Greetings, all.
Despite being a founding member and former moderator of this club, I haven't been around much at all over the last 4 years or so. But that's about to change.
Life is relatively in order, my daughter is about to start kindergarten, and I close on a new house on Monday.
The impending move has prompted me to start dusting off my 88 SE and working on getting the old girl mobile again so she doesn't have to ride a flatbed to the new house. Also I'll get to start from scratch with the new garage and build a decent workspace.
I DD'd my S12 from 2001-2009. I was there as this club sprang out of the old Classic 200SX Yahoo! Group in what, 2002?
Here's a couple old pics from the glory days. We managed to get like six people and 3 S12's together at The Tail of The Dragon back in 2004:
(http://i.imgur.com/jjeBtiL.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/zGbCEMX.jpg)
And this is from a CarolinaNissans.com meetup in 2005:
(http://i.imgur.com/f1VhuDd.jpg)
And in 2006, after installing Canuck lowering springs.
(http://i.imgur.com/sQyl5t1.jpg)
Hopefully someday before too long it'll look that good again, or even better.
I retired the S12 from daily driving duties in 2009, and I was able to snag a 1996 B14 200SX SE-R:
(http://i.imgur.com/JwTPTO4.jpg)
My intention was to prep the S12 for AutoX and other fun stuff, but life started getting in the way.
I bacame a father in 2010. In 2012, when I got tired of getting my little girl into and out of the back of a 2-door, I bought a 2005 Sentra SE-R Spec V.
(http://i.imgur.com/OgbnDiV.jpg)
I sold the B14 to my brother for his first car. He only just sold it a couple months ago after graduating from college and buying a Scion tC. He sold the SE-R to a Nissan tech, so odds are it will keep kicking for a good while longer, despite being located in Buffalo now.
Last year I decided to go in a bit of a different direction with my first brand-new car purchase. My current DD is this 2015 Jeep Renegade Latitude with the 1.4L Turbo MultiAir and a six-speed manual.
(http://i.imgur.com/7dzBNE3.jpg)
I think it's a nice match for my wife's '15 Fiat 500 which uses the non-turbo version of the same motor.
(http://i.imgur.com/bmBx9uV.jpg)
Ironically, while the Jeep was assembled in Italy, the Fiat was built in Chrysler's plant in Toluca, Mexico. Weird. But they've both been great cars for us and we really enjoy them. I grew up with Chrysler products, and have always had a soft spot for them. I had a '94 Dakota Sport in college and moved all my worldly possessions in it from NY to NC after graduation. When people ask me what cars I like, I say, "Dodges & Datsuns" :) So when FCA introduced a modern vehicle that I actually found interesting, well there you go.
Anyways, back to the S12.
The first thing I had to do was pick up a couple wheel dollies, so I could slide the SE away from the garage wall where the flatbed deposited it when I moved into this townhouse.
(http://i.imgur.com/6jghWvB.jpg)
I also had to buy that red scissor jack because the one I had was corroded to uselessness, and with the lowering springs on the SE and two flat tires, I couldn't get the floor jack under it.
(http://i.imgur.com/4BSiIRn.jpg)
It's been about 3 years since the car's been run. As of now she's got fresh oil, gas (with some cleaner added in) and coolant. The battery is dead, but I hooked up a booster pack and had power, and when I flipped the switch on the dash the electric radiator fans fired right up.
I haven't cranked it over yet. My intention is to crank it for a bit with the fuel pump and coil wire disconnected, to get things circulating before I actually attempt to fire it up.
Once I get it to the new place, I'll be going over the engine, suspension, interior and exterior. It all needs some TLC. I expect I'll be prowling the forum for parts as the project progresses.
Wish me luck, and I'll keep y'all updated.
To the Club veterans that remember me, if you're still around give me a shout!
Congrats on . . . everything! Good to have you back on board again
Nice resurrection story and I'm sure a lot of guys can relate to life getting in the way of projects. I know I can.
Too bad you waited so long to show up again. I'm going on my 22nd year driving an S12 and moved away from NC last year. It would have been cool to have hooked up with another owner.
Nice to meet you kind sir! Thanks as a veteran for making this club exist - I do quick visits daily since joining. If you read any of my old posts you will see I daily my 85 that my wife bought new in 85. Still going strong, 340k miles thanks 100% to this club. I think you need to get yours back to DD status now that you are old and have kids like me! BTW I would pull the plugs and squirt some oil in the cylinders before turning her over.
Red
Wow just checked my profile, I've been here 5 yrs already - time flies by!
Okay, over the weekend I was able to get the VG to turn over, so that's progress. It won't fire up, though. The first thing I noticed was that when I move the key to RUN, I hear the fuel pump relay, but no buzzing from the fuel pump. I checked the fuse, of course. So it looks like I'll be attacking that sometime this week. I checked courtesyparts (my go-to parts source back in the day), it lists the SE fuel pump as discontinued and unavailable. Rock Auto has a few listings, though.
In my 84 turbo I went with a Walbro 195, it works great and was not a big deal to install. Cost a lot less than anything from Nissan.
Yeah after I posted I searched through the forum backlog and found a lot of info about Walbro's, S13 pumps, etc. First things first I'll be pulling the pump and testing the connections. I'll also be checking for ECU codes, it'll give me a chance to see if the dash-mounted ECU output I wired up like 12 years ago still works!
(http://www.v6-s12.com/images/Projects/ECU_Monitor/Finished_Panel.jpg)
It was just a fun little Saturday project I did back when I was single and felt compelled to do something to the S12 almost every weekend. When on of the guys from the old Yahoo group send me this simple wiring diagram I had to try it:
(http://www.v6-s12.com/images/Projects/ECU_Monitor/NissanLEDsCHKCONN.jpg)
Well I got up under the fuel pump access panel today, and what I found wasn't very pretty:
(http://i.imgur.com/x4PyiKa.jpg)
It's pretty corroded, and this is after I did some work with a wire brush, but I did manage to get all the pump housing mounting screws out but one, that one is seized and quite badly rounded. It's soaking in PB Blaster for awhile and I'll take another crack at it. What's the best way to go about testing if the pump is getting power, and can that be done before removing the housing?
On a positive, I did click on the key and used the dash-mount button and LED's mentioned above to put the ECU in mode 3 to check the codes. It flashed out a nice "55", so no codes were thrown while I was trying to start it the other day, so that's a good thing, at least.
Quote from: cls12vg30 on 06:34:59 PM / 26-Aug-16
What's the best way to go about testing if the pump is getting power, and can that be done before removing the housing?
I actually might have an answer to that! :cool2:
I had troubles with my fuel pump too, the short version of the story is that my friend got electric shock and that way we found out that the part of my ECU that controls the fuel pump is fried, good times :cry2:.
Anyway, I think your solution might be to connect the ground wire of the pump directly to ground (as default the ground wire goes to the ECU which might be busted in your case) and this way you'll bypass the ECU and the pump will always be on when you turn the key. At least I think that's what we did with it, electricity is not my kind of stuff... Btw. I think this will work only on Mk1 car, according to the manual the Mk2 fuel pump is controlled by a relay.
Later, I'll get you a pic of how me and my friend, who can get his head around electricity, ghetto-hacked this
http://club-s12.org/retro4/index.php?topic=38038.msg403344#msg403344
http://club-s12.org/retro4/index.php?topic=36500.msg388259#msg388259
Here are my two topics on fuel pump work I did on my 85. I assume you found the two harness connectors in the passenger side access door. Should be able to test for power at the harness. Your pump pic appears to have one less wire than my 85? If you read the entire thread you will see a changed a good pump when in fact the problem was cold solder joints in the ecu. Has worked perfect since re-solder.
You can do it the proper way as rednucleus said and resolder the joints in ECU or you can do it the easy and sketchy way :devilsidesmile:
Just connect the fat gray wire on the car side and the two black wires on the pump side together. I used just a piece of some random brown wire and electrical tape for that
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3028634/IMG_1391.JPG)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3028634/IMG_1390.JPG)
Well I tested for power at the wiring harness in the cubby and got 12V, so I proceeded to pull the pump. What I found was not pretty.
(http://i.imgur.com/2ir3oSZ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/1GyChzL.jpg)
Looks like water got into the tank. The entire pump and housing assembly is badly corroded, as is the section of the tank visible through the access hole. The little fuel that's in there is the color of muddy water.
So it looks like I'll be in the market for a new gas tank and pump assembly.
It may be possible to steam clean the tank & pump housing; don't give up yet!
Has anyone ever tried the muriatic acid method of cleaning out the fuel tank? As described here:
http://www.ratwell.com/technical/FuelTankRestoration.html (http://www.ratwell.com/technical/FuelTankRestoration.html)
I got the fuel tank emptied out, and on Saturday the SE rode a flatbed to its new home.
(http://i.imgur.com/YhjqEHj.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/SjfFdRA.jpg)
The next project is to remove the fuel tank for cleaning.
Now that the weather is getting nicer, I've spent some time under the SE. After removing the fuel tank, I'm not sure whether or not it can be salvaged. The circular well where the fuel pump sits has a thick layer of powdered-rust "sludge" in the bottom, and the entire interior seems to have light surface rust.
I'm thinking of scooping out the sludge, then putting in a gallon or two of Evapo-Rust and soaking for about 12 hours, rotating the tank every half hour. Then we'll see what sort of condition it's in.
Sweet, the old guru of the v6-s12 is back, I used your site guide for a few revival of my sev6.
I am actually might be in the same boat with the current project I am doing with very old gas, but since this was parked in the vegas heat it is not rusted out. So cleaning it should be easy.
Start with a gallon of Diesel and slosh that around a couple times a day for a week. Might not need anything else after that.
Removed fuel tank, added a gallon of Evapo-Rust, and let it work for 24 hours, flipping the tank every hour (except while sleeping). Looking at the inside of the tank, I'm comfortable giving it a shot. Now I need a fuel pump and a new O-ring for the fuel pump housing. I see a lot of people have had good luck with Walbro pumps. I'll probably go that route. I see on the Walbro site they don't have an option for 200SX's other than B14's. Am I wrong in assuming the Z31 pump is the same?
Quote from: cls12vg30 on 02:33:41 PM / 27-Feb-17
Removed fuel tank, added a gallon of Evapo-Rust, and let it work for 24 hours, flipping the tank every hour (except while sleeping). Looking at the inside of the tank, I'm comfortable giving it a shot. Now I need a fuel pump and a new O-ring for the fuel pump housing. I see a lot of people have had good luck with Walbro pumps. I'll probably go that route. I see on the Walbro site they don't have an option for 200SX's other than B14's. Am I wrong in assuming the Z31 pump is the same?
I am using one for a 240sx and it wires in just fine just have to secure it into the old pump location as they are bit smaller, but has been solid on my sev6.
Quote from: Wonderingraven on 03:41:29 PM / 27-Feb-17
I am using one for a 240sx and it wires in just fine just have to secure it into the old pump location as they are bit smaller, but has been solid on my sev6.
Thanks for the tip. Walbro shows the same part# for S13 and Z31, so that looks like the one.
Good news and bad news.
The bad news is the only other running V6 S12 that I know of in the area went to the junkyard a couple weeks ago. I'd been talking to the owner on FB and I knew he had spun a bearing but it was a surprise when it popped up on my LKQ alert.
The good news is Henge got the same alert and was out at the yard quickly. He got a bunch of stuff of of it and snagged the fuel pump and the entire housing for me.
I tested the pump this weekend and it's good, so I just need a new O-ring, need to drill out one of the fuel tank mounting bolts that snapped off, go buy new fuel line hose to replace all the rubber lines, and I can start putting it back together!
Hi, any luck getting that pump reinstalled and the motor turning?
Good to hear from you again!!!
I was under the SE this weekend working on one of the fuel tank mount points where the bolt snapped off when removing the tank. It did not go well. Left-handed drill bits and extractors didn't work, even after heating it with a torch. So I figured I'd tap threads into the body of the bolt itself and just insert a smaller bolt. Snapped off the tap. Gave up. I'm going to have to rig up an alternate mounting point for that end of the strap. Work will continue next weekend.
You need a welder brah.
I need to get my ac condenser out. I know I need to start hitting the thing with pb blaster atleast a week ahead.
Well it's been several months, but the fuel system is back together.
I cleaned up the tank and coated it with POR 15 rust protecter. Reinstallation of the tank took a long time due to a broken mounting bolt that I had to drill using a tungsten carbide bit at 30,000 rpm. Finally I got a hole sufficient to tap new threads.
(https://imgur.com/mUdDRrQ.jpg)
(https://imgur.com/avGnIoB.jpg)
The new fuel pump was sourced from LKQ. It came off the only other SE V6 I knew of in the area. I know the guy that owned it, and I've since bought a bunch of spare parts from him in addition to the fuel pump. I got the whole housing, got it tested and cleaned up, and it is now installed. All rubber fuel lines have been replaced.
(https://imgur.com/auOGqe1.jpg)
The fuel tank now has about 2 gallons of gas in it, and the pump is running. No luck yet getting the engine started. I plan on testing fuel pressure this weekend.
Greetings all! I hope everyone had a great summer. I think the highlight of mine was my trip two weekends ago to the Mopar Nationals in Columbus. My other great automotive love has always been Mopars, especially the older ones. My father recently bought himself a beautiful 1967 Chrysler Newport, so I met him at the Nationals, along with my grandfather ('67 Barracuda) and my uncle ('73 Barracuda restomod). We had a blast.
Anyway, progress report on the SE. Based on some advice I got on the Facebook group I shifted my search for the cause of my no-start condition. Rather than focus on the fuel pressure, I decided to check out the injectors. After removing the intake and injector assemblies from my spare engine (both to check the injector condition and as practice), I pulled the intake plenum from my SE. Can you believe after all these years this is the first time I ever removed the intake?
Anyway last night I was able to inspect the injectors on one side and sure enough, they look to be completely closed off. So I'm going to be putting the spare set of injectors on, replacing all the rubber fuel lines, and we'll see what happens when I get it all back together.
I know it's been a long time, I thought I'd throw you guys an update in case you missed it on FB.
I got my SE started and running recently for the first time in like 8 years. This is after refurbing the fuel tank, replacing the pump, injectors, and fixing the distributor.
Once I got it running I promptly tore it apart again to do the timing belt, tensioner, water pump, thermostat, and cylinder head temp sensor.
I've done the pump, sensor, belt and tensioner. I just finished locking in the belt tension, so next is the thermostat and then put it all back together.
Then I'll get the idle evened out and go over the brakes, suspension, etc.
I'd really like to get it back on the road before the end of the C&C season, even if it still has ratty-ass paint.
Looks like you've done a ton of work on this thing. Looks like solid progress.
I haven't been around for a long time and I just thought I'd pop in to see what's what.
I'm still Nissan-less, but that's fine. Where things are right now are ....meh.
Just wanted to poke my head in.
Update:
The S12 runs pretty good now, and I've driven it around the neighborhood several times. In the fall I got the wheels, tires and brakes sorted. All lights are now working.
(https://i.imgur.com/fng3iE4l.jpg)
Once winter set in I decided to go ahead and attack the sunburned paint on the roof and hood, then see about getting it registered in the spring.
Being the originalist that I am where the SE is concerned, I decided to refurb the original wheels. After some experimentation, I settled on Dupli-Color HWP101 High Performance wheel coating as the best match for the original finish:
(https://i.imgur.com/a7d8N9ol.jpg)
I also need to replace the old-and-busted steering wheel I had. I wanted to preserve the 4-spoke aesthetic of the original '88 SE wheel, so I went with this Classic-series from Grant:
(https://i.imgur.com/T2saIgAl.jpg)
On to paint. I can't justify dumping a bunch of money into paint for the S12 at the moment, so rattle-can it is, with plenty of dry- and wet-sanding of the roof and hood and some blending into the sides,
(https://i.imgur.com/QnWHQjBl.jpg)
I had a clearcoat mishap on the hood which led to me sanding down the passenger side and starting over.
(https://i.imgur.com/vZlqZ5Xl.jpg)
It's not done yet, but it's getting close.
(https://i.imgur.com/mfuUvZrl.jpg)
It's definitely rattle-can-in-the-garage quality, but it's a big improvement over what it was before:
(https://i.imgur.com/yiIBPxWl.jpg)
I'm confident that, come springtime, I'll be back cruising in the SE.
Looks good. Post more pictures of the finished paint project when you get some. I'm going to be painting my SE shortly as well... curious to see how yours turns out.
It's been awhile since I posted any updates here, so here goes:
I've really been enjoying the SE since getting it going again over the summer. I've taken it to a bunch of meets where, as expected, no one knows what the hell it is. Here's some pics for you all:
After redoing the fender paint:
(https://i.imgur.com/rYHkXfmh.jpg)
At Cars & Coffee:
(https://i.imgur.com/3wxniGwh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/iXjw0SSh.jpg)
New custom dash cover from dashdesigns.com (http://dashdesigns.com):
(https://i.imgur.com/pPK6LdCh.jpg)
Current state of the engine bay:
(https://i.imgur.com/pAZ7FP9h.jpg)
And a couple nice shots to finish off the year:
(https://i.imgur.com/mJgXj8Jh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/bjVmoHSh.jpg)
Next on the list is a thorough going-over of the front suspension and steering.
Happy to see it back on the road again.