So a month or so ago I picked up my first classic se-r. Runs pretty good, but has a couple of maintenance items I'm going to take care of. Also has a couple of MINOR issues. I am wondering if you guys could help give me some pointers on items I should take care of on top of what I have listed.

Symptoms:
I occasionally have a stalling problem when I push the clutch in. It mainly happens when I am turning into a parking spot and the steering is at full lock. I push the clutch in and the rpm's drop then seem to catch itself, only sometimes it doesn't.

Another problem is sometimes I get a slight studder. It happens usually when I shift gears. I'll shift and then it will hesitate for a split second and then be fine. Happens under light to medium load. Also occasionally happens during 5th gear highway cruising.

I also have a warmup issue. When I start it up it will warm itself up, but if I jump on the highway the temp gauge drops all the way down. If I continue it will raise up again slowly. It never overheats although it is averaging about 0-20 degrees lately.



My maintenance list:
1) Oil change - its that time
2) New thermostat - kinda seems like it may be stuck open. Suggestions on temp?
3) Reground MAF - I read about it on this site, think it might solve my stalling?
4) Check spark plug gap - whats the recommended gap?
5) Check base timing in the near future - I need to get a timing light that will actually work.

Any suggestions? Hows my list sound so far?

For the stalling issue

-1) Get a factory service manual
0) Get a consult cable and some software like Nissan Data Scan, it will pay for itself quickly ( like checking the power steering switch and setting base idle and timing )


6) Adjust base idle speed
7) Check power steering switch function
8) Check tps adjustment


For a thermostat just get the factory part.

It sounds like your Idle air control valve is getting lazy. You can try cleaning it. I've never had much luck. Just search IACV and you'll find a crap load of info on it.

A lot of times coolant temperature sensors will get corrosion on them. This will cause the car to run funny. Clean these connections.

You need to check for vaccum leaks. Any air that bypasses the mass air flow sensor is unmetered and will cause running problems. Clean your maf sensor too. Junk builds up on them and they read wrong.

Buy oem or ngk tune up parts. NGK spark plugs are all you need. I don't know the factory spark plug gap. I believe you can get ngk caps rotors and wires. If your car has cheap aftermarket crap on it already remove it. The rotors and caps build up corrosion really fast in my experience. I clean them usually when I do my oil change.

Unless you are in an inspection state I'd say get rid of the emissions too. Block off the egr, run the pcv and the crank case breather into a catch can. You can use a tall boy beer can/juice can if you are on a budget, ebay has nicer looking stuff. Once you see the crap that builds up in the catch can you'll never want that stuff going into your intake again. All it does is gunk stuff up, like your iacv.

As for checking base timing, you have to put the car in timing mode. There is a rain dance to this, I have never gotten it to work. I've been lucky enough to work at shops that have good aftermarket scan tools that will hook up to it.

The studder would be hard to diagnose without driving the car.

You might want to get a fuel filter for it while you are getting parts too.

It might be a placebo affect, but I run fuel injector cleaner through mine about once a year and it seems to run better. I usually get the stuff for free because it's laying around the shop.

For the stalling try the following:

1. Check TPS adjustment
2. Set base idle and timing (search on how to do this, you must get the ECU in "Set Timing/Idle mode" to do this correctly)
3. If this doesn't fix it, then clean the throttle body and then set base idle again.
4. If the problem persists, if could be any one of a number of different things - search the Forum for ideas.

For the stutter, I'm going to bet that your BPT/ EGR pipe needs to be cleaned. Again, this has been described many times on this Forum, but there is a bronze pipe that comes off the exhaust manifold and runs between the distributor and the valve cover. Where this finger-sized pipe connects to the intake, a smaller pipe comes off it and continues up, connecting to a rubber hose that connects to the BPT valve. The BPT valve activates the EGR. If this is not working correctly, you will get a stumble. At the point where the small pipe comes off the first pipe there is a pin-hole sized passageway that gets clogged and causes this issue.

To diagnose whether this is your problem, deactivate the EGR by disconnecting the hose from the BPT to the EGR, and plug the BPT side. Drive your car and see it this fixes the problem. If yes, you most likely have to clean that little hole out to get things working well. You can find detailed instructions by searching, but basically you have to disconnect the finger-sized pipe at both ends, rotate it to exposed the pin hole and clean it with a dental pick.