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Villager/Quest Knock Sensor

122 messages,  Last post on May 01, 2013 at 3:38 PM

You are in the Nissan Quest Forum.

What is this discussion about? Mercury Villager, Auto Repair, Electrical, Engine, Fuel System, Van

Messages Page 11 of 13

#95 of 122 Re: 2001 Mer Vill [cookiegetter] by rudophbuchel

Sep 29, 2010 (8:28 am)

Replying to: cookiegetter (Sep 28, 2010 10:38 am)
Hi, I'm not a mechanic, but do all the work on my Villager. I hope this helps.
Three years ago my Villager had similar problems, rough running, lack of power, etc. I did the usual, plugs, dist. cap and rotor, check for vacuum leaks, I even replaced six studs on my exhaust manifolds that broke, thanks to J.B. Weld (quieter but no change in performance). Anyway, when I checked the timing, I noticed it was retarded badly, so I advanced the timing all to no avail. I decided to change the timing belt, idler and water pump. Well, I pulled off the crank sprocket and found my problem; the woodruff key turned between the sprocket and crank shaft and destroyed that keyway in the crank. I bought a new key from Mercury and realized the problem, OEM Villager Woodruff keys are not tall enough. There is about an 1/8th inch gap between the top of the key and the key channel in the sprocket, hence the key can ride up about an 1/8th inch in the keyway. I suppose this isn’t usually a problem for newer vans, however mine had 250K miles at the time and the tolerances were probably getting a little loose. Anyway, I went to the local hardware store and got the proper size metric woodruff key. It was much taller than the OEM key and fit much better. Obviously, the keyway had real problems, so, thanks again J.B. Weld. The van has 286k miles now without a reoccurrence.
As to "bucking" from a stop, mine did it for about a year, I just thought it was the transmission and figured it would go soon. Anyway, when I was changing the timing belt (above), I noticed that the driver side front motor mount was broken so I replaced all four motor and transmission mounts – bucking problem solved. Apparently, my neighbor had a similar problem. He saw me working on my Villager and stopped by to introduce himself and mentioned that he just had the transmission replaced ($2100.00). I told him about my experience with the motor mounts and we looked at his, the front two mounts were brand new without any charges for motor mounts on his invoice. He obviously thinks the tyranny was probably alright.

#96 of 122 Re: 2001 Mer Vill [rudophbuchel] by cookiegetter

Sep 29, 2010 (8:55 am)

Replying to: rudophbuchel (Sep 29, 2010 8:28 am)
Thanks, I'll pass that info to my mechanic. I'm not about to climb under and work on it, I would rather set fire to it! But, I felt pleased when the mechanic rode w/me so that I could show him HOW it ran, bucked, jumped, died...he said I could drive anything if I could drive that for over a year with it doing the way it is doing! I know when to get off the gas to let it shift, and I can have it cranked back up in under 5 seconds when it decides to die. I've got 189K miles on it, I don't want to get rid of it, but dang it's rough on the wallet!

#97 of 122 Re: 2001 Mer Vill [rudophbuchel] by steve_ HOST

Sep 30, 2010 (4:10 pm)

Replying to: rudophbuchel (Sep 29, 2010 8:28 am)
Wow, for someone who proclaims they aren't a mechanic, that's an impressive bit of detective work. My '99 Quest is running fine but the mpg is slipping so I think my tolerances are creeping up there too (mine's only got 150,000 miles though).
 
Steve, visiting host

#98 of 122 Re: 2001 Mer Vill [steve_] by rudophbuchel

Oct 01, 2010 (11:16 am)

Replying to: steve_ (Sep 30, 2010 4:10 pm)
Thanks for the compliment, no not a mechanic, just cheap.
 
I’m afraid I’ve never really been in a position to track my mileage regularly, in town one day and on the road the next, but my very best mileage recently has been 20.4MPG: it’s a '95. 3.0L with just under 300k miles; something to compare with yours.

#99 of 122 Re: 2001 Mer Vill [rudophbuchel] by steve_ HOST

Oct 03, 2010 (7:35 pm)

Replying to: rudophbuchel (Oct 01, 2010 11:16 am)
I'm in the middle of a road trip and my load isn't too bad. Ordinarily I'd be getting 26 to 29 mpg, but this trip I'm only getting 24ish or worse. It's been a while since the knock sensor code came up for me.

#100 of 122 Re: Knock sensor + Oxygen sensor [andyheb02] by marked1

Nov 06, 2010 (6:46 pm)

Replying to: andyheb02 (Jan 22, 2010 9:01 pm)
originally had knock sensor code and misfire in cylinder #4 code p0304 on villager 2000 w/96k. totally agree- knock sensor code means nothing. replaced spark
plugs, distributor cap and rotor just in case (looked worn out). also looked at distributor internal components- looked clean- no sign of apparent wear. it helped only with knock sensor code. misfire in cylinder 4 remained. swapping ignition wire #4 between cylinders didn't make any difference. compared the internal resistance between fuel injectors - injector #4 resistance 59ohm. other 2 injectors in front bank showed 12-14ohm. found it a little hard to replace the injector. soaked the injector assembly w/pb blaster for a wheek. i used wise grips to turn long phillips screwdriver to remove fuel injector cap screws. i used needle nose stile wise grips to get a hold of fuel injector- flush and just above fuel injector bore. i twisted fuel injector as it moved inside the bore just a little bit and started moving it side to side while pulling it up and it popped out. i recomend using very fine sandpaper to clean rusty fuel injector bore. clean it up and use engine oil to lubricate fuel injector o-rings and inside the bore before installing new one. not sure what those nissan tech's do, but it worked for me.

#101 of 122 Re: 2001 Mer Vill [rudophbuchel] by extrodinaire

Nov 16, 2010 (7:46 pm)

Replying to: rudophbuchel (Sep 29, 2010 8:28 am)
Hi. I own a villager and it appears that a couple of exhaust manifold studs have broken/not there. Would you please explain how you replaced the studs on your vehicle.
 
E

#102 of 122 Re: 2001 Mer Vill [extrodinaire] by rudophbuchel

Nov 17, 2010 (9:40 am)

Replying to: extrodinaire (Nov 16, 2010 7:46 pm)
Sure, you’re in for a trip. This is one of those projects that if you’re not committed, don’t attempt it. I replaced mine because the exhaust leaks made a ton of noise going down the alleys between my neighbor’s houses. I was really, really loud. Replacing the studs didn’t do anything for performance or gas mileage.
 
First thing to mention is that on my Villager, I could see 3 broken studs with the upper part missing, but when I got working on it, five more were cracked that just hadn’t yet fallen off, so I actually had 8 broken studs. Oh, if you’re wondering, every stud broke in the same place, right at the head so there was no chance to get a grip on it with vice grips locking pliers. .
 
The special tools I used for the extractions were: 1. good brand of penetrating oil (Wal-Mart); 2. a good fine file (Wal-Mart, Harbor Freight, Sears); 3. a good hard small point center punch and an automatic center punch, the spring loaded type of punch (Harbor Freight, Sears); 4. a good right angle drill (I have a 19.2 volt Craftsman that DID NOT do the job, I purchased an A/C electric one from Home Depot (Harbor Freight, Sears, Home Depot); 5. left twist drill bit set, probably two or three sets (Harbor Freight, Sears); 6. stud extractor set (Harbor Freight, Sears); 7. Replacement studs (I replaced all of the suds, even the ones that weren’t broken, I can’t remember the size, they are metric, get the grade 8 metric equivalent) (NAPA Auto Parts); 8. high temp anti-seize compound (on-line eBay, NAPA, AutoZone); 9. a good light with an aim-able beam (I have a Craftsman 19.2 volt flashlight that worked great); 10. an adjustable, telescoping mirror (Wal-Mart, Harbor Freight, Sears); 12. J. B. Weld epoxy (Wal-Mart); and a treaded tap set (Harbor Freight, Sears). Be prepared to buy thread repair inserts and appropriate taps and drills if things go really bad. All of this stuff is much cheaper online if you’ve got time. Harbor Freight is next best for price if you have one local, maybe Northern Tools, some place that sells cheap Chinese one-time use tools (hopefully you’ll never do it again).
 
Fair Warning, on mine I attempted to drill out the studs with the exhaust manifolds in place. Some folks may be more talented than me, but in my case, I made the project much worse by not removing the manifolds before attempting the extract the studs. The studs are Hard, Hard, but the head is soft. If the bit spins off the stud and onto the head, you’ll have a hole, I did. I suggest you take the exhaust manifolds off the heads to extract the studs, HUGE PAIN IN THE ASS. You’ll also need to remove the radiator.
 
If you’ve ever removed a broken stud, it’s really straight forward. First, make a punch mark in the EXACT center of the broken stud. Drill with a left twist bit into the punch mark EXACTLY parallel with the stud. If you’re lucky, the stud spins out with the left turning bit. If not, you insert the bolt extractor and break the stud free. HOWEVER, where you are going to be working there is absolutely no space.
 
Before starting the project, I suggest you liberally spray all the studs with penetrating oil, each day for a couple days before you intend to start the project. Jack the van up and get the rear (right) head studs good too. Because the studs break across the thread line, they never break flat, so it’s usually difficult to start a drill on the broken stud without a good punch mark. Getting a good punch mark on the broken stud is really difficult because of the angle you’ll be at and the lack of space. This is the toughest part. Whereever I had space to work, I used a small, fine file to polish flat some the broken studs to get a good punch mark. Use the mirror to verify the punch marks are exactly centered. This is a lot tougher that it sounds due to the space restrictions. Then, I used the right angle drill with left twist bits on the punch mark. DRILL EXACTLY PARALLEL WITH THE STUD ON THE MARK. If a bit dulls, un-ass it and get another, dull bits will kill you here. This is really difficult, again because of the space. Start with a small bit and drill out with a larger one until the hole sized is sufficient to get an extractor in. Be careful, it’s really tough getting broken bits out of the studs.
 
Okay, the good news, every stud that I didn’t screw up by attempting the drill out with the manifolds on, and even some that I did, came out with the drill. No extracting was necessary. If you drill into the head, all bets are off, and it is a lot more difficult getting the stud out. If you are good, just apply the anti-seize compound on the studs and replace them. If you’re not, and I wasn’t, you’ll need to re-tap the threads, maybe install repair threads, and fill the gaps with J. B. Weld. Believe me, that J. B. Weldstuff works, I have two gosh-awful holes that I got studs in and torqued.
 
I did this because I don’t give up on anything. My van had 260k+ mile when I did this. In retrospect, if I had it to do over again I’d probably buy a good low-milage used engine, replace the seals, valve cover gaskets, timing belt, idler, water and oil pumps and all of the exhaust manifold studs, and maybe the injectors, and switch motors. It would be more expensive but not take any more time that what I went through.
 
Good luck,
Rudy
r.buchelbuchel-ip.com

#103 of 122 Re: 2001 Mer Vill [rudophbuchel] by extrodinaire

Nov 17, 2010 (5:32 pm)

Replying to: rudophbuchel (Nov 17, 2010 9:40 am)
thank you for the info. it is kind of you to share. will let you know what i decide to do.
E.

#104 of 122 1999 villager , shake rattle and no roll by villagemusic

Jun 06, 2011 (2:55 am)

i really like the villager i bought a year ago, looks rides and is cool, however i started having problems , it would quit running in a heavy rain or after driving thru a car wash? light would come on, then it would run rough for a while and get okay.. problem got worse. replaced plugs, plug wires, condensor and cap.. run okay but still had problems,, ran better though so we took it to myrtle beach (600 mile ride) did fine,, on the way back,, no rain , just shake and rattle, finally gave out in north carolina, would not start at all.. towed to king nc and they said,,distributor, 600bucks.. okay,, they did it fast 2 hours,, and we were on the road,, did great, never ran so good, a week after being home,, it acts up randomly , wants only good gas now and it okay.
so,,, distributors are cheaper at home,, if your van is doing this,, consider getting it done where you live,, intead of on the road,,

Messages Page 11 of 13

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