[RabidRaccoon]

Hey, guys. I recently bought my beloved 92 Sentra SE-R, and I've (very) recently discovered that I have substantially less power than another SE-R of the same year.

I have no clue what the heck could be wrong with my car. I recently had the mass air flow sensor cleaned out and also had one of the O2 sensors changed which fixed many idling problems. I have new plugs, but not plug wires. I'm thinking either my clutch is slipping a little bit, or there's something wrong with my fuel injectors. I just put some slick 50 fuel system cleaner in my gas tank, but didn't notice any difference in power.

So I guess my questions are:

1. What do you guys see that could be wrong with my car to cause such a drastic loss in power?

2. How can I check the clutch and fuel injectors for problems?


[edit]
Oops forgot to mention I did a compression test and these were the results:

Cylinder 1, Cylinder 2, Cylinder 3, Cylinder 4, respectively.
Dry Test: 160, 155, 160, 165
Wet Test: 170, 160, 175, 185

I did some searching and found out that it should be around 180; could this be my problem?
[/edit]


Now to go back and do some more searching...


Thankyou all!
Rick

 

[Nicoli]

I have a XE as far as Power I could go on forever about mods. but to speak locally
You may want to swap sparg Plug wires as having powerful spark plugs is not going to Help unless You actually carry that spark to them. I suggest going with Nology wires. they are VERY expensive about $150.00 but they pack a puch. if You do Not have that kind of dough. Try Accel or Bosch 8mm. also switch to a cold air Intake. AEM,Pacesetter and I think ARP make some for this car. other ideas Would Be change Fluids, clean hoses, check Tire Pressure., Tire thread. Keep In Mind this is Not exactly a Drag car if anything it falls under Drift. no that does Not Mean it cant Be a drag car But its handling qualities are what sets it apart.

 

[Kindfiend]

Hey, guys. I recently bought my beloved 92 Sentra SE-R, and I've (very) recently discovered that I have substantially less power than another SE-R of the same year.

I have no clue what the heck could be wrong with my car. I recently had the mass air flow sensor cleaned out and also had one of the O2 sensors changed which fixed many idling problems. I have new plugs, but not plug wires. I'm thinking either my clutch is slipping a little bit, or there's something wrong with my fuel injectors. I just put some slick 50 fuel system cleaner in my gas tank, but didn't notice any difference in power.

So I guess my questions are:

1. What do you guys see that could be wrong with my car to cause such a drastic loss in power?

2. How can I check the clutch and fuel injectors for problems?


[edit]
Oops forgot to mention I did a compression test and these were the results:

Cylinder 1, Cylinder 2, Cylinder 3, Cylinder 4, respectively.
Dry Test: 160, 155, 160, 165
Wet Test: 170, 160, 175, 185

I did some searching and found out that it should be around 180; could this be my problem?
[/edit]


Now to go back and do some more searching...


Thankyou all!
Rick

It's funny, but I just bought the same car about 3 days ago. I have the same problem, the power just isn't there. Look around on www.se-r.net, they have some solutions for problems like ours.

BTW, many things can cause a car to run sluggish. Tune-up, clean the throttle body, check grounds, check o-rings on the injectors (easy on our highport engines), and anything else mentioned on the website I gave you. There's plenty more, but those are good places to start.

One more note, don't use slick-50 for anything. IIRC, they put teflon in their additives, which is not good for engines. That could be misinformation told to me, but I'm not a fan of fuel cleaners anyway.

 

[Kindfiend]

I have a XE as far as Power I could go on forever about mods. but to speak locally
You may want to swap sparg Plug wires as having powerful spark plugs is not going to Help unless You actually carry that spark to them. I suggest going with Nology wires. they are VERY expensive about $150.00 but they pack a puch. if You do Not have that kind of dough. Try Accel or Bosch 8mm. also switch to a cold air Intake. AEM,Pacesetter and I think ARP make some for this car. other ideas Would Be change Fluids, clean hoses, check Tire Pressure., Tire thread. Keep In Mind this is Not exactly a Drag car if anything it falls under Drift. no that does Not Mean it cant Be a drag car But its handling qualities are what sets it apart.

Just to let you know, everyone here will tell you to use OEM wires, no need to spend $150.00! It's better to fix the cause of the problem than just throwing on performance parts. Make sure the car runs right, then put some aftermarket parts on it.

 

[Slacky]

no harm in throwing a good set of wires on, it cant do anything but help . id say check the three things that make a engine run in the first place, make sure u got good air flow so check air filter and throttle body.
make sure u have good fuel delivery so change fuel filter and make sure injectors arent clogged if ya have the know how to do so
make sure that u have spark, check all plugs wires, rotor, cap, coil, and of cours grounds, a good ground can help a lot

 

[Nicoli]

It's funny, but I just bought the same car about 3 days ago. I have the same problem, the power just isn't there. Look around on www.se-r.net, they have some solutions for problems like ours.

BTW, many things can cause a car to run sluggish. Tune-up, clean the throttle body, check grounds, check o-rings on the injectors (easy on our highport engines), and anything else mentioned on the website I gave you. There's plenty more, but those are good places to start.

One more note, don't use slick-50 for anything. IIRC, they put teflon in their additives, which is not good for engines. That could be misinformation told to me, but I'm not a fan of fuel cleaners anyway.

I agree with teh Sentiment that most any New wires will work and then Just get the car running good First. However if spark plug wires are one of the things on the list to Upgrage (that is a Big IF) why not go ahead and trick those out? insdtead of Buying cheap plug wires then saying "okay that fixes the Problem" then go out and buy more performance parts. also an extra is that sometimes Performance parts costs less than OE replacement . an experiment? go to the Nissan dealership and ask for a price on a air filter. then go to an auto parts store and Price a K&N. many times it is less expensive it really depends ON How Much You are attached to the Car, but as I said earlier if Your not ready to spend $150 on cables there are plenty of good names Out there. Accel, Bosch, just to name two. who have nice cables for a fair price.

 

[RabidRaccoon]

Thanks so much for the reply, guys. I was beginning to think no one would ever give me an answer. Anyway, as for checking the fuel injectors, I do have the mechanical aptitude (is that the right word?) to do so - I just need to know how to get at them and what to look for.

I've been meaning to replace the plug wires for some time, actually. I still have the stock ones (they were on it when I bought the car a month or two ago) and the rubber nubs at the bottom of the wires (where it connects to the plug) have all come off. :shrug:

I do agree with Kindfield in that I need to figure out what the problem is before I can start doing performance mods, but once we're done with that, I will become a strong advocate of performance parts.

In conclusion, I'll repace the plug wires with performance wires (because, honestly, that could be the problem), but the exhaust and intake and all that will have to wait till we figure this out. So my next question would be this: How do I get at my fuel injectors? Do I just undo those little screws that appear to be holding them in? What do I look for to determine if there's a problem with them? Is there a gasket I will need to replace if I take them out? Also, where is the fuel filter on this thing? That's worth taking a look at too.


Thanks again for your replies. It's greatly appreciated.
Rick

 

[Johnny-wonk]

If the wires are falling apart at the bottom's. My guess is that they arent OEM wires. Get a set of OEM wires dont get Nology's. They have been shown to actually gain HP like they claim and then after a while that HP gain starts to trun into a HP los because the wires deteriorate quickly or somthing...

Any just stick with OEM.

 

[Kindfiend]

Thanks so much for the reply, guys. I was beginning to think no one would ever give me an answer. Anyway, as for checking the fuel injectors, I do have the mechanical aptitude (is that the right word?) to do so - I just need to know how to get at them and what to look for.

I've been meaning to replace the plug wires for some time, actually. I still have the stock ones (they were on it when I bought the car a month or two ago) and the rubber nubs at the bottom of the wires (where it connects to the plug) have all come off. :shrug:

I do agree with Kindfield in that I need to figure out what the problem is before I can start doing performance mods, but once we're done with that, I will become a strong advocate of performance parts.

In conclusion, I'll repace the plug wires with performance wires (because, honestly, that could be the problem), but the exhaust and intake and all that will have to wait till we figure this out. So my next question would be this: How do I get at my fuel injectors? Do I just undo those little screws that appear to be holding them in? What do I look for to determine if there's a problem with them? Is there a gasket I will need to replace if I take them out? Also, where is the fuel filter on this thing? That's worth taking a look at too.


Thanks again for your replies. It's greatly appreciated.
Rick

Follow the fuel lines from the fuel rail (where the injectors are) and you will find the fuel filter. It's probably on the driver side. I can't be more specific since I haven't had a chance to work on my car yet... work sucks, I'd rather be fixing my car.

Anyway, you should be able to just pull the injectors easily by removing the screws and carefully pulling them out. You'll need to replace the injector o-rings, which shouldn't be too hard to find at an autoparts store. That should be good enough for now.

If the engine feels like it's running on 3 cylinders, you can unplug the injectors one at a time. Notice if the engine bogs after each injector is unplugged. If not, you may have a worn injector.

 

[RabidRaccoon]

Thanks, guys. This gives me hope. I'll get the wires today and I'll make sure to get OEMs. The injectors I may do tomorrow since I won't need to go anywhere. I'll let you know what happens. Thank God I just finished my pool tournament and came out $70 ahead.

 

[RabidRaccoon]

Hey, guys. Sorry it took me so long to get around to this - something came up on Friday and I couldn't work on my car, and I had work every other day until yesterday, but anyway, I put in the new plug wires, distributor cap, and rotor, and it appears as if that was what the problem was because it doesn't bog down when I try to launch any more, and it feels like I have another 20 horses under the hood. Those wires must've been reaaallyy bad.

I still haven't taken a look at the fuel injectors because I don't think they are causing any problems, but I'm going to do it eventually because it's a good idea to make sure they're running correctly, but we can start on the fun stuff now (exhaust being my first objective). I have found a few catbacks that are made for my car, but I want some input from you guys on what you think I should get. Thus far I've found a catback made for my car by Megan, HKS Sport, and MONZA. I really would prefer greddy, but I can't find one for my little Sentra. I was also considering buying a performance muffler and then taking my baby to Meineke and having them custom bend 2.5" or 3" tubing for me from the cat back. Should I go from the cat back, or is it worth it to go from the headers back?


Thanks!
Rick