Marooncobra

I have my old electric fan setup if anyone wants it from my truck VG33E engine version. 16" Craig Davies fan mounted on an aluminium fan shroud that I folded to shape. $100 + shipping if anyone is interested. I had the setup with an on/off switch so I could turn the fan off before fording.

Get yourself an Engineers stethoscope and use the metal probe to touch the compressor, distributor, engine parts. You should be able to locate the noise from where it is coming from this way. The other good thing about an Engineers stethoscope is that you can remove the probe which allows an opening. You can then use this to identify any leaks from hoses by listening to the increased air velocity. A must for all toolboxes.

I had the same problem last week. Turned out to be the sunroof drain was blocked and once the water reached the top of the channel it leaked through the headliner, down the A pillar and into the passenger footwell. Cleared the blockage by removing the passengers side sunvisor and roof handle, prised the headliner away enough to get to the tube and cleared it with an airline. Turned out to be blocked with Gum Nut seeds, I park my car regularly under a Eucalyptus tree.

I just checked mine and its the width of a centre console!

Systemf, I did this mod last year with some JTW S1 Cams, see the following link http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=15422 Don't understand why the moderators pinned it in the 'Garage How To' section as it is specific to the R50. Car is running real good.

The info you need is: Between LH & RH Camshaft sproket timing marks - 40 teeth Between LH Camshaft Sproket and Crankshaft timing marks - 43 teeth

Quite easy. 1. Remove engine bash plate (8 x 10mm bolts). 2. Undo the nuts (17mm) holding the sway bar link to the stabiliser connecting rod. The other ends of the rods are bolted to the suspension struts. If you find whilst undoing these nuts the whole assembly moves place the correct sized spanner to the rear of the stabilising connector rod to prevent them from turning. 3. Check the brackets where the sway bar mounts to the front of the vehicle. You may find paint marks which will assist you in refitting once the bushes are replaced. If no paint, apply some so you can see the correct mounting point. I always have a bottle of secretary's correction fluid in my tool box for jobs just like this. Good for identifying the timing marks on the crankshaft pulley. I digress!!!! 4. Slacken off both sway bar link brackets (3 x 19mm bolts to each bracket). 5. Once loose remove one bracket at a time and slip the new bushes in. If fitting poly bushes lubricate as per manufacturers instructions if req. Retighten bracket ensuring the stabiliser bar is centralised correctly, use paint marks to assit. Re torque bolts to 46 - 65 ft-lb 6. Reconnect stabiliser rods to sway bar link and re torque nuts to 61-76 ft-lb. 7. Refit engine bash plate.

Hi, Just thought I would update all on how much improvement I have noticed since I did my JTW camshaft rebuild, especially as my link has been pinned in the 'How To' of the Garage. Absolutely outstanding!! Power on acceleration is awesome and mid range grunt is mind blowing even on LPG. I wish I had gas flowed the heads when I replaced the exhaust valves for the LPG conversion to tap into some more power. Anyone thinking of doing this mod I recommend you take the heads off whilst you have the oppotunity and flow them babies! I am now looking at re working the air induction. With the 2 inch air intake into the OEM air box and the convuluted way the air enters the plenum chamber (too many right angles) I can see some additional power gains. I will post some pics once I have done some mods. Happy Days

Robbie, With regard to refitting the lifters, you do not have to worry about making sure the oil holes face each other. By their design and in conjunction with the camshaft, they actually rotate each time they operate (30 operations and the lifter would have rotated 360 degrees). This ensures there is even wear across the working faces of the lifters during their life, 80 - 100,000 miles. With regard to my rebuild, what a difference! The acceleration and mid power is extrordinary even on LPG. I wish I had gas flowed my heads when I refitted new exhaust valves for the LPG conversion to tap into some more power. I am now looking at improving the air intake as the 2 inch intake within the air box is very restrictive and the convuluted way in which the air makes it way into the plenum chamber is also power sapping. Hopefully by Xmas I will have sorted this out and will post some pics.

Hi, Are you sure that the new half shafts are identical to the ones you have removed i.e. same length, same dimension for circlip slot? I have replaced half shafts on an old Ford in the past with replacements from a Dealership to find the circlip wouldn't fit. After a lot of frustrated wasted hours I stripped the wheel station down and checked the old one against the new to find the circlip slot was 3mm out!!

Hi, Just like to clear a couple of things up. The distributor is actually driven from the LH Camshaft which in turn is driven by the timing belt via the crankshaft. There is only 1 spark in every cycle, 'induction - compression -'spark' / power - exhaust'. I think you are getting slightly confussed with 2 crankshaft revolutions to 1 camshaft revolution. I do agree with Pathfinder-Rookie and from your photos in that you have an electrical fault. Do you get any spark at all? Did you remove your distributor when changing the timing belt? If you did remove it I would check that you have replaced it in the correct timed position. Reinstall using the workshop manual to aid in lining up the slots on the drive gear of the dizzy. Have you checked that the 2 individual multi pin connectors that go to the dizzy are connected correctly? With regard to the timing mark on the LH Cam sprocket being off by approx 1/2 a tooth (guess from photo) as long as there are 40 teeth between the marks on the camshaft sprockets and 43 teeth from the LH Camshaft sprocket and the timing mark on the crankshaft it will be fine. My LH mark is off by this amount when set up at No 1 TDC. Hope this helps.

One possible reason for the incorrect way of fiiting the belt is that Timing belts when new are multi directional. It is only once they have been used i.e. engine running, that they then become uni directional. The arrow is to help identify which way the belt was fitted once you remove it and you are going to reuse the belt. As for being out of alignment by one tooth I suspect that this is down to the mechanic/DIY man incorrectly fitting the belt. You didn't metion if it was between the cams or the crankshaft where the teeth are out of alignment (between cams 40 teeth, between cam and crankshaft 43). If it is between the cams then that would mean one cam is correct and the other would be out. This would give you an imballance in engine timing as the two cams control 3 cylinders each. If it is between the cam and crank then depending on what the difference was (42 teeth or 44 teeth) it would advance or retard the valve timing by approx 5-6 degrees. Feasible that you would get a power band at a specific rev range but as I suggested earlier sounds like the mechanic/DIY man didn't fit it correctly. With regard to the tension, you will get a bit of difference in the tension as you turn the belt over. It is new and settling in. I tend to turn it over for about 5 minutes to settle it in and then measure the difflection. Hope it helps.

Your PCV is located on the top of the plenum chamber. For ease of directions, as I cannot upload the Adobe drawing from the manual, go to the letter A of NISSAN that is written on the plenum chamber. Below the A is the air vent 10mm bolt for relieving air out of the coolant system. To the right of this is a large rubber hose that is connected to the plenum chamber and then drops down to a tube. The PCV valve is screwed in the plenum chamber here and is connected by that rubber hose to a tube below. To remove, squeeze the clip together with a pair of pliers and pull of the hose. Unscrew the PCV valve and replace with new one. I can not see from your photo if the PCV has a tappered thread or if it is a straight thread and has a fibre washer? You just need to make sure it is sealed to prevent air getting in.

Projekz Don't want to floor it yet as recommended by JTW but you can deffinately feel more torque across the rev range. Brerben I don't know what your skill levels are like when you say 4 out of 10. I am a qualified mechanic although it is not my job now. It comes down to confidence, having the right/good quality tools, time to carryout the job and a mechanical understanding so you know why you are doing a certain process i.e. camshaft endfloat, correct tension on a cam belt, undoing parts in the correct sequence so as not to stress the item or potentially warp it etc. If you think you have the above attributes then you may want to attemp it but it is under your own choice. An engine in open heart surgery does put a lot of people off especially if it is over several days and then you start asking yourself 'where does that part go'.

You are lucky to have the engine out as you won't have the hassle of removing the plenum chamber with the little space that is offered by the fire wall. Answers to your questions: The end float is how much the cam moves backwards and forward in the head. The spec is 0.03 - 0.06 mm. Too little and the cam may seize, too much and the cam will move about and potentially cause damage or excessively wear on the lobes. I ended up having to order two new cam thrust washers from Nissan to give me the correct clearance. You may find that JTW will supply these items as well as I had to wait for Nissan to send them from Japan. Yes I did use new followers (hydraulic lifters) and you must with new cams. If you use the old ones you will chew through the new cam and it will be ruined. Yes I did use assembly lube but only on the high contact areas i.e. cam lobes, hydraulic lifter faces, rocker arm tips. I then use a hand oiler to totally pre lube the valve train.

New camshaft in dust proof transit packaging. Old and new camshafts, new camshaft is at bottom of picture. Refitting new camshaft into head. Offering up replacement camshaft oil seal. Checking camshaft endfloat with DTI (0.03 – 0.06mm).

Rocker shaft and rockers. Upper view of hydraulic follower valve lifter guide. Bottom view of hydraulic follower valve lifter guide. Hydraulic follower. 3/8" swivel ratchet used to remove the rear camshaft bolts. Removing the RH rear camshaft bolt. Removing the LH rear camshaft bolt.

Remove radiator and store it somewhere so it won't get knocked over Loosen the water pump pulley bolts prior to removing the serpentine water pump belt. Using a 3 legged puller to remove the crankshaft pulley. Plenum chamber removed. Underside of plenum chamber. Note pipework and electrical connections. Timing cover removed. Rocker cover removed exposing valve train. Rocker shafts and followers removed, camshaft exposed.

At last I have completed the cam fit. Had to wait for permission to have the car off the road from Home Command!!!! I know there are a lot of you out there who want to see how it went so I have put together a step by step method of fitting them and a selection of photos to aid the description. Tools required: 10mm Socket, Open jaw & ratchet spanner 12mm Socket, Open jaw & ratchet spanner 14mm Socket, Open jaw & ratchet spanner 17mm Socket, Open jaw & ratchet spanner 19mm Socket, Open jaw & ratchet spanner 21mm Open jaw spanner (hold camshaft) 27mm Socket (crankshaft bolt) 1/2” drive ratchet 1/2” 12” and 6” extensions 3/8” drive swivel ratchet (for rear camshaft bolts) Torque wrench Selection of screwdrivers Dial Test Indicator and Magnetic base Hammer Brass drift 3 Legged puller Oil tray Rags Oil can with clean engine oil Moly grease Oil filter Oil 1. Remove the plastic skid pan from below the engine (10mm bolts). Change oil and oil filter (14mm drain plug). 2. Drain coolant from radiator (use screwdriver to remove drain plug in bottom of radiator). As I have electric fans fitted I didn’t need to do this but if you have a conventional set up you need to remove the fan shroud and fan assembly from the water pump. Remove top and bottom radiator hose assemblies (hose clips and 12mm mounting bolt fitted to bottom rad hose). Plug exposed holes on engine with rags to prevent anything falling in!!!! 3. Disconnect the transmission oil cooler hoses (squeeze clips together with pliers) from the bottom of the radiator and drain any transmission fluid into a collecting pan. Remove the radiator (10mm nuts on locating plates at top of radiator) and place in a safe area so it doesn’t fall over. 4. Loosen the water pump pulley (10mm nuts) first and then loosen the three ancillary drive belts (12mm nuts) and remove the belts. You need to loosen the idler pulley centre nut first to allow you to slacken off the tensioner. Remove the water pump pulley. Remove the two ancillary idler pulley frameworks (12 mm nuts and bolts). 5. Remove the spark plug leads and distributor cap. Whilst looking at the rotor arm and using a 27mm socket and long 1/2” drive bar turn engine over to TDC No 1 (rotor arm will be at the 6 o’clock position). I didn’t remove the spark plugs for this as I didn’t want to drop anything into a cylinders whilst working. Just be aware that there is a bit of pressure due to the compression and take your time so the crank doesn’t try and throw you back. Prior to removing the distributor (12mm bolt) mark the position of the rotor arm in relation to the distributor body to aid timing process on rebuild. Plug exposed hole with a rag to prevent anything dropping in!!!!! 6. Loosen and remove the throttle cable and cruise control cable from the throttle body (12mm nuts). Reroute the cables so they hang outside of the engine bay. Disconnect the air vacuum pipe connected to the brake servo (squeeze clip together with pliers). The next step requires the disconnection of the wiring harness from the top of the engine (a total of 11 connectors). Again once all the quick connection plugs are disconnected you will be able to move the harness out of the way. I did not disconnect any of the fuel injection plugs as they could stay in situ. 7. Next remove the oil breather pipes from the front side of the engine (10mm bolts) connecting the two rocker covers and then remove the rear breather pipe located on the rear left rocker cover. 8. The removal of the plenum chamber is next but there are a few connections that need to be removed. This part is a real pain and you need small hands to get to the rear area of the engine bay to disconnect bits. To ease matters I will tell you where the bits are that need to be removed/loosened whilst standing at the front of the car. a. On the right hand side of the engine you need to remove the heater matrix hose (screwdriver) and exhaust cross over emission tube (pipe grips). I also removed the throttle body (12mm bolts and two hose clips) to ease removal of the emission tube. b. On the left hand side to the rear you need to disconnect two coolant hoses (screwdriver). c. At the rear of the plenum chamber you need to disconnect a coolant hose (squeeze clip together with pliers), disconnect a vacuum hose (pull off) d. Remove the 5 hex bolts holding the plenum chamber to the intake manifold (10mm hex bolts). Once all is loose you need to lift the plenum chamber up which will then allow you to disconnect the two electrical connectors located underneath it. The plenum chamber should then be free to remove from the engine. Plug all exposed intake holes with rags to prevent anything dropping in !!!!!! 8. Remove starter motor (17mm bolts) and use an implement to hold flywheel to allow you to loosen the crankshaft front pulley bolt (27mm bolt). I used a chisel. Use a 3 legged puller to remove crankshaft front pulley. Replace bolt and washer into crankshaft to aid turning engine over later. 9. Remove top and bottom cam belt covers (10mm bolts). Check timing marks on camshaft sprockets and crankshaft align to confirm engine is at TDC No 1. Use white paint to mark timing marks if difficult to identify. 10. Remove LH rocker cover (screwdriver) to expose valve train. Loosen the rocker assemblies (12mm bolts) a ¼ turn at a time in the correct sequence as laid down in the manual. Remove the two rocker shaft assemblies. Remove the hydraulic follower cage assembly from the engine. In the manual it says to wire the hydraulic followers together prior to removal but I just lifted the assembly and turned it over quickly to prevent the followers falling out. 11. Repeat stage 10 for the RH bank. 12. Slacken off the cam belt tensioner and remove cam belt. As all valve train has already been removed you can now turn cams without fear of damage to valve train or piston tops. Remove the camshaft sprockets from the cams (14mm bolts) by holding the cams with a spanner (24mm). Don’t mix the two camshaft sprockets up as they are different. Remove the cam belt back plate (10mm bolts) 13. Remove the rear cam covers from rear of cylinder heads (10mm bolts). I used a ratchet spanner to get into the tight area to remove these covers. There are additional items connected to these covers, tranny dipstick tube and water heater matrix pipe. Once removed use the 3/8” swivel ratchet and 19mm socket to loosen rear camshaft bolts whilst using a spanner (21mm open jaw spanner) to hold the camshaft. Be aware that once the bolt and washer have been removed approx 100mm of oil will flow out of the cam as it is hollow and used as part of the oil system to lubricate the valve train. 14. Use a screwdriver to remove the camshaft oil seals and then withdraw the camshafts from the heads. Be careful not to damage the camshaft bearing surfaces in the head as you remove the cams. You will need to angle the cams upwards and above the air con condenser matrix towards the end of withdrawing them from the heads. 15. Fit new camshafts into heads ensuring that you lubricate all bearing surfaces and that you are careful not to damage the camshaft bearing surfaces in the head as you refit the cams. Once installed in head refit new oil seals and refit cam belt back plate. Fit cam belt sprockets ensuring they are on the correct cams and tighten to correct torque. Refit both rear camshaft bolts and washers and tighten to correct torque. 16. You now need to check the camshaft end float with a Dial Test Indicator (DTI) and magnetic base. Set up magnetic base on a ferrous part of the engine and set the DTI to measure +/- end float. I needed to change both washers as I had 0.10mm end float on one cam and 0.00 end float on the other. Spec from manual is 0.03 – 0.06mm. After changing the washers for replacements (type C and B washers) from Nissan, two weeks delivery from Japan, check end float again. 17. Rebuild of the engine is reverse of the strip down but make sure you use new followers, cam belt and tensioner. Apply Moly grease to all cam lobes and hydraulic followers and lube all valve train with oil prior to replacing the rocker covers. 18. During rebuild I also took the opportunity to replace all coolant hoses under and around the plenum chamber knowing how difficult it is to replace them once rebuilt. I also replaced all six spark plugs. 19. On completion of rebuild the cams need to be run in. I carried this out with my wife so she could sit at the controls whilst I stood at the engine bay listening and observing for any faults/noises. Note that as you can not run the engine initially to set the ignition timing, the revs will be too low to lubricate cams sufficient during the run in, therefore you have to set it up approximately. This is the main reason why you need to mark the rotor arm in relation to the distributor as detailed in part 5. It is not critical at this point as the engine will not be under load but just keep your eye on the water temp as this is an indication if it is too far out: a. Start engine and raise revs to 2000 rpm immediately to ensure adequate oil supply to cams and valve train. Listen for any strange noises. You may hear a tappet noise for a few seconds but this should disappear once the oil pressure is up. If you feel something is not right switch off engine, investigate and fix it. Once fixed restart engine and raise revs to 2000 RPM immediately again. b. After 5 mins raise engine RPM to 3000 rpm. c. After 10 mins slowly fluctuate RPM between 2000 and 3000 RPM. d. After 20 mins allow engine to idle and then switch off. Cams are now run in. e. Check ignition timing 15 degrees BTDC with a timing light. As I am able to switch over to dual fuel (LPG) I have set mine to 20 degrees BTDC. 20. JTW recommends no engine revs above 4000 RPM for the first 500 kms and to carryout an oil change after 100 kms. 21. Total time to carryout work was 4 nights (1700 – 2100 hrs). Time taken for two camshaft thrust washers to arrive from Japan via local Nissan garage 10 days.

Yes the condensor should be hot to touch whilst the AC is working. Air conditioning works by thermodynamics. Two things to understand about AC before I walk you through the process of how an AC sytem works. 1. The liquid refrigerant used in vehicles will boil off at atmpsheric pressure at around -10 to -15 degrees. 2. The AC system is a sealed sytem. The freon gas is compressed by the ac compressor and then passes through the condensor (looks like a radiator fitted in front of the engine radiator). Here the compressed gas gives up its heat but not its pressure and through this process the gas turns to liquid. The liquid is then regulated through the evaporator (located in the vehicle cabin) by a temperature Control Valve (TCV) which in reality is a very small hole with an on/off valve which is controlled by a temperature sensor. As the liquid enters the evaporater the liquid releases its pressure which causes the liquid to change back to a gas. During this change of state heat is absorbed from the surrounding area. Hence you get a cooling effect. May I suggest that you have your system checked again for the leak. Not only is it costing you money but slolwy you will get problems with seals and potentially compressor failure as moisture will eventually get into the system. There is also the enviromental issues and in some countries it is illegal to vent refrigerant into the atmosphere. Your Refrig mech should have access to electronic probes that sniff for refrigerant and this will identify where the leak is coming from.

It’s the rear axle bump stop. There are two fitted to the vehicle, one either side, mounted inside the rear suspension springs. They are there to stop metal to metal contact and to take up any absorption as the axle is pushed upwards. If it falls apart and your axle moves up through it's fall movement of travel you will hear a clunking noise when it bottoms out. From the photo I would suggest that it has been bottoming out quite a bit as the bump stop is starting to split. This would suggest that your rear springs are shot and need to be repaced. Do you drive with a lot of kit in the car? Does the vehicle sag at the back? To replace jack up rear of car remove road wheels and place axle stands under body not axle. Undue bottom nut holding shock absorber to axle and remove from pivot point. Get someone to push down on the drum assembly with their foot whilst you remove the rear spring. Use a socket to undue the central bolt holding the bump stop in place. Replace bump stop and spring ensuring you replace the rubber seat to the bottom of the spring. Refit and carryout on the other side. Torque settings Bump Stop bolt: 15 - 20 ft/lb Shock Absorber bottom nut: 49 - 65 ft/lb

Sorry mate but in your original post you didn't say you had new shocks fitted. Did the car lurch like this prior to fitting the new shocks? Did you replace the existing springs with new ones or uprated ones when you replaced the shocks? Did you replace all shocks front and rear? How bad is the lurching? Don't forget that the car is heavy and you will always get some momentum.

I would suggest that your shock absorbers are shot. With regard to replacing your control arms look at my 'Fitting Poly Bushes' post http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=15241

If you go to my post 'Fitting Poly Bushes' http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=15241 and scroll down to the photo part you will see a photo of the front axle with the control arm removed. It shows the hub assembly, ball joint and strut still connected to the vehicle with the control arm removed. You can remove the control arm very easily. Once you raise the car off the floor, remove the wheel and place an axle stand under the vehicle it to support the weight of the car. Three nuts hold the ball joint on to the control arm, 1 bolt holds the front control arm bush in and 2 bolts hold the rear control bush in. They are not that tight as long as you have a long 1/2 drive bar and socket. Once you have removed the control arm you have full acces to the drive shaft. To remove it take the dust cap off the stub axle, remove the circlip holding the drive shaft in the hub, fully support the weight of the half shaft and undo the 6 bolts holding the drive shaft on the differential. Once free manouvre the shaft down and out of the hub assembly. Try not to move the joints through more than 45 degrees as you will put undue stress on the assembly. Refitting the drive shaft is the reverse of taking it apart. Torque all of the bolts to the correct tightness. Front control arm bush 69 - 96 ft/lb Rear control arm bush 87 - 108 ft/lb Ball joint nuts 76 - 94 ft/lb Drive shaft flange bolts to diff 25 - 33 ft/lb Refit circlip and dust cap. Take vehicle to wheel alignment shop. Whilst you have got the control arm off you may even want to change your front bushes to poly versions!! Good luck

Don't drive it any more until you have replaced the boot also known as a gaiter. Two reasons and both end at the same failure of the CV joint: 1. The grease will fly out of the CV joint, through the split, and the joint will fail due to lack of lubrication. You will also get grease sprayed all over the hub assembly and possibly your brakes. Not a good idea. 2. The split boot has expossed the grease to the outside elements. If any grit gets inside this grease, which it will if you keep on driving it, it will mix in with the grease that is left and act like a carborundum paste and this will destroy the joint. I dont know how much a CV joint is where you are but here in Oz you are looking at the difference between $20 for a boot and $300 for a CV joint.