AlbatrossCafe's FleXterra ~ T-Swap, 35s, 4.10s, Fully Locked

Looks good! I did mine in December. Dunno if you found it or not but I have a parts list on here somewhere for it that includes all the PCV hoses as well.

 

Found it:

https://www.xterranation.org/index.php?threads/vq40de-valve-covers-and-gaskets.9248/

 

Was the valve cover warped or something? Why did you replace the whole thing

 

Nice. I might have to go through and swap out all the hoses. That's an easy one to knock out.

The spark plug seal or whatever it is called is built into the valve cover. I had oil in my #6 spark plug and the only way to fix was to swap the whole cover. Luckily they are only like $35 apiece!

 

Well this was kind of scary and terrible timing... but today my X started to cut off randomly while driving. It was stuttering at first, but then would be fine for 50 miles. Well all of a sudden it was dying very frequently so I was trying to limp it to the auto parts store where I could get to a code reader. Made it about a block away before it wouldn't start, and of course it was at an intersection! My girlfriend jumped in the driver seat and steered while I pushed. Funny enough, she couldn't turn the 35s without the engine on so I had to run up first and help her crank it all the way. Lol

I say terrible timing because I had just done my 100k service as well as swapped the valve cover. I checked tranny fluid, oil, etc. hoses, plugs, etc. for anything I might have forgotten. All looked good. Then I was like "oh no, did I drop a paper towel or something into the engine??"

Got the code and it turns out it was the all-too-familiar P0335 code AKA "Crankshaft Position Sensor". Ran a block to the auto parts store, picked up a new NAPA sensor and a 1/2" drive swivel socket and got it swapped out in about an hour. Thank god for these forums....

I guess now that I've reached 100k I have to start carrying these spares in the truck now!

 

You'll probably want to go get an actual Nissan brand as a spare. Go ahead and swap the cam sensors with Hitachi from Rock Auto as well. You can carry your old cam sensors as emergency spares.

 

Once you’ve been there once, spare sensors seem to make their way into your glovebox. Glad you were close to a parts store.

 

I found out my new cooler (Yeti 65 - birthday present) fits perfectly in the back alongside my Rigid crates/boxes. It actually helps brace them and prevent them from sliding around and tipping over. I really love this setup for camping! Between the ceiling net, molle panel, the boxes, the cooler, and the trasharoo, everything is easy to get to and fits together like a puzzle.

 

Decided to clean up my old wheels with some new paint. Added a little bit more silver than before. I kind of like the old way better but there is no way I'm going through the taping exercise again... good enough. Definitely hid some of the scratches which I'm glad for. I'll swap these on my winter tires and sell the old 5-spokes in a few months.

 

Those rims look great! Nice job.

 

Same flex rock, spanning about 2 years.
Wheels and tires changed. Most noticeable though is prob that I got a new phone with a better camera

Which tires do you guys think look cooler?

 

So I just created a cool kit of spare camshaft sensors, crankshaft sensor, and ignition coil. Had it all labeled using the packing slip that came with it from rockauto.

Well not even 24 hours with my emergency kit in the back and my crankshaft sensor goes out AGAIN! WTF! That crappy NAPA brand sensor gave out after barely 800 miles! Thank god I had the spare. I had to change it out in some super brushy hole that turned me into a mosquito buffet. Luckily my GF with tiny arms was able to help.

What was weirdest was that the replacement sensor didn't have an O-ring...? Good thing I noticed it fit weird. I had to swap it over. What's with that? This one better give me at least 10,000 miles!



All the components fit nicely in this box:



After a night of sleeping, the car doesn't start. It drove just fine before we went to bed.



No O-ring? Come on, Hitachi!! (new one is on the right)

 

Any noticeable defect or something on the replacement? That seems like a really short interval even for the cheap Napa brand. Any chance you can get your money back for the cheap Napa one? Is it a thing where the Hitachi ones don't come with O-rings?

 

I don't think my OEM had an o-ring. It's going into the bell housing, not the crankcase so it's not imperative that it has one anyways.

I put in a OEM crank sensor since I couldn't find the Hitachi when I did mine.

But I've never heard good things about the cheap aftermarket ones.

 

Hope you got it restarted. I wonder if there's a "" Sensor's you should carry thread "" or a what you should/suggest you carry off road thread with you ? Especially since I'm a novice to" 4 " wheel offroading . Never carried anything more than a 20ft piece of rope for the dirt bike's ...

 

That's interesting that OEM didn't have a ring. I just ordered an OEM one as my new replacement. We'll see what it looks like. It just felt a little loose without it and I was worried water would get in there otherwise, but idk. Money back is almost not even worth the time. NAPA one was like $20

Yes I did, luckily! There are a couple threads between this and a few other forums that talk about it. Crankshaft sensors and camshaft sensors (one for each side) are on it, since those failing can bring down your whole engine. I'm going to print out instructions to carry with me as well since I've never swapped out the camshaft ones.

 

They're pretty easy. 10mm wrench and go across the top of the engine IIRC. Pretty sure I did them sitting on the ground in my driveway when the DS sensor failed a couple years ago.

 

OE didn't come with an o-ring for some reason but Nissan does actually sell one for it, I bought it about a year ago and installed it after I noticed how much dust was caked all over it.

 

That's good to know! Haha funny that the cheap one that failed did have an O-ring. Guess I'll preserve that one as long as I can.

 

I thought Hitachi was the OEM brand for Nissan?

 

I thought so too. I bought Hitachi off rock auto. It said "Actual OE Part" but people in threads were previously saying you could only get OEM part at dealership. So maybe I have OEM in there right now. Either way, I ordered a replacement OEM one. OEM was like $60 online, Hitachi "OE" was like $40.

Oh, and crankshaft OEM from local dealer was $140. Really want to support local but.... yeesh

 

I think it might be the OE brand, I've seen people buy the Nissan one from the dealer and it didn't come with the o-ring either. I found it on the parts diagram on my local dealership parts site and thought it was weird so I ordered one just to see. For an o-ring it was pricey but you could prob just get on from a hardware store that would be good enough too.

 

Hitachi builds the ones Nissan sells as their own. BUT they aren't always available from places like Rock Auto as was the case when i swapped mine. I think I paid like $98 from the local dealer for mine.

 

Installed new Warn VR Evo 10s!

Review here: https://www.xterranation.org/index....review-comparison-vs-smittybilt-x20-10k.9651/

 

Alright, I definitely need to pick up these sensors and an extra socket in whatever sizes needed to keep in the recovery box.

 

It’s the highly elusive 10mm

 

and a long extension for the crank sensor

 

I was able to get to the crankshaft pos sensor with a 4" long 10mm open end wrench. If it is stuck on there after 100k miles it might be hard to get it loose, but that size wrench fits perfectly otherwise.

Also, I definitely ordered this:



But they gave me this (Actual crankshaft position sensors on the left):

 

My new OE had the metal end too.

 

The metal part concerned me at first, but it's the connector for the one on the right that actually upside down. Idk where the crank angle sensor goes but looks like NissanPartsDeal will give me a free replacement anyway. Good to know that OE might be metal (though the one I first pulled out at 100k was plastic )

 

I can't remember if my connector was 180* out or not. Didn't pay that much attention.

 

The connector on my new one was definitely 180 degrees off, and I vaguely remembered reading about it on here or maybe the old board. I just turned the wire, plugged it in, then rotated the rubber boot.

 

I JUST noticed this on my order:



So it looks like it is the correct part? I don't wanna rotate it lol. I'm worried about pulling the pins out of the plug. Did it feel like it was gonna break loose when you did that?

 

The wire felt like there was enough slack that it shouldn’t be a problem.

 

Just for kicks I decided to try scratch remover against my paint. I used to do this all the time early in my X ownership but it was a never-ending and losing battle after a while.

Anyway, here's a before/after. It actually did a really good job! Look at the edges of the 2nd picture where you can see the line of where I polished. It looks like the paint is dirty but it is actually just clear coat damage. I may try to find a way to do this efficiently for the whole car if I get bored.

 

Gonna give this limit strap install a shot this weekend. My coilovers need rebuild every 10k miles because the internal bumpstops get destroyed on droop. I'm not doing high speed running... I guess they just take a beating flexing out in potholes and over the slow stuff.

 

Just as a comparison.... My limit straps on the front are 14" long.... and doubled (2 each side).

I think those are a bit short.

 

Huh. Chris Hayne's had 8" ones per side. I read about 4runner setups that used 8" also. That would suck if that were the case. Got a pic of yours? I wonder how setup compares. I"ll find out tomorrow.

Not really concerned about doubling up. 1 short strap should be more than sufficient... not doing any high speed running or jumping. Just don't want my shocks to blow every 10k miles

 

UPDATE:

Was messing around today. I have an adjustable point at the top that gives me nearly 2" of room. I could get a longer strap and go to the bottom of the threads on this. If that would make any worthwhile difference.




In the first pic, all the adjustment is nearly topped out. The strap would attach on the inside half of the LCA. It could clear the bumpstop assuming it compresses the "right" way, but idk if I like this margin of error.



Pic #2. I'm attaching lower on the arm. IDK if where the bottom the strap is attached and the leverage that applies makes any difference. The upper attachment point is also lower on the frame compared to pic #1. I could move the upper attachment up and use a longer strap here as well. Either way, the bump stop is still close by




Pic #3 - I move the upper attachment outboard further. I'll need a longer strap (10" or 12"). I can attach the lower point similar to what you see in pic #2. I would be clear of the bump stop, but the "con" is that I don't think I'm getting as straight of a pull on the LCA. Everything I've read says you want to pull as straight as possible.




So what do you guys think? What option looks best? FYI - was modeling mine off of ChrisHaynesUSA. He did say he used an 8" strap but he may have been measuring material only instead of eye to eye - pic here

 

I'd get longer straps and adjust accordingly rather than trying to make the 8" ones work, just my 2 cents.