Smog fail, odd sound, and hard to idle

[redincali]

Ok well let me just start from the beginning... The car was running ok, but there seemed to be a lil lag when i gassed it on the freeway.

1.Theres oil on the underside of my hood in a perfect line. From where it seems to line up, it seems that its coming from the timing belt area. I have 4 seals from a gasket kit so im hoping its a bad seal.

2.Next, theres a sound coming from inside my driver side fender. it reminds me of a card in a bikes spoke. if i hit the gas, the sounds revs up with the engine. im at work at the moment so next time im home ill make a sound clip

3.There was a strong gas smell coming from the engine bay, especially if im parked or i turned the air blower on in the car. i smelt around the engine and it seems to have been comig from the injector area. i did change 3 injectors a few months ago and noticed the seals we looking bad, but since i hadn't smelt gas at that, i didn't change them.

4.Recently ive noticed a small spot, like 4-6 drops, of oil where ever i park, i thought maybe it was just run off from oil from the timing cover. so i looked under the car and theres alot more under there than i expected. ill have to do more looking but it looked as if it were coming from above.

5.When starting my car in the morning, i have to give it gas til it warms a lil bit. then ill be going, see the light ahead of me turning red so i prepare to stop, i downshift and put it into neutral when im around 10mph and at this time my enginges at a steady 1-1.1k rpms. i hit the brake and as soon as im at a complete stop, the engine tries dying so i have to tap on the gas until my light turns green.


Well it was time to smog so i figured, f-it ill just see what they say. wow, it was way off. no papers with me at the moment to give numbers but im thinking the emissions was about 3k over and the knocks(?) were around 1k over. fuel cap was bad, so i replaced it, visual failed because the last owner of the car used wire nuts to connect wires, and i wouldn't doubt if a wire was disconnected somewhere or missing completely.

so this is what i did on my 2 days off. pulled the plenum, removed the egr (without moving the engine or transmission), put the new egr in, removed the fuel rail and changed the fuel rail to lower plenum seals, blew out the egr pipes with air, soldered and shrink tubed about 10 wires, put on a new plenum gasket and reinstalled plenum. got everything all hooked up and noticed the fat vac line coming off the back of the balance tube is hissing, its on at an odd angle and isn't long enough so that will be replaced.

what i did notice with the plenum off is that the metal line on the underside that connects to the egr, and egr solenoid, was curved back to go under the plenum so it wasn't even attached. i thought the solenoid was actually gone until i noticed it was on the bracket my friend had removed. also, there was a small amount of oil inside of the plenum and was in the pcv valve hoses coming off the underside of the plenum.

now everything is back on, i prime the fuel pump a few times, start the car and it starts up great and tries to die like normal but now the gas pedal feels stronger and more responsive than before (didn't notice a fuel smell and i was hoving over the engine, its how i noticed the balance tube leak) and the car actually sounded a little more aggressive than before as well. it was 11pm so i coudln't do any more work for the day. I want to check the egr solenoid still, i have 2 new o2 sensors to put in, and two new cats as well ($170 each, ouch).

I may have forgotten something so if i did, ill add it instead of editing this post or else it might get lost in the mix. but if anyone has any help, it would be very much appreciated. i look all i can for answers before asking for help in my own post so any information will help, thanks in advance everyone.

[ColumbusLivin]

problem number 2 sounds like a wheel bearing..

[redincali]

it makes the sound as soon as my car is running, so the wheel isn't even turning at the time. is there anything in there for the fuel pump? if i rev the engine, the sound in the fender sounds like it revs up then down as well.

edit: would seafoam be a bad or good idea? the car has 208k on it but "supposidly" the engine only has around 90k. i dont trust anything the previous owner said after all ive been thru, heh.

[robomatic12]

1. Sounds it's coming from the front crank seals or cam seals and getting thrown up by the front gears/timing belt.

2. Could be an exaust leak, sometimes they sound like the bicycle card as it's just spitting exhaust out of a hole/crack. Youtube an exhaust leak video and see if yours sounds similar.

3. Could be injector orings or insulators. Could be fuel lines or that you need to tighten all the fuel lines again (always do this when it starts getting colder)

4. Sorry can't tell without it being up in the air. Common ones are valve covers, rear main seal, front crank seal

5. Could be a bunch of things, try cleaning your IACV and resetting the TPS sensor. Clean all your connectors especially the MAF sensor below the nose panel.

fat vac line coming off the back of the balance tube is hissing, its on at an odd angle and isn't long enough so that will be replaced.

If that's the line I'm thinking about it feeds the air regulator and then the IACV. This is why your stalling.

[redincali]

How do i reset the TPS? I've checked and cleaned all the connections for the PTU, CAS, TPS, IACV, EGR, All coils, injectors, MAF, and whatever else i could find.

If that's the line I'm thinking about it feeds the air regulator and then the IACV. This is why your stalling.

Yes its that one. Its a small leak but Im sure its causing a problem. My last Z had a hose there that was too long and was kinked, that stalled my car one day while driving. Fixed that one on the side of the road with my leatherman. I haven't been out to check anything again since Thursday night, been working 10am to 11pm, but I think the gas smell is gone since i replaced the fuel rail seals. Thanks for the help.

[es.biggs]

How to check TPS with a multimeter

1. Start engine and warm up to operating tempurature
2. Turn ignition off and wait at least 5 seconds
3. Turn ignition on (engine off)
4. Check voltage at the pin that connects to the white cable - the middle one (I think that's the one, someone correct me if I'm wrong it's been a while) Ground the other multimeter lead.

Voltage when throttle is fully released should be .35-.65V
When throttle is fully depressed voltage should be approximately 4V

[redincali]

great thanks, ill check that out tomorrow on my day off

[redincali]

bump? lol

[robomatic12]

Why are you bumping? We don't know what results you got from the tests we asked for

[redincali]

Why are you bumping? We don't know what results you got from the tests we asked for

Yes, I realize that. I was bumping it so that others, who may have missed it, might be able to give their opinion. I only get 3 days off a week and wasn't able to do the tests you asked last week. Tuesday I will though and will post the results. So don't worry, I won't be bumping this again

[redincali]

I tried to work on it today while the rain let up but I didn't have much time. I think i may have a fuel leak again. Maybe I didn't tighten the fuel rail enough with the new seals? Its a little wet on the rail by one injector. If its fuel it should evaporate and Ill try again but watch it. Also, I replaced the hose from the air regulator to the balance bar today, but it still sounds like an air leak is in that area, so ill have to look for it deeper. I did look a little, thats when I discovered the wet fuel rail.

I've been thinking of just taking it somewhere to be fixed but I dont know where around me would be good. Are the nissan repair shops expensive, does anyone know? I assume it is, but it seems it may be the only choice I have. Or if theres anyone in the central california area who knows what they're doing, Ill pay them for their work.

[es.biggs]

There are a few in Southern California, most notably Specialty Z. If you are going to let someone else do it, it's worth the drive.

Ohming your injectors isn't hard...

[robomatic12]

The air leak may be coming from all those hoses that go from balance tube -> air regulator -> iacv -> back to intake piping. Also it could be from the balance tube o-rings where they seal to the intake. Not sure if the EGR uses any vacuum tubes at the rear, never had mine installed. Could be there?

You may have pinched or crushed an o-rings for the injectors causing them to leak out.