Nissan XTerra Forum banner

1st generation 3.3 dizzy

516 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  kippster08
I have a 2001 w 3.3
Bought for 500 w a rod knocking. They left the oil fill cap off for a stretch.
Spent 3 months in a hospital clean shop rebuilding the engine and anything else that I could find.
Motor ran great for 15000.mi
Had to park it for suspended licence for traffic tickets that I couldn't afford to pay so it sat for 2 years. Started periodically but not as much as I should have.
Started driving it again about 6 months ago only to find out that somehow a head gasket blew from water jacket to combustion chamber.
Blew up the top of the radiator.
So decision had to be made. Do I want to basically tear the entire engine down again?
Sure what the hell.
So I took my time, inspected everything. Looked like I may not have had enough coolant in the system. Enough not to freeze but not enough to inhibit rusting. Think it rusted some of the metal in the head gasket and it blew.
So got it all back together, started and ran fine until it warmed up. Then it starts missing, no power at all. It jumps in and out sporadically though. Almost like a loose connection somewhere?
I've read a bunch online and am leaning towards the dizzy. It needed a cap and rotor so I put new ones on. It runs way better almost doesnt miss at all. But does a bit.
Then I read a post where a guy said to spray some lubes of some kind WD 40 down the shaft from under the rotor. So I did, put it back together and started it up and drove it. It ran better than it ever has. But it slowly kinda went back to the missing again. Still better with new cap and rotor but it's got so much more apparantly. Wonder if the dizzy has been screwed up since I've owned it.
What would spraying wd40 down the shaft of the dizzy do to make it run so much better?
Need to mention the knock sensor wire came unplugged from the sensor.
So the knock sensor is out of the loop. Dont think it has a "limp mode " on a 2001 xterra?
Maybe but would the knock sensor even put it into limp mode being unplugged?
I wouldnt consider the way it is running anything like that anyways. It misses, loses power for a few seconds but it will jump right out of it suddenly and run perfect
See less See more
1 - 5 of 5 Posts
I have a 2001 w 3.3
Bought for 500 w a rod knocking. They left the oil fill cap off for a stretch.
Spent 3 months in a hospital clean shop rebuilding the engine and anything else that I could find.
Motor ran great for 15000.mi
Had to park it for suspended licence for traffic tickets that I couldn't afford to pay so it sat for 2 years. Started periodically but not as much as I should have.
Started driving it again about 6 months ago only to find out that somehow a head gasket blew from water jacket to combustion chamber.
Blew up the top of the radiator.
So decision had to be made. Do I want to basically tear the entire engine down again?
Sure what the hell.
So I took my time, inspected everything. Looked like I may not have had enough coolant in the system. Enough not to freeze but not enough to inhibit rusting. Think it rusted some of the metal in the head gasket and it blew.
So got it all back together, started and ran fine until it warmed up. Then it starts missing, no power at all. It jumps in and out sporadically though. Almost like a loose connection somewhere?
I've read a bunch online and am leaning towards the dizzy. It needed a cap and rotor so I put new ones on. It runs way better almost doesnt miss at all. But does a bit.
Then I read a post where a guy said to spray some lubes of some kind WD 40 down the shaft from under the rotor. So I did, put it back together and started it up and drove it. It ran better than it ever has. But it slowly kinda went back to the missing again. Still better with new cap and rotor but it's got so much more apparantly. Wonder if the dizzy has been screwed up since I've owned it.
What would spraying wd40 down the shaft of the dizzy do to make it run so much better?
Need to mention the knock sensor wire came unplugged from the sensor.
So the knock sensor is out of the loop. Dont think it has a "limp mode " on a 2001 xterra?
Maybe but would the knock sensor even put it into limp mode being unplugged?
I wouldnt consider the way it is running anything like that anyways. It misses, loses power for a few seconds but it will jump right out of it suddenly and run perfect
There is a bearing down inside the distributor that you gave some relief to with the wd-40. The bearing can be replaced and most likely will solve your problem from what you are saying here.
  • Like
Reactions: 1
For the knock sensor. It will not make much difference. But if you want you can get a new one and relocate it somewhere easy to get to.
Unless you have a supercharger the knock sensor makes no difference.
That's kinda what I was thinking. But here's my hang up, when its warmed up to perfect running temp I think. I replaced both temp sending units and temp is about half way on the stock gauge. Maybe slightly under half.
I will stop at a light, go to take off and it just falls on its face. Like it is flooding itself with fuel and running on 2 cylinders. I know years ago on a Chevy small block I had, the coil had a hairline crack. Almost couldn't see it. But it would run great till it warmed up enough to open the crack and it would start arcing to the closest ground and running like crap. I'm wondering if the coil is going out in the dizzy. Cuz it just cuts off, doesnt die, but like someone turned off a switch and it's running on 2 or 3 cylinders. But never dies completely so that rules out a short or something causing complete shut down like ignition switch or something to that affect. Then it will suddenly start running like it's never ran before. I put a new cap and rotor on for the first time the other day, since I rebuilt the motor. About 20,000 miles ago. Holly crap i wish these had COP. But just need to change those out a little sooner. Cuz it runs like it is supposed to run. Way more power than i have ever noticed before.
So I can get a brand new, not a reman, distributer from a place on ebay for $70 bucks, free shipping 1 yr warranty.
The bearing is definitely an issue in these stock dizzys.
I think it is in mine also, but I am thinking for 70 bucks I can take care of both the bearing and coil and hopefully solve my issue.
When i did the head gaskets I was super critical of the heads mating surface. Make sure its flat, no warp or any thing. There was not. But I drove it last before the gasket went out and it was never overheated.
I thought initially i may have screwed up and one of my head gaskets blew right away. I am losing coolant. Freaked a little at first but I put all new gaskets, new head bolts, was surgically clean, and torqued and stretched the head bolts exactly the way the Nissan service manual says to.
So I got looking and my coolant loss is a leak at the back of the motor in the upper intake cooling lines. It drips on the exhaust so I smell coolant but never saw any on the ground.
No bubbles or any evidence of exhaust in the cooling system.
Havent done an exhaust gas test on the radiator but I dont think its necessary. It's not overheating or coming out of the cap on the radiator. And I'm pretty confident in my work.
But this forum is the reason I figured out what I think is the problem. It's an awesome conglomeration of insight on just the vehicle I have grown pretty fond of.
So really to all that post on this forum, Thank You.
I will let you know what happens. Unless someone has any other ideas that I could check. Plan on pulling the upper intake and plugging the knock sensor back in.
Thanks again to everyone.
See less See more
  • Like
Reactions: 2
Wow a freaking book.
Dang, sorry.
1 - 5 of 5 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top