Slartibartfast

I thought the O/D switch locked/unlocked the TC? Is that just a WD thing? Or am I on the wrong track altogether? One of the few times I've taken mine off-road, I had trouble getting it up a snowy hill. In D it wouldn't do it, just spun the wheels and slipped all over. But when I dropped it into 2, it cruised right up, no problem. The lower gears are also helpful when you're creeping through a nasty bit of back road, otherwise the trans keeps trying to shift up every time you let off the gas.

If you don't find somebody, just print out a side pic of the truck, then pics of the rims, cut them out, and see what you like. Old school.

All I can think of is that the weird angle caused the trans fluid to pool somewhere and not lubricate something else correctly. But even if it was straight upside down I don't see how it would've messed with the lights/radio... maybe the washer fluid leaked onto something?

My dad and I decided to do this sort-of properly. We had them rough-cut from 1/8" and then shaped them properly with a jigsaw and an angle grinder. The driver's side one goes as far back as we thought we could get a welder, and the passenger's one stops at the panhard bracket. We'll redrill the factory holes as well for cleanout. Overkill is underrated! I'll be drawing up templates from these before welding them on, so if you want a paper pattern, lemme know. (Edit: 1/8", not 3/8", dunno what I was thinking.)

When I blew out the factory Clarions in the doors (scared me half to death, I was a noob and thought the tire had gone), I swapped in a set of boss audio speakers from Radioshack. Can't have been more than $40 for the pair. We had to do a little router work to the stock mounts to get them it (I may have gotten the 6x9s), but they've worked quite well since, even with the factory amps/rear speakers/tweeters. I could replace the rear speakers, and the tweeters, and wire it all up, and still not have spent nearly as much as the systems you linked to. These look more like what you'd get if you wanted to rattle some windows. Oh, wait, Pathfinder windows rattle anyway. That said, a proper setup would probably sound much better, and complement your higher-end head unit. All down to what you want it to do.

+1 it's like driving a garden shed! Mine gets around 18 overall, or at least it did last I checked (that was before fixing the exhaust). My commute is partly city, and mostly highway (50-60), maybe five miles each way, with the overdrive off unless I'm cruising (it drives like a pig otherwise). It also depends on how gas-happy you are. I've never had it over 75, mostly because it's all two lane highway out here, and it wanders enough at that speed to worry me! I do 60 pretty regularly though without issue.

Try reading the computer codes, there's a great write-up on here somewhere. On my 95 I pulled the seat out so I could get to it more easily. (Didn't hurt to clean under there, either! ) Also check the wiring to your MAF, specifically the plug. Seems like every time someone's got an idle issue, it's the MAF. If it looks okay, try running a new ground to the body. (Whatever you do, don't try to clean the MAF, they never work right afterwards!)

I can't help with what to grease, but I know what sway bars are. They're also called anti-roll bars, they run from one side of the suspension to the other, and bolt to the frame in the middle through bushings. There's one in the front and one in the back. For the truck to lean, they have to flex. (A lot of people take them out for better flexing over obstacles.) If it's been squeaking a while, you may have excessive wear on something. When it's in the air, check anything that moves for excessive play. If you see bare metal, it may be rubbing there. Also check for any loose bolts, if something's loose it can make a ton of noise. Good luck figuring it out!

Ground down some frame rust and cut patches... ... and wired the contacts that used to make the buzzer go off, to a little light bulb by the keys. I might end up putting in a nicer buzzer, and an oem keys light, but I sort of like this, and at least now the steering column's back together. It only lights up if the lights are on and the door's open, which is really the only time I need it anyway. I'll get some pics up of the frame repair this coming weekend. I plan to make some templates of my patches, too, if anyone's interested.

If you were feeling ambitious you could try cut brakes... basically one e-brake for either rear wheel. Or my crazy idea, which involves putting a pivot under the factory e-brake, hooking brake cables to the sides, and then pushing the brake lever from side to side to clamp down on just the one wheel that's uselessly spinning. What's that? I'm overthinking this? You have no idea.

I'd be a little leery of towing from the brush guard. I'm pretty sure the drop-downs are tow brackets, so they should be fine, even just as is. Looks like the hooks would foul against the brush guard, or at least the cable would if you hooked them to anything. Can't hurt to try, though you're probably right about putting longer bolts in.

Finally took the grinder to the rear frame, and my dad cut the metal patches to size... driver's side is ready to weld, passenger side is tomorrow!

I'd been wondering if Frontier rims would fit... looks nice. Make sure it's not the exhaust before messing with the oil, most of the noise generally comes from the headers on these. Mine ticks a little at startup from the valves now and then, but after a few seconds it gets enough oil up in there to shut it up. From what I've read, the Lucas stuff is crap, and it may actually damage your engine. What weight oil are you using? I run 10w-30 in mine, stock spec is much thinner (5w30?) but probably not adequate for a sixteen year old engine.

Sounds like the contacts for the bulb are dodgy. I had a parking light that did this, I just scraped the corrosion from the tabs and bent them inwards so they'd hold tighter against the bulb. Solved the problem. (A little dielectric grease probably wouldn't hurt, especially given your environment.) I'd say if it's stopped acting up, don't worry about it. (Maybe try a few panic stops on gravel to see if it does come on when it should.)

I've read that with the design of our engines, the Lucas stuff causes little bubbles in the oil and chews things up. It's not something I'd put in mine without doing some research. Better to figure out what the actual problem is, before it gets worse!

Cleaned out the headlight switch, and got so tired of the door chime that I tore it out, and ran wires from the plug (the blue/pink wire and the brown one with silver dots) up the steering column for an indicator light. Still have to get the light... it'll go through the little cover around the ignition, so that when I get in at night, I can find the damn thing without turning the map lights on. And no more horrendous beeping noise!

I've never had any noise problem with mine. It doesn't blow too hard on 1, but that's what 2 is for. And if it's a debris thing, mine should tick like crazy, every crevice is full of pine needles! PO parked under a tree.

There's a mod I've seen that adds another relay to the system, between the ignition and the starter solenoid. Maybe the ignition suffers from the same issues as the headlight switches? Or maybe this just compensates for a worn-out starter solenoid. I'm no expert on starters, so I had a redneck explain it to me slowly. I think I've got it now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbDeq9fi7Ak The only problem he describes that fits your symptoms is that the little copper plates are worn out. Since both fire up fine on the bench, and one's brand new, I'm pretty sure this isn't the issue. For now at least, let's assume the starters are both good. I also don't think it's clicking but then not starting due to a weak battery. I've seen cars with batteries that are well and truly dead at least try to start. I suspect you're not far off, though. Here's why I think your battery's not the problem either. The other day there was a car in the school parking lot that wouldn't start. The battery clamp was loose. Enough juice got through to do the dash lights and all, but it couldn't pass the amperage needed to wake up the starter. The girl turned the key, and it didn't do squat (don't remember if it clicked or not). Once I tightened the clamp, the engine started right up. I suspect that this may be the case with your starter connections (though it can't hurt to check the battery hookups too). You mentioned that your plug looked a little dodgy... this could very well be the problem. A weak connection (rather like a weak battery) looks great on the voltmeter but as soon as you put a load on it, it fails. (The sparks you mention say bad connection to me, as well. The battery clamp on this car sparked like crazy when I wiggled it.) If you ever feel like a car work noob... don't. One of the other guys trying to get the girl's car started was afraid to touch the battery terminals, because he thought it would shock him. Made me feel rather better about my limited knowledge. And my condolences on having to pull the starter multiple times... Nissan really didn't think the starter placement through very well.

Yes, open diffs are one wheel wonders. LSD adds a friction clutch to sort of lock the two sides together, but still has enough slip to take a corner on dry pavement. A locked rear diff is like not having a differential at all, but a straight axle from one wheel to the other, like a slotcar. Some people just weld the gears in the open diff together, permanently locking it; you can turn a locker on and off, so it's either fully open, or fully locked. I have LSD in mine (came that way). The only downside I've found is that it's a little tail happy in two wheel drive on ice (whole rear end drifts sideways due to both tires spinning), but that's my own damn fault for not having it in 4x4 on ice. If LSD was an option for yours, check around any local junkyards for similar-vintage Pathfinders. If the rear axle has an orange sticker on it that says "LSD oil only," it's LSD. I don't know if the Pathy rear ends come with different gearing, but if so chances are a ) it wouldn't be the end of the world or b ) you could swap the ring gear from your open diff onto the LSD diff. I'm not an r50 guy though so don't quote me on that.

You want to crawl under there? And Nunya, if you're ever in the area, bring a bag, you can have as many as you want. We have a very stupid terrier, so we keep an eye out.

Sounds like you could just cut and swap the plug ends from your 91 door, if they're color coded the same way.

My dad has an 06 Frontier. He was tired of the doors locking themselves when it accelerated, so he had me reprogram them (dead simple). Then I took it out for a spin to see if I'd done it right. So far, so good. When I returned, I found a four foot bull snake on the pavement in front of my house. I went and got Dad, we parked the truck next to it, and then decided to shoo it away. We chucked some gravel at it, and it started moving... in the wrong direction. It beelined for the truck, jumped into the frame, and pulled itself up. This was not what we had in mind. We drove it around, and blasted it with the hose, but either the snake made a run for it when we weren't looking, or he's all coiled up around a body mount or something waiting for us to forget about him... either way the truck's parked a little further from where we let the dog out. I wish we'd gotten pics...

A tire will hydroplane on water... maybe a timing belt will, uh, mudroplane?

Finally got the patches for the frame cut! Much grinding/welding to come...

I read the codes from mine the other day, dead easy, and pulled a code 55 which I was very happy about (means all clear). I read what towncivilian linked to, printed it out, put it in the glove box just in case. I did end up removing the seat, just to make things easier (and because I discovered lots of french fries lurking around the computer). Didn't even take that long, and I can't figure out most digital watches.