hawairish

I suspect it's the original, but I'd have to look around for the hamburger logos to be sure. I've not changed it in the 9 yrs I've had it, I know that much. I took a short drive this AM when it was still about 50F outside, and there was a small spike. Nothing major, just a little above half way/normal. But when I drove it around this afternoon, about the same distance (both pretty short 10 min drives) when it warmed up to 70F outside, it held steady. Odd that it was do so when it was colder. The radiator tubes that I can see within the cap opening look super clean, so I'm not sure scale is an issue...however, a while back when I was trying to diagnose and troubleshoot further, I may have introduced crud. On the VQ, there's a steel breather tube at the back of the engine that's used get air out instead of a bleeder bolt on the head somewhere. The tube just has a rubber cap and hose clamp to keep it close. When I was trying to vent it, I realized that the tube was clogged. Tried to poke through, but needed to drill through instead. I had my shop vac running to suck material out as a I drilled, and only went small depths before drawing material out, but getting some stuff in was unavoidable. During the refill process, much of the crud actually floated into the radiator fill funnel I use (the type that holds tight on the radiator cap opening), so I felt pretty good about that. I doubt any remaining particles were large enough to block several tubes, but it's entirely plausible. Beyond that, the only thing that's really changed about the cooling performance was the introduction of my transmission cooler. But, it's mounted at least an 1" away from the condenser, so it shouldn't be that restrictive. Otherwise, my winch is the only other obstruction, and it's been there a while. I'm just going to ride this out a little longer and keep an eye on things as the weather warms up.

The contact width on all of them isn't that wide, maybe < 0.5", but I'm not sure wider is necessarily better. Probably don't want things being too snug either. It's ok if there's a little tolerance (the exposed tip of the CV has a little play, too), so long as it's not wobbling around or creating high/low spots in the sleeve. Main thing is lubrication, but not too much (otherwise the clutch ring won't disengage easily). Not sure how easy it is to just find a single unit, but if you get a new pair, you'll have at least a spare. Though, seems like these may be ok still. Is there still a gasket in place to keep elements out?

What part failed? None of the hubs use ball bearings; not RR's, Warns, or even OEMs. They have sleeve bearings that do need light lubrication (hub grease) however.

Case not closed. Now truck is running warmer on occasion. Took it for a drive the other day, a few minutes on the freeway, then a 10-mile highway stretch. 60F outside, cruising at 65mph, 2200 RPM. The needle climbed to about 80%, usually stays around 50%. Turning the heater on dropped it as expected. So I can't win at 170F or 180F. This is some BS.

We put things on pause in 2022 due to a slew of items in lives, but we've been sitting on parts for a few kits. We've talked about getting things rolling this year to clear out inventory.

Right answer for what? On a side note, I think I saw you join the NiCO forums and chime in on the strut tower rust. Do you have significant corrosion there?

No sweat, @Everett. We've all gotten frustrated at a repair or two. It's to be expected on older trucks. So, it actually sounds like you just need a re-work. Initially I thought you greased the bolts and tightened to spec, but I think what you're saying is that you only snugged them and the grease was to allow the bushings to rotate in their mounts. If so, the correction here would be to: Put the truck on the ground Loosen the bolts a little (also do for the panhard bar, just in case) Get the suspension to settle to ride height (a few bounces on the bumpers and door sills ought to do) Tighten all bolts to spec Rear upper link: 103-116 ft-lbs Rear lower link: 85-98 ft-lbs for the forward hardware, 103-116 ft-lbs rearward hardware Panhard bar: 103-116 ft-lbs Front lower control arm: 69-96 ft-lbs for the forward bolt, 87-108 ft-lbs for the bolts that hold the bracket securing the tail bushing. If you haven't already, get all the FSM chapters from https://www.nicoclub.com/nissan-service-manuals. You'll find all the instructions there, parts diagrams, troubleshooting steps, torque specs, notes (straight from the book: "Final tightening for rubber parts requires to be carried out under unladen condition with tires on ground."), etc. Get all the PDFs and save them to your computer.

Factory Service Manual...the actual Nissan service manual. https://www.nicoclub.com/nissan-service-manuals. You can save all the chapter PDFs locally (and should). The chapter you want is Front & Rear Suspension. You'll find a Front Suspension > Components page within that's the parts diagrams and torque specs.

So were they tightened when the suspension was still drooped? Greasing the bolts doesn't matter here because a bonded bushing sleeve does not rotate about the bolt. If the bolts are already loose, greasing may be a cause. What are you torquing them to?

When you tightened the trailing arm and control arm bolts, was the truck on ground (i.e., not on jacks, jack stands)? Rubber bushings need to be tightened at ride height, otherwise they'll shear prematurely because you'll have effectively preloaded the bushings (they'll already be twisted at ride height). Poly bushings can be tightened in lifted positions, provided the metal sleeves are not bonded to the poly bushings.

Haha, actually, I reaped that benefit the other night. It was noticeably hotter than it had been.

Finally installed the 180F unit in the truck last week. No codes, reaches operating temp a lot better. Case closed.

Do you know what temp your current thermostat operates at? Spec is 170F, but I can tell you that a 170F unit on my 04 has been throwing a CEL for coolant temp being too low. I had a 180F unit in there previously, did some maintenance items and put a 170F unit it, and it kept throwing codes. I just put a 180F unit back in the other day and no codes. That all said, I wouldn't recommended anything lower than 170F per Nissan spec. However...given that the R50 thermostat also fits a 370Z per RockAuto, and there's a 140F R50 unit that fits a 350Z, and all the housing gaskets crossref to all those models (and many more), I'd say you have options. The 180F unit I used is also spec'd for VQ40 vehicles.

Not sure I follow where the crack happened...on the exhaust manifold before the cat near the upper sensor, or after the upper cat before the lower sensor? We love pics of broken things here. Generally speaking, I don't think an O2 sensor throws an immediate code, but I would think there's probably a Pending code if you were to scan it that will eventually move to a Stored code after a number of trips. As far as removing cats...I mean, there are VG33 headers available that accomplish that...though not sure if any were specifically for Pathfinders, but they'll fit the block. And not all R50s had lower cats; only CA-emissions trucks had lower cats, Federal had resonators. Lower resonators and straight pipes are available from RockAuto.

Sorry @yeedonkey and @Everett, I took a picture of the bags then totally forgot to post up. Airlift 1000 (kit p/n 60742) Missing is a tee if you wanted to just use a single Schrader valve, but otherwise there's 5' and 6' feet of 1/4 line with through-hole mountable Schraders and just needing small hose clamps/clips to secure the hose to the bags, and cable ties depending on how/where you route them. $50 shipped from AZ; PM if interested.

The sensors are fundamentally the same, but the key difference is the harness color and wire length. You can get away with buying 2x of upper and lower, provided you know which upper and which lower has the longer wiring. I swapped these not too long ago and can say that you probably want to stick with buying what's labeled by position to avoid having extra wire slack around where all the exhaust manifolds. But, if I recall correctly, the driver's side sensors are longer due to the harnesses being near cylinder 2, whereas the passenger side harnesses are near cylinder 5.

I have a set of used airbags, if interested. I'll have to check that I have everything needed for install, though.

Sure, or buy one of these: https://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb-capacity-engine-support-bar-96524.html

I can't believe this post is 7 years old. In that time, can't say I've gotten my hands on a Harrop unit, but I can say that since owning my Pathfinder, I've installed a lot of traction devices! 2x Lokka R200A units TJM Pro Locker (my favorite) old style ARB R200A unit (easy) new style ARB R200A unit (not easy) 2x new style ARB H233B units numerous LSD configurations TRE eLocker If you're considering an eLocker, check out the TRE thread.

Side gear: The outer teeth are what engage the locking ring. The inner teeth engage the spider gears. If your application uses a thrust block (R50s don't), it gets inserted inside: Alright, so fast forward...getting it into the 3rd member housing is no different than any other LSD/locker install. Only notable for this that the RH bearing cap just needs a little filing or grinding to take off any high points for the bracket that holds the electromagnet stationary. The bracket is compact enough that grinding might not be necessary, but it's easy to do. (My TJM bracket is larger and definitely required grinding the bearing cap.) You can see how it has a slot for the peg on the electromagnet to keep it from spinning. The cable is a little too close to the bracket in my opinion, but once it's routed through the bulkhead, it's not in contact with it. Didn't get any close-up pics of the bulkhead fitting, but it's nothing special. Drill a 10.5mm hole, tap to M12x1.25. The cable comes without the harness installed for routing, and the bulkhead has an or-ring and fluid-tight compression jacket. Once routed, you just slip the pins into the connector. Pin order doesn't matter. All done!

Installed a TRE eLocker over the weekend for a buddy's Frontier. Installed no differently than an air locker, and unit seems decently built. Let's get started... TRE has 3 locker styles available; 2 air, 1 electric. This unit is the 31-spline TE136 eLocker (33-spline is TE135). As such, no air lines or accessories are needed for operation. Major selling point is that these lockers run close to $700-$750 USD, which is a steal. Even the air lockers (there's a ARB-clone TR136/TR135 and a "crab" locker TC136/TC135) are in the same price range, and they even include an air compressor I believe (another ARB-clone). They even have front R200A air (TR202) and eLocker (TE202) options. Considering ARBs are now near $1200, TJMs are basically NLA, Harrop doesn't want to sell lockers, Blokkas are practically unobtainable due to a bull$hit war, and no one seems to trust Lokka any more...well, this is a pretty clear-cut winner for the price and availability. I'm not a spokesperson for these guys, but this is a great entry point for lockers. The kit includes full wiring loom, switches, locker unit, bearings, thrust block, stationary bracket, bulkhead fitting, and other accessories. The pic below is incomplete because my buddy just dropped off the locker essentials for me to install into a 3rd member, but kept the wiring to pre-install that into the truck. Initial impressions were good. The interior packaging could have used some improvement, as some pieces of thin MDF chipped off and put crud all over the unit. The bag was a little shredded, but not terrible. The unit itself looked pretty good overall. There was a scratch and some flap-disc cleanup in one particular area. Operating function is pretty simple. There's an electromagnet on the end that remains stationary to the 3rd member housing while the differential is spinning. When the magnet is off, two "ramping" collars mate together, like so: When the electromagnet is energized, the ramping collar closest the magnet sticks to it, while the other collar (fixed to the differential housing) ramps away from it: When it lower collar ramps away, it pushes 4 pins outward, which engage a gear onto one of the side gears (shown later), which locks it to the differential housing and creates the locking action. Two notable things here that differentiate this eLocker from an air locker are: Even though the electromagnet is energized, the collar that sticks to it will eventually still rotate, but it remains locked. The magnet itself does not lock anything to it, but does create enough addition friction to hold the collar to some degree. This does also mean that there's additional friction when the carrier is rotating, unlike an air locker which does not introduce any new friction. The ramping design means that it will lock in forward or reverse, but that it will unlock if transitioning between. That is, the locker will lock-unlock-lock if the truck rolls a little, whereas an air locker remains locked 100%. Now, in my Harrop post it was discussed this operation could be problematic if gassing it from a rollback, but seeing this design I'm much less concerned. I believe it was the "pin type" lockers that would be more problematic than this "collar type" locker. Carrying on... The overall machining quality seems fine. Cover off, some oil and packing material crud inside. Return spring: In the unlocked position, this ring gear is recessed into the housing, allowing the side gear to spin freely like an open diff: When engaged, the ring gear is pushed outward to lock the side gear to the housing: Here's a pin head engaged out a little: The pins just slip into place, visible from the outside of the carrier:

A new 180F thermostat will for sure fix it. The new 170F unit that was installed is confirmed working exactly as it should, as well as the temp sensor and rear thermostat. The ECU just thinks it’s too cold still. I have a new unit in box. It’ll happen eventually.

Just to be sure, you're throwing both codes separately? Reason for asking is because the Factory Service Manual describes them together; P0138 for RH side and P01538 for LH side. Switzerland is LHD drive? If you are getting both codes, the FSM does indicate that there's a common 15A fuse, #25 (fuse box under steering column, 2nd column, 6th row). From the fuse box, it's a red/yellow wire that leads to a brown 24-pin harness behind the center dash, where it becomes a red/white wire at pin #3 of the o2 sensor harnesses in the engine bay. Those harnesses will be dark blue 4-pin; RH side at near cylinder 5 and LH side closest to cylinder 1 (closer to the oil cap). You should be able to probe those for 12V I'd think. Service manuals available here: https://www.nicoclub.com/nissan-service-manuals Drill down to your truck and year, then check out the Engine Control System chapter. A layout of all harness locations can be found towards the end of the Electrical System chapter.

Guessing so. I know wasn't me in the 9 yrs I've owned it. Part arrived today, I'll get around to installing it eventually.