Shuddering and Whitish Smoke.

Post by **driverdriver** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 3:59 pm

Elisha,

Contact one of the executive members here:

http://www.atlanticz.ca/

They will tell you where you can find a good Z mechanic either in Nova Scotia or in New Brunswick. If the mechanic is close as in Halifax, Truro, Dartmouth close drive it, otherwise get it towed. You'll still probably will pay a fortune in terms of parts because (a) its an Infiniti (b) Infiniti's are scarce in Atlantic Canada (c) Steele Infiniti of Halifax has got a monopoly and are the sole source of Nissan/Infiniti parts because they are the only Infiniti dealer in Atlantic Canada.

Post by **Elisha** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 7:45 pm

thanks my friend i'll look into it ASAP.

Post by **driverdriver** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 4:41 pm

Keep us in the loop as to what is happening. Good luck!

Post by **Elisha** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 7:37 pm

I will. i will be busy the next few days tho.

Post by **Elisha** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 9:48 am

i finally went down to the car today and popped the hood. found some green stains on the engine plastic cover with the infiniti logo.the stain is green....which leads me to believe that it is anti-freeze. couldn't see the level of the anti-freeze because it was too dark but i will later with flash light.

but my motor oil was a lil above the high side as well.

any conclusions my friends?

Post by **Jesda** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 10:01 am

Sounds like a nasty coolant leak. Youll have to wash it up to find the source.

Post by **Elisha** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 10:02 am

what do you mean by wash it up Jesda.i have no clue when it comes to car talk so you have to be more descriptive!

do you mean like get the rad serviced?

Post by **DAEDALUS** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 2:29 pm

He means clean it up to make it easier to figure out where it's coming from. If it doesn't come back it might just be spillage from the last top-off Just a stain, probably not a big leak anyway. How's the coolant level?

Post by **DominickJ30** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 4:06 pm

So you got a coolant leak and white smoke out the tail pipe? How does the exhaust smell? Sweet? Sounds to me like your burning coolant and possibly the head gasket is causing a leak. Whens the last time you added coolant?

Post by **Elisha** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 5:37 pm

smells a little sweet with a hint of fuel smell as well.coolant level is pretty low.last time i added some coolant was probably 6 months ago.

does a head gasket cost alot?and do i need to get other stuff fixed as well while i'm at it?

the coolant stain looked like it tried to evaporate off and just didn't. its on the plastic thing nowhere else.

Post by **Jesda** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 5:43 pm

Did you ever let the vehicle overheat? Head gasket failures are pretty rare.

Post by **Elisha** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 5:47 pm

never. never been above the half mark.i wonder what could have happened. the oil is alot higher than the full tho.

Post by **gniknave** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:01 pm

I'm guessing you may have two problems.

1. An injector leak2. A coolant leak (bypass hose?)

If it was a head gasket then this all would have started happening over time, not all of a sudden.

I'd recommend having the injectors checked at a shop and replace them per recommendation.

Post by **DominickJ30** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 7:44 am

Ok, like everyone else said I would take a look at the injectors and head gasket. Now since they will have to remove the intake plenum to look at the injectors the head gasket is not much farther into it. If it turns out to be either I would replace the spark plugs too. And have them clean everything while its apart. That will help isolate the leaks.

Post by **Elisha** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 1:42 pm

driverdriver wrote:Elisha,

Contact one of the executive members here:

http://www.atlanticz.ca/

Thanks alot driverdriver i got a hold of the tresurer of the club today and he immediately told me to come over and we ran every possible test and finally isolated the problem.cylinder # 6 is not getting any power at all and cylinder # 4 has a loose connection. it was getting to dark out by the time we figured it out. it it is nice out tomorrow i'm going back ou to his place to trace the wires back to the ECU and get it fixed.

Post by **DAEDALUS** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 5:46 pm

Doesn't explain the white smoke unfortunately.

Post by **driverdriver** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 6:33 pm

Its possible that the thermostat could have failed allowing the coolant to bowl over and splash in the engine compartment without the driver knowing. Saw it happen in a friends Land Rover. Fortunatly head gaskets on that truck are very easy to fix.

Elisha, If I where you, after you've figured out this problem, It wouldn't hurt to go to Steele Infiniti and pick up a genuine J30 rad thermostat. They are relatively inexpensive and are a easy DIY. Thermostats should be changed after so many years. Glad I could help you with the Atlantic Z thing. This is what this board is for.

Post by **Elisha** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 8:31 pm

i haven't seen any smoke at all today. there were some on friday but mostly last sunday. i think whatever oil or coolant there was has already burnt off.

hopefully i can get everything resolved tomorrow.

i'll keep you guys updated.

Post by **Elisha** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 12:44 pm

The whole problem ended up being the ECU again eventho i replaced it less than a month ago. So we decided to rip open the old one and trace the wires back and found some that was just corroded. So we just resoldered them and its all good again.Running on all 6 cylinders again.

Although i still have a little put put in the exhaust and still smells a little bad but no smoke tho. Hopefully that will eventually clear up by itself. And engine a little noisier than normal.

Post by **metaverse3** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 1:01 pm

Elisha wrote:
The whole problem ended up being the ECU again eventho i replaced it less than a month ago. So we decided to rip open the old one and trace the wires back and found some that was just corroded. So we just resoldered them and its all good again.Running on all 6 cylinders again.

Although i still have a little put put in the exhaust and still smells a little bad but no smoke tho. Hopefully that will eventually clear up by itself. And engine a little noisier than normal.

Hehe....I told you to crack it open a while back here zerothread?id=106788 Are you not glad you did ? Good to hear the issue is resolved..fingers crossed.. As for the other issues, let the ECU resync with all the sensors..could take a month or so.. Don't lose sleep over it..

Post by **Elisha** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 6:42 pm

wow it takes that long to resync??

yeah the other ECU has the same problem as well....pin 3 from the left is corroded bad. gonna resolder that as well since i can't get a refund on it. now i'll have 2.is there anyway i can reprogram them myself for more power?

Post by **DominickJ30** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 7:06 pm

Elisha wrote:wow it takes that long to resync??

yeah the other ECU has the same problem as well....pin 3 from the left is corroded bad. gonna resolder that as well since i can't get a refund on it. now i'll have 2.is there anyway i can reprogram them myself for more power?

Depends on how much you drive to determine how long it will take to re-learn. At least you have an ECU if this one gives out or you can send the spare one to JWT to get reprogrammed(I doubt you can do it yourself)

Post by **Elisha** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 8:19 pm

DominickJ30 wrote:Depends on how much you drive to determine how long it will take to re-learn. At least you have an ECU if this one gives out or you can send the spare one to JWT to get reprogrammed(I doubt you can do it yourself)

whats JWT? can you gimme a link?

yeah i guess i'll have to drive it a little and i'm gonna flush out my oild and redo it again with only 4.3 litres this time and no more.

Post by **driverdriver** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 5:42 am

JWT=Jim Wolf Technologies

Do a search for it on Google. I don't remember their URL off hand. They are a noted Nissan/Infiniti performance shop out on west coast.

Post by **metaverse3** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 7:11 am

Elisha wrote:wow it takes that long to resync??

yeah the other ECU has the same problem as well....pin 3 from the left is corroded bad. gonna resolder that as well since i can't get a refund on it. now i'll have 2.is there anyway i can reprogram them myself for more power?

I cleaned the TB/Plenum on the J30 over a month ago..the base idle finally settled to under 1000 rpm last week. This is with my wife (realtor) putting over 300+ miles /week.. I could've set the base idle, but that would've required a complete calibration of all sensors, rather than just the TPS & oxygen sensor (oxygen reads richer and runoff from TB cleaning fluid) which was affected by TB cleaning. The car will settle in..they always will.. .Altimas, sentras, maxima's, Q45..everything I've worked on.. Even a mazda protege included !!. Now, you claim the ECU was corroded even on the replacement..leads me to believe this is a common problem with J30's.. At least the ECU is easy to access (passenger kick panel) Good luck with the car..

Post by **Elisha** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 8:31 am

its only in the area of those 20 pins. the new ECU i got was a remanufactured one from the junkyard as well. and the original one in the car had junkyard writing on it too. makes me believe that this car has been thru a few of them before i got it.

looks like some kind of water leak that affecting it.

my windshield does trickle maybe 4 drops of water in the high pressure car wash and very rarely in heavy rain. i think that may be causing the problem.

i found this http://www.jimwolftechnology.c...D=142 doesn't say how much power i gain tho.

Modified by Elisha at 11:46 AM 4/12/2005

Post by **driverdriver** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 11:00 am

Go to a Home Depot and get a small tube of clear outdoor window caulking and seal the edges of the windshield. Apply a thin layer and smooth with your babay finger. Another place where water may enter into the J's cabin is through the plastic piece at the bottom of the windshield where the wipers rest.

Post by **Elisha** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 7:10 pm

i went over the windshield with windshiel silicon but doesn't seem to hold at all.is this other stuff you are talking about any better?

Post by **driverdriver** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 6:28 am

I think so, after you put it on, don't drive for 8-10 hours. Let it harden

Post by **Elisha** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 7:16 am

would any autoglass place take my windshield off and reseat it properly?

or does my windshield have to be broken for them to take it out?

Shuddering and Whitish Smoke.

Re: (Elisha)

Re: (driverdriver)

Re: (Elisha)

Re: (Elisha)

Re: (Elisha)

Re: (DominickJ30)

Re: (Elisha)

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