I have to admit that the planned project car might not just be a project car all along. After trying damn hard to fix the electronic engine control system, I reached a conclusion that fixing the damn car up would cost me quite a lot of money that I’m even better off buying a better base car for another project than pursuing this current one. Swapping the engine to a beastly SR20DE would cost a lot of money and with the cost of gas prices these days, getting a larger displacement engine would make it more of a guzzler.

Still, I was in a quandary on what to do with the Sentra since disposing it with the hard starting and rough idling would be like giving it away. No one would like to buy such a car, not even gullible newbie drivers looking for a beat-up car to beat up some more before they get their brand-spanking new cars.

Aside from the engine swap, I was also considering whether to carb it or not to carb it. Carbing it out would definitely solve the damn starting and idling problems since I’d be ridding the car of whatever faulty sensor there is. Last time I had the car diagnosed and scanned by the dealership, they were pretty sure that the car’s engine control module was f-ed up. So I thought, what the heck, doing this would give me a bit more understanding of fuel management systems anyway.

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It has been months since I wrote about our supposed project car here at AutoJab. I figured that once I’m able to put in a budget, I’d go about doing the mods to the car and the first item on the agenda was supposed to be an engine swap. The stock Sentra has a 1.6L GA16DE engine that has given me some problems due to failing electronics.

An option is to have it adapted to carb but that would be considered a downgrade since the car would lose a good amount of horses, not to mention that it would also consume a bit more gas and passing emissions would be a bitch.

I was supposed to have it swapped out with an naturally aspirated SR20DE (there’s also a turbocharged one - the SR20DET) - of the classic, mass produced Nissan engines that could give the B13 Sentra a lot of punch per pound, enough to supposedly give the Civic Si a run for its money on a straight line.

However, the problem is that the SR20DE is it guzzles gas just a tad more than what’s slapped on the ride right now from 22 mpg with the GA16DE (based on experience) to 18 MPG. With the gas prices sky-high, I’m putting it on hold until I get to decide which gets me the best buck-per-bang arrangement.

Nobody would probably want to drive a fifteen-year-old car anyway but I went crazy and decided to buy one and make a project car out of it. Unless, of course, it’s a classic or one of those super tricked out cars. When I started out with this idea of a project car, I thought I could just simply purchase a fifteen-year-old car and do just that.

Boy, was I wrong.

I have to admit I was a bit too anxious in starting the project and probably made a bad purchase. And because of that, all of my plans were thrown to mush. I was just supposed to restore the car to its old glory but I guess that would be next to impossible given that it turns out that the car’s a bit of a Frankenstein’s monster.

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It has been a while since I wrote about the project car and it’s because I’ve encountered a huge block. I am quite convinced that stealerships are only good if you’re buying brand new cars. I’m still having the hard starting and idling problems from last year.

As Japanese everyday sedans go, the B13’s GA16DE engine is quite a good engine. I tried it out going Sunday afternoon driving at one of the hilly portions around my area and the engine still packs a bit of punch. I still got to overtake vehicles going uphill. Though I’m quite pissed when a brand-spanking new Toyota Yaris passed me while going downhill. But that was way dangerous driving.

Anyway, here’s my dilemma. If I decide to keep the engine, to solve the idling and starting problems, I might need to have the whole car rewired (a new engine wiring harnesses is out of the question due to the outrageous cost) and have some sensors replaced. The total cost of which is also expensive. The car’s quite old so I still deliberating whether that would be practical.

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Should I kill myself now? I’m not absolutely not happy with how things are going with this budget project car. Just when I thought I’ve fixed the problem areas that have been plaguing me since purchase, they’re back. Yes, again, I’m having some idling and starting problems yet again leading me to believe that the only way to finally solve this is to either 1) replace the whole engine control system with brand new genuine parts or 2) smash it to bits like what Jeremy Clarkson does.

However, I’m not some multi-millionaire English bloke who has access to a fat bank account and supercars galore. I’m just an ordinary person who works a 9 to 5 with very limited budget to spend on a car.

Now, I’m thinking whether it’s the AAC valve again since I bought it from a scarp yard surplus part. But heck, it’s totally crazy given that the problem went away when we replaced it. So it might be the ECU and it might be the old engine wiring harness. I’m starting to be convinced that the car wasn’t exactly a decent buy at all. And I’m pissed off.

I finally got the car back from the dealership and I have to say that stealership is more apt name for them. So I thought they’d be able to properly rejuvenate the engine wiring harness. They actually did so that the ECU would now get signals from the sensors. But I have to say that the workmanship sucks eggs. It’s a horrible patch job of electrical tape, solder and wires jumbled together. And it never really solved the idling and bucking problem solved.

After being waylaid by the d(st)ealership for double their initial quote (from $150 to $260), I took it to my own mechanic to double check the work. We weren’t really satisfied at all. Maybe I’ll just invest on buying my own Nissan CONSULT diagnostic thingamajig. The d(st)ealership recommended that I take a look at the fuel pump and filter and the AAC valve since they’re the most likely causes of the idling and bucking problem.

So together with my mechanic we went through some scrap yards to get a surplus AAC valve. We got one for a $80 for the whole assembly including the FICD. Installing it removed some of the bucking and idle hunting. Next, I bought a replacement fuel pump and a new fuel filter and had them installed.

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The car’s at the d(st)ealership right now and I have to bear three days without it. I’ve checked out shops who carry a whole set of the engine wiring harness and it seems that I’m fucked. The prices all range from $800 to $1200 as initially quoted. Not really something that’s practical and reasonable for a project on a budget.

So I just took the alternative of having them restore the engine wiring harness according to the genuine schematic. The dealership’s estimate is that it’d take three days but would be worth a lot less. But since I’m only having the wiring re-done, they can’t guarantee that the bucking and jerking would go away. But having the wiring re-done to the real schematic would allow the ECU to get accurate readings. I’m holding off replacing the AAC valve assembly for now.

What worries me is the error code that shows that possibly the ECU’s damaged. I’m also hoping that the wiring would solve that. They said that it’s impossible to tell until the wiring’s redone but it’s a $160 (yeah, they upped the cost of having the wiring redone) shellout just to get a confirmation.

If all else fails, I’m having the car converted to carb. Though we’re still researching if this is possible with the GA16DE engine.

I’m writing this while waiting for the diagnosis of car at the Nissan dealership. One thing I really like about having a car serviced at the dealership is the facilities. At least they provide you with a lounge where you can sit comfortably sit down while waiting for your car to be fixed. There’s coffee and some complimentary snacks. Too bad they don’t have wi-fi in the lounge. However, obviously, this kind of service doesn’t come cheap.They already charge something for the check-up.

Right now, the initial diagnosis stands - sensors. These folks readily assumed that the bucking and idling problems has something to do with the engine control system. But what’s good about having the car checked here is that they do have to proper diagnostic tools to confirm the initial assumptions.

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Not even two weeks in my possession and I’m thinking that I should’ve gotten a Toyota instead. It’s really crazy since in those days that I’ve been checking the car out and test driving it, there were very minimal things to fix. But now, all the quirks are showing up and I’m now convinced that I’m in for the long haul before I really get this to good shape. Oh well.

Sure there are pains that go with buying with an old car but now I understand why our friends in Europe send decade-old cars to the scrapyard. I initially thought that this car was a steal with the relatively low price compared to Corollas of the same year (equipped with carburetors) since this was the luxury sedan Sentra and already equipped with EFI.

But my initial fear of getting a car that’s overly reliant on electronics is biting me now. The starting and idling problems I am convinced are all related to the complex system of sensors all linked to the ECU. And there’s no real way of telling which one’s malfunctioning since 1) I don’t have the CONSULT module and 2) my ECU doesn’t have a diagnostic mode. While the check engine light doesn’t blink at all, I’m thinking it’s because of the crummy wiring that the previous owner has done to the vehicle.

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One of the fears I had with getting a old car that dates back just when EFI systems were just going standard is that the electronics might give up on me one day or the next. And I’m fearing just that until me and my mechanic gets to the bottom of it, I might be looking at a lot of replacements for the fuel control system.

Last time, I shared that I’m having some problems with erratic idling. Then the engine struggles to get to a stable RPM (which with the B13 with a GA16DE engine is 750 RPM +/- 50) coming from a cold start. This is accompanied by several RPM dive bombs that sometime would lead to the engine sputtering and dying out. I had to mix it up with a few soft punches of the accelerator pedal just to keep the engine alive.

Since my mechanic didn’t have a CONSULT module that checks the sensors and the ECU for any error codes, we resorted some good old mechanical approach (which are also featured in Nissan’s service manual for the B13). First, we decided to clean all the sensors free from soot, starting with the MAP sensor, then to the 02 sensor, and the idle adjustment valve. We took care to disconnect the battery prior to it so that no voltage spikes may damage the ECU.

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