ripadam16 Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Hello all Nissan Vets & Newbies alike. I'm Shane from Lexington, NC. I am a proud 1st owner of a '90 Pathfinder XE 4dr. After several years of owning different new cars & SUV's, I suddenly decided one day to give it all up & go out & purchase a used vehicle for cheap. After several weeks searching online & keeping my eyes peeled in people's yards every time I was out, I came across the Pathfinder I now own. It's a 1990 XE 4dr w/ 5sp tranny. Roughly 275000 miles. 32" all terrain tires on stock suspension. Glasspack. Gorgeous light turd brown with the perfect accent of light rust on the hood. Just a touch of dents / dings all around for that perfect Southern charm. Picked it up for $1000. According to the older gentleman I picked it up from, all mechanical/powertrain parts are original except routine maintenance (tune up, oil, timing belt, water pump, etc), which has been performed at the proper miles by the owner's manual specs. Also original owner stated only reason the tires & glasspack was on because his son acquired ownership for about 8 months until recent purchase of newer vehicle. At first I was skeptical until he brought out a box of receipts. I didn't want to be a smart-alec & read every single one over a older used vehicle but did look at quite a bit & seemed to be pretty legit. I was also skeptical about buying it because I wasn't sure how much longer it had left with those miles. But I came to my senses & remembered that I wasn't out looking for a new vehicle any longer & decided to take the chance. What's the worst that could happen right? Worse case, it lasts half a year, dies, I scrap it & get 1/2 of my $ back. I've owned & have driven it daily for a little over a month now & still can't get over how tough this thing is. Now granted the syncronizers grind a little going into 2nd & pretty moderate going in 3rd & 4th (owner claimed it's been doing it for about 75000 miles & still drove it everyday), but other than that, this thing runs like a champ. 4wd is still nice & smooth, slightly audible tick upon start up for about 15 seconds (from reading on here, sounds like broken manifold bolts), mostly smooth ride on the road, not all bumpy like I thought it was going to be with the tires on stock suspension, pulls my trailer with no hassle, has climbed every hill I have put it in front of so far, just overall very impressed & satisfied. The only issue I have run into with it so far was the sputtering / misfire / starving for fuel type hesitation upon take off which I have seen on here & other sites as well. I replaced the wires (which were free b/c previous owner bought some with lifetime warranty, took distributor cap off & scraped away the rust on the metal points, replaced a hose above the back plug, near the firewall that was missing (vacuum hose maybe? about 8" or so length), & cleaned the air filter & filter housing. Been running fine since. Doesn't get the fuel mileage that I'm used to & my gf hates it but I like my rolling turd & am glad to no longer have a car payment & a new car/SUV that I have to worry about every little ding/scratch/scuff that appears on it. I enjoy this vehicle very much & it feels great to bring out my southern roots again riding around in this. I am curious to see how it holds up over time under my ownership & hope it has plenty of life left in it. Sorry for such a long post everyone. Didn't mean to ramble on about it. Just wanted to share the whole story of my 1st Nissan with all of you guys, and for the ones whom will actually take the time to read it (not just hit the back button once you see that it's more than 4 or 5 lines) I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have sharing it. Take care! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Welcome to our humble little abode... (I don't know what it means but sounds good) a nice descriptive introduction is always welcome around here (could have added a pic or 2 though, hint hint). Always a good feeling having that title in the drawer too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 nice man, welcome to the club! i love my modified 93 and my girlfriend drives a stock 93 as well . great trucks~! treat her well and she will treat u well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teixeira Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Just missing the pics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devonianwalk Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Hello and welcome. I've been to the Mud Pit in Lexington quite a few times. Thanks for the long introduction about your "turd" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Welcome to NPORA! I'm laughing at 'the turd'; every car needs a name you yours has one now. An old friend and I used to call his car "the Turdster' (it was brown and blistery also). Enjoy the truck (Yes, it's a SUV, but it sits on the 1/2 ton hardbody frame) and with a little luck, it'll run a bit longer. The good news is that parts are cheap and available so fixing it when possible isn't an ordeal or bank breaker. Redline MT-90 is a bit expensive but might help those syncros (most people claim improved shifting) but there is a TSB about 'overfilling' the tranny so I recommend reading up on it in the Garage/TSB section and putting 5 liters of GL-4 ONLY in it soon. Other than that, change the fuel filter and check the MAF wiring. Yeah, not having a payment is real nice and once you get ahead of the curve, it gives you a lot of options; assuming you save the difference and don't just blow it... Between the wife and I, 4 cars and 2 motorcycles and not a single payment so I practice what I preach. B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ripadam16 Posted December 22, 2012 Author Share Posted December 22, 2012 Welcome to NPORA! I'm laughing at 'the turd'; every car needs a name you yours has one now. An old friend and I used to call his car "the Turdster' (it was brown and blistery also). Enjoy the truck (Yes, it's a SUV, but it sits on the 1/2 ton hardbody frame) and with a little luck, it'll run a bit longer. The good news is that parts are cheap and available so fixing it when possible isn't an ordeal or bank breaker. Redline MT-90 is a bit expensive but might help those syncros (most people claim improved shifting) but there is a TSB about 'overfilling' the tranny so I recommend reading up on it in the Garage/TSB section and putting 5 liters of GL-4 ONLY in it soon. Other than that, change the fuel filter and check the MAF wiring. Yeah, not having a payment is real nice and once you get ahead of the curve, it gives you a lot of options; assuming you save the difference and don't just blow it... Between the wife and I, 4 cars and 2 motorcycles and not a single payment so I practice what I preach. B Thanks everyone for the kind welcome. I wanted to snap a couple pics to attach but it was already dark once I was threw with all of the registration so planned on doing in the morning & attach. "The Rolling Turd" was the 1st thing that came to mind when I seen it for the 1st time & it just seemed to stick. Even got everyone else calling it by name now. Not downing it by no means, it just fits it. I live about 10 mins from the Lex. Pit. Been there several times in the past with my old Ford & Jeep. But I'm not a mud guy as much though. I prefer trails & hills. Uwharrie National Forrest is great for trails, hills, & rock crawling. Haven't taken Turd there yet but can't wait once it warms up a little. Took it through a few trails around here & was very impressed. Definitely underestimated it. But yes I do refer to it as a truck all the time. Doesn't feel right calling it an SUV, just wasn't sure if I would've been corrected or not. But I took it on the highway for the 1st lengthy time (15-20 miles) on day 3 & when I got off on my exit & attempted to downshift, it was stuck in gear. So just sat on the side for 10 mins or so to let the tranny cool & went to my buddy's shop. Turns out had almost no fluid in it so I let him fill it since I wasn't sure exactly how much it held & didn't want to overfill. Can't recall right off what type he used. Since then, haven't had any problems getting stuck / overheated. The shifting feels better but only lessened the grinding by a little. But doesn't bother me much, I'm not as tempted to run out the gears as much because then the grinding is way loud & hard, so a little embarrassing cause most people just assume someone can't drive a stick when they hear that. But I may give the Redline MT-90 a try & see if it helps, if not oh well, I'll go pull one cheap if it worsens down the road. But will definitely check out the sections recommended. No car payment is great. Forgot how awesome it feels to fully own a vehicle, no strings attached. Trying to explain it all to my gf too as well as break her from this "luxurious" state she's been in since I started buying new, shiny things. It's all fun & great to have those things until people start turning into snobs & become dependent on those things to keep them looking good/fancy. So I thought by showing her if I could break away from it & act no different, then hopefully she could too. But sorry to babble on & on. I'm bad for that, get caught up & then wander to other subjects. Adult A.D.H.D., at least it's better than my childhood A.D.H.D. was. But thanks again to all! Will get some pics up soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 It's all good Bud, babble away! Hopefully the GF can understand it's not all about the flash. If not, no real loss. Just my experience. Can't recall right off what type he used. Seriously, GL-4 or the synthetic only, the others will eat the syncro metals; probably 1/2 the problem to begin with. Give him a call and find out what he put in... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devonianwalk Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 (edited) I live about 10 mins from the Lex. Pit. Been there several times in the past with my old Ford & Jeep. But I'm not a mud guy as much though. I prefer trails & hills. Uwharrie National Forrest is great for trails, hills, & rock crawling. Haven't taken Turd there yet but can't wait once it warms up a little. Took it through a few trails around here & was very impressed. Definitely underestimated it. I'm with you on the trail vs. mud. The last time I went mudding in my Pathy was when my signature pic was taken. It caused me all sorts of headaches. I just realized I need to change my member title. I'm pretty familiar with Uwharrie as well. We usually set up camp on Dicky Bell and stay a couple of nights. Last time I went, my power steering pump locked up on top of Dutch John. Just getting back down the trail was like arm wrestling King Kong. Shoot, at one point my steering wheel threw my hand into the windshield. Yikes! Edited December 22, 2012 by devonianwalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 But yes I do refer to it as a truck all the time. Doesn't feel right calling it an SUV, just wasn't sure if I would've been corrected or not. Just don't call it a van or a car, that's what R50s are for! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chazthecat Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 hey , welcome , love the intro.(much better then mine was) .... I think you will find theirs a great bunch of folks here , it's given me a few ideals and fixed a few problems I ran across . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theexbrit Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Just don't call it a van or a car, that's what R50s are for! Here we go again...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted December 25, 2012 Share Posted December 25, 2012 Since I own both, I can say each has their own place. The WD21 has the mud tires and the R50 has the all terrains... The R50 has several upgraded features that I wish my WD21 had, but I still lean towards the frame/chassis set up. The R50 motor (with WD21 cams), HD tranny and steering in a WD21 would probably be the optimal hybrid. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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