landisk Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 (edited) I've had to do a lot of work to my 1998 Pathfinder since I got it about two years ago-- lots of replacements. Also, bear with me because I don't know much about the mechanics of my car, The distributor and fuel injector was just replaced a month ago, but it wasn't quite running the same. It feels like there's slightly less power than before. It's been making a weird sort of metallic growling sound when I'm in neutral. This happens if I'm just sitting and idling, or if I throw it into neutral as I'm coming to a stop. The sound will go away when I push the clutch in, or sometimes fade on it's own. However, I took a trip at highway speeds on Saturday and it was about 250 miles. When I went out on Sunday, I filled up and noticed that it was making that loud metallic growl while I was in first gear with the clutch in. This is the only time I've ever heard it make the noise while I was in gear. Engine also revs itself a few times on cold starts. My father initially thought it was the throwout bearing but I'm not entirely sure now, since the sound usually goes away when the clutch goes in. Edited January 26, 2015 by landisk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 Your father is probably right, pushing the clutch in takes the load off of puts a load on the throw out bearing and should influence the noise (sometimes worse, sometimes better). Step one is usually to bleed the clutch (download the FSM from the pinned thread in the Garage section for instructions), but how many miles on the vehicle, and has the clutch ever been replaced? B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landisk Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 Your father is probably right, pushing the clutch in takes the load off of puts a load on the throw out bearing and should influence the noise (sometimes worse, sometimes better). Step one is usually to bleed the clutch (download the FSM from the pinned thread in the Garage section for instructions), but how many miles on the vehicle, and has the clutch ever been replaced? B Thanks for the reply. I'll look into the instructions for bleeding the clutch. The mileage is about 151k and my gut tells me the clutch has never been replaced. Ran pretty good today; still making that sound, though. I've heard that it's hard to say how long a throwout bearing will last, so I intend to get it fixed asap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landisk Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 I'm sorry, I'm having trouble finding the instructions. Can you link me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 The service manuals are here: http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/nissan-pathfinder-factory-service-manuals.htmlShould be in the MT section. As for the power loss after the distributor replacement, sounds like the distributor might've gone back in one tooth off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Thanks for supplying the link Slart. Thanks for the reply. I'll look into the instructions for bleeding the clutch. The mileage is about 151k and my gut tells me the clutch has never been replaced. Ran pretty good today; still making that sound, though. I've heard that it's hard to say how long a throwout bearing will last, so I intend to get it fixed asap. I'm sorry, I had to go back and correct my post about when the throw out bearing is under load. Trying to go too fast, I guess... Download all the files, but you are looking for CL and the bleeding proceedure is on page 7. I had to replace my clutch at about 140k because it was starting to slip. The pressure plate was tired and not pushing the clutch all the way against the fly wheel so it was down to the rivets on the outside edge. The throw out bearing felt pretty chunky but wasn't making any noise. Yes, don't wait too long. Not trying to scare you, but if the TOB siezes, it can break fingers off of the pressure plate which can get bound up in things. It shouldn't damage anything that isn't being replaced, but it could mean being broken down somewhere. Besides, who wants to listen to that noise? As for the power, check the base timing as well. The ECU makes it's own adjustments to some degree, but people have reported better response/power by advancing it a bit from the 15 BTDC IIRC. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landisk Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 Update: Problem has worsened. Coming up to stops with the clutch in, I hear that loud metallic grinding noise, almost like gears grinding. Sometimes it goes away on it's own after a few seconds, other times I let off the clutch in neutral and it stops. Dad is going to take a look at it and said we might as well replace the clutch and the throwout bearing. Gotta love putting more money into a car than what you initially spent on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferrariowner123 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Hey now, don't look at it that way. What did you pay for it? $1500? I bought my rig as my first car, and it will be 5 years and probably 50,000 miles when September rolls around. And only recently did I have an issue where it couldn't do what I asked it to do (starter died). These are great cars and are relatively easy to work on. I've got some similar clutch issues myself and I'm not looking forward to seeing the extend of the damage I've caused by putting off the changing out of my slipping clutch. I'm at 145k and I'm fairly convinced it's my clutch that's dying. So yeah, cars need money to run, especially old ones. Lol Not trying to be rude, just saying look on the brightside,lol And anyway, as for the Power (since the clutch issue seems to be figured out) have you done the usual things for a basic tune up on these engines? Clean MAF, new air filter, fresh 02's (at 145k, one or two are intermittently throwing codes on mine), fresh spark plugs (of the correct type, brand and gap), maybe some new wires are in order, and making sure the new dizzy is correctly timed (as previously mentioned). I'm sure there are a few other things you can do. Let us know what you decide on doing and what are the results! -Kyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Gotta love putting more money into a car than what you initially spent on it. As was said above... You pay for the vehicle one way or another. A lot up front and in payments for something that is newer/doesn't need work, or a little up front and some for the repairs as they come up for something older. That is just the nature of things, and you'll find that going the 'little up front' route is considerably cheaper in the long run. It isn't always convenient though... One thing you'll learn is that experienced people will often sell vehicles before major work/parts are due, ie. 150k and it will need a clutch soon, every 100k for the timing belt, runs great but tires are worn, etc. If you stay in the used car market, you'll learn what to look for and investigate the maintenance schedule of vehicles before you buy them. I've bought a few that needed $2k worth of work and then were reliable for years as well as some that were full of surprises. B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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