P0300 and p1130 after engine swap [SOLVED - switched coilpack wires]

[retterjosh]

Hey everyone. This sight helped me out alot s few years back when I bought my 2001 pathfinder and discovered my problems were with my ignition coils. They were the ones that had a different style #1 ignition coil. The original engine needed to be replaced due to bad piston rings and various other problems which inevitably resulted in blowing a whole through my radiator. Now to the problems currently at hand...
I have a vq35de from an 02 qx4 that I swapped with the original vq35. I know for certain that my spark plugs, ignition coils are good. My compression is good. When using NDS 2 for android I could see that my b1s1 o2 sensor was stuck at .22 volts and not telling the ecu to adjust the a/f mixture. I replaced the o2 sensor and it now fluctuates but only slightly. So I know my ecu is seeing an actual lean state on b1s1 and is dumping fuel into my bank 1 to try and richer it up but to no avail. It is constantly reading a lean state. It seems to idle well and no cel in idle. But when I rev to about 2000 rpms it throws a p0300 code. I also have a p1130 code that pops up after every few duty cycles if I clear it, it comes back a few duty cycles later. Based on input from some co workers who used to be autotechs I checked fuel injectors. The resistance is with in spec I am getting battery voltage on the harness connector per the fsm and I have continuity from the connectors to the ecu per the fsm. When digging into the injectors I of course had to remove the intake plenum and I noticed that the rear most stud for the lower plenum was oddly cross threaded in a way that the nut spins clockwise and counterclockwise but does not actually move along the threads at all which caused it to not actually tighten the lower plenum all the way to the intake manifold. So in case it isn't clear that I had to remove the rear stud itself that is how I removed the lower plenum. Anyway, I used a series of washers to compensate and allow the plenum to be fully secured to the intake manifold. But since I had to leave for work I didnt get to reinstall the upper plenum and vacuum hoses and connectors yet so I am not sure if this will actually fix my p0300 problem. I will know tomorrow morning when I get a chance to finish up. I am posting this to hopefully get some other possibilities in case this does not remedy my issue. Any thoughts questions or feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[retterjosh]

Alright everyone well that didnt fix my issue. I am utterly stumped if anyone has anything for me it would be greatly appreciated

[PathyPop]

That upstream bank 1 O2 sensor should be fluctuating wildly, I assume your bank 2 is? Since your problem codes are bank 1, I'd try swapping sensors, coils and injectors bank to bank starting with the O2 sensors to see if your v readings and codes follow. For the injectors, even though the voltage & resistance are in spec, you might have a leaky injector so you can see if the codes follow. Also, based on your description of that stripped bolt, it might be causing a vacuum leak which can trigger various codes. You could try spraying FI cleaner around the bolt area to see if the rpm's change.

I'm not a mechanic but we manage to fix things, staying away from the dealer (so far).

[retterjosh]

The bank 1 o2 sensor is brand new. And as far as spraying the intake area around the stripped bolt can I use water instead? If so I just figure less of a fire hazard since my 9 year old daughter is going to be assisting ( I dont want to scare her away from doing her own mechanical work in the future). And instead of swapping bank 1 and 2 injectors I have the fuel rail from the original engine which didnt have the same issues so should I just use the old bank 1 injectors in case that is the issue (would prevent me from having to disassemble the intake again if that remedies the problem) let me know what you think and thank you for the reply

Also would it help if I uploaded a video of the live data using NDS II for android? If so i will do so when i get back to it later today.

[PathyPop]

The sensor may be new, but if you don't have a 0-1 voltage oscillation something is wrong and it is fast and easy to swap the left and right to test with your android NDS. Again, I'm assuming you have the proper oscillation on bank 2 and your NDS should be able to show a comparison chart, even with both banks graphing at the same time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s65jumJ3idE (jump to 3:30 to see the oscillation voltage comparisons)

I would have no problem spraying a small amount of FI cleaner around the bolt area at idle, but DON'T DO IT if you are not comfortable. FI cleaner comes with a 6" straw so you can use a little and be precise. Even a very small vacuum leak will cause problems, including the codes you are having. I don't think water will tell you anything. WD40 or propane will work, still flammable though. If you do have a vacuum leak though, it is likely your problem and will need to be fixed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CPqbaSgcok&t=1s

The fuel rail is on top of the injectors but a problem "leaky" injector is usually one that leaks at the point where it enters the manifold, including the o-ring that seals this area. The rail might be the problem, but start with the easiest first: vacuum leak, sensors, then coils, then injectors. It's a little work to get to all the injectors and the fuel rail, so I would rule out the others first.

As far as your 9 year old, I wouldn't have her do anything under the hood when the engine is running better to wait 5 or 6 years, or ask her to step down and back before starting.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[retterjosh]

As far as my kids she is really more of my gopher and I am just trying to explain different parts and their purpose while we are under there and explain why I am checking what I am checking. I did find an injector missing an o-ring and one where the brown plastic nozzle was missing replaced those and took the stripped stud and swapped it to the front with washers to compensate so I could easily access the most likely area to check for vacuum leak. Will try tomorrow as I still have the same issues. And I was thinking water because instead of increasing my idle I assumed it would bog it down a bit. So I was hoping it would be a less flammable alternative.i guess this is one reason not to buy junkyard engines lol. I do have a very slight improvement after replacing the bad injectors but not enough to do away with my p0300. And the reason I am assuming the o2 swap wont really tell me anything 1 is because it does fluctuate now but not much only between 0.17 and 0.44 so it's more likely to be an actual lean reading (like from a vacuum leak) 2 because I was told by my coworkers that if I unplug both o2 sensors from the connectors the car should put itself into a default a/f mixture which still doesn't help with the misfire. So i either have (most likely) air sneaking in past my maf (vacuum leak) or maybe even possibly my timing chain is installed wrong (less likely because I have not opened up the timing personally but doesn't mean previous owner of the engine did not) one of my coworkers was talking about doing something called a break out box and/or a power balance test. Not exactly sure but the more I deal with this (working on it since mid January) I am leaning towards having Nissan do a diag on it and hopefully they can tell me what's going on. Any thoughts questions or responses just let me know. I am open to any and all suggestions at this point. But I will definitely let you know the results of the cleaner test tomorrow. The only issue I think I will have is getting it down underneath the plenum to the actual intake.

[retterjosh]

Alright so after being up all night digging into youtube and google. I decided to go out and check the fuel trims on my car. Bank 2 fuel trims are normal, but bank 1 STFT continues to climb all the way up to 25% where it maxes out and then resets to 0% and continues this trend. Meanwhile my bank 1 LTFT never adjusts from 0.0% anyway buddy have an idea on what this could be telling me?

[PathyPop]

I don't know much about reading fuel trim. I just added the graphs to my torque to see what they read: Bank 1 STFT reads around -10 at idle and goes up to +10 and down to -20 or so when I gas it, but settles back to -10. The FT banks 1 and 2 graphs move less when I gas it, but settle around -20. I think you're on the right track though, you gotta make sure your injectors are all good and there is no vacuum leak. It will never be right until you do. On my jeep, I had a tiny leak from a split hose, I cut off the end and it fixed my problem. It was tiny and hard to find, but made a difference when fixed.

On the potential vacuum leak, you may want to go to an independent shop (not the dealer) and have them check just for that. Spraying a small amount of cleaner or wd40 is a fairly definitive way to find them and they shouldn't charge more than $50 to do a quick check.

[Rockwood]

It might be worth chasing the p1130 first. You seem to be looking for a vacuum leak, and the swirl valves are vacuum operated. Maybe there is a vacuum problem there? This is a quick description from autocodes.com:

The swirl control valve control solenoid valve responds to signals from the ECM. When the ECM sends an ON (ground) signal, the solenoid valve is bypassed to apply intake manifold vacuum to the swirl control valve actuator. This operation closes the swirl control valve. When the ECM sends an OFF signal, the vacuum signal is cut and the swirl control valve opens.

So, need to be sure your swirl valves on the problem side work. Could be a bad actuator or a bad hose. Then clear codes and see what happens.

You have spare parts on the engine you pulled out, right?

[retterjosh]

Alright everyone sorry it took me so long to get back on here. After chasing problems for the past week I finally got it figured out. HUGE oversight on my part. My #1 and #3 ignition coil harness connectors were swapped -_- ... got to be the most embarrassing slip up and time consuming mistake I have made. Soo word of advice to anyone else check the small stuff that you "know you couldn't have screwed up" all problems are gone. I still have a slight exhaust leak but that is be a use I am apparently missing the 2 nuts that hold the passenger side cat to the manifold. Even with that passed emissions with flying colors and she I'd back on the road. Next is front struts and tires and wheels
Thabks to e try one for taking the time to give me your input

[PathyPop]

Oh well, we've all done something like that. Great news though.

[retterjosh]

Yes very good news indeed. I ordered some gabriel ultra struts for the front. Cheap and reliable so why not. Really I would like to know what I could start getting into on this thing now that it is running like a champ. Anyone know how much work would be involved swapping out the cloth seats for leather seats with heater? Or maybe where I can find an OE pet/cargo barrier?

[Rockwood]

Did that also correct the p1130?

[retterjosh]

Yes it did. Although now after driving it about every 30 miles I get a solid SES light. When I pull the codes it is for p0138,139,158, and 159. I know I have a small exhaust leak on the passenger side be ause I am missing the 2 bolts for the studs where the cat and exhaust manifold meet. But have a cat on it's way so hopefully that may take care of the problem. If not I will be pulling out the multimeter and checking the wiring and connectors for the downstream o2 sensors and trying to troubleshoot the issues further. After for sitting for nearly 4 years and then running it with the p0300 I may just need to replace them.

[Rockwood]

Wow, I have no idea how the PCM sets a p1130 swirl valve code from reversed plugwires! Seems bizarre to me.

Always nice to have codes go away though!

[retterjosh]

Yes it definitely is. Running great now. Cleaned downstream o2 sensors when replacing passenger cost and NoCodes! In the middle of doing some cosmetic "upgrades now. Tried saving money by replacing front tires until they could get my correct size rims ordered in for rear (had 15s on all 4 when I bought the car) anddddddd of course it rained and I hit a Jersey barrier. But all in all not bad damage luckily I was able to maneuver towards some big orange construction barrels/cones and avoided any major damage. But needless to say the rears are now changed out lol