolve this mystery!

Recent service history is timing chain guides, fuel pump, knock sensors, valve covers, injectors have all been ohmed spray tested, and NGK iridium spark plugs. The throttle adjustment screw had been fiddled with (by the previous owner) so I reset it with shims according to the manual. I have my suspisions about timing since I removed all 4 sections of the front cover. I did check the TPS a couple of months ago and the voltage graph looked great there were no glitches.

OK, sounds good. going for the home run first, I'd try gently wiggling the MAF connector with engine idling including the wires that are close to the white connector going into the MAF. But be careful, they are fragile!
If you get a response, you have found at least the immediate issue.
If the count goes to 0-1, then for the basics, you want: TPS at 0.44v exactly at warm idle. Make sure revs are about 650, set timing at 15 BTDC at warm idle. may need to adjust IACV (AAC) to keep at around 650. Oh, did you clean the AAC when you did the knocks? Small changes in TPS setting and timing start a loop that also affects AAC, so all 3 have to play together. try for 11-15% duty on the AAC if you have a scanner. Park, AC off.
Coils (at least spark jump out of the boots) are still on the list, but let's get a strong baseline first.

Original NGK specified platinum plugs work better than any iridium ones. Do not know if they are still available.

maxnix wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 18, 2022 3:20 pm

Original NGK specified platinum plugs work better than any iridium ones.

There isn't going to be any functional or performance difference between platinum and iridium plugs (or any plug material really), the difference will be in how long they last. Platinum plugs should last around 60K miles, while iridium plugs should last around 100K miles. Ruthenium plugs will probably outlast the vehicle.

The "improved performance" claims from spark plug manufacturers are 99% marketing s***.

The usual culprit with a dead miss is fuel injectors. I would ohm test them to see if any are reading off. I've had a bad injector foul the corresponding plug so badly, that it needs to be cleaned before it'll work again. I don't think this would explain your complete lack of power though. In my experience, the car still drives pretty well on 7 cylinders, but had a pronounced bounce at idle.

3Q Jay wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 17, 2022 9:28 am

OK, sounds good. going for the home run first, I'd try gently wiggling the MAF connector with engine idling including the wires that are close to the white connector going into the MAF. But be careful, they are fragile!
If you get a response, you have found at least the immediate issue.
If the count goes to 0-1, then for the basics, you want: TPS at 0.44v exactly at warm idle. Make sure revs are about 650, set timing at 15 BTDC at warm idle. may need to adjust IACV (AAC) to keep at around 650. Oh, did you clean the AAC when you did the knocks? Small changes in TPS setting and timing start a loop that also affects AAC, so all 3 have to play together. try for 11-15% duty on the AAC if you have a scanner. Park, AC off.
Coils (at least spark jump out of the boots) are still on the list, but let's get a strong baseline first.

I was able to knock a few things out this morning.

First on the list: I have code 53 for the right o2 sensor

Both sensors get stuck either rich or lean @ idle with bank 1 dropping out entirely.
Accelerating slightly does get them moving but the graphs are still funky



TPS
I could have sworn the manual stated the TPS should be roughly .54 at idle but you are correct it asks for .4. The voltage graph was great, no interruptions of any kind

Timing
Timing is also off, it sits at 5°. I put it in the same position according to the witness marks but I guess you never know



IAC
It hits an average of 750 RPM in park no load. Duty cycle on the IAC sits at 10% for the most part. and yes I did clean it when I took off the plenum

MAF
The MAF seems to be in good working order for the moment knock on wood. I slapped it around, wiggled and tugged at the connection and the graph remains smooth

I think the next course of action is to adjust the TPS get some new o2 sensors and smoke the intake

Q451990 wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 19, 2022 9:31 am

The usual culprit with a dead miss is fuel injectors. I would ohm test them to see if any are reading off. I've had a bad injector foul the corresponding plug so badly, that it needs to be cleaned before it'll work again. I don't think this would explain your complete lack of power though. In my experience, the car still drives pretty well on 7 cylinders, but had a pronounced bounce at idle.

Now that you mention it I did extensively test the injectors before installing the plenum but I completely overlooked the sub harness!! Thanks for reminding me!