AreYour Brake RelinesUpto NissanStandards?...2012/03/01 · good example. It was a strange look-ing...

2 | Nissan TechNews

®Nissan TechNews

Welcome to the premier issue ofNissan TechNews, the technicalinformation magazine for independ-ent shops that service and repairNissan vehicles.

The good people at Nissan CanadaInc. are providing this informative pub-lication to you for free. Why? To helpmake sure you know the specific serv-ice information necessary to fix thatNissan vehicle right the first time,which will assure that the brand keepsits excellent reputation amongmotorists.

Speaking of reputation, if you thinkNissan is a post-WWII phenomenon,you’re way off. The company’s historycan be traced to 1911 when MasuijiroHashimoto, an American trained engi-neer, founded the Kwaishinsha MotorCar Works, which evolved into thehuge manufacturing concern we knowtoday as Nissan. Its first car was the10 horsepower DAT (an acronym fromthe first letters of the partners’ familynames, Den, Aoyama, and Takeuchi)runabout, but the company’s small,rugged trucks made up most of itsproduction. In 1958, Datsuns wereexhibited at a car show in Los Angeles,prompting a comment in BusinessWeek that qualifies as a world classexample of poor forecasting: “Withover 50 foreign car makers already onsale here, the Japanese auto industryisn’t likely to carve out a big slice of theU.S. market for itself.”

The company’s reputation inCanada grew steadily thereafter. The

popularity of the “Z Car” was a bigpart of it, but the rest of this strongfoundation was built on simple, effi-cient vehicles. The Datsun B 210 isgood example. It was a strange look-ing car with ungainly proportions andodd honeycomb covers for its tinywheels. Its horsepower and handlingweren’t exactly breathtaking, either.It was, however, as dependable andserviceable as anything ever seen,so technicians couldn’t help liking it.Add to this good handling 510s andinexpensive, nearly indestructiblepickups and you have a good begin-ning for a legend.

To say that Nissans have becomefabulously more sophisticated sincethose early days is quite an under-statement. As with all other carmak-ers that do business in this country,the simplicity we loved so well isgone, supplanted by amazingly complex technology. Hence theneed for accurate, specific information on how to maintain, diagnose andrepair late model Nissan

vehicles. One good source for this essential tool is Nissan Tech News Canada — our editorial team intends to make it a valuable ingre-dient in both improving your technical skills and achieving your business goals.

One more thing: Given the complexities of service on modern high-tech

Nissan vehicles, it no longer makes any senseto risk using anything but

the very best parts, namely the genuine Nissan productsavailable through your local dealer’sparts department. After all, you cer-tainly don’t want to have installationproblems, or, worse, have to do thejob all over again because a non-O.E. part didn’t fit, function or lastlike the real thing. Give it somethought from the point of view ofwork satisfaction, your reputationand keeping your customers happyand we believe you’ll agree. |

|Welcome to Nissan TechNewsA Valuable Information Resource - Free!

March 2012 | 3

|ContentsNissan TechNews is a publication of Nissan Canada. No part of thisnewsletter may be reproduced without the express written permission of Nissan Canada.

Group PublisherChristopher M. Ayers [email protected]

Editorial DirectorBob [email protected]

Managing EditorTom Nash [email protected]

Contributing EditorKerry [email protected]

Art DirectorChristopher M. Ayers [email protected]

Nissan Canada Project ManagerCatherine Green [email protected]

Nissan North America Technical Content AdvisorJames Von [email protected]

Editorial & Circulation Offices:134B River RoadMontague NJ 07827Phone: 1-330-620-3929

Caution: Veh icle servicing performed by untrained personscould result in serious injury to those persons or others.Information contained in this publication is intended for use bytrained, professional auto repair technicians ONLY. This infor-mation is provided to inform these technicians of conditionswhich may occur in some vehicles or to provide informationwhich could assist them in proper servicing of these vehicles.

Properly trained technicians have the equipment, tools, safetyinstructions, and know-how to perform repairs correctly andsafely. If a condition is described, DO NOT assume that a topiccovered in these pages automatically applies to your vehicle orthat your vehicle has that condition.

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®Nissan TechNews | March 2012 | Volume 1 Issue 1

Features

Departments

Are your brake relinesup to Nissan standards?

Nissan HeadGasket Replacement

What you need to know about how pad androtor quality and proper procedures willassure that your customers stay happy.

Is it a blown gasket? Or, something else?Here’s how to be sure, and procedures thatwill avoid comebacks.

How’s that Fuel Pump?One of the first tests that should be per-formed during a no-start or drivability diagno-sis is for proper fuel pressure. But there’smore than just pressure to think about.

Nissan IgnitionSystem Service

| 02 Welcome to Nissan Canada TechNews| 23 Nissan Canada Participating Wholesale

Mechanical Parts Dealers

Here’s how to keep them dependable.

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The Nissan names, logos, product names, feature names and slogans are trademarks owned by or licenced to NissanMotor Co. Ltd and/or its North American subsidiaries.

Vehicles and parts shown may not be available in Canada.

4 | Nissan TechNews

Feature

| Are Your Brake Relines Up toNissan Standards?What you need to know about how pad and rotor quality, and properprocedures, will assure that your customers stay happy.

| The best thing you can doto avoid complaints aboutnoise, pedal feel, poor per-formance, or prematurewear is to use the pads thatwere designed for the vehi-cle. That means O.E. qualityfrom your Nissan dealer.

March 2012 | 5

For all truly professional shops,avoiding customer comebacks is atop priority when selecting replace-ment brake pads and rotors. One ofthe leading causes of comebacks isbrake squeal, something the use ofgenuine Nissan parts minimizeswhile providing effective braking per-formance. Aftermarket pads maylook like a bargain, and may evenstop the car adequately, but few areextensively tested for a specificNissan model. In the “black magic”world of brake friction recipes, rotormaterials, and caliper design, a lackof part-to-vehicle matching will oftenresult in brake noise that’s objection-able to a significant percentage ofyour customers along with prema-ture wear, not to mention poor per-formance. Here’s why.

The trick with brake squeal oftenisn’t actually eliminating it, but havingit occur at a frequency that’s so highhuman ears can’t hear it. The waythis is done is by selecting uniquecombinations of rotor material, padmaterial, shims, retainers, and lubri-cants. Even with all this, a set ofbrand new brakes properly installedand functioning may be silent mostof the time, but may squeak a littleon limited occasions, such as a cold,damp morning.

| Why do brakes squeal?Brake squeal is a high-frequency

vibration of the brake pad and rotor -- the energy is being released assound waves. Typically, squeal is pro-duced during low- to mid-level appli-cations of the brake. It can becaused by a number of factors:

• Pad lining material• Pad shims not installed at reline• Glazed pads or rotors • Inadequate piston retraction

causing dragging (which alsoleads to glazing)

for asbestos fibers, resin to glue it alltogether, iron, brass or copper dust,particles or strands, lubricants, someform of clay (if the pads are ceram-ic), and other “top secret” materials.There may be 15-20 different ingre-dients in all. The different materialsperform differently.

When Nissan brake engineersspecify a certain formula for a partic-ular model, they have numerousgoals in mind such as exceptionalstopping performance, long servicelife, low noise potential, as little dust-ing as possible, and rotor longevity.

While technicians may try to choosepads of a certain composition or repu-tation to address specific situations,chances are that there will be unin-tended consequences. The majority ofcustomers seeking brake service sim-ply want brakes that work the waythey did when their Nissan was newand a lack of objectionable noise.Techs can guess which pad willappeal to a particular customer, or bygoing with O.E. pads, minimize thechance for objections in all categories.

| The other side of the coinWhere rotors are concerned, some

other high-performance vehicle mak-ers consider them sacrificial and so

• Misaligned caliper or bracket• Calipers with bent floating pins,

or inadequate lubrication of thepins, not allowing the caliper toproperly float

• Lack of a bevel on the pad lead-ing edge

• Proper application of grease atspecific locations

| What are they actually made of?

The quest for the ideal frictionmaterial has been sort of like adrawn out version of ThomasEdison's search for a suitable lightbulb filament. All kinds of thingshave been tried for over a hundredyears. The spoon brakes used onthe first cars usually had woodenblocks, but they were sometimessupplemented with a leather lining.Band type brakes were either metalto metal, or used wood or leather,too. The earliest drum stoppers(invented by Louis Renault in1903) had iron shoes against steel,then some strange materials wereused, such as the walrus hide lin-ings of the English Wolseley.

The science of formulating brakefriction materials has become sosophisticated that the traditionallabels and definitions are becomingmeaningless. For example, "organ-ic" used to refer to asbestos lin-ings, but now is sometimes used todescribe materials that are eithersemi-metallic, or ceramic. Also,neither semi-met nor ceramic isperfectly accurate for most modernformulas because one may containa certain percentage of the other,and some amount of several otherdifferent materials.

What’s really in brake pad materi-al? There may be Kevlar, steel, orfiberglass strands as a replacement

"We use O.E. pad applications in

everything we service. Why? It

minimizes or eliminates noise

problems. There may be warranty

issues to consider as well. We

want to do the best job possible

for our customers."Scott Destemper, Alpine Automotive

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6 | Nissan TechNews

employ very aggressive, abrasivefriction materials. This means thatthe discs wear out at about thesame rate as the pads. Otherdrawbacks may include increasedpedal effort, a "grinding" pedal feel,and possibly noise.

Nissan has a much more practi-cal philosophy that your customerswill appreciate. By using advancedbrake design and very carefulattention to the subtleties of frictionformulation, the company hasachieved excellent stopping per-formance and rotor life. Of course,there are frequently cases where

new rotors are required, especiallyin vehicles that tow heavy trailers orare driven aggressively in city traf-fic. You may be able to eliminateproblems such as DTV (DiscThickness Variation) or deep groov-ing with your brake lathe, but sinceNissan makes new O.E. rotorsavailable at such a reasonable priceit often makes sense to replacethem. In fact, there is a trend goingon among repair shops to do justthat and to use their lathes lessand less.

There is one caveat, though.Many aftermarket replacement

Brake Relines

| If runout is beyond specifi-cations, check for mountingerrors before you machineor replace the rotor.

| Disc Thickness Variationcauses pedal pulsation asthe “fat” spots passbetween the pads.

| Runout makes the rotor wearunevenly as high spots hit thefriction material.

| The idea of replacing rotors is all fine and good, but howcan you be sure you’re not buying trouble? Only by insistingon O.E. quality from your Nissan dealer’s parts department.

March 2012 | 7

rotors simply do not match the quali-ty of O.E. specimens in either manu-facturing or materials. If you're nota metallurgist and don't have X-raycapabilities, how can you tell whatyou're getting?

We've seen cases where off-brands weighed several kilogramsless than the originals. That can con-tribute to the warpage that canresult in DTV, pedal pulsation, and areputation-damaging comeback. Ifyou're going to put on new rotors,choose only O.E. from your localdealer's parts department for qualityand tight run-out specifications.

| Your partThe evolution in lining material

has made rotor finish much morecritical than it used to be. Someexperts say that getting this rightwill eliminate 80% of noise come-backs. Smoothness is the rule.Where 80 100 RMS was once con-

sidered correct, now 40 60 RMS isrecommended. In other words, incases where you are turning therotors on your lathe and are finish-ing up with a non directional swirl,use 120 to 150 grit paper insteadof the traditional 80.

One brake expert tells us that somepeople get confused about thisbecause new rotors come with adirectional finish. "What's important isthe fineness of the finish," he says."New rotors will probably be in the 3040 RMS range, which is hard toachieve with the average shop lathe.Adding that non- directional finish withan abrasive is a means to an end."

Speaking of brake lathes, the on-car type is an excellent choice forseveral good reasons. First, it elimi-nates the possibility of rotor mount-ing errors that can result in runout.While runout itself won't cause pedalpulsation or "judder," it leads to discthickness variation (DTV), which cer-tainly does manifest itself as that

distressing condition. Runout caus-es the rotor to wear unevenly as ithits those abrasive pads in one spoton each side every revolution of thewheel. The contact areas will end upthinner than the rest of the disc. Anylack of parallelism between the twosides of a rotor is the direct cause ofpulsation -- the fat places knock thepads and piston back, and that littlecolumn of fluid transmits this move-ment to the pedal.

Second, avoiding the dreadedsqueal is often considered anotherjustification for the purchase of thisequipment. An exec for a companythat makes on-car lathes tells us,"Noise comes from vibration. If youcan get all the thickness variation,runout, and taper out of a rotor, youcan be pretty sure it won't be thecause of noise."

Finally, an on-car lathe is by far thebest way to deal with vehicles thathave rotors that require major sur-gery for removal. |

| Unless you’re a met-allurgist, how will youknow whether or notthose non-O.E. rotorshave a cast iron com-position that’s up toNissan’s standards?

8 | Nissan TechNews

Feature

| Nissan HeadGasket Replacement

Is it a blown gasket?Or, something else?Here’s how to be sure, and procedures that will avoid comebacks.

| Although other head gasket types are sometimesused in Nissan engines, expanded graphite is themost common.

March 2012 | 9

It would be an unusual Nissancustomer who comes in seekinghead gasket replacement. Moreoften, he or she will arrive at yourshop asking for a cure for over-heating, coolant loss, steam atthe tailpipe, or misfiring issues.

A head gasket may fail to sealbetween two cylinders, or betweena cylinder and a coolant passage,because of high kilometrage,which necessarily entails many,many heating/cooling cycles, aserious overheating incident dueto carelessness on the owner'spart, the use of an antifreeze that'snot approved by Nissan, orimproper assembly during anengine overhaul.

The key to accurate diagnosislies in ruling out other possiblecauses of these problems andconfirming that the head gasketis indeed at fault by at least twodifferent methods so that youcan be absolutely confidenthead gasket replacement willcure the problem(s). Also,adopting a few “best practices”in head gasket replacement willinsure against reputation-dam-aging "comebacks."

Head gaskets became anespecially big challenge whenaluminum heads were used withsome iron blocks (called "bi-metallic" engines). Aluminumexpands and contracts at a differ-ent rate from that of the block asit heats up and cools down. Evenproperly bolted down, this differ-ence in expansion rates, maycause “scrubbing” of the gasket.Newer, and better, gasketsbecame mandatory to handle this.

Even with later Nissan enginesthat have aluminum blocks, thereis still a lot of squirming going onin the head/block seam. So, gas-kets have had to evolve.

Although Nissan has em ployedseveral types of head gasketsover the years, the most commonvariety in use today is expandedgraphite, which is extremely heatresistant, very conformable towaves, pits, and dents in the seal-ing surfaces, and has excellenttorque retention. It's a naturallubricant, too, which helps it sur-vive the scrubbing action presentdue to varying expansion rates.

While many will last a lifetime,some percentage will fail andallow combustion gases toescape, or coolant to seep into acylinder, especially if a vehicle isallowed to run low on coolant andoverheat. Pre-ignition or “pinging”is another leading cause of headgasket failure.

Replacing a head gasket thatdoesn’t solve the customer’sproblem is an expensive proposi-tion for both the customer andthe independent Nissan shop thatperforms the work. The first “looksee” at a potential head gasketfailure is usually a compressiontest. One low cylinder, or a pair ofadjacent, low cylinders is oneindication. But a good tech willget confirmation with a second, oreven third technique beforepulling the head off.

| Ruling out other possible causes.A good second step is a leak-

down test. A cylinder with a leak-down rate of greater than 20% issuspect. The value of the leak-down test is in confirming thatyou don’t have a burned or other-wise damaged valve allowingpressure to escape the cylinder,or worn rings. However a leak-down test doesn't do much foractually verifying a head gasket

leak. If you want to see if there isa leak from the head gasket,apply shop air to the cylinder andsee if coolant bubbles appear inthe radiator neck.

Pressure testing the coolingsystem is another method techsshould use. Again, not so muchfor identifying a head gasket fail-ure as for ruling out other possi-ble causes of overheating.Sometimes the failure will onlyoccur when the engine is hot. Inthat case, remove the radiatorcap, warm the engine up, theninstall the pressure tester tocheck for leaks. In general, allcooling system faults, drippyhoses, loose clamps, cloggedradiators, worn impellers andother faults need to be cured orruled out before diagnosing ahead gasket as a cause of anoverheating problem.

Other techniques for identifyingcylinder-to-water jacket leaksinclude filling the cooling systemto the neck of the filler, andwatching for pressure pulses asthe engine is cranked over. Allthat compression inside eachcylinder will perform a better testthan even a pressure tester.Again, the engine may need to bewarm. Another technique is toplace a heavy plastic bag over theradiator neck and secure it with arubber band. If it inflates rapidly,compression or combustion pres-sure is getting into the coolingsystem. If it doesn't blow up,punch a small hole in it and useyour gas analyzer to “sniff” forexhaust gases. Be extremelycareful to only sniff gas and notlet coolant erupt or splash ontothe analyzer head, which maydamage it.

A technician who specializesin Nissan gave us a valuable

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10 | Nissan TechNews

insight into identifying small leaks,saying, "I find with a slight headgasket leak, one that doesn't leaka lot, or all the time, the heater willintermittently quit putting out hotair before the vehicle starts to seri-ously overheat. The lack of heat iswhat brings the customer into theshop. I had one vehicle that wouldonly act up once every few weeksand I never could get a positivetest for a combustion leak.

Imagine it blowing a little combus-tion gas into the cooling system andforming an air bubble that impededcoolant flow to the heater core."

Physical inspection shouldn’t beoverlooked. The brown colour ofwater in the oil, or the "chocolatemilkshake" colour and consistencyof oil in the coolant is unmistakable.A vehicle with a starting problem,white smoke, or misfire in the morn-ings may be leaking coolant into acylinder. Allowing it to sit overnight,and borescoping the spark plugholes for fluid is a quick and easytest. Any cylinder experiencingcoolant leakage will be too clean,completely lacking in carbonbuildup, and the spark plug will betoo clean as well. Pulling the 02

mulas contain silicates, which cancontaminate the sensor.

By this point, the technician hasprobably ruled out or repaired otherpotential causes and has at leasttwo confirmations of a head gasketleak, or cracked head, and can pro-ceed with pulling the head. Beforeremoval, use a beam or dial-typetorque wrench to give each headbolt a quick check to see if any aresignificantly looser than the rest; thisalso may help pinpoint the problem.Or each bolt can be loosened onefull turn, and then re-tightened tosee what the torque value is/was.

Make sure the engine has comedown to room temperature beforeactually removing the head.Otherwise, the casting may warp asit cools without the rigid support ofthe block.

If the head is going to a machineshop, cleaning and surface check-ing should be done there.Otherwise, these critical details areyour responsibility. Make sure youremove all of the old gasket shel-lac, carbon, and corrosion.

Be careful not to make any deepgouges or take off any metal in theprocess. Gasket engineers have toldus that savage cleaning procedures,such as using sanding disks or wirebrushes on a drill, can cause unseal-able unevenness almost instantly.The same goes for those aggressive"zip" disks, which can possibly con-taminate the engine with abrasivesthat may destroy bearings. So, useproper gasket scrapers and yourfavorite solvents.

| Well and truly flatCheck for warpage using a

straightedge and feeler gaugeslengthwise and crosswise. The tradi-tional rule of thumb says if you canslip a 0.15 mm (.006 in) gaugebetween the head and the straight-

Head Gasket Replacement

| A cylinder leakdown test can tell you more than you’vefound out from a compression test. Listen for escaping air,look for bubbles.

| If any appreciable amountof coolant has been pass-ing through a cylinder ortwo because of a leakyhead gasket, there is agood chance that the O2sensor(s) has become con-taminated and will onlysend a “lazy” signal.

sensor and putting a clean rag overthe hole before cranking may showcoolant leakage getting blown out. Ifa vehicle has been blowing whitesmoke, plan on replacing the 02sensor(s) since most antifreeze for-

March 2012 | 11

edge anywhere over its entire length,or a 0.05 mm (.002 in) gauge in anysix inch span, the casting is too wavyto guarantee a decent seal.

But that may not be good enoughanymore. For example, at least oneof the major gasket makers hastightened its recommendations. Fora V6 or three cylinder head, it's now0.07 mm (.003 in) over the wholelength, for a V8 or four cylinder it's0.10 mm (.004 in), and for an in-linesix 0.15 mm (.006 in) (come to thinkof it, that's easy to rememberbecause the thousandths are thesame as the number of cylinders).Max deviation from flatness acrossthe width remains 0.05 mm (.002 in),and there should be no "sudden

irregularities" exceeding 0.02 mm(.001 in) in any three inch diameter.By the way, this is the sum of thevalues for both head and deck.

But flatness isn't the only sealingsurface consideration. The level ofsmoothness or "tooth" is alsoimportant. If it's too rough, the gas-ket won't be able to fill up thescratches. For years, people saidthat if it's too smooth there won'tbe enough bite for a good grip, sothere'll be unwanted movement inthe sandwich.

A gasket engineer has since toldus, however, that that's not a realconcern because he's never seen acase where a mirror-like finishcaused a problem.

If you suspect that the head iscracked, you can see if dye testingwill reveal the fissure, but it would bebetter to send the casting to amachine shop that's equipped to dopressure testing.

We'd better address the questionof supplementary sealants. If thegasket has graphite faces, don'tapply any sealer as it'll soften thatcarefully manufactured surface.Metal faces should receive an evencoat of a suitable chemical sealer.

| Nail it downClamping force on the gasket

must be exactly right, which notonly requires that the recommend-ed head bolt tightening proceduresbe used, but also that the threadsand the bolts themselves be givenproper consideration.

First, make sure the bolt holes inthe block are clean and free of fluid(hydraulic pressure can actuallycause cracks). Blow them out, andperhaps clean them with a smallbore brush or a thread chaser.

Since most Nissan engines aredesigned to use the "plastic zone" or"torque-to-yield" tightening tech-nique, you must measure the headbolts to be sure they have notstretched too much to be safelyreused -- a snapped bolt would be adisaster both financially and timewise. Subtract the head bolt diame-ter measurement taken near the topof the threads from that taken nearthe end of the bolt. On an Altima3.5L V6, for example, those pointswould be 48 mm and 11 mm fromthe end of the bolt, respectively. Ifthe difference exceeds the pub-lished limit, which will typically be onthe order of 0.11 mm (.0043 in),replace the bolts with new ones.

If the bolts are to be reused, cleanthem with a wire brush, then coatthe threads with engine oil.

| Applying an aggressive “zip” disk to the head is NOT rec-ommended. Not only can it make dents and waves muchfaster than you might expect, it will contaminate the enginewith abrasives that may damage bearing surfaces.


On certain Nissan engines, headbolts need to be replaced every timethey are removed.

| Nissan particularsLate-model Nissan engines con-

tinue the company's legacy of dura-bility and dependability. Your job isto make sure these characteristicsare retained after you've maderepairs, and that means adhering toNissan's specific procedures. Thecompany's service engineers knowwhat works, so resorting to shortcuts or half-baked methods is askingfor a damaged reputation.

We'll provide a couple of exam-ples of the particulars of head gas-ket replacement:

• On the 2000 Maxima 3L V6(VQ30DE), make sure to rotatethe crankshaft until #1 piston is240 deg. BTDC of its compres-sion stroke before installing theheads or piston/valve interfer-ence will occur.

• On the 2000 Sentra 1.8L(QG18DE), a bead of RTVSilicone Sealant (Part Number999MP-A7007) must be appliedto the seam at the front of thehead gasket. The major boltsshould be angle torqued in thissequence: 30 N-m, 58 N-m,loosen completely, 30 N-m, thenan additional rotation of 50-55 deg. The small bolts at thefront (11-14) should be tight-ened to 6-8 N-m. Use the prop-er order, of course.

Obviously, we can't give the detailsfor every year and model Nissanengine, but the above should illus-trate that you must look up the spe-cific instructions for each to assureagainst catastrophe. |

Head Gasket Replacement

| Never reuse “plastic zone” or “torque-to -yield” head boltswithout comparing the diameters of the threads at thepoints shown. If the difference is larger than the specifica-tion, get new bolts or risk twisting one off and ruiningyour schedule.

| Nissan’s service engineers know what procedures willproduce the proper clamping force on a head gasket , andprovide graphics to help techs understand the process,such as the one shown above. Follow the instructions tothe letter.

Install the cylinder heads on the cylinder block. Tighten the cylinder head boltsin five steps in the order shown.

Step A: 98 N-m (10 kg-m, 72 ft-lb)Step B: 0 N-m Loosen in the

reverse order of tightening

Step C: 39.2 N-m (4.0 kg-m,29 ft-lb)

Step D: 90° degrees clockwiseStep E: 90° degrees clockwise

March 2012 | 13February 2012 | 13

SOMETIMES THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY APPEAR TO BE.

TRUST THE ORIGINAL. GENUINE NISSAN PARTS.

NISSAN OEM ADVANTAGE #48

NISSAN OEM AIR AND OI FILTERS

Stable pleat geometry provides cold start stability

The fi lter media has viscous oil applied that allows better cleaning and increases the life of the fi lter up to 1.5 times over non-oiled air fi lters

Up to 99.9 percent of dust, soot and tire wear particles are fi ltered out

Can last up to 12,000 km between oil changes

Provides optimal air/fuel mixture

Pressure relief valve guarantees the oil supply

under all conditions

Nissan Delivers. Don’t settle for an imitation, when you can have the real thing. Nothing compares to a precision-engineered replacement part from Nissan. Your customers deserve the benefi ts of perfect factory-fi t and performance and so do you.

Get the right part and get it fast, because who knows Nissan better than a Nissan Parts Specialist? Your local dealer has fast moving parts in stock and ready to go. So what are you waiting for?

nissan.ca

L


Feature

| How’s That Fuel Pump?

One of the first tests that should be performed during a no-start or drivability diagnosis is for proper fuel pressure. But there’s more than just pressure to think about.

March 2012 | 15

Have you checked the fuel pres-sure? When we discuss a symptomthat a vehicle is exhibiting, this isone of the first questions we have toanswer. It would be disheartening toperform all sorts of time-consumingscoping of ignition waveforms, sen-sor specifications and voltage read-ings of signals only to find the culpritwas a problem with fuel pressure. Inthe age of OBD II diagnostics, CANcommunication among modules andpulse-width modulated signals, weoften overlook the most basic testssuch as that for fuel pressure. Butthere is so much more we can testabout a fuel pump. Also, there aremany more factors we have to thinkabout besides the pump that affectthe fuel supply to the injection sys-tem. Let’s see what some of thoseproblems might be.

| Under pressureAs long as they have been called

Nissans, they have used a fuelpump mounted inside the tank (nottrue with the previous Datsunnameplate). The pumps these daysare mounted in "fuel pump mod-ules." These include the pumpassembly, level sensor and supplyand return lines. They also mayinclude the pressure regulator on“returnless” systems.

Going back to “Fuel Supply 101,”the function of a fuel pump is todraw gasoline from the tank andsend it through lines to the injectionsystem mounted in the air intakemanifold. A fuel pressure regulatormakes sure that an adequate andconsistent supply of fuel is availableat the injectors. It keeps the fuel atthe specified kPa even if enginedemand increases or decreases. Itdoes this by maintaining spring pres-sure on a diaphragm against whichthe excess pressure from the pump

pushes (the supply pressure fromthe pump is always higher than therequired pressure). Most pumps arecapable of putting out double theoperating pressure. The 552 or sokPa (80 psi) hits the diaphragm andforces a bypass valve open to allowthe excess pressure to return to thetank, thus keeping the pressure atthe specified level.

Fuel rail-mounted pressure regula-tors are often vacuum-assisted.Manifold vacuum is applied to thespring pressure side of the regulator.This pulls up on the diaphragm andlowers fuel pressure slightly. Whileunder acceleration manifold vacuumdrops, which allows fuel pressure toincrease. This additional fuel is help-ful in high-demand situations.

Keeping in mind exactly how EFIoperates will provide you with moreways of testing it, and allow you toarrive at accurate diagnoses, espe-cially in those hard-to-find intermit-tent problems.

| Tapping inNissan does not typically provide a

Schrader valve on their fuel rails forchecking fuel pressure. Also, the railon the V6 is underneath the upperintake plenum, so it is difficult to getto. Tapping into the feed line fromthe fuel filter is the right way to con-nect your gauge. Nissan uses aflange-style fitting starting in about1999, so make sure you have thenecessary adapters from fuel pumpkit J-44321, available at your localNissan parts counter.

Always remember to play it safe andreduce pressure before disconnectingany fuel line. This can be achieved byusing the Consult II, going into “WorkSupport” and selecting “Fuel PressureRelease.” Or, you can remove the fuelpump fuse, run the engine until it stalls,then crank it two or three times. Just

don’t forget to put the fuse back whenyou’re done connecting your gauges.

Pressure can be checked with thefuel pump relay jumped and theengine not running, or by simply run-ning the engine. Of course, with theengine running manifold vacuum isapplied to the regulator so pressurewill be 34 to 70 kPa (5 to 10 psi)lower than with the engine off. Ifmonitoring fuel pressure while driv-ing, have someone else at the wheelfor safety’s sake. Watch pressurecarefully. Nissan provide fuel pres-sure specs with and without vacuumapplied to the regulator. Underacceleration, fuel pressure shouldincrease. If under hard load you seethe pressure dropping you can sus-pect that something is going wrongwith fuel volume.

Another test is that of “dead head”pressure. Here, you clamp off thereturn line from the pressure regula-tor back to the tank. As mentionedearlier, almost all pumps put out justabout double the regulated pressure.By blocking the return line you cansee the maximum pressure thepump is capable of producing, whichshould be almost double the engine-running pressure. If the kPa (psi)does not increase significantly, thenyou may have a weak pump. We rec-ommend that you do not leave thereturn line blocked for very long.Only perform this test long enoughto read the gauge.

Fuel volume is another helpful test.Remove the fuel feed line and safelyrun the fuel into a measuring contain-er. Crank the engine for 15 secondsand measure the quantity of fueldelivered. You should get about a litre.If you prefer, you can jump the pumprelay with the key on. Restrictions inthe system such as a collapsed fuelstrainer in the tank or a clogged fuelfilter can reduce fuel volume andcause drivability problems.

®


| Don’t just throw in a pumpThere are other factors involved in

fuel pump performance than just thecondition of the pump itself. Fuelpumps are electromechanicaldevices that rely on proper powerand ground to function. If there is aproblem with either, you could installseveral fuel pumps and still not havethe necessary pressure or volume.So, you should perform electricaltests on the system, such as moni-toring voltages to the pump.

This can be tricky since the pumpis not always easy to get to. You cancheck voltage at the relay or fuse,but it could drop across connectorsafter the relay. You need to verifyproper voltage at the pump, whichwill probably require removal of thepump. Luckily, Nissan has typicallyinstalled a fuel pump inspectioncover either underneath the rear seat,or in the trunk, which makes life

much easier. You can check voltageat the top of the fuel pump moduleand verify the ground without havingto drop the tank. If you find a prob-lem with voltage drop between thefuel pump module and the fuel pumpinside the tank, you may need toreplace the unit as an assembly.

It makes sense to always do anamp draw test, which can let youknow if the pump is working too hard(a clogged filter or a blocked returnline, perhaps?), or is on the way out.Most Nissan fuel pumps draw about5 to 5.5 amps. This can easily bechecked with an ammeter betweenthe switched contacts of the fuelpump relay, or at the fuel pump fuse.

Most quality digital multi-meters(DMMs) can measure safely up to 10amps, so this shouldn’t be a problem.Keep in mind that when you start thevehicle the “in-rush” created by thepump starting up will increase ampdraw until it settles down into its trueoperating amperage.

| Additional fuel pump controlsNissan has also incorporated an

additional control of the fuelpump. Under low-load situations,the engineers felt that the pumpdidn’t need to be operated at fullpower. So, they installed a drop-

How’s That Fuel Pump?

| If fuel pressure is not up tospec, it doesn’t necessarilymean the pump is bad. Inthis assembly, you can seegreen copper oxide corro-sion forming in the wiringto the pump, which causeshigh resistance and poorpump performance.

| You can measure voltage at the pump control module,which is mounted in the trunk. In this case, the relay isproviding 13.8 volts and the module is grounding thepump completely to get maximum output.

March 2012 | 17

| You don’t need access tothe fuel pump to check itsamp draw. An inductiveammeter and a loop of wireinstalled in place of thefuse works fine. Or, you canuse a scope and a low cur-rent probe.

| Here is a wiring diagram of a fuel pump control module on a 2000 Nissan Maxima. Themodule receives a signal from the PCM. Depending on this signal, the module eithergrounds the fuel pump directly, or allows it to ground through the dropping resistor only.

ping resistor in the ground side ofthe pump wiring. This reduces thevoltage through the pump for lowdemand situations to about 9volts. The addition of a fuel pumpcontrol unit can also ground thepump directly in higher demandsituations, bypassing the droppingresistor and producing full fuelpump operation. You can bypassthe relay and send full batteryvoltage to the pump by placing ajumper wire between the fuel

pump ground and the ground ofthe module. So, if you see slightlylower pressure and volume num-bers on some Nissan vehicles.

| Finally . . .remember that the control module

may be reducing voltage to the pump. With the sensitivity of computer-

ized fuel injection systems, some-thing as simple as incorrect fuelpressure can cause everything froman illuminated MIL to a drivabilityconcern. If your tests point to aworn-out pump as the cause of theproblem, replace it with a genuineNissan O.E. pump, which was notonly designed to work with the con-trol module, but will also have predi-cable pressure and amp draw speci-fications. Its long life is another ben-efit that customers will appreciate. |


Nissan Canada TechNews

| Nissan Ignition System ServiceHere’s how to keep them dependable.

| In pre-COP systems, the secondary components that handled highvoltage were vulnerable, so they needed to be replaced periodically.

March 2012 | 19

Historically, automotive ignitionsystems needed more maintenancethan just about anything else on thecar. Not only would the points, plugsand condenser need to be replacedfrequently, but to assure good per-formance the ignition timing had tobe reset between tune-ups becauseas the points' rubbing block wore,spark was retarded. Also, the dis-tributor cap, rotor, coil and sparkplug wires were all subject to variouskinds of damage, such as carbontracking, so were routinely replaced.

Today, of course, everything is dif-ferent, and the term "tune-up" hasbecome an anachronism. On theother hand, ignition systems arevastly more sophisticated, so every-thing involved has to be in nearlyperfect condition or you can expectdriveability, performance and ignitionproblems, and diagnosis has defi-nitely gone high-tech.

The purpose of the ignition systemis to ignite the compressed air/fuelmixture at the instant that will gener-ate the maximum power and theminimum amount of emissions.Spark timing is determined by atable of data inside the electroniccontrol module (ECM), which looksat engine rpm, load, temperature, etc.Feedback from a knock sensor willcause the ECM to retard the timingto prevent engine damage. Timingmay also be retarded while theengine is being cranked both tomake it easier to crank and to pre-vent kickback.

| Traffic COPThe ECM utilizes crankshaft and

camshaft position sensors to knowwhere the engine is in the firing orderand when a particular piston isapproaching top dead centre (TDC).Distributors, rotors, and spark plugwires have mostly been replaced by

Coil-On-Plug (COP) technology, whichNissan was one of the first to employ.

When the time is right to fire thespark, the ECM will send a signal toan ignitor circuit within the COP. TheECM monitors the current flowing tothe coil during the dwell period andcan detect an open or shorted coil.An ignitor is little more than a powertransistor with some added circuitryto limit the maximum current flowthrough the primary side of the coil.Turning the transistor off causeselectrical current to stop flowingthrough the coil, and a spark is gen-

erated as the magnetic field of thecoil collapses, producing high voltagein the secondary, which is connecteddirectly to the spark plug itself.

The actual power for the coils issupplied through the ignition relay; theECM simply switches it on and offusing the transistor in the ignitor cir-cuit much like a normally-closed relay.

| Killing cylinders with the Consult IIUsing the Consult II, a technician

can disable one cylinder at a time to

®

| Nissan was one of the first carmakers to use Coil-On-Plugtechnology, which eliminates many of the components thatwere prone to problems.


determine cylinder balance or “con-tribution.” A sufficiently serious mis-fire will set a DTC; a potentially cat-damaging misfire will cause the MILnot just to illuminate, but to flash.The challenge comes with a veryslight misfire, one not occurring fre-quently enough to set a misfire code.Often a coil just beginning to fail willcause a P1320 to set. The customermay come in with complaints of a“stumble” or “fishbite” along with theMIL. Using a clamp-on currentprobe, Nissan techs can identify theproblematic coil by watching the cur-rent “ramp” of all six ignitors. A cur-rent flow of less than 7.5 amps will

often point to the troublesome coil.That number isn’t hard and fast;looking at the scope pattern is thetrick. If one “ramp” or “waveform” isnoticeably lower than the rest, ordeformed (as if the ignitor’s powertransistor is fried), there’s the prob-lem. Measuring several good vehi-cles before having to diagnose aproblem one will help the tech inlearning to “read” current ramp wave-forms. Note that a piece of whitetape around the bundle of wiresleading from the ECM to the coilsprovides an ideal location to put theamp clamp. If you’re not fluent usingan oscilloscope, this is the perfect

diagnostic situation in which to learn.Simply adjust the timebase and gainon your scope until you’ve got a rea-sonably sized and scaled image, andidentify the coil waveform that’snoticeably different from the rest.

Attached to the crankshaft (onsome engines, the flywheel) is atoothed ring that allows the crankposition sensor (CKP) to tell wherethe engine is relative to TDC. A dou-ble-wide tooth creates a sync pulsethat tells the ECM, “I’m at the topnow.” Regular teeth give the ECMthe ability to determine how far thecrank has rotated, how fast, andwhether it is accelerating or deceler-

Ignition System

| The Nissan Consult II notonly allows you to accessDTCs, but also gives youthe capability of disablingcylinders, which is a greatdiagnostic help.

March 2012 | 21

ating. This last point is important.Each time a piston fires, the engineaccelerates slightly. An engine idlingat 800 rpm is actually running atspeeds between (approximately)775 and 825 rpm, speeding upwhen a piston fires, slowing downbefore the next one fires. If the sig-nal from the crank sensor fails toshow the expected acceleration, theusual cause is a misfire; one cylindernot making its normal contribution.

Measuring the flywheel’s accelera-tion or lack of acceleration has to bedone carefully, however, since a vehi-cle being driven off-road can,because of bumps and holes, causefalse readings. Newer vehicles areless prone to this problem than olderones, the ECM software having beenimproved over the years. Misfiresoccurring while the engine is decel-erating in fuel cutoff mode “don’tcount” either.

A crank sensor can’t do it all. Aswith any four-stroke engine, at topdead centre, the #1 piston could beeither on a compression or anexhaust stroke, and the ECM has noway of knowing which. This is wherethe cam position sensor (CMP)comes in. Since the cams are drivenat half the speed of the crankshaft, asensor on the camshaft provides theadditional information the ECMneeds to tell whether a particularpiston is on a compression stroke oran exhaust stroke.

| Singing soloWhen the engine is first started,

the ECM doesn’t know where any ofthe pistons are, or where to send aspark. The engine must rotate one ortwo times for the ECM to see thesync pulse from the crank sensorand get an internal phase-lockedloop in sync. Think of it as the ECMelectronically “humming along” withthe crank sensor. If the crankshaft

suddenly “falls behind,” as it does ina misfire situation, the ECM noticesits lovely duet has suddenly becomea solo act and it will set a code.

But that’s not the only synchro-nization that needs to happen. Whilethe engine is being cranked theECM needs to synchronize the signalcoming from the camshaft positionsensor with the crank sensor todetermine which piston will be thenext to reach TDC on a compressionstroke, so it can send a spark to thatcylinder, and have the engine actual-

ly fire up and run.. Before it doesthis, the ECM performs a sort of rel-evancy check. If the signals are toofar out of whack, indicating, perhaps,a stretched timing chain, a P0350DTC may be set.

Cam and crank sensors work theway most automotive sensors do,with a toothed ring sporting eitherone double-wide tooth or a doublewide (Arkansas) gap for sync, amagnet, and a Hall effect sensorthat can detect presence of tooth orgap. How can and do these sensors

| Since the crank sensor is such a critical component, youshould probably think twice before installing anything butan OEM replacement.


go wrong? For starters, heat maycause them to fail. Or, they maybreak down physically and allow oilto seep in.

| Scope and DMMThere are a number of checks a

Nissan tech can make on cam andcrank position sensors. The best isusing an oscilloscope to view theoutput waveform, especially whenthere’s a concern over whether ornot a sensor is intermittent. Far lessreliable, but quick and easy, is aresistance check of the sensor,using a DMM. Resistance specs canbe found in the Nissan TIS system,although with Hall effect devices, allyou’re usually doing is ruling outshorts and opens. Measuring theAC amplitude with a voltmeter isn’tgenerally advised with Hall effectCKP and CMP sensors.

What happens if the CMP signal islost while the engine is running, say,due to an intermittently open con-nection? The ECM won’t know whento fire the spark. The ECM may behumming along, but after a secondor two the engine itself may havesped up or slowed down to where aspark arrived too early, and enginedamage could result from kickback.Far too early could cause a backfirethrough the intake manifold, anddamage the MAF.

In contrast, if the crank positionsensor CKP drops out, it doesn’thave to be quite as big a deal.Misfire detection gets lost. However,the ECM can continue running onCMP information alone. A DTC getsset because if the signal doesn’tcome back, the owner won’t be ableto restart the car after turning it off.A recent Nissan TSB calls for a soft-ware update that ensures that theengine doesn’t stall in the event of atemporary CKP dropout.

Older Nissans with breakerless(optical disc) systems built into thedistributor generally have only onetype of failure: Oil contamination. Ifthe PCV system on the vehicle isn’tadequately maintained excessivecrankcase pressure can force oil upinto the distributor and foul the disc.Cleaning occasionally works.Otherwise, distributor replacement isrequired as the disc is not designedfor R&R. You should check for other“common” distributor problems likemoisture intrusion and carbon track-ing as well.

| Aftermarket parts problemDriveability issues (hesitation,

stalling, misfires) may be caused bysome aftermarket parts, or by con-

sumer installation. Today’s ignitionsystems are electrically “tuned”including the length of spark plugwires, sensor impedance, coil resist-ance, etc. Even use of some after-market spark plugs can result in mis-fires and codes getting set, especial-ly on supercharged engines. Someaftermarket COPs may sometimesset a P1320 right out of the box. Arecent posting on iATN described atech who installed two full sets ofaftermarket coils (12) and continuedgetting a P1320; current ramping(as described above) and replace-ment of the questionable coils withOEM Nissan parts immediately curedthe problem. Once again, the cost ofa comeback far exceeds the fewdollars that might be saved on anon-OEM ignition part. |

Ignition System

| To avoid misfire codes and other possible issues, sparkplugs should be original equipment specification. You canbe sure of that if you go OEM.

March 2012 | 23

| Nissan Canada Wholesale Dealers

Nissan Canada TechNews

| Nissan Canada Wholesale Dealers| AlbertaSunridge NissanCalgary403.291.2700

Royal Oak NissanCalgary403.241.4340

Stadium NissanCalgary403.284.4725

Brasso NissanCalgary403.253.9339

Ericksen NissanEdmonton780.429.2637

Grande Prairie NissanGrande Prairie866.532.8040

Gord Scott NissanRed Deer403.356.7001

| BritishColumbia

Morrey Nissan of BurnabyBurnaby604.291.6481

Morrey Nissan of CoquitlamPort Coquitlam604.464.1216

Pan Pacific NissanRichmondRichmond604.278.4291

Pan Pacific Nissan SurreySurrey604.589.1775800-565-9599

Southside NissanVancouver604.324.3636

| OntarioAjax NissanAjax905.683.0555

Burlington Nissan Ltd.Burlington905.681.0001877.249.0001

Cobourg NissanCobourg905.372.3963800.450.8350

Sherway NissanEtobicoke416.236.1139

Plaza NissanHamilton905.389.9242

401-Dixie Nissan Ltd.Mississauga905.238.5200

Woodchester NissanMississauga905.828.7161

Oakville NissanOakville905.827.1581

Trans Canada NissanPeterborough705.745.4944888-596-6819

Morningside NissanScarborough416.287.6887

Scarborough NissanScarborough416.751.1311

Agincourt NissanScarborough416.291.1985

Village NissanUnionville905.477.5992

Alta NissanWoodbridge905.265.0678

| QuébecBeauport NissanBeauport800.342.1822

Blainville NissanBlainville450.430.4935800.427.9696

Boucherville NissanBoucherville450.449.4040

Park Avenue Nissan BrossardBrossard514.877.4908

Mercier NissanChateauguay450.691.1292

DrummondvilleDrummondville819.474.3930877.697.7893

Nissan de GranbyGranby450.378.9088 x314

Grenier NissanMascouche450.474.0578

Chomedey NissanLaval450.682.4400

Paquet NissanLévis418.838.0588

Cité NissanMontréal514.739.3175514.904.2483

Nissan PrestigeMontréal 514.254.7777

Nissan MagogMagog819.843.8145

Spinelli NissanPointe-Claire514.697.9566

Einstein NissanQuébec418.650.9536

Manoir NissanRepentigny450.585.5824

Nissan deSherbrookeSherbrooke819.823.8008

Energie NissanShawinigan819.539.6433 poste 18

St. Bruno NissanSt-Basile-le-Grand450.653.6067

St-Léonard NissanSt-Léonard514.374.5970

Trois-Rivières NissanTrois-Rivières819.379.2611

Ile Perrot NissanIle Perrot514.425.2255

Metro NissanLasalle514.368.8931

Capitale NissanQuébec418.266.0800418.681.0011


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