TOPIC: 1989 Nissan Maxima w/"cave man"Grooves

Hi All. Yesterday I did the Grooves on my freind's '89 Maxima 3.0 V6. It has a dual TB so it got 2 rough grooves! The first Groove w/large bit broke thru badly so I JB'd the heck out of the break-thru area outside both bores. It was getting into evening so I used a hair dryer to speed up set time. After about 90 min I cut the second Groove w/ medium bit (paranoid!) then finished first w/ large bit. Maybe I was a bit nervous or felt a bit rushed, somehow both grooves look like they were hacked from rock by a Caveman! I was trying to pay special attention to keeping the bit(s) taper parellel to the bore and not go too fast. Put car back together and re-routed the PCV hose tied into front valve cover Breather hose, and capped off PCV valve w/ heater bypass cap. Paid close attention to vac. hoses replaced several. In pics you can see how the PCV hose tee'd into breather hose right before breather hose goes on air duct just before TB. Other engine pic shows PCV valve capped off at right rear corner of engine and to the left the hose from rear valve cover that used to go to PCV valve is joined to the 5/8" heater hose I used that connects at front breather hose tee. I have been buying different size heater and gas line hose and various size tee's and fittings. Here in Reno NV Napa and O'Reilly have a good selection of both. I have found various tees/fittings for hose at Pick n Pull wrecking also. Did the computer re-learn procedure w/ many restarts 15 times in driveway without touching throttle. did the drive part just as Ron says, many stops shutoffs/restarts at increasing speeds, finally a full throttle blast uphill on freeway. This engine had rough idle misfires (has had for months)at first but started smoothing out during process. End result: Success!! Despite my rough two sized-Grooves it worked Great anyway! Gained low end throttle response and smoothed right out. Teresa Lynn the owner is very happy w/ the Groove! Speedo. is out but will report any more info I can on this car. If you are going to groove an 89 thru early 90's Maxima, look at where edge of throttle plate touches bore walls and lay on a thick layer of JBQuick on outside of TB there. I could have done both Grooves in Large bit it turned out. TracyG

Hi Tracy,

I know all about the 'feeling rushed' thing, makes one skip a little detail in order to get done.

Overall looks good and worked out. Good attention to detail on the post, and photo's are always good.

It IS amazing what a little groove will do,

Karl Fortner
Tacoma, Wa.

Hi Karl Thanks for your kind reply. I guess this one is an example of the power of the Groove. It worked very well despite my rough(IMHO) 2 sized Grooves. This 89 Maxima's computer settled in to the changes pretty easy. I am wondering though, about the IAC on this critter. It's a separate unit that sends air in downstream of throttles. Haven't touched it yet, I will see car again, I will try to get pic's of it off the manifold, and see if I can find a way to restrict it. There is a short idle stop screw that I didn't touch yet, I might open up throttle plates a bit along with restricting IAC if possible. TracyG

Hi Tracy,

Thank you for the nice pictures. It does appear the grooves you made are shallow and would benefit from being made full depth. As Ron mentioned in a recent post, when you are applying the Groove follow the angle of the plate until the shaft bottoms out. If you don't follow the plate, what reference point do you have. This is definitely a topic that needs clarified as there appears to be confusion concerning angles. Any questions...anyone?

I think the easiest way to see if the groove is deep enough after cutting I pull the bit out of dremel and lay it in the groove and slowly rotate through the entire pass of groove and the bit should stand alone without you holding it that would be a perfect cut.If there is alittle slop it will still work the more you do the better you`ll get. dan gadgetman mo.