Don’t know if this was posted before but…I used a DEK fuel rail on a 3.5 to utilize the return line. It was a cheap and easy way out for me since I did not want to go looking for another option and use what I had.
First, I shaved the tabs off my DEK rail and marked the mounting tabs, and trimmed them so the rail would drop in.
Little clearance issue with the UIM, it cleared but touched
I marked it and shaved it down a little
Then I made some brackets to apply pressure to the original tabs that do not line up with the 3.5 LIM to hold it in place.
I think I will cut where I made the red mark in the pic below and put a rubber tube there as it has on the 4th gen fuel rail to give it some more flexibility.
If you’ve never changed out your fuel filter on 4thgen Nissan Maxima, you should consider using the Z32 300ZX TT fuel filter. It’s a bit larger in size and is known to last longer than your Nissan Maxima regular OEM filter.
Please Note: The size of the fuel filter does not affect the amount of fuel delivered to the engine. It is controlled by the fuel pressure regulator, fuel pump, and injectors. The size of the filter only changes how long it will work effectively.
This is just a quick guide for those upgrading to R35 GTR injectors. They are many fakes out there in the market. While some have had success with the fakes, the majority have experienced issues. These injectors are most commonly used for running E85 on Nissan Maxima builds.
Your best chance is to buy them used from someone who can verify they are genuine. However, if you ever plan to boost the car, it doesn’t make sense to buy the GTR injectors new because for about the same price you can get a set of new Injector Dynamics injectors that are good for more fuel delivery.
The real/authentic injector is on the left. The fake/knock-off injector is on the right.
Not sure if this has been visited before but my Son recently brought it to my attention when we were discussing running a 200 shot of spray. He suggested that I use his nitrous test kit to ensure the fuel pressure remained constant when running a 200 fuel jet. So after a few minutes I soon found out that my 190 Walbro dropped to 30 psi, not good. He then mentioned that a lot pf VW and DSM guys rewired their fuel pump with a higher gauge wire to maintain a higher voltage. I measured the voltage at the pump with the engine running and found it to be just over 12v. I then ran a heavy gauge wire from the battery and conected it to the pump wire at the pump, the voltage went up to almost 14 and the fuel pressure went up by almost 10 psi.
So it was off to the store to buy some heavier wire. I decided on 10 gauge rather than something heavier because of the difficulty soldering heavier wire as well as routing. The stock wire at the pump is 14 gauge but if you strip the wire back a couple of feet you will find it increases to 12 gauge.
The easiest way is to run the heavier gauge wire directly from the battery with a fuse and use a relay to connect to the pump. Use the original pump supply wire to fire the relay and use the larger wire on the N.O contacts to run the pump.
Auto Performance has a couple of charts comparing 12v vs 13.8v and their corresponding flow rates and current draw.. Pretty impressive comparison. eg For my pump at 50 psi the flow rate increases from 36 to 46 gal/hr while the current draw remains the same.
I would suggest an adjustable FPR to compensate for the increased pressure.
A 255 pump was installed because even with the increased voltage the 190 pump would not handle a 200 shot. After installing the new pump my pressure increased to over 80 psi and took a lot of adjustment to bring it back into the 50 psi range.
Just wanted to share my experience and review with E85 over the past 1+ year on daily driving on E85 through all seasons. Not a lot of feedback out there on using E85 for daily driving or in general for the Nissan Maxima. Prior to doing E85, I heard a lot of issues with it such as fuel lines will rust out and break, the car won’t start during winter and that car would never run right after a while. The only thing to be aware of is ensuring to buy an authentic fuel pump as there are a lot of fakes out there.
Since doing E85 and getting tuned, I daily drive the car with no issues. My car always starts up fine even through the coldest winter. I just ensure to keep up with oil changes and regular maintenance.
You are probably wondering, what is the difference? The difference is that the #50-1220 (new version) fits our OEM fuel pump housing 100% PERFECT. This fuel pump is the most fuel flowing pump on the market that can support over 1,000hp and does not sacrifice you getting rid of your OEM fuel pump housing, which also means it does not need an install kit as most do. That is the beauty of AEM’s updated 320 LPH Fuel Pump. It’s also compatible with E85.
I confirmed with AEM that they changed the design of that portion of these pumps to the more common type of plug connection. The rest of the dimensions and specs remain the same. Kit still comes with the pre-filter sock, sock clip, submersible hose, two hose clamps, harness plug, lower rubber pad, some rubber isolation options, instructions, and an AEM decal. Most part distributor sites are not using updated photos. Even AEM’s own website isn’t updated to reflect those changed.
Fuel pump size comparison. #50-1220 on the left, and #50-1200 on the right.
OEM Fuel Pump Connector Reference – You can see why the #50-1220 is plug-n-play.
If you found this post, you most likely ran out of gas due to inaccurate fuel gauge readings (or you already knew the gauge didn’t work). And now you are looking to see how to fix it. Most of the time, it’s the cluster that is bad (specifically the solder joints for the fuel gauge). Don’t go too crazy in replacing parts (you can try diagnostics procedure in this post). To address the issue, you have a couple of options.
Options:
Get a new cluster with close mileage
Upgrade to i35 Cluster (Most Popular Option). You will have to get your cluster miles reprogrammed if you want to keep it close to your original miles.
Repair and re-solder your existing cluster (see below). You can do this yourself if you are handy with soldering. If not, you can send it to one of them cluster repair companies. Most aren’t willing to do this, so they just upgrade to the i35 cluster. It looks much better and is less prone the fuel gauge issues.
If you choose option 3, you will need to resolder the joints on the four resistors below. Over time, the joints to the board can crack causing intermittent or permanent issues with fuel readings. Resoldering the joints on the 4 resistors should solve the problem of the fuel gauge reading too high.
Resolder the joints on the following 4 Resistors: R4, R64, R124, and R125.
This is just a reference photo of where do find your fuel pump relay on 02-03 5thgen Nissan Maxima’s.
The location of the fuel pump relay is right under the hood release to the left of where your footrest is. You will need to remove the plastic cover, a sticky rubber cover, and a metal bracket. The relay is the blue one.
