Seattle_Al

The most common oil leak to spot while changing the timing belt on a VG30E is at the passenger side camshaft seal. If that's the one your mechanic saw, and he didn't replace it while he was in there, you need to find yourself a new mechanic... Another common leak is from the oil pressure sender... -al

I'm changing the pathy's timing belt this weekend ('95 SE, 1st time in ten years, 78,xxx miles). All of the writeups that used to exist are gone. I took everything apart today, will be putting it all back together Sunday. Anyone want to host a write-up? Mini-write-up? So far it's been straight-forward enough that anyone with an equal mix of: 1. Service manual 2. Mechanical experience 3. time/patience/tools Should be able to tackle this without too many problems. But, as always there are a couple things I did right that might save someone a lot of head scratching, and there things where I guessed/didn't have the right tool/technique and really made it look like a hack job (cam seal). I don't have the space/bandwidth to keep such a project on my home machine, but I'm willing to write up/take pictures of my experiences to add to the common knowledge pool. (my ulterior motive is to take business away from dealerships that charge >$90/hr labor, but pay line mechanics <$11/hr) Thoughts? -al

1995 SE, 75,500 miles. I just put on headers to fix the exhaust leak/broken stud, so that's done. Brake pads are getting down to around 3mm remaining, will probably have to do those this year. One of those little clips that the rear lap belts hang from is broken (hey 88, you ever see those in the salvage yard?) Um, that's it. When I look at how much it would cost to replace it, I remind myself how reliable it's been, and then find better places to put the money...

AAArgh! Muffler shop just called, they can't weld the ceramic-coated Thorleys. They tried one of their shield clamps, that seems to be working so we'll have to go with that for now...

Ooooh, FX armor! Took a little bit of persuadin', (read: heavy handed pulling) but I got her in there. Angle was only off by a couple degrees, but was enough so the treads wouldn't catch at first. Finally fired it up last night around 10:00 and ahhhhhhhhhh, no more tick tick tick. But, the slip joint makes that SHHHHHHHHH sound at over 2000 rpms. Got a good local shop that thinks they can weld that up in place tomorrow for about $30, we'll see. Got some pics to post (including some beautiful exhaust valves seen from looking in through the open ports), just gotta figure out how...

Just finished bolting up the Thorleys last night, getting the slip joint welded up tomorrow ($30). Difficulty depends on mechanical skill. Drilling out broken studs, threading nut-lockwasher-washer sets with two stretched fingers, ain't always easy. I did it all myself, but it would have taken half the time with help (counterholding wrenches, guiding the blind hand into tight spots, etc...) Everything fit as described, not sure why the instructions called for tools like a sawzall (all you need to open a beer is a pair of pliers)... -al

The exhaust shop that sold me the header studs has a pretty good reputation, and they said they could probably do one-day turn-around for a weld like that this time of year. Now if I could just get the %$#@!@#$ EGR pipe threads to catch...

That's the one, top rear on passenger side. I pulled down that rubber service cover in the wheel well (held on by about a dozen black plastic snaps), removed the front wheel and got a straight-shot at it. My whole garage stinks like PB Blaster (bleah). Do you have to weld that slip joint in the y-pipe, or will a clamp work? Just doing the headers for now, though if I get it buttoned up today without too much added expense, I'll probably order the Borla cat-back system. Now I'm off to find that header stud... -al

I started my Thorley upgrade this weekend, and ran into the same problem, except in my case that stud broke off about two threads below the surface. After screwing around for two hours with the Dremel tool, I gave up and went to the hardware store for a cobalt bit and an easy out. (I also have the 3' flexi-attachment for the Dremmel, which let me get a near-straight shot at that stud) As soon as I started drilling with the bit the stud broke free and started spinning in the head, so I ended up not needing the easy-at all, I was able to spin it out with a screwdriver. So here I am, Sunday night and one broken stud away from being done...

Same thing happened to our 95 Pathfinder with 70,000 miles this spring. It was the oil pressure sending unit, which is just a little aft of the oil filter. If you can get to the oil filter (I recommend unsnaping the splash skirt in the wheel well and going in that way) you can replace the sending unit (about $16). Proceedure: Jack up front of truck. Removing front wheel optional, but makes access easier. Unsnap top of splash skirt. Remove oil filter (probably optional, but makes access much easier) Disconnect wires from sending unit. Unscrew old unit. Put small amount of sealant on threads of new unit, and install. (Service Manual indicates tighten to between 7-12 ft-lbs) Clean up the area, reinstall, start and check for leaks, and you're done!

Headers arrived yesterday -bounce- !! Now the real fun begins!

I called 1-800-NISSAN1 in September and asked if they had any programs that would cover our '95 Pathfinder. She looked up our info (we're the original owners) and said there was nothing available for our VIN. Not for exhaust leaks, emission problems, nothing. Anyway, when I changed the oil this month, I pulled off the manifold heat shield and counted the exhaust stud nuts. 1-2-3-4-5-6! Started up the car, the leak is really at the doughnut gasket between the manifold outlet and the downpipe. I tightend the two nuts I could reach (without taking off all the other heat shields) and now the sound is almost gone! Thorley headers were supposed to arrive yesterday, still waiting to hear back from Summit... -al

Hmmm. Our '95 Pathfinder only has 72,000 miles on it, but the service manager at the local dealer doesn't believe that Nissan will pay for the repair, and my call to 1-800-Nissan-1 was equally unhelpfull (they took my vin, verified we were the original owners, and then told me that there were no warrantees or recalls available for that vehicle)

<My '95 Path has the tick. I'm under warranty > What warranty did you get? The warranty on our '95 expired back in '98:-)

The only warrantee work we had done on our '95 was replacing the alarm brain. 9 years later, no problems. As already mentioned, it's under the driver's seat, and has a sensitivity switch...

After looking closer this weekend, yeah, the whole intake manifold would have to come out, too. Factory service manual lists all of the steps, but doesn't mention which gaskets need to be replaced. The JWT cams I'm guessing would be too hot for a daily driver. But the stage 2 Nissan cams (.430 lift, .262 duration) look tempting. Hmmm. $600 for the cams, plus 12 $10 lifters... (lifters should be replaced for the same reason that you should put them back in the same order if you remove them for valve work: they develop specific wear patterns for the hole they're in, and mixing them up could make them wear much faster...)

Has anyone here put more aggressive cams in their Pathfinder? http://www.nismoparts.com/catalog/?section=318 http://www.jimwolftechnology.com/customer_...l.asp?PartID=26 Looks like it wouldn't be much more difficult than a timing belt job, except you have to take off the valve covers, distributer, and rocker shafts... Or am I getting in over my head...

Thanks! Also helps that Google is now back up... As a fall back, does anyone have recommendation for a competent exhaust shop in the Seattle/Bellevue area? I'm probably just going to go ahead and replace all the studs with the 300zx version, and go with a set ot the ceramic Thorleys

Has anyone been able to gets their dealer to perform this repair on Nissan's dime? (and does anyone have the TSB # or have access to alldata.com? ) I've got a bone stock '95 SE that I've owned since new (77,000 miles) that just started making the "TICKing" sound from the right bank when cold. The local dealer is pleading ignorance...

Hopefully what they meant was a thrust alignment. A two wheel alignment means they're only going to calibrate one axle. A thrust alignment means they are going to take the rear axle into consideration when they do the toe adjustment on the front axle (so all four wheels will be pointing in the same direction. ) A REAL four wheel alignment means setting the caster/camber/toe on the front axel and camber/toe on the rear axle back to factory specifications. Since there is no adjustment (short of frame-straightening equipment) to adjust the solid rear axle, it can't be done. At least not for $45...

I paid about $6 for new inner seals, and $5 for synth bearing grease. $30 or so for the hub tool. Took an afternoon the first time, could probably get that down to 2 hrs if I got serious about it... -al

Oh, and in response to the original post, how in the world does a nine year old "lifetime" oil change plan still amortize out at $30 a pop? When we bought our '95 the dealership offered "lifetime" oil changes, and yeah, the service department charged around $10-11 for a filter. So I'd just go to the parts counter beforehand, buy one for $4, and leave it on the front seat for them to install. Turns out my lifetime was longer than theirs though, Kirkland Nissan/Subaru lost its Nissan franchise four years ago. Been doing my own work ever since...

One thing to note when switching to taller tires: Pathfinders come from the factory with adjustable steering stops in their A-arms. Pathfinder SEs (which came with 31" tires) have steering stops that are set almost .5" further out than XEs, presumably to limit how far the wheels can be turned (helpfull for preventing rollovers in taller vehicles). So, for safety's sake, be sure to check the factory service manual and set your steering stops for your increased ride height (That being said, a Pathfinder SE is about as manouverable as a garbage truck, so I have backed off those steering stops as far as they can go. I can now back out of a parking space without doing the 3 point turn...)

I use Nippon, or genuine Nissan, whichever is handy when I'm buying. Typical price is around $4.43 or so...

It's the slight deformation of the rubber "o" rings (really more square than round) sealing the caliper piston that cause the pads to retract after applying the brakes. We're talking thousandths of an inch here. If previous owners owners haven't been diligent about flushing brake fluid every couple years, it is possible that enough corrosion is present to cause the caliper to "stick" and not retract fully. Heat causes metal to expand, which is why there may be no noise when everything is cold, but as things warm up, contact (squealing) may occur. Sometimes a full power stop from 60mph is enough to break it free. Sometimes rebuilding the caliper (replacing seals and flushing fluid) will fix it. Sometimes maintenance gets neglected, and you're looking at replacing the caliper. Only way to know for sure is to get in there and look...