Nissan Tech Inspection Results; Suggestions?

[nismoskyz]

So I took my S13 to West Covina Nissan for a full "Multi-Point Inspection"...Hoping to discover what needs to be taken care of for my near stock KA daily driver.

Unfortunately, I felt that many of the details they gave weren't as specific as I would have liked, some I already knew of...

The most important thing they told me, though, that I had no clue about before, was that they said my engine wiring harness is bad. The tech pointed this out to me by shaking the wiring harness while the engine was running and showing how the RPM was caused to fluctuate.

The tech said when he messed with the harness, an intermittent code of cam sensor was thrown.. He was also saying something about it throwing off the coolant sensor...

They quoted me $1100 for parts/labor for replacement of the wiring harness, while a shop I called (G-Dimension) said they'd charge no more than $250 for labor

IDK yet how much new wiring harnesses are but I'm considering to go through with the shop replacing it for me.

What can you guys suggest on this?

Also I was told many of the noises that come when i turn the steering wheel are due to "worn suspension bushings"

..and of course that my alignment is off, the exact reason of which they didnt even tell me, but I know is due to needing tension rods.

Oh, also I was told that the motor is running lean, which could be due to the MAF.

and they did a compression test and said:
Cylinder#1,2,...:135, 145, 145, 135
Are these numbers okay? I'm finding conflicting info, some say 150 is avg, others, 180...

My goal here is to have a reliable, well-performing (motor health-wise) daily driver.

I'm just trying to get an outside opinion on these results before I go out spending money where it wasn't necessary, so I really appreciate suggestions and comments you can give me.


Thanks again

[Koopa Troopa]

With Nissans as long as the numbers are consistent then it's good. It might not be a strong motor but it's good. All those numbers mean is your motor is getting old but at least they're consistent. Be worried of 3 are 135 and one is 50.

Wiring harnesses are expensive as shit. 1100 for a new wiring harness in the labor doesn't sound too bad however find out what that wiring harness costs. Brand new engine harness for an EG6/ B16A will cost $604 from Honda. If that gives you an idea on how expensive harnesses are.

[drifter_for_life06]

last time I check a harness was like 400 bucks, so if thats the case, id have GDimensions do it, you'll save like 500bucks. but dont quote me on that price, i havent checked into the price in probably 5 years so its gotta be different by now

Lean could be the MAF, or you could have a number of other issues...as far as the compressions test, I cannot comment as I dont know the specifics for that part of the KA. if you cant find a solid answer here, try KAt.org since its a KA website

[Zero_SX]

the shop would be replacing it with a used one which is still all good considering the major price difference.

[projectRDM]

Harnesses are repairable too. I'm sure you're not looking to jump into it on your own but I myself would strip down and repair the existing harness. If that's not an option, any quality shop can offer to sell you a used one as part of a trade for your old one, which will then be repaired to resell to another customer. Don't get taken advantage of too much, you can replace the full harness in under an hour with a piss and smoke break in there. If someone came to me I'd charge no more than $150 to just replace it. I've sold used harnesses for $75-125, so $300 total out the door isn't unreasonable.

[nismoskyz]

It would be nice if I knew how to repair it myself, but I have absolutely no experience in that area and it seems like to deep of a task to dive into without any previous experience.

Would you really recommend a used harness though?
I would think that these things are getting close to 20 years old as it is, who knows what wires are just about ready to fry on a used one?

Yeah that's actually what the guy at the shop told me, that $250 would probably be the absolute max i would have to pay for labor alone and that it would probably be less than that.

thanks for the suggestions...

[illxs14]

how much did the inspection cost?

[nismoskyz]

Over the phone they were asking $145 (which I think is ridiculous), but a cool guy in the service dept. helped me out and did it for $65.

[nrmskate]

The harness could be 50 years old.

As long as it's been taken good car of, there should be no problems.

I would suggest just buying a used one and doing it yourself.

You don't learn unless you do it first hand.

Only way to gain real experience.

You don't need to take the engine out.

Just snugging it and finding all the plugs, it's not to bad of a job to do yourself.

[projectRDM]

It would be nice if I knew how to repair it myself, but I have absolutely no experience in that area and it seems like to deep of a task to dive into without any previous experience.

Would you really recommend a used harness though?
I would think that these things are getting close to 20 years old as it is, who knows what wires are just about ready to fry on a used one?

Yeah that's actually what the guy at the shop told me, that $250 would probably be the absolute max i would have to pay for labor alone and that it would probably be less than that.

thanks for the suggestions...

Every car is different. Some harnesses I've pulled looked amazing, only because the owner maintained the car and kept it clean underhood, etc. Some looked like fuck. Oil, fuel, ATF, anything can destroy a harness quickly, accident damage, improper installation or labor on the engine can break connectors, road abuse can shake clips loose and wear the loom off in places where it contacts things. It's really hard to gauge the quality of a used wiring harness since it's fully wrapped up, and there's always the guys who sabotage parts like unwrapping one, cutting out pieces of wire, and rewrapping it. Seriously. I've seen SR harnesses like that before, a shop out in CA years ago where Ricky Chu worked sold a friend of mine an SR with a sabotaged harness. Looked fine, turned out all four injector signals had about 14" of wire missing.
So if they can offer some kind of guarantee, even for like 90 days, I'd trust them. Because they really can't know unless they've redone it themselves, if they haven't I'd look elsewhere. You've said it yourself you're not able to get into it, you'd hate to spend the $250 and be back in the same spot a few months down the road.

[nismoskyz]

Thanks for the suggestions guys,

I guess I'm gonna have to go new then, cause you've certainly scared me out of getting a used one.

Do you know of any good places to get a new harness for a KA? All I'm finding online are SR harnesses?

Maybe courtesyparts? But I'm not sure if the harness I'm looking at on their site is the right one.

[DJ_Sunrise]

Keep in mind that besides Russ, almost no one on here is a professional. OEM quality of parts and service compared to aftermarket is like comparing gold to tin. Also, keep in mind the dealership you went to is legit. If they fuck something up, its on their dollars, not on yours. Personally I would buy Russ a two way ticket to cali and back, and a couple hundred dollars for a mini vacation...because he's the man.

-Bart

[Def]

Keep in mind that besides Russ, almost no one on here is a professional. OEM quality of parts and service compared to aftermarket is like comparing gold to tin. Also, keep in mind the dealership you went to is legit. If they fuck something up, its on their dollars, not on yours. Personally I would buy Russ a two way ticket to cali and back, and a couple hundred dollars for a mini vacation...because he's the man.

-Bart

Russ is pretty much the only guy in the S chassis world where this much nutswinging is acceptable.

Srsly, he knows his S chassis shit, your S chassis shit, and everybody else's S chassis shit forwards and backwards.

[projectRDM]

Man love central in here.

I checked Courtesy's site, they list the engine harness as NLA. You may get lucky and find one in a warehouse still in stock, but a new one is usually about $680-700 retail. It would of course be perfect and the dealer would back the work for a minimum of a year, way better than anywhere else, but that's a lot to pay for an old car. If I wasn't backlogged I'd offer to track one down and redo it for you, but the last few S13s to hit the pull it yards here have all been SOHCs and cut all to hell and I'm three weeks behind on little shit as it is. I bet yours is a really simple repair anyway if you could find someone locally who's able to check it out. Keep asking around before you drop the big money.

[nismoskyz]

^lol at the man love. Well that certainly vouches for your knowledge.

Ouch, $700, for a new one, that pretty much justifies the dealer's price for $1100 in a way... Of course there's no way I can dump that much money in atm, as the finances for that just aren't available.
Although if I could afford it, I'd probably do it in a heartbeat, just to help keep the car running reliably.

I really appreciate the help man. I guess I'll probably try to get a second and third opinion from some local shops and see how they can help me out.

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions, once again, I really appreciate it.