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just checked all my butterfly valves when i did timing chain. all were tight. removed and put heavy duty loctite on the threads and reinstalled them. not a big job to do. people, if you havent done this yet, do it. doesnt take long and the 2 posts above this prove that it is worth doing.
Power Valve Screws Falling Out On 3.5's, 01-04 SEVERE ENGINE DAMAGE
#141
CDNBullrid 
- NPORA Regular
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- Group: Members
- Posts: 52
- Joined: 20-June 07
- Location:Steinbach, MB, Canada
- Model:LE
- Year:2001
Posted 19 June 2009 - 09:56 AM
MultiQuote
#142
parrish
- NPORA Veteran
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- Group: Members
- Posts: 111
- Joined: 01-July 09
- Location:Michigan
- Model:SE
- Year:2001
Posted 01 July 2009 - 02:09 PM
Thanks to everyone involved with this thread- I just tore apart my 2001 SE this morning to check the power valve screws. Three of the valves (all towards the back of the engine) were loose- the furthest back being so loose that I could remove the screws by hand. Fortunately none of the screws had come entirely loose- so no engine damage done. But it woudln't have been too much longer and at least one or two screws would have dropped. I used red threadlocker on all the screws.
It appears, at least on my Pathy, that the thread locker Nissan used was the type that would deteriorate in the presence of heat. The front most screws still had some type of threadlocker on them- but it crumbled to near nothing as I took the screws out (appeared totaly dried out). I'm thinking the rear most screws may get more heat- which could explain why those screws were much looser.
I've got 159,000 miles on my Pathfinder- guess I should just count myself EXTREMELY fortunate that no screws fell in that time! While I was in there I decided to clean up the upper plenum (I only removed the upper to do the loc'titing- no need to remove the lower plenum as long as you are careful and use a magnetic screwdriver to capture the screws as you remove them). I also used my air grinder to smooth and slightly enlarge the opening of the throttle body mount on the upper plenum. It still had excess casting from the factory that needed to be cleaned up. Besides, the opening was slightly smaller than the gasket opening so I opened it up to match the gasket. Not sure if it will help or not- but it was a 10 minute job so might as well.
All told it took me just under 2 hours to complete the job. Would have been more like 1.5 hours if I didn't do the clean up work on the upper plenum. Easy job that is WELL worth it!
It appears, at least on my Pathy, that the thread locker Nissan used was the type that would deteriorate in the presence of heat. The front most screws still had some type of threadlocker on them- but it crumbled to near nothing as I took the screws out (appeared totaly dried out). I'm thinking the rear most screws may get more heat- which could explain why those screws were much looser.
I've got 159,000 miles on my Pathfinder- guess I should just count myself EXTREMELY fortunate that no screws fell in that time! While I was in there I decided to clean up the upper plenum (I only removed the upper to do the loc'titing- no need to remove the lower plenum as long as you are careful and use a magnetic screwdriver to capture the screws as you remove them). I also used my air grinder to smooth and slightly enlarge the opening of the throttle body mount on the upper plenum. It still had excess casting from the factory that needed to be cleaned up. Besides, the opening was slightly smaller than the gasket opening so I opened it up to match the gasket. Not sure if it will help or not- but it was a 10 minute job so might as well.
All told it took me just under 2 hours to complete the job. Would have been more like 1.5 hours if I didn't do the clean up work on the upper plenum. Easy job that is WELL worth it!