Pathfinder95 Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 I have a bone stock 1995 pathy and I am losing power in it fast. It's been pretty well maintained and not been beaten up to much aside from hunting in the Rocky Mountains. Does anybody have any ideas for me on where to start trying to increase my horsepower in it. I'm not trying to build a rock crawler or anything like that, but would like to someday put a lift on it and 31" tires. I have taken it to the local mechanics and all they say is that the motor is old I'm sure I can somehow add some additional life to it. Any feed back would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejin4499 Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 I have a bone stock 1995 pathy and I am losing power in it fast. It's been pretty well maintained and not been beaten up to much aside from hunting in the Rocky Mountains. Does anybody have any ideas for me on where to start trying to increase my horsepower in it. I'm not trying to build a rock crawler or anything like that, but would like to someday put a lift on it and 31" tires. I have taken it to the local mechanics and all they say is that the motor is old I'm sure I can somehow add some additional life to it. Any feed back would be appreciated. Prolly the best thing to do would be to rebuild the engine to get it back to stock power. Did they do a compression test? If a rebuild is just out of the cards your may want to consider putting a set of thorley headers on it a cold air intake and possibly a performance cam. If that stuff is out of the budget ( I know its out of mine) you may want to run some seafoam through it and try to clean some of the built up crap out of your engine. Good luck HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dowser Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Or Buy a Frame rotten Pathy with the engine and tranny still intact. You can find them for relatively cheap and the engine could be just swapped in, or rebuilt while you have something to drive around and when cash permits. And you'd have a parts vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 How many miles?? How much have you maintained it? It could be as simple as a clogged cat or as bad as worn rings. A little more info and we may be able to steer you correctly... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 x2 on an unhappy catalytic converter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pathfinder95 Posted May 11, 2011 Author Share Posted May 11, 2011 Power Loss My bonestock Pathy has about 200,000 miles on it. Maintenance has been regular oil changes and anything that has been needed, etc.. Primarily a daily driver so it does not see alot of hard miles. I just put a new Cat on it. How much does a cold air intake and thorley headers run? Does K&N make a cold air intake for Pathfinders? I'm not following on the worn rings!? Which rings would that be? I not the most mechanically inclined person I have to rely on my Dad's mechanic that does not speak very good English!! Would a new exhaust pipe help out? Thanks everyone.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejin4499 Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 (edited) Power Loss My bonestock Pathy has about 200,000 miles on it. Maintenance has been regular oil changes and anything that has been needed, etc.. Primarily a daily driver so it does not see alot of hard miles. I just put a new Cat on it. How much does a cold air intake and thorley headers run? Does K&N make a cold air intake for Pathfinders? I'm not following on the worn rings!? Which rings would that be? I not the most mechanically inclined person I have to rely on my Dad's mechanic that does not speak very good English!! Would a new exhaust pipe help out? Thanks everyone.. The rings are a type of seal between your piston and the wall of your cylinders. When they start to wear out when your engine starts its compression stroke (where the air and fuel mixture start to get squished) some of mix gets pushed past the rings and the remainder doesn't get compressed the way it needs to.The more you compress it the better the resulting explosion will be. Also after spark has been applied to the mixture that is still left you loose alot of that explosions power as the expanding gases leak out past the rings. This is my simple understanding of how this works if anyone more knowledgeable would care to correct me I would appreciate it. I would start with a simple compression test. The tool is about fifty bucks and you can do it yourself in less than an hour. The FSM details what compression is within spec and if your out of spec you can post here and folks should be able to tell you how big of a problem it would be. thorley headers would run around 400 when I ordered mine I got them from 4x4parts.com there is a home made CAI topic pinned to the top of the wd21 forum check that out. you could do both on your own with a simple mechanics ratchet set from craftsman as long as you don't break any exhaust studs. Do some searching around the forum you'll find all sorts of ideas and stories about that. I have drilled out and helicoiled at least 5 on two different engines. Edited May 11, 2011 by ejin4499 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nismothunder Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Is the truck blowing any type of smoke out of its tail pipe, if so what is the color? Worn rings= less compression/ diluted oil. But if its blowing smoke you need too tell us the color so we can rule out a number of major problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pathfinder95 Posted May 14, 2011 Author Share Posted May 14, 2011 My Pathy is not blowing any smoke. It feels like it's stawling when you go to excellerate. When you excellerate and it kind of stawls than you need to let off the gas and than hit it again. I live in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and going up hill is very slow and powers out a bunch. Anybody know what a new crate motor would run for a Pathy or know what other motors would fit aside from finding a scrap Pathfinder and robbing the motor out of it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick250 Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 Fuel filter? Fuel pump pressure? Ignition timing? Vacuum leaks? Has timing belt jumped? .....lots of basics to check first Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyP503 Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 Where at in Colorado? I could help you take a look at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2milehi Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 My Pathy is not blowing any smoke. It feels like it's stawling when you go to excellerate. When you excellerate and it kind of stawls than you need to let off the gas and than hit it again. I live in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and going up hill is very slow and powers out a bunch. Anybody know what a new crate motor would run for a Pathy or know what other motors would fit aside from finding a scrap Pathfinder and robbing the motor out of it? Before ripping out the engine, first determine that the engine is bad. Get a compression test done on the engine. While the plugs are out take a good look at the part of the plug that goes into the combustion chamber. There is a lot of information about the engine in that area of the spark plugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 Sounds like your o2 sensor could be bad. When mine was bad it was completely gutless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenton163 Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 i would say just try to give it a good tune-up? If it has been well taken care of then that might be all it needs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejin4499 Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 My Pathy is not blowing any smoke. It feels like it's stawling when you go to excellerate. When you excellerate and it kind of stawls than you need to let off the gas and than hit it again. I live in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and going up hill is very slow and powers out a bunch. Anybody know what a new crate motor would run for a Pathy or know what other motors would fit aside from finding a scrap Pathfinder and robbing the motor out of it? Ive looked at crate motors for a pathy usualy somewhere around 1200 you can get one from a salvage yard pulled out and loaded into your truck for around 600 or a pickn pull type place for around 200. I rebuilt one from a salvage yard ( vg33 from a 96 pathfinder ) its a really awesome way to get to know your vehicle and get a good feel for how engines work. On the flip side its a crapton of work if you have never done it before. You need an engine stand and a hoist. The FSM is a must. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pathfinder95 Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 I live in Western Colorado and not too many salvage yards with busted Nissans around where I'm at this is Jeep country, LOL. Everyone has given me some good ideas on where to start my search though. As soon as I can I will post an update for everyone on my progress thank you... Also does any one know what sites to get on to search for a crate motor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cachefinder Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Really you need to see IF you need a new motor before you go down that road...I have 325000+ on mine and it is still strong. Start with that compression test, or even better a leakdown test. Then you need to look at many of the basic tune-up items that might, when failing, result in your symptoms. Many have already been mentioned. fuel system components, clogged injectors (sonic clean them for ~$20 each), ignition components- its amazing how new plugs/cap/rotor/wires will wake up a tired truck that is in need of ignition update. PCV valve, vacuum hoses on these old mules dryrot and cause all kinds of crazy symptoms. I wish I could find a decent silicone vacuum line kit for mine (or at least a shopping list for by the foot) LOL! As a band-aid you could try heavier weight oil to help with compression issues if you have them, but that will not work long term. But don't throw out the baby with the bath water... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indigent Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Buy a can of MAF cleaner and clean your MAF. And as mentioned multiple times, check your compression. Should be around 160 i think, and no more than 14 psi difference between any two adjacent cylinders; meaning 2 and 4 should be within 14 of each other, if not then you have a bad head gasket. Rings, head gasket, or valves not seating will cause leakage that robs you of that explosive power mentioned. If the motor is solid, then you may have bands wearing out in the transmission. Some of that material will be caught by the pan magnet and the brass will not. Drop your trans pan and clean off the magnet so it has a chance to pick up more crap. Also, it is a good idea to install a trans fluid filter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejin4499 Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 (edited) I live in Western Colorado and not too many salvage yards with busted Nissans around where I'm at this is Jeep country, LOL. Everyone has given me some good ideas on where to start my search though. As soon as I can I will post an update for everyone on my progress thank you... Also does any one know what sites to get on to search for a crate motor? If your going to go crate look for a vg33e. same amount of work but 10% more power, probably less miles on the motor and you can supercharge it with the super charger from an xterra or frontier later if you want. You would need to change your accessory pumps or change the crankshaft for the one in your vg30 (I did the later). Personaly were I you I would take the time to learn about the engine and do the different diagnostic tests so that if you later decide to swap motors you know how to do the tests when the new motor doesn't work quite the way you wanted. Edited May 27, 2011 by ejin4499 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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