Need Some Advice From All Of The People Here (thanks)

[westoverjimmy]

I have a 1992 Pathfinder SE 4x4 with brush guard/ rocksliders/premium stereo package

187K miles new tauto trans with less then 10,000 on it

new water pump and timing belt it is in great shape. currently in the shop for engine problem?

 

anyways what I am getting at is my wife is tired of dumping money into this truck reguardless how

flawless it is cosmetically for the year it is.

 

she is looking at a 1999 Nissan Pathfinder LE 2x2 manual trans has 93K for $10,000 as the new main vehicle

We don't use the 4 wheel drive that much so that is not really important, Gas mileage and dependability

is more of the issue. we test drove the 1999 and it just seems top heavy?

 

Is the 1999 2X2 as problematic as my old 1992? can we expect the same in gas mileage, seating for 5 and dependability overall?

 

 

(New Question)

different subject

 

I am thinking of keeping this 92'Pathfinder for v-8 transplant

 

I saw a pathfinder with a v-8 on youtube.com is this a costly/timely project?

can it be done with the stock auto trans? has anyone done this conversion

with the year pathe? any advice is welcome

 

 

Or should I just forget it all and buy a Yukon

 

here is my current pathfinder

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/kharmafactoryr...935627168381490

[Slick]

westover for saying "should i just buy a yukon"

 

now... yes, a v-8 conversion can be done, but no, you would have to change out a lot of stuff, and do some firewall mods to make it fit for the dist...

 

what kind of "engine trouble" are we talkin about? is your pathy with a trusted mechanic, if not, you will be told oyu need all kinds of stuff..... which is probably so far from the truth it's not even funny.

 

dumping $$ into it. how much, and what for? anything major since you've had it?

 

you will more than likely get better gas mileage from a newer 2x..... but how you drive it is a major part in a pathy's fuel consumption, and maintenance.....

newer pathy's aren't riddled with the usual manifold issues and such. but some parts cost more if they fail, and are less available than older WD-21's...

[westoverjimmy]

on our trip this week end the pathe just shutdown like it was being starved for gas or air?

don't think it is too major but I guess we will see?

 

I have replaced the Trans $1,800

the water pump and timing belt,

tires, plugs,wires, switch for adjustible shocks keeps going out?

now the Trans overdrive light (dash) does not work

the manifolds need to be replaced

muffler is starting to come apart at seems

 

to me that is all normal wear stuff for the mileage but, my wife is tired of putting out money

on something so old.

she says she wants to go some where and know she can get home without breakdown. (don't we all)

[Slick]

on our trip this week end the pathe just shutdown like it was being starved for gas or air?

don't think it is too major but I guess we will see?

 

I have replaced the Trans $1,800

the water pump and timing belt,

tires, plugs,wires, switch for adjustible shocks keeps going out?

now the Trans overdrive light (dash) does not work

the manifolds need to be replaced

muffler is starting to come apart at seems

 

to me that is all normal wear stuff for the mileage but, my wife is tired of putting out money

on something so old.

she says she wants to go some where and know she can get home without breakdown. (don't we all)

well, yup, sounds like all routine maintenance stuff. so, she just wants something that no $$ has to be spent on? wishful thinking. i know people with brand new cars that have more trouble than the guy next door with a 10 year old car.

everything costs $... now, manifolds are a $40 fix, o/d is no big deal..... you should know by now if yer in o/d or not....muffler.... every self respecting truck needs one...... another $50 fix, the tranny, well, lets hope you learned and got a tranny cooler. ok. so, i am in a bitchy mood today, so i am willing to say, that besides your unknown current issue, it will cost approximately $200 or less to make everything right with your '92.

now, trot off down the road and buy that newer pathy..... presto, you just spent everything you already spent on your '92, and what you could spend to make it 100% right...

i guess what i am saying is, at least you KNOW your '92. what's been done and when... a shiney, seemingly perfect new car could be a polished turd you know nothing about, thus in the end costing more $$ in the long run.

that is just me..... however.... if you decide to buy the newer pathy and KEEP your '92..... now that, would be SWEET

 

oh, and the shock thing... just put regular ol shocks on it and don't use all the sensors n stuff... most of the guys do that once they start acting up.....

 

*walks down the hall to go find someone else to berrate before westovers wife comes a knockin on my door to kick my ass*

i think i am just sentimental about my pathy's.... i swear i won't bug oyu again with my overpowering opinions lol

Edited May 29, 2007 by Slick

[88pathoffroad]

I doubt you'll get much better mileage out of a 99. They also nickel-and-dime people to death quite often. Try tracing an error code that won't go away, regardless of the number of expensive new parts thrown at it... *sigh*

[westoverjimmy]

I really have to thank you guys for all of the help

 

the verdict is in my pathfinder jumped timing the mechanic said they did a compression test and the

4 cyclinder were like 50 55 65 like 75 so he said I am probably going to need a valve job.

he said that not changing out the timing belt tentioner was my downfall.

he said they checked the mass air flow and the fuel pump pressure and several other things

my bill $48.00

 

he did not take anything apart so, I am having it towed back to St. George $120.00 and I guess

I will find out what a valve job is going to cost me along with new belt and tentioner

 

Does anyone have a clue what I am up agains't having a machine shop do a valve job on this head?

maybe I sould have them do some custom work while they are at it (that would really piss my wife off haha!)

 

thanks again

[88pathoffroad]

It doesn't need a valve job, it needs new valves. It's gonna be spendy. Two totally different jobs.

[Slick]

i have a spare set of heads..... if you want those i'll sell em to ya cheap.... easier (and cheaper) to change heads rather than having a shop do a valve job. also, i have all the tensioners and everything you'd need...... just let me know. I'm in cali.

[Airrun2002]

Slick just a quick probly stupid question, when did manifolds become a 50$ job?

[Slick]

Slick just a quick probly stupid question, when did manifolds become a 50$ job?

when all you did was buy the new studs n do it yerself.

[Airrun2002]

ya given you dont have any broken ones that need to be removed and dont break anymore replacing them.

[westoverjimmy]

It doesn't need a valve job, it needs new valves. It's gonna be spendy. Two totally different jobs.

 

I just talked to a friend who is a retired mechanic he was telling me he does not think it is going to need valves

if the belt just jumped a few teeth? the truck still runs just rough

 

I won't know if the belt snapped or just jumped until I get the cover off and see what has happened the mechanic

that worked on it did not physically examine the belt so I am hoping for the best.

 

my friend was saying he thinks the motor in my truck is the same as they put in the nissan forklifts VG30?

if so he knows the motor inside and out.

 

I don't know what to think I guess expect the worse and hope for the best!

[westoverjimmy]

i have a spare set of heads..... if you want those i'll sell em to ya cheap.... easier (and cheaper) to change heads rather than having a shop do a valve job. also, i have all the tensioners and everything you'd need...... just let me know. I'm in cali.

 

I will let you now on those head here pretty quick

 

question? so is it the bolt that go bad? or is it the manifolds and bolts?

my mechanic friend was saying the manifolds can be true grinded to take out the warp?

 

I have not examined my manifolds I just know the one side is not quiet

when I bought the truck I could hardly hear the truck idle.

[westoverjimmy]

Hey slick thanks for your overpowering opinions

you see things just like me.

if you have put a chunk of money into something why buy something newer to Start over!

I am keeping the Pathfinder and was just given a BMW 325i from a friend so that makes a great distraction

for my wife since that is hers now.

 

I told her I am going to put big tires 31's back on it since these smaler tires don't seem to do jack but

screw up my speedo and keep me out of the hills (crappy clearance) I am going to find someone to do a body lift.

fix my exaust add headers and whatever else to spend the 10K she was going to spend on the 99' pathe

she just laughed.

 

 

smaller tires

tornado

K&N

high octane fuel

on pathe does not = better mileage my pathe gets 15 mpg reguardless

and I am not a lead foot and the automatic does not help

 

thanks again

 

is it possible to change out an automaic for a manual without changing the Transfer case?

[GhostPath]

smaller tires

tornado

K&N

high octane fuel

on pathe does not = better mileage my pathe gets 15 mpg reguardless

and I am not a lead foot and the automatic does not help

 

thanks again

 

is it possible to change out an automaic for a manual without changing the Transfer case?

 

 

The Tornado device does NOT increase mileage in most engines. The only ones it works on are ones where the intake is a straight shot from the throttle body to the intake ports, like some BMWs. Otherwise, it will actually decrease fuel economy.

 

The K&N increases air flow to the engine... which makes it flow more fuel....

[Simon]

Auto and Manual equipped Pathfinders use the same transfer case. Should work just fine, as far as I know.

 

For better fuel economy, try cleaning the MAF sensor. You'd be surprised what a little gunk on that thing can do. Search around, there's a How-To somewhere.

[westoverjimmy]

Auto and Manual equipped Pathfinders use the same transfer case. Should work just fine, as far as I know.

 

For better fuel economy, try cleaning the MAF sensor. You'd be surprised what a little gunk on that thing can do. Search around, there's a How-To somewhere.

 

 

I am almost positive this is the same problem I am having with mine found in thread

http://npora.ipbhost.com//index.php?showto...mp;#entry241247

 

my pathe is home now tow truck droped it off and now I am going to pull the top cover and see

just how bad it is. they drove it from the street to my drive way no backfires just sounded out of time

[westoverjimmy]

I am almost positive this is the same problem I am having with mine found in thread

http://npora.ipbhost.com//index.php?showto...mp;#entry241247

 

my pathe is home now tow truck droped it off and now I am going to pull the top cover and see

just how bad it is. they drove it from the street to my drive way no backfires just sounded out of time

 

I just got done removing the top timing cover and the belt is still tight?

but the timing marks are showing that it is 2 teeth off the mark

 

the crank is on the last mark the driver side cam is on the marks and the

passenger side cam is 2 teeth from being on the marks

 

hope the valves as not toast

[westoverjimmy]

It doesn't need a valve job, it needs new valves. It's gonna be spendy. Two totally different jobs.

 

Well the final verdict is that due to not replacing the rolling tentioner I snapped the passenger side cam

almost in half don't know what that is going to cost or if i should just get some other heads?

 

just replaced the tentioner, cap and rotor and the plugs and now I am at a dead stand still!

I work for a demolition company thinking maybe ill just take it to one of the job sites and blow it sky high!!

starting to feel like i did when I had my porsches never seems to end

 

these pathfinders have a parts replacement schedule I swear buy this then this quits. I know most cars are this way but

I have not had but a month break from buying parts for this Partsfinder

 

oh well I guess it is time to buy nissan stock, or sell.

 

my toyota truck 4x4 was alot more trouble free with alot more miles 478,000 when it died

I am sure because there was less to break.

The SE has all kinds of crap to go wrong and in time it will like everything else.

 

thanks for your help time to go find some more parts to buy

[westoverjimmy]

It doesn't need a valve job, it needs new valves. It's gonna be spendy. Two totally different jobs.

 

hey slick how much do you want for those heads? I am looking at

210.00 per head from autozone for salavage head with 1 yr warranty is that good?

just let me know

[Adam]

now... yes, a v-8 conversion can be done, but no, you would have to change out a lot of stuff, and do some firewall mods to make it fit for the dist...

now that depends on the motor, a ford V8 would have the dizzy up front... though, who wants a ford?

[mws]

Whoa... your other post said the belt was just 2 teeth off, now this one says broken cam?

 

Maybe you ought to take a minute and do some root cause analysis and find out what really happened.

 

With time, you will find that the pathfinder is actually one of the toughest, most reliable vehicles ever made. Almost as durable as old 4-banger Toyota PU's but with a lot more power, comfort, and better handling.

[Adam]

Whoa... your other post said the belt was just 2 teeth off, now this one says broken cam?

 

Maybe you ought to take a minute and do some root cause analysis and find out what really happened.

 

With time, you will find that the pathfinder is actually one of the toughest, most reliable vehicles ever made. Almost as durable as old 4-banger Toyota PU's but with a lot more power, comfort, and better handling.

i wouldn't say a pathy handles better than all toyota pu's lol, my 84 toyota was a great vehicle, and they were about equally as quick, the 22RE is a good power plant... mine even towed a 2800lb uhaul from washington to texas and got better gas mileage towing that than my pathy gets towing nothing... wish i still had that toyota and the v6 in the pathy definately isn't "a lot" more power than even a stock 22RE... power to weight ratio is on a toyota pickup's side.

Edited May 31, 2007 by Adam

[solid snake]

Whoa... your other post said the belt was just 2 teeth off, now this one says broken cam?

 

Maybe you ought to take a minute and do some root cause analysis and find out what really happened.

 

With time, you will find that the pathfinder is actually one of the toughest, most reliable vehicles ever made. Almost as durable as old 4-banger Toyota PU's but with a lot more power, comfort, and better handling.

 

I agree with MWS here, I would really recommend for you to find out what is going on with your truck. Do us a favor, first find out what is really going on with the truck before you start spending money on things that you don't need. If a broken cam would have been the problem, then you should hear some really weird engine noise coming from the heads. If the tensioner is borken, get it fixed and TDC'd, hopefully this should fix your problem. Bad timing would cause your truck to either run sluggish or with more power, trust me I know. I had a problem with the timing when i was replacing the rotor in the dist...long story. I accidentally moved the timing on it and it made my truck feel alot more peppier, sadly it couldn't go past 50 mph. Got it TDC'd and problem was gone.

[Slick]

i agreee, find out the exact cause of the problem first..... if your timing is just a bit out, it would be a shame to buy my heads (which i would only sell to you to stop you from selling your pathy) which would cost you a whole lot more than a few adjustments.

timing is everything on these ,motors. as above, i know from experience also.

i am willing to sell you the heads, ONLY if you find the actual problem first.