ProwlerGT's 3000GT Revival Thread - Start Up

[ProwlerGT]

Originally Posted by cbatters

Several thoughts:

1. There should not be any debris in spark plug well. Try blowing it out with compressed air with spark plug iun place and then use oily cloth to pick up any lose material after you remove the plugs.

2. Most compression gages use an "o" ring to seal spark plug so it should only be finger tight

3. Re-post pictures of plugs with electrodes aligned the same way like #4. (can't compare plugs unless angle is similar)

4. Squirt small amount of motor oil (teaspoon) into cylinder and crank engine with no sparkplugs for 1 minute before taking compression readings

5. Take and post compression readings for
a. Front bank 1-3-5
a. Rear bank 2-4-6

6. Also advise if you removed any of the lifters. (Compression readings can be erroneous if the lifters have not bled down.)



Clint

1. I guess I'll have to get creative here because the debris thats in there is hardened up and isn't gonna come out easily.

2. Yeah mine's like that.

3. Hope these are a "LIL" mo betta:




4. Are you saying this is a way to do a COLD compression test and get fairly accurate figures?

5. Tomorrow.

6. No lifters removed. I wish I would've known about the new 99 lifters when I bought my 98 engine. Missed the good ones by 1 year dammit.

[ProwlerGT]

I'm at a point now where I'll have those compression numbers soon. Hopefully tonight. I spent all last night (OVERNIGHT) resetting the height in the front (higher), relubing the rear brakes after clean-out, and fixing a hanging brake line in the rear driver area. Doesn't seem like a lot, but when you are not used to doing this type of work and a hefty 250lb fella in cramped quarters it takes a while especially when you aren't working to sweat but just at a "go as I go" pace.

What remains:

1. Rebleeding brakes a lil
2. Ensure TPS at proper %
3. GO FOR A DRIVE!!!!!! WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!
4. COMPRESSION TEST WHEN I GET BACK ON FRONT BANK; DECIDE IF DOING REAR BANK DEPENDING ON HOW IT RUNS.
5. ELECTRICAL IGNITION SWITCH REPLACE when it arrives in the mail
6. BRING TO SHOP: STEERING RACK
7. BRING TO SHOP OR FRIEND: A/C WORK
8. THEN PERHAPS.... MAYBE MAYBE.... I WILL BE DONE!

There are several other things to do after this, but they are all non-critical to getting the car on the road. I will probably continue the thread after the list above with interior/exterior aesthetic improvements.

[Blue3kGTSL]

Originally Posted by ProwlerGT

I'm at a point now where I'll have those compression numbers soon. Hopefully tonight. I spent all last night (OVERNIGHT) resetting the height in the front (higher), relubing the rear brakes after clean-out, and fixing a hanging brake line in the rear driver area. Doesn't seem like a lot, but when you are not used to doing this type of work and a hefty 250lb fella in cramped quarters it takes a while especially when you aren't working to sweat but just at a "go as I go" pace.

What remains:

1. Rebleeding brakes a lil
2. Ensure TPS at proper %
3. GO FOR A DRIVE!!!!!! WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!
4. COMPRESSION TEST WHEN I GET BACK ON FRONT BANK; DECIDE IF DOING REAR BANK DEPENDING ON HOW IT RUNS.
5. ELECTRICAL IGNITION SWITCH REPLACE when it arrives in the mail
6. BRING TO SHOP: STEERING RACK
7. BRING TO SHOP OR FRIEND: A/C WORK
8. THEN PERHAPS.... MAYBE MAYBE.... I WILL BE DONE!

There are several other things to do after this, but they are all non-critical to getting the car on the road. I will probably continue the thread after the list above with interior/exterior aesthetic improvements.

yay, way to go...maybe no3s will be startin up soon

[Linebckr49]

why are you bringing the steering rack to a shop? don't wanna tackle it yourself (or with a little help )? what will a shop charge you (labor) to install it?

[ProwlerGT]

ABOUT TO TAKE HER FOR A SPIN!

[ProwlerGT]

Originally Posted by Linebckr49

why are you bringing the steering rack to a shop? don't wanna tackle it yourself (or with a little help )? what will a shop charge you (labor) to install it?

I think I PMed you about this, but I just don't feel comfortable with anyone "FULLY" underneath the car in close quarters on jacks or jack stands. It'd be different if we could pull it over an underground bay or had a commercial lift to use. I know I'm probably being too worried about the jacks/stands, but I just don't like it. I mean if like 1/4 or 1/2 of you could be sticking out from underneath while working instead of your whole body that might be better and of course have me there to help/watch for safety. I seriously appreciate your offers to help and we are gonna wrench eventually. I just needed to get a lot of things out of the way "for me" first.

Also, I just did exhaust work on my van and now having experienced it I don't believe the exhaust on my car is gonna cooperate well unless we have use of a torch. I personally don't have a torch nor do I have technique in using it.

Got a torch and experience? Got use of a commercial lift somewhere? Then I'll be all about it.

My trusted shop will charge something like mid 300-something.

[ProwlerGT]

I may be retracting my method of rtving the brake slider bolt boot edges as this may cause the brakes to scrape the rotor. I'm gonna find out tonight after I remove the RTV cause braking is still not satisfactory. Very sad too cause this is the first time I've driven in the car in I don't know how long. Oh well. Was a test run though. If removing the RTV (which was my own idea) solves it then I know for sure the slider bolts need air as they squeeze and release.

However since I know ALL 4 brakes were in perfect sliding condition before I took it out for a test drive I'm now suspect of the last brake system item I have not replaced. The proportioning valve. It would explain insufficient braking power and tonight why the car was pulling hard left.

[cbatters]

Im the pedal was not rock hard, it is more likely a problem with bleeding the brakes.


Clint

[Nihil]

What happened with it running? How did the engine run with everything correct?

What did the brakes feel like? Insufficient can mean many things, were they spongy feeling? Hard to push...etc...

The slider bolts should just have grease on'em n that'd be good, there's a little lip on the boot that should pop on the caliper if I remember correctly, I highly doubt the RTV would cause your problem, unless you used a VERY liberal amount and filled the whole boot/slot with it to where it'd make it almost rubber mounted rather than being able to slide. There's a lot of force there, if there were any RTV causing any restriction, the brakes would pull it apart with ease, unless, like I said, you used gobbs of it.

[ProwlerGT]

First off I still plan on posting compression numbers. I just got very discouraged after I drove the car the other day. I'm gonna do a prop valve test from several quick stops from 35mph and measure the heat of the rotors all the way around. I was told that if the fronts are way hot and the rears are barely warm that this means a bad prop valve. Lucky for me my sister has a LASER THERMOMETER !!!!! WWWHOOOOAAAAA !!!! DON'T ASK ! LOL!

Clint - Before reading the rest keep this in mind: I didn't know about brakes a long time ago and the car probably went almost 100k without a brake fluid line flush and also the brakes were used on at least 2-3 occasions while submerged in flood waters during that 100k no-flush time.

Symptoms:

1. Extreme (half as much as normal) insufficient braking power.
2. Pads scrape rotors despite free turning wheels when jacked up.
3. Car pulls hard left (but this changes at times to soft left or even right)

ALL brake system components replaced except the prop valve and brake pedal itself. Slider bolts freshly greased to proper grease amount per caliper. MC rebuilt. Replaced booster. All 4 calipers BRAND NEW. Lines bled in correct order with car on several times. New SS lines. No leaks. NO ABS.

I used to have consistent slanted wear on my rears with every pad used. As of late though I think I've identified it as a factory defect. If you use a small ruler and measure the length of the slider bolt boots in the rears the length of the top most boot is 1 hash mark on the ruler longer than the length of the boot on the bottom. If the sliders are uneven (which it appears to be due to the thickness of the rubber boot at top slider bolt) this to me would cause the rears to over time slant with the thinnest part of the pad being at the bottom of the caliper and thickest part of the pad at top. This 1 piston design in my NA is also to blame as I believe this problem would be solved with 2 pistons for the rear. This is just a theory, but I think its a good one because I was not satisfied with my front calipers till the distances between the caliper and caliper bracket along the slider bolts was equal. This cannot be attained on the rears that I have cause when the slider bolts crunch together the top most one keeps it from going all the watch to equal the length of the bottom most one.

Nihil - The engine is idling just right FINALLY which is a HUGE accomplishment as it hasn't run this smooth in at least 3-4 years (solved vac leak). Seems to be running well, but I am not entirely sure of "HP" on acceleration because I think some of the brakes are slightly engaged without pushing the pedal. If that isn't the case then the power is NOT right as far as I'm concerned. My mom's maxima has better pickup, but I must ensure this brake problem is solved to be sure.

I didn't use gobs of RTV. lol - Just used enough to form a seal at the slider bolt boots edges and all 8 slider bolts are extremely well lubed not too much or too little and the calipers move freely by hand as they should.

Threads I've been working in:
Proportioning valve: symptoms of being bad - Most of your answers about the brakes are in this thread.
Slider bolt problems
Compression Testing Correctly and Cold vs Warm engine