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TOPIC: 2006 Nissan Altima - First Groove

2006 Nissan Altima - First Groove 31 Mar 2013 15:12 #1

  • Ken Bittle
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Greetings everyone,

Made some time late last night to get my altima into groovy shape. The shape is what you would expect for a first time dremel user and first groove, but that's what jbweld and my spare throttle body are for. I'll be working to improve the groove later today after the jbweld dries, vehicle runs great but I might have cut too close to the plate because the car doesn't like to idle below 1300 rpm in park. Works just fine after she is warmed up and driven a few miles, but i'm willing to put in the effort to make this work correctly.

I took a few pictures of my pcv re-route, where the valve is located and my groove cut. The groove is a little shorter than most, I was doing my best to follow the service-bulletin regarding this throttle body. I hope I can post all of the pictures, i'm not a believer in taking just a couple of pictures and trying to remember later.

Enjoy,
Ken


Groove Picture 1


Groove Closeup


PCV Location Under Engine Cover.


Dynamic PCV reroute to passive PCV.


Complete Assembly


Just before restart procedure, just needed to hook up the battery.


Throttle Body Build up of JB-Kwik


Re-route attachment to PCV passive.

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2006 Nissan Altima - First Groove 31 Mar 2013 19:21 #2

  • dan
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Are you sure you have conditioned the ecu and tps as Ive had that problem and conditioned both and it worked fine. Usually the groove too close will be erratic or throw code or go into limpmode.Try this first as the closer the groove working properly the better the mpg gains will be.Good luck and keep grooving.

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2006 Nissan Altima - First Groove 31 Mar 2013 23:37 #3

  • Ken Bittle
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I followed the manual as best that I could, I regrooved tonight and actually obtained full depth of the groove. In gear the vehicle responds well and idles perfectly, though in park it still moves up and down from 800 to 1800 rpm. I have done the throttle relearn and I followed the ecu learn from my manual. I am going to drive it in town for a few days and see if that helps it any.

The groove is definitely working, I just need my computer to catch up with the changes.
Thank you for the reply Dan.

Ken

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2006 Nissan Altima - First Groove 01 Apr 2013 10:47 #4

  • Ron
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If the ECU is commanding the throttle position, and it does not settle down in a day or so, then you have cut about 1/32" too close to the plate.

I expect you'll have to regroove this one, Ken!

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2006 Nissan Altima - First Groove 01 Apr 2013 11:38 #5

  • Ken Bittle
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1/32" of an inch, that is something I can work with thank you Ron. It will be a few days before I have time to get back to a regroove so I will see if it levels out or not.


Ken

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2006 Nissan Altima - First Groove 01 Apr 2013 19:50 #6

  • Tracy Gallaway
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Nice work, Ken! I see you got it about the PCV re-route. Hey even if ya have to re-Groove, you're still getting results and that feels good, eh?

I think you will make a fine Gadgetman! ;)

Tracy G
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2006 Nissan Altima - First Groove 09 Apr 2013 13:38 #7

  • Ken Bittle
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Re-groove is working nicely, CPU is starting to level out after a few days. I had to move the business card over to the side to get the 1/32" I needed for spacing when doing the groove. Also before I regrooved I watched a few of Ron's videos again to watch how he supports the throttle bodies and his dremel tool. Using those tips that he didn't know he was giving us helped me get a straighter groove line.


I am unsure about mileage at the moment, was getting 23city and 44hwy (magnetic hho enhanced) before the groove. I'm going to have to wait until I can drive it for a tank, as my lovely wife is enjoying the v6 feel from off the line.

Positive results though, i'm hoping for an added 20% on the hwy after the computer settles in.


Ken

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2006 Nissan Altima - First Groove 10 Apr 2013 13:57 #8

  • Tracy Gallaway
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Hi Ken, so has the idle speed leveled out from shifting the Groove a bit downstream from the throttle blade?

I had a similar experience w/ an '06 Chevy Avalanche last year. I filled and re-Grooved that TB. as the idle would not settle down. In these pics I'm holding the throttle blade fully closed against the motor.








After Re-Grooving this TB the idle smoothed out completely, and truck ran same as before the Groove until you goosed it. Then it accellerated like a bat from Heck! The Avalanche had a big hiway MPG gain 12.something to 16 or 17 MPG, but little change in town MPG.

Pics a bit glare-ry, but you see just how far I moved the Groove, like upto a half inch. Even w/ better hiway MPG customer ultimately decided to go back to stock TB as this one whistled at times!

So on this one I think my first Groove was too close to natural idle position, and my re-Groove was too far away downstream. It still worked--but not as well as ideal.

I've since realized what Ron has said about NOT cleaning the TB on drive by wire units--that dark area shows you where the natural idle position of throttle blade is is! I will always leave that dark line alone, it shows the position of natural idle pre-Groove!

Groove and learn!

Tracy G
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2006 Nissan Altima - First Groove 10 Apr 2013 14:31 #9

  • Ken Bittle
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Yes the idle has settled down, gets better every day my wife drives it she says. I want to try the regap idea for the spark plugs but that will have to wait until after i've had a chance to groove my truck.

Hoping to get some vacuum lines replaced and start grooving on my 93 Chevy 5.7 TBI this weekend. Might even go so far as new intake gaskets after reading the diagnostic webpage, everything is original on this thing.

Ken

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2006 Nissan Altima - First Groove 10 Apr 2013 14:57 #10

  • Tracy Gallaway
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Great, Ken!

I cant wait 'till I get a crack at a GM TBI unit, Ron and others just rave about that one, of course you will have studied all about the epoxy fill in trick for that one...

I will add that on your Chevy pay attention to Ignition stuff, esp. if you have old or close to stock cap rotor wires & plugs.

Check the Ohm's resistance of the plug wires. If you might describe exactly what is in place on that truck now re; ignition parts and the ohm's of the wires, I can give recommendations. The really good ignition stuff does cost some$$ but is definitely worth it IMHO!

Ohm out the resistance of the longest plug wire and tell us what you find.

Ron's plug gap increase trick DOES work, but final results could vary depending on just what you have in place...

You may have your hands full on this truck right now esp. if you're gonna pull the intake for new gaskets. BTW Ron, do you have anything to add re; Ken's Chevy Intake manifold?

The Ignition stuff--all besides re-gapping--can wait till later if it runs smoothly now.

But trust me, If ya didn't Already Know, ignition upgrades can really get results along w/ all else! :cheer:

Keep at it Ken, you're doin' Great! ;)

Tracy G
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2006 Nissan Altima - First Groove 16 Apr 2013 15:04 #11

  • Ken Bittle
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I have had to do a few changes to get the groove to work correctly with my car, but I'm set up differently than most installations. I am hardwired into my o2, MAF/IAT, and CTS sensors so that I can control what the computer sees, adding the groove to this means that I'm re-tuning all over again.

That said, my hwy mileage went up from 44 to 53 this weekend on our 2.5 liter altima. This might go up after I get the tune set just right but I'm starting to think I might have reached the theoretical limit on increases with this engine. Only time will tell.


Ken

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2006 Nissan Altima - First Groove 16 Apr 2013 19:28 #12

  • Tracy Gallaway
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Hi Ken, sounds good w/ your Altima's results!

A possible area for improvements is Ignition. All up to you, of course. I think newer cars may have a stronger ignition system than my 85 Subaru had, that could explain why I got such a performance boost w/ all the improvements I made (see my 3 recent posts about Ignition).

Plug re-gap is a good first step. If that gives gains, you might think of being more adventurous. If yours is coil-on-plug, might check out ExtremeSpark.com and see what they have for you. The Mgr. Dan is a cool guy was helpful to me. I saw a significant power boost w/ the Torquemaster original design in the Subie.

just sayin'

Press ON!

Tracy G
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