My Getz has a list of issues longer than a roll of single ply toilet paper. Recently added to this list is cylinder #4 started missing on a 2 1/2 hour trip back home, convincing my wife that I should get a new car as she was concerned we would be stranded on the side of the road.
Suspected causes in order were fouled spark plug, dodgy HT leads, fuel injector, ignition coil, stuck valve. I found the cheapest spark plugs and leads I could find. The spark plugs were for the Getz, but the leads were a clearance item specifically for a Nissan Bluebird 2.4L, which from the photos online looked similar to images of what suited my car. I also figured if at least I could test with them and buy the more expensive ones later if needed.
Pulling out the spark plug it didn’t look fouled but I put in a new one anyway for testing along with a new lead, which would have worked as a permanent solution, with the only downside being the top seal was a little smaller for the spark plug tube so didn’t seal.
Back to the testing, the lead and spark plug made no difference, so the next test was fuel injector cleaner. I tried this out for 2 tanks of fuel and I think it actually made it worse.
I rang around wreckers and automotive stores for injectors, with the wreckers not having stock and new local stock pricing starting from $350 per set. Looking online I found a website that was only $40 including 5 day delivery from Sydney. I received it 3 weeks later from China.
The injectors at at the back of the engine so a little difficult to remove. I took off the high(ish) pressure manifold which the injectors came out with. The wire loom was attached to the manifold with the clips inaccessible under it, wing unable to rotate it while the injectors were still attached. Taking the first injector clip off it fell behind the engine making a nice clinking sound. I had parked in the grass so had to push the car back and get my son out with his metal detector looking for it. He didn’t find it. The rest of the injector clips then had a magnet attached to them as they were being removed to avoid the same scary noise being made.
Pulling/levering the injectors out of the manifold was difficult in the confined space and with the o-rings being stuck in the manifold, with 3/4 injectors leaving them behind.
To make some more room I also had to pull off the filter intake from the air intake manifold.
With the injectors out I could manipulate the injector manifold to access the cable and connector clips to disconnect them to free the manifold after also disconnecting the fuel line.
I installed the injectors back into the manifold and then remembered I was missing 1 clip. As we couldn’t find it earlier on the grass it must have been caught up somewhere behind the engine. To try to dislodge it I started bouncing the car by pushing down in it. When that didn’t work I jumped up on it and remembered how bad the shock absorbers were (somewhere in the middle of the toilet roll list. Nothing appeared on the cardboard under the car so I got a torch and started trying to locate the clip. I saw a small straight edge that possible could be it, but was completely unable to get anything to grab it with I owned. As most of the engine is plastic and aluminum, I grabbed the magnet from earlier and started fishing behind the engine with a piece of plastic pallet strapping as the line, and amazingly managed to snag it.
Now with the all the fastening clips on the injectors and oiling the o-rings I had to finesse the manifold into position with lots of effort. Once lined up it bolted up and seated smoothly.
I reconnected all the electrical plugs and attached the cable loom back onto the manifold. I then re-attached the airbox and was glad and a little surprised it was done without any major problems. This is where I should have started worrying.
I then tried turning over the engine to purge the air to the injectors. I was cranking for a good 20s. I am not sure if I remembered or I smelt the fuel at this point but I realised I had forgotten to re-attach the fuel line to the injector manifold. The piece of cardboard is set the car was soaked and the excess had spilled over onto the grass. There is going to be a pretty large dead patch of grass in the next couple of days. At least the back part of the engine got an expensive degrease. My wife checked after this incident the coverage of my insurance to make sure I had 3rd party fire and theft. Hopeful thinking?
After re-attaching the fuel line the engine started firing and after a couple of minutes ran smoothly (as smooth as it has been in recent years).
