The "I'm New Here And I have A Simple Question Thread" v2.0

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Yup all that gear oil is fine. Yes, you can mix the half a quart of royal purple in with the valvoline.

[PANDAemic]

Hey guys, as you can guess. I'm new here. So I'm going to use this post as a short introduction as well as asking a few easy questions.

I just recently bought a white 1989 240sx hatch with a CA18DET engine swap which is highly illegal in my area (SoCal). Loving the car and I plan on keeping it for awhile, as long as I can keep it hidden from the cops. At the time of purchase, I didn't know it was illegal (didn't do my research as I should have) so yeah, don't hate. This is also my first car AND the car I used to learn to drive manual transmission (suprisingly I only stalled once). I don't really want to go into fine details about my car so I only have two questions.

1. My Blow Off Valve isn't connected. Is that good for the car? If not, how can I connect it while keeping my engine quiet?

2. My automatic seatbelt is broken and I saw that there's a lifetime warrenty on it. Is it worth the risk to get it fixed at a dealer? Should I just pay to get it fixed at a shop?

Thanks in advance and I hope to show off my car a little in the near future when its a little bit more presentable in my eyes.

[allenms240]

Damn, that sucks. I hate Cali for that ish . That's EXACTLY why the BOV (Blow-off valve) is disconnected. I've heard or recirculating me, which makes it quiet. I'm sure others will chime in on that.
As far as your second question. That's up to you. They do look under the hood to verify the VIN etched in the chassis. It will cost a pretty penny for the new parts alone, which won't be under warranty unless the dealership does it.

[PANDAemic]

Damn, that sucks. I hate Cali for that ish . That's EXACTLY why the BOV (Blow-off valve) is disconnected. I've heard or recirculating me, which makes it quiet. I'm sure others will chime in on that.
As far as your second question. That's up to you. They do look under the hood to verify the VIN etched in the chassis. It will cost a pretty penny for the new parts alone, which won't be under warranty unless the dealership does it.

Thanks for answering my first question. California has from what I heard the most strict smog laws with Texas coming a close second? It took me almost a week alone to find somebody to smog it for a pretty decent price.

Has anybody in Cali with tried to get their seatbelts repaired at a shop that's also in the same position as me?

[OutToWinPAHC]

The dealer will fix them, if they don't call Nissan USA. It's in the owner manual in writing.

[PANDAemic]

The dealer will fix them, if they don't call Nissan USA. It's in the owner manual in writing.

Alright, but I was just wondering they have a reason to check under my hood at all? I asked around and most of my friends said they don't necessarily have a reason to check. So I was just double checking.

Since my engine is swapped, is that voiding the warrenty for the seatbelts in anyway?
Sorry for asking more and more questions, with every answer another question seems to follow...

[OutToWinPAHC]

oh you may be screwed there

[mechanicalmoron]

Full on my dipstick seems to be more like 3.8 quarts, even with a new filter (which I always do.... no reason to push nice clean oil through a nasty old filter)

So, how much overfill could I have before causing damage (also bearing in mind that I go up and down lots of VERY steep hills, if that would make anything churn my oil at a lower level because of the angle, or anything) Right now I'm above the high mark, but below (at least not filling it with oil) the top "bend" (you know, there's a bend going opposite directions above and below the hatch marked area).

Is that okay? I'd guess at 4.1 or 2 quarts MAX in it.

Tired of this silly "crawl back under and let some out" dance every time I change.... so if this won't hurt anything, I'd rather leave it.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Yeah, you should be fine. But if this always happens to you... why put so much in every time?

[mechanicalmoron]

Yeah, you should be fine. But if this always happens to you... why put so much in every time?

Yeah, I know, I've been working down slowly.

Also, It's hard to know exactly, I just use the 5.3 or whatever quart jugs, with that hard to read (and dependent on angle of the jug) scale on the side

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Buy regular quarts?

Add more slowly and check more often?
Are you in some sort of uber rush when you do it?

[TroubleBound]

My SR20 is finally running good after my bro put a new oil pump in (major pita), but now its on to a new problem. It won't rev past 3000rpm in any gear. When we try it just starts bogging down real hard like its about to cut off. We thought it may be timing related or something but with no distributor i'm not sure if that's the case? Anyone else had similar problems or have any ideas as to why it might be doing that?

**Edit: Is it the MAF sensor? I used the one from my KA24DE and from some searching it looks like you are either supposed to use the SR20 MAF or the KA24E MAF...is this the case? It runs well under 3000 though...

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Usually a 3000 rpm hard limit is MAF related. Try plugging in a different known good MAF (for an SR) and see if it clears it up.

[allenms240]

OEM rebuild
s15 Spec R Turbo
z32 MAF
Enthalpy tune

How much power you think that will make, I'm trying to decide on a clutch but I'm not sure what I will need or what to get.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

what engine?

[allenms240]

DUHHH, my bad.

SR20DET - S13 Redtop most likely.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Figure about 270 at the wheels if the tune is right.

[mechanicalmoron]

I thought these two things where related, but I'm not sure. I think it should be an easy diagnosis, if I'm describing it right, but I may not be.

Symptom A: in reverse, particularly when the differential is cold (I THINK, like any intermittent problem, it's hard to tell for sure) I get nasty groanings, and the vehicle shudders. Doesn't seem related to being in gear or not, although it may not be as bad if I'm accelerating backwards, like if I coast down my driveway it will happen. Will suddenly cut on, groan a few seconds, and stop. Again it's hard to tell, but it seems to happen more when I'm turning, so the wheels are turning different speeds. could be my imagination though.

Symptom B: When accelerating hard and cornering, specifically up a steep hill, and specifically cornering to the right (on the hill I'm thinking of where this usually happens, usually accelerating from 25-35 ish, and pushing the car about as hard as it will, its quite a hill) I get a HORRIBLE shuddering, violently, and rumbling from the back, I THINK from the right side, sounds near the same place as the groaning in reverse, but it's hard to tell. I mean, the kind of thing that makes passengers scream in fear, it feels like I'm taking howitzer fire. If I stop giving it gas, it stops pretty quickly.

Almost feels like that whole corner is repeatedly bouncing in the air, though I have fine traction the whole time. It's the sort of thing that bounces things around, rattles my change...

Changed my diff oil, was no damage to gears I could see or feel, no chunks/shards, although the oil was very old and sludgy, and had plenty of metal mush on the magnet. Gears felt nicely/evenly worn, and in okay shape, to me. Didn't make anything better at all.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Are any of your rear tires experiencing abnormal wear? Try reversing while turning (that's when it happens, right?) on gravel, preferably white stuff. This should leave marks on your tire if it ends up dragging or something.

[mechanicalmoron]

Are any of your rear tires experiencing abnormal wear? Try reversing while turning (that's when it happens, right?) on gravel, preferably white stuff. This should leave marks on your tire if it ends up dragging or something.

I don't think either is badly worn in relation to the other, has flat spots, or anything like that. They're more worn than the front tires, as you'd expect..... I'll check it out tomorrow.

But it seems like for the reversing thing, the wheels are turning, something's just protesting, loudly. People have told me from the outside it sounds like something dragging. It seems to happen most when I'm ALMOST backing strait, but not quite. (again, could just be when I've had it, but not be the cause)

It's a sort of gritty, dragging, grinding feeling. But nothing IS touching the ground, and if it was, it'd have to be something very large and heavy, that I'd know about, for this kind of feeling.

Will check tires tomorrow.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Check your dust shields too I guess... maybe they are getting caught on something going in that direction and binding up.

[speedeast]

Issue sounds like differential. You think it could be caused by somebody's failed weld attempt? I don't think a dust shield would quite make Howitzer fire, but check it anyways. Inspect your driveshaft too while you're at it to at least cancel it from the equation.

Just for schitz and giggles, is your car equipped with HICAS?

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Yeah I would say diff as well, but I would think there would have been some chunks in there when the fluid was changed.

[allenms240]

Mine's been doing that since I put in a welded diff. I don't know what it is but I've heard of other peoples doing the same thing.

That is the reversing, howitzer sound

[mechanicalmoron]

Issue sounds like differential. You think it could be caused by somebody's failed weld attempt? I don't think a dust shield would quite make Howitzer fire, but check it anyways. Inspect your driveshaft too while you're at it to at least cancel it from the equation.

Just for schitz and giggles, is your car equipped with HICAS?

I don't THINK the diferential's ever been out or apart. The guy before me liked the idea of drifting, but was about as car nooby as me, I don't know if he even knew he'd need an lsd for that.

Also, I think if it had a welded diff it wouldn't handle how it does, I've done things where I couldn't get the back to fully break away, where I could still feel a wheel spinning, when taking off. And I would think if a weld just failed, it would WRECK the gears, right?

Was nice and sludgy, and full of metal dust/mush, but again, no shards or chips, gears felt okay to me. Unfortionatly I changed it cold, because the drain was stuck and penetrating oil took a while.... and I broke the ratchets in a crappy wrench and had to use a vice-grip on the head

I don't think I have HICAS.... in that I think I'd know if I did, and I don't know :p I thought it had a cabin switch or light or something?

it's a 92 SE, if that tells you anything about my HICAS status. But I'm 99% sure I don't have it.. lsd was only a canadian option, right?

[mechanicalmoron]

more simple question that doesn't require car-talk style figuring:

Clutch fan: replace it from above or below? Need to remove the fan shroud? Feels like if I'm doing it from above I have to take out everything from the air intake to I don't know what.... does the lower part of the shroud come off easily, and let me get a socket up against the front of the fan where the bolts are?

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I took all of that garbage off, and threw it away.
Clutch fan, shroud, everything. Wire your AC fan up to a switch if you're worried about it. Mine never hinted at overheating until I went turbo in the dirty south.

[KC224]

Is there anything I can do about this clear coat peel before it gets worse? :/

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Mask the area, sand it lightly, apply new clear and hope for the best I guess. Try and blend it as best you can.

[240sexdup]

Hey guys I just bought a 91 240sx and dudd said the car got ac I just need a couple parts for it to work, does anybody have any pics of a working ac components in 240sx? and can anybody let me know which one is which so i could buy the missing parts for my 240 thank you kindly ^_^