Catch Can and NGK Iridium IX plugs install

[Ken in AZ]

Here's the dirty throttle plate. The black ring around the plate felt like a super tacky glue and it literally felt like it was causing the throttle plate to stick a little. With a toothbrush and some carb cleaner made some short work of it.



All Cleaned...



Here's a slight mod to the front duct to allow some fresh air into the engine bay sirectly into a cold air port on my custom made airbox to be seen later.



Remove coil connector



Then remove the bolt securing the coil



Gently remove



Clear shot to the plug - use shop air to blow out any debris - mine were totally clean as should most.



Carefully remove the stock plug, if you need too spray a small amount of penatrant down in the hole and let sit for a few minutes but be careful not to over do it as you can spray too much and have it drain into the cylinder and cause a hyrolock on startup. I used a small amount because I was wary of the threads on the aluminum heads.



Use spark plug socket to remove plug or use any handy tool to assist.



Stock plug looks ok - good burn - slight pitting due to detonation but no serious signs of impending doom.



New Hotness NGK Iridium IX



Use antiseize on the threads!!!!!



Rear plugs were the biggest pain, but once I founf out the right socket and extension combo to use it was quite easy. It looks nearly impossible but it isn't Nissan/Infiniti left us just enough room back there.



Shot of the gunk build up behind the throttle plate - not too bad for 52K - Notice the vertical hose leading in from the top - that is the PCV line and is where the oil in the manifold is coming from(the brown stuff way back there)



I got ambitious and wanted to see the interior of the manifold. It's pretty nifty in there and I was surprised at the lack of oil built up.



Notive the High Speed air horns at the top that crack open under high rpm WOT conditions. With my custom air filter setup you can clearly hear the switchover and sounds quite cool.








Stay organized with your plugs - looking at them in order can tell you alot of how your engine is perfroming.



Finally the catch can. I literally made this for $6 from a stainless steel water bottle I had laying around the house and using some Stainless steel wool balls from the kitchen and fittings I've had laying around from my years working on Nissans - Only thing it needs is some sort of signt and drain.



Also in an effort to control the black gunky stuff around the throttle plate I installd a clear fuel filter on the opposite side of the PCV system. This side can actually draw air in as well and that could potentially be unfiltered oil misted air from the crankcase of the engine - cost $3.99



Close up of all 8 plugs in order - they all look good to me

[Ken in AZ]

I also needed to perform the Accelerator closed position learning procedure, the throttle plate closed position learning procedure, and the Idle Air Volume learning procedure when all was complete. After that the idle dropped right to 650rpm and ignition timing was near dead on!

Driving impressions - after cruising a bit I really started to notice a stronger mid range torque band where the engine would really pull the car out of the hole without much effort. I am assuming this is because the engine is allowing more timing due to the decrease of oil vapor in the airstream allowing for more timing.

Also the driveability is back to better than ever, I no longer have any weird rogue shift delays nor do I have that "on/off" throttle control while coasting Ike I used to have.

I feel that this is more closely how the car drove initially off the lot, it is driving better than ever at the moment. No MPG increases though.

[Mfiniti35]

Awesome....great write up and pics as usual

[colt45]

Damn Ken...a price can not be put on your contributions...thanks for everything past, present, and future...

[haab4u]

Excellent write up Ken! U da man!

[Ken in AZ]

Hey - thanks! I appologize for the bad grammar. I did the post kinda late last night -in the dark - while watching TV.

I was honestly expecting a ton of crud built up inside the manifold but as you can see it is pretty durn clean. Also, I am in awe of the internal design of the manifold and I can see that a plenum spacer could have more of an impact on performance than previously thought. When those additional butterflies crack open at ~5100rpm + there is air going all kinds of crazy inside and there is definitely alot of surface area to propogate heat transference. Plenum spacer would reduce the heat transfer to the upper manifold and also allow more air to pass below it kinda like an air gap manifold on an old SBC (small block chevy) to maintain a cooler air charge.

I may look into it more seriously than I have been.

[backdoc7]

Awesome pic's and write up Ken. At the risk of sounding dumb, can you explain the catch can's purpose?

[Ken in AZ]

Originally Posted by backdoc7

Awesome pic's and write up Ken. At the risk of sounding dumb, can you explain the catch can's purpose?

The PCV(positive crankcase ventilation) system routes the crankcase gasses directly into the intake stream(which includes oil vapor) to be burned off inside the engine rather than being expelled into the atmosphere - it's really there for convienence so you don't get that stinky burning oil smell when you're sitting at the stop light. It is routed behind the throttle plate so that under vacuum the system will pull the gasses into the intake manifold to be burned off. The theory is great except that oil has the octane rating of darn near diesel fuel which when mixed in small quantities into the combustion chamber it will lower the overall octane rating of the fuel you are putting into the engine.

The catch can is added to collect the oil vapor before it gets into the intake manifold so that it doesn't get to the combustion chamber. We've got crappy 91 octane fuel out here that's oxygenated as well so we need all we can get for octane out here. Keep in mind I only have butt dyno numbers to report back with, but with everything I've done in the past month - including the lighter wheels, plugs, catch can, cold air box, TB cleaning, I can honestly say the car is running much better than before, but I am getting no mpg's increase but I really don't give a darn about that.

[backdoc7]

Thanks for the schooling Ken. Very informative!

[KingKong]

Originally Posted by Ken in AZ

The PCV(positive crankcase ventilation) system routes the crankcase gasses directly into the intake stream(which includes oil vapor) to be burned off inside the engine rather than being expelled into the atmosphere - it's really there for convienence so you don't get that stinky burning oil smell when you're sitting at the stop light. It is routed behind the throttle plate so that under vacuum the system will pull the gasses into the intake manifold to be burned off. The theory is great except that oil has the octane rating of darn near diesel fuel which when mixed in small quantities into the combustion chamber it will lower the overall octane rating of the fuel you are putting into the engine.

The catch can is added to collect the oil vapor before it gets into the intake manifold so that it doesn't get to the combustion chamber. We've got crappy 91 octane fuel out here that's oxygenated as well so we need all we can get for octane out here. Keep in mind I only have butt dyno numbers to report back with, but with everything I've done in the past month - including the lighter wheels, plugs, catch can, cold air box, TB cleaning, I can honestly say the car is running much better than before, but I am getting no mpg's increase but I really don't give a darn about that.

That can has alot to do with it and I think its just as you explain. Your fuel is better and the engine is doing what its suppose to do. Its not being over worked with burning the gas and oil vapors. When I added mine to my SS idle improve along with shifts and SOTP feeling with a smooth engine through out the range of driving. I have a real BIG cam and lets say it really lopes now after the can or my case a cup. Also on my cup I got from Jegs it lets air in but not back into the system. Maybe that why you dont see oil in your can yet? Also when I do WOT runs when I let off the gas I get a very cool sound like a bypass valve on a SC car. Im gonna install my on my sons by week in football. Ill report what I get also and we can compare a little. Thanks for all the cool things you are doing man.

[lawman12]

sweet K, thanks...

any notice with the new plugs? smoother running engine etc?

I think the only place you have not touched on your M is the left back seat cushion, lower right panel, second and third hole on the left....

[Ken in AZ]

Originally Posted by lawman12

sweet K, thanks...

any notice with the new plugs? smoother running engine etc?

I think the only place you have not touched on your M is the left back seat cushion, lower right panel, second and third hole on the left....

Honestly the car just drives 10 times better. I wish I had some mpg increases but there are none to report back with. I can tell you the engine seems smoother but really the difference is in the mid range part throttle. It seems like it has tree stump pulling brute force in the low revs.

And before I had a very irregular idle and it would never idle below 750rpm, now it idles smoother and lower right at the FSM spec of 650rpm which seems to tell me that the ecu might have been a little perturbed at the throttle plate being all gummed up.

Oh - And I'ma gonna get to that seat cushon tomorrow!!!! lol

[batmobile]

thanks... that's awesome...

[twokrx7]

Originally Posted by Ken in AZ

I also needed to perform the Accelerator closed position learning procedure, the throttle plate closed position learning procedure, and the Idle Air Volume learning procedure when all was complete. After that the idle dropped right to 650rpm and ignition timing was near dead on!

Looking for info on the referenced procedures but having no luck, is there a writeup available?

[SuPerBOTi]

Very informative…... Thank you Ken!

[Ken in AZ]

Yeah, it's in the FSM in the EC section for Engine Control. I'll try and did it up but the first 2 procedures are very easy - it's idle learn that can be a b.

[Ken in AZ]

Originally Posted by Ken in AZ

Yeah, it's in the FSM in the EC section for Engine Control. I'll try and did it up but the first 2 procedures are very easy - it's idle learn that can be a b.

Accelerator Pedal Released Position Learning

NBS005AA

DESCRIPTION

Accelerator Pedal Released Position Learning is an operation to learn the fully released position of the accelerator
pedal by monitoring the accelerator pedal position sensor output signal. It must be performed each time
harness connector of accelerator pedal position sensor or ECM is disconnected.

OPERATION PROCEDURE

1. Make sure that accelerator pedal is fully released.
2. Turn ignition switch ON and wait at least 2 seconds.
3. Turn ignition switch OFF and wait at least 10 seconds.
4. Turn ignition switch ON and wait at least 2 seconds.
5. Turn ignition switch OFF and wait at least 10 seconds.

Throttle Valve Closed Position Learning

NBS005AB

DESCRIPTION

Throttle Valve Closed Position Learning is an operation to learn the fully closed position of the throttle valve by
monitoring the throttle position sensor output signal. It must be performed each time harness connector of
electric throttle control actuator or ECM is disconnected.

PBIB2242E

OPERATION PROCEDURE

1. Make sure that accelerator pedal is fully released.
2. Turn ignition switch ON.
3. Turn ignition switch OFF and wait at least 10 seconds.
Make sure that throttle valve moves during above 10 seconds by confirming the operating sound.

Idle Air Volume Learning

NBS005AC

DESCRIPTION

Idle Air Volume Learning is an operation to learn the idle air volume that keeps each engine within the specific
range. It must be performed under any of the following conditions:

Each time electric throttle control actuator or ECM is replaced.

Idle speed or ignition timing is out of specification.

PREPARATION

Before performing Idle Air Volume Learning, make sure that all of the following conditions are satisfied.
Learning will be cancelled if any of the following conditions are missed for even a moment.

Battery voltage: More than 12.9V (At idle)

Engine coolant temperature: 70 - 105°C (158 - 221°F)

PNP switch: ON

Electric load switch: OFF
(Air conditioner, headlamp, rear window defogger)

On vehicles equipped with daytime light systems, if the parking brake is applied before the engine
is started the headlamp will not be illuminated.

Steering wheel: Neutral (Straight-ahead position)

Vehicle speed: Stopped

Transmission: Warmed-up
With CONSULT-II: Drive vehicle until “ATF TEMP SE 1” in “DATA MONITOR” mode of “A/T” system indicates
less than 0.9V.
Without CONSULT-II: Drive vehicle for 10 minutes.

It is better to count the time accurately with a clock.

It is impossible to switch the diagnostic mode when an accelerator pedal position sensor circuit
has a malfunction.

1. Perform

EC-806, "Accelerator Pedal Released Position Learning" .
2. Perform EC-806, "Throttle Valve Closed Position Learning" .
3. Start engine and warm it up to normal operating temperature.
4. Check that all items listed under the topic PREPARATION (previously mentioned) are in good order.
5. Turn ignition switch OFF and wait at least 10 seconds.
6. Confirm that accelerator pedal is fully released, turn ignition switch ON and wait 3 seconds.
7. Repeat the following procedure quickly five times within 5 seconds.
a. Fully depress the accelerator pedal.
b. Fully release the accelerator pedal.
8. Wait 7 seconds, fully depress the accelerator pedal and keep it for approx. 20 seconds until the MIL stops
blinking and turned ON.
9. Fully release the accelerator pedal within 3 seconds after the MIL turned ON.
10. Start engine and let it idle.
11. Wait 20 seconds.
12. Rev up the engine two or three times and make sure that idle speed and ignition timing are within the

specifications.