Sorry I might not have been so clear in what I meant. Will try to elaborate.
Nah, thermostat was installed correctly. I don't know what you mean when you say "sideways", the thermostat is essentially a flat disc with bits sticking out. It's either one way or the other. The thermostat WILL restrict flow, though. That's it's point, almost. It keeps the coolant circulating the engine at an optimal temperature. It closes and opens slowly and slightly to adjust the amount of water flowing through from the radiator (aka cold water).
Re thermostat.. (trying to explain without a drawn diagram) the bottom part with the spring that sticks into the cooling channel behind the thermostat, which allows coolant to flow (even when the thermo is closed), has two support "legs" on the sides. When the thermo was installed the correct way around, with TOP in the up position, the legs kinda block off the flow.. even with the thermo open, not enough coolant could flow past them. They are quite wide.. almost wide enough to block it off completely. Now I'm not sure if I was given the wrong part, but turning it 90 degrees sideways moves those legs out of the way. Hope this makes sense.
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/435814093/Fit_for_Car_Thermostat_NISSAN_21200/showimage.htmlI removed the surge after 3k, haven't fixed the surging when i first start the car though. Until it warms up it is not happy to cruise along in first. It's on the long list of "to do"s. Mine is fuel pump related (the thing was on it's last legs). Sorry man.
I read about someone else having all the vaccy hoses munted up. Mine has the SCVs controlled, which probably explains the freaky business in the low end while cold (while SCVs are supposed to be actiive), but it doesnt explain why it's only just started.
Mine seems less sluggish when cold, and first gear doesn't seem to be a problem.
Liquid falls out when cold? or warm as well? It's not unusual for water/condensation to drip out of the exhaust pipe. Smell it. If it reeks of fuel, even if it is liquid water coming out. As for it being "spat out when the pistons pump", you realise that at idle the pistons pump at 850 rotations per minute, right? So your exhaust would be leaking something akin to a tap. You mean when you hear that "blub blub blub" noise? That's not the pistons you're hearing, otherwise your engine wouldn't be able to produce power. It needs to move faster than that.
It was spitting out - just a few drops here and there. Car was at idle, parked on a downward slope, and I could see some clear liquid just inside the tip as well, and spitting out every second or so. I tried to smell a bit to see if it was fuel but couldn't really tell. I only spent about two minutes looking at it as I had just had to jump start it and wasn't in the mood to diagnose it at the time - stupid brake light was on all night and flattened the battery
. I think I need to adjust the brake light switch there... ugh.
So you've either got a tick at high revs - change engine oil, apparently these cars need thick oil (source: everyone on this website.) - 20W-50 is factory rated.
Or you're pinging, which would explain all your eradic surging. Your fuel pump might be on the way out, since at high revs you're running thing. Depends on which it is - a tick or a ping. Go youtube pinging, it's pretty damn obvious the difference between them when you've heard them... btw it doesn't have to be as loud as the horrific videos on youtube.
If it's when the car is braking, i.e no load... does it do it when you take the foot off the gas completely? I'd dare say you just need to run thicker oil. Sounds like you're describing a tick. Reason you can't hear it day-to-day is it's quiet, then it gets louder when you gun it.
I'm currently running penrite 20-50 (extra 10, so 60), which seems to be doing pretty well. I previously had some lighter oil in, and the penrite seems to be much better, especially at start up. It's definitely not pinging, rod knock, lifter tapping, or anything like that - altho I do need to tune up my solid lifters this week, which are making a racket.
It's more like a high pitched hissing or whistling noise.. like air escaping somewhere. I need to go through the SCV and carbon canister connections to make sure that they are ok. I've been wondering if the SCV actuator is the thing which is leaking air or something like that. The noise seems to be coming from that side of the engine. I haven't been able to hear it until the engine is under load, driving around. It also does the whistling when I get up some speed, and take my foot off the accelerator and let the engine brake and slow it down. ie. when the throttle is closed, the vacuum builds up and slows the engine down.
I've been thinking I might need a new fuel pump too, as I'm almost out of options as far as fuel economy goes.
Sorry to hijack your thread - just trying to see if anyone might have a tip or a clue