She's in the garage, finally starting on her for real...

[Trimble Epic]

So, I bought my lady over a year ago, (Pearl White 93 NA 2+2) and I've been driving her off and on over the last year... I work from home, so while my wife considers her my DD, she hasn't really needed to drive much...

... but now, I've learned my days of working from home are coming to an end, so my wife ordered me to pull her into the garage and get the lady "running right".

So, I guess this may be the start of a sort of build thread? could be, I'm not sure. What I do know is that I have a laundry list of things to fix, so she's going up on jack stands today and I'm hoping to tear into everything that I can.

Here's some things I KNOW I need to fix:
A/C is dead <-- priority #1
Compressor/Clutch problem?? I have two older (Z31) compressors, dunno if the clutch can be stolen
leaking AC line somewhere
completely recharge the system
Mode Door Motor is dead
Wrong spark plugs
(front) window washer fluid reservoir leaks
wheels are on backwards (still??! yes. sigh)
Driver's seat leather is shredded
I think the EGR valve is leaking vacuum. Not sure.
Door leveling trick (doors don't close smoothly, need to pull fenders and recalibrate them)


I took her to a Repair shop to fix the AC last year and they said it dumped freon(134a) all over their floor when they tried to diagnose it... but they wanted to buy OEM lines to fix it. After that, I ebay'd a complete NA AC line set, so I SHOULD have the part already, but I never started the work. I'm very afraid of working on A/C, but if it's already leaked, I don' t have to worry about discharching/recycling.. but I do need to worry about contaminants already in all my lines. I'd love some advice about this.

Anyone got a Mode Door Motor for sale?

I checked one of the sparkplugs and I know they are wrong. It's on the list.

I have an etch in my windshield, probably because the wiper fluid tank leaks. I think a prior owner ran the wipers dry and scratched the glass badly. I don't mind the etch, really, but I must fix the tank. I imagine I may be able to just patch the plastic tank? I wouldn't THINK I require a new one..

Another problem I fear is that I think the EGR valve is leaking vacuum. I think that because I did the starting fluid test - I ran it at idle, and sprayed some starting fluid in area looking for the hissing sound, and when i sprayed on the back, the engine reved up. @#$% If that's really leaking, what can I do for that? she doesn't idle at one reliable RPM, so i can't properly perfect the timing. (prev owner warned me the timing was off, but I couldn't fix it)

I would love any advice from anyone on any of the above things. I tore myself up preparing my garage for this work, and I have 2 months to work on her. I need to find a mode door motor, and I probably need to go ahead and order other parts right now so I can have them ready when I get there.

I'll post some photos when I get a chance.

[nexus08]

Good luck, doesn't sound to bad to me.

I also needed a new mode door motor and had a heck of a time finding one. I don't think you will find a new one, so you will need to get one off someone parting out a car, or at a junk yard. It is actually pretty easy to get off so hopefully someone can help you out.

I'm in the same boat w/ AC. I could probably just live with it, but the car fogs up big time in the rain w/o AC working. Read up on the job if you are going to do it yourself. Probably need to buy some more pieces .. the dryer being one thing I can think of off the top of my head. Also, you can rent a lot of the equipment you need (vacuum pump) at an autozone type store.

The window wiper fluid leak is probably a bad washer nozzles or check valves that you can buy fairly cheaply from conceptZ. They are also super easy to replace.

[Trimble Epic]

I can't just live with it... (the dead AC)... It's just to damned hot in the car without it, and even if I just roll the windows down, there's no rear windows to let the airflow back out. I understand that it's going to be a lot of work with a lot of steps, and I've never done any of it before, so it's going to be a challenge... My worry is if I fail to recognize a part that needs to be replaced, try to just reuse it, and end up ruining more parts when I put it all back together. Sigh. I know the dryer should ALWAYS be replaced... I remember reading about that one...

Also, as for the fluid leak, I'm fairly sure its not just a bad washer nozzle because when I tried to pour a gallon of washer fluid into the tank, I ended up with a gallon of fluid on the ground under the car running down my driveway (and I didn't see it until it was streaming out from under the back end into the gutter ... /sigh)

[Trimble Epic]

Update time!

Sorry I never posted any photos, and today I took a lot of little 5 second videos (basically me commenting on where a bolt came from). I'm still planning to put up some photos.

Anyway, here's what I got done today. It's been a few weeks since I've even been allowed (by the wife) to ignore all of my household duties and go play in the garage, but today I took her clothes off (the fairlady, not the unfair wife). The bumper is off as well as both left and right fenders. She looks nekkid!

So here's what I'm going after. I finally managed to get to the forward windshield washer fluid reservoir... and as it turns it, it's full of fluid, and not leaking.. I have no idea why she leaked all over the driveway that day, but she's full of fluid. So, I tested the motor directly to 12 volts and got nothing. So, I'm fairly sure the pump motor is dead.

So, can I replace just the pump motor? or is it easier (as in no more expensive) to just to get a whole fluid tank and motors? I don't want to put the passenger side fender back on until this is resolved.

On the drivers side, I took the fender off specifically so that I could fix the driver's door alignment. Loosened the exposed hinge bolts, put a jack under the door and lifted it an extra inch or so, and re-tightened the hinge bolts. Yay, I can no longer feel or hear the door hitting and lifting itself up onto that bracket on the top corner of the window for alignment. It's just right.

I also cleaned the MAF and replaced the air filters. Still has the stock airbox and all the extra pipes that goes with that... ...and apparently the stock air filters - Nissan brand filters? I must say I'm totally confused about the air-pipes that appear to go between the pre-filtered ducts and the post-filtered ducts.. .WTF is going on there? Is there some kind of one way valve thing going on in there, or is there really an intentionally designed passage that could let air in that hasn't gone through the air filters? WTF? I'm totally confused. (btw, it's an NA)

I also jacked up all four corners and swapped my backwards tires around while I was doing the fenders. The wheel police can relax now. I'm considering taking my rotors in for a turning, I have a minor pulsation thing going on when I brake.

Oh.. and I have the dash under the steering wheel torn apart and the mode door motor is on my desk. I need to find a replacement (I think.. I should probably break out the multimeter and test the @#$% thing first to be sure it's at fault)

I also orderered a set of PFR6B-11's. I know the plugs in the car right now are the wrong ones... and I keep getting the impression from this and other boards that this isn't a case of "if it ain't broke don't fix it", so I'm going to go ahead and put the correct plugs in.

That's it for now. I have pieces all over the garage, and look forward to getting it all back together before I forget where it all goes.

[ZL8NING]

On the a/c bit, it maybe as simple as an idler pulley bearing. My a/c belt got shredded, and I went without a/c for a while. Found the bearing seized up when I had to pull the alternator.

[Trimble Epic]

On the a/c bit, it maybe as simple as an idler pulley bearing. My a/c belt got shredded, and I went without a/c for a while. Found the bearing seized up when I had to pull the alternator.

Well, I already took it to a shop to have them fix it once, but they said after they converted the system to r134a, it dumped all of their fluid on the floor. So... I'm fairly certain there's a blown out line somewhere. That's in addition to the compressor having always made a grinding noise when it was engaged back when it was working. So, I'm pretty sure I need to address those two issues to get it working again.

I didn't have them FINISH fixing it because they wanted to order a whole new AC lines kit, new OEM compressor and all that for half of what I paid for the car in the first place. Sigh.

[ZL8NING]

I know how that gets. I had a similar situation with my Acura Legend one time. One of the hoses had gotten fried by the exhaust manifold because it wasn't properly secured. I got lucky by watching www.picknpull.com 's inventory, and going to the yard near me every time they show a legend in stock. So I was able to install the used hoses with new o-rings, and a new dryer. Then took it to jiffy lube for a system vacuum and fill. They have a 30 day warranty to refill if it leaks out. So you can redo a joint or something like that within that time.

It came out way cheaper than new hoses from dealership.

[Trimble Epic]

I owe this thread some photos. I know this is an old thread, but we all like to SEE the photos.. so I'm adding them now!

First up, here's the work I did to get the mode motor out...

This is part of the tubing up under the driver's side of the dash that had to come out... I took this to note the sensor connector...

This next tube was above the previous one and has to come out next...

Putting these bad boys back in was a pain.. I hope i don't have much in the way of air leaks... Sigh...

This controller was a pain in the rear to remove.. because I didn't know that after you remove the two tiny screws (orange), you can just slide the box upward in it's bracket. The four connectors are very hard to reach with the controller in place, but I managed.

...almost got the mode motor loose...

Had to loose this spring...

and finally it's out!

I got a replacement for Z1. I wish I had opened it up and tried to fix it myself, could have saved a hundred bucks... @#$%

Next up: going after the windshield washer fluid reservoir... I never really found any good photos of it online, so I thought I'd add these. Here's where it's located (red) ... (the orange note is where the PO had completely destroyed the seam, I had to redefine it by bending all back into place... @#$%)

here's a closer view...

...and here's the connectors for it's two motors... There's a motor that pumps fluid to the windshield, and second motor that pumps fluid to a second tank somewhere in the back for the rear window... And apparently a sensor for when the tank is empty?

I didn't get any photos of the new one...

I also couldn't find many good photos of the stock airbox... I dropped a bolt under it, so... in the end, I put new filters in I would NEVER let any of those 15 minute oil change/lube places touch this thing.


Oh, and one last picture... I noticed the stock airbox tubing has these hoses on either side.. What the @#$% are these for? it looks almost as if they connect the air tubing PRE-FILTER to the tubing POST-FILTER and MAF... WTF?


I'll try to remember more photos going forward...

BTW, after this work completed, she came back into the garage.. You can read about that here!

[Trimble Epic]

Whoops.. wrong "one last picture. Here's the picture I meant to post...

This.. what is this hose for? It seems to connect pre-filter to post filter/MAF.. wtf?