Plenum Pull

[gsrteg]

Im about to do my second plenum pull, first was the 60k Maintenance, im doing a pull to change my injectors, unfortunately my father and i got into a fight, he was a mechanic for 10 years and walked me through the first pull and 60k. I dont have much experience with a wrench besides the basics. but i know my way around my engine bay pretty well and im confident i can do the pull myself, its about time i learn how to fix my own motor issues as i dont want to pay someone in the future; and i hate relying on other people. so, i plan on doing this by myself. Any advice guys? heres a picture i took previously

[NolimitZ32]

Keep your laptop with the FSM on the screen next to you, I went from barely being able to change oil to rebuilding engines with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back thanks to comprehensive FSMs.

[gsrteg]

im just worriedil forget something or mess up i will keep them open, thanks nolimit

[johnshop]

im just worriedil forget something or mess up i will keep them open, thanks nolimit

take a picture of EVERYTHING. i have never done something more involved other than have to remove my balance tube but, as experience from other mechanical stuff, taking pictures and labeling stuff is the best way, along with a good FSM like nolimit said.

[Z-owned]

It's really not that bad, especially if you deleted water lines the first time around. If not I strongly suggest deleting them this time around. But that said this write up is a pretty good one to follow.

http://www.twinturbo.net/nissan/300zx/t ... lenum.aspx

[gsrteg]

yeah i wanted to water lines and read countless How To's and what not, but it still confuses me

[gsrteg]

http://tech.aus300zx.com/Rear_Water_Hos ... ement.html this it?

[300ZXttZMAN]

It's really not that bad, especially if you deleted water lines the first time around. If not I strongly suggest deleting them this time around. But that said this write up is a pretty good one to follow.

http://www.twinturbo.net/nissan/300zx/t ... lenum.aspx

If you follow this "how to" you should be fine.

[Z-owned]

http://tech.aus300zx.com/Rear_Water_Hos ... ement.html this it?

Yes this is a good article to use in aiding with the delete, and if you get stuck somewhere you can always ask here for help. The EGR delete would be good to do as well. It can be done with the engine in the car but is difficult, easier with the plenum off and you could always do most the delete and just leave the actual egr unit in the back of the motor. But between that and the water line delete the plenum pull goes from frustrating and time consuming to something that could be done in a short amount of time.

[Shoey2]

even as a nissan tech i still make sure i take my time on a VG. just mark everything and keep stuff sorted its not hard just tim consuming.

what is considered the average time to do a plenum pull for most people on here? lets say just getting it off because the work your doing under there can vary...

[Z-owned]

avg. time depends. My first time took me about 4hrs to just get it off. I could get it off easily in under an hour now with all the deletes experience etc.

[Oh Em Zee]

first time twin turbo was 4 hours.
I think I could tear down for a motor swap in around 4-6 hours now with proper room and tools? and plenum pull closer to 2 hours NA, 3 hours TT. (California, yay!)

[bartZ32tt]

Yep, it's totally worth considering deletes/reroutes while you're in there. My first time was 6 hours (taking my time with only hand tools) and I just recently did it again in 30 minutes on a motor with rerouted water lines, deleted egr, and PVC reroute. Consider the PVC reroute as well.

[canadian booster]

i'll be doing this as well in the spring for the first time so i can reroute waterlines and replace injectors, let me know how it goes!

i agree that pics, pics and more pics help a lot, close up pics, wide pics, cel phones have cameras, use it you never know when you'll be holding a piece in your hands thinking WTF IS THIS?!

[gsrteg]

plenum off! im changing my fuel hoses and vacuum lines and injectors etc etc, man are those fuel lines a pain in the a$$! im debating the water/coolant bypass but idk if i can with the motor still in? and i read the write up but im still confused on it.. uhg il let you guys know how it goes

[gsrteg]

took me 8 hours to get mine off -__- the egr bolts kicked my butt and ontop of that my pcv tubes are gross and cracked so i need new ones, if your down there deff change them Canadian booster!

[canadian booster]

good call! i'll make sure to keep an eye out for that stuff also

[bartZ32tt]

plenum off! im changing my fuel hoses and vacuum lines and injectors etc etc, man are those fuel lines a pain in the a$$! im debating the water/coolant bypass but idk if i can with the motor still in? and i read the write up but im still confused on it.. uhg il let you guys know how it goes

Yep, the hard lines in question are all on the bottom side of the upper plenum, so having the motor in the chassis should have no bearing on whether you should/should not do this mod, so you should definitely go for it!

You could probably bypass the passenger turbo hardline as well (can't remember how much access you have to that with engine in the chassis). That requires bending the turbo coolant hard-line a bit but it eliminates potential leak points to a critical component - the turbo - so it's worthwhile IMHO.

took me 8 hours to get mine off -__- the egr bolts kicked my butt and ontop of that my pcv tubes are gross and cracked so i need new ones, if your down there deff change them Canadian booster!

.
Yea, those egr bolts are probably the worst part. swivel gear wrenches are your friend.

make sure to replace the pcv valves as well as the tubes. I would personally re-route it at this point but if you're uncomfortable with that, just replace for now with silicone tubes so it'll never dry-rot again. re-routing requires valve cover removal, drilling, and tapping.

[gsrteg]

im not sure how to do the water bypass, im not sure what to drill into even though the "how to" shows a diagram.. im so confused by the bypass and its not even complicated.. wtf! should i just buy the pvc 5 hose sillicon hose kit? or use heater hose from napa or something which is the same size or so? and thanks alot bartz32tt, im not going to mess with the turbo hardline haha, not much space and il prolly mess up! but darn you bypass, why must you be a pain! -_-

[gsrteg]

new injectors and fuel hose !

i also machined the inside of my lower intake! came out as good as a machine shop without the price! hehe

that hose is leaking, any one know how i should change it? its pretty deep down in my engine bay and leaking. what do guise?!

[gsrteg]

heres a few pics of my car btw haha, nevr posted it so mise well now! interior is custom by me.. let me know if you like it! redone all leather trim( i wrapped all 13 trim pieces.. took forever)

[Oh Em Zee]

that hose is leaking, its pretty deep down in my engine bay.

PCV? Get 90* needle nose pliers and pull the clamp forward, spray with simple green or something and twist it off gently with pliers. You can remove your cruise control with 2 10mm screws and an electrical connection to help clear some space.

[gsrteg]

yeah i figured to use the needle nose.. its just in a bad spot and the clips turned into my engine instead of out so i can grab it

[Nismovs]

Love your car man. I forgot how good our color looks with the black mustache still on it. Good luck with the rest of the install

[Oh Em Zee]

Had more time to come back and look at the pictures. Your car looks great! Barely missing anything, just a radiator support bracket. The paint looks to be in great shape. Lucky!

[Z-owned]

Good looking car! I hope no metal shavings got down in your lower plenum with it still attached to the car and all. As for the bypass and what the article is telling you to drill it's talking about the metal tubes that are attached to the underside of the throttle bodies that circulated the coolant. It's completely an optional thing to clean them up not a necessary step in the water hose bypass which I still strongly recommend. Like I said feel free to ask question's in regards to it if you get confused on a step.

[Ace2cool]

Dude, that's spectacular to see a '90 with the "NISSAN" still on the bumper. Awesomely clean.

[gsrteg]

thanks guys! i love her very much <3 she has 59k blahblah, back to the bypass. thanks for the detail on the under throttle body bypass! helped so much. im just waiting for my z1 pcv hoses to come in on monday to put her together.