hello from texas.

[ryan88pathy]

Hello everyone,

I'm Ryan from Texas, I'm glad to apart of this great forum and look forward to getting great advice from yall.



Staring off what might be a long story but a good one started about a year ago when I got my first nissan. I refer to her as THE PATHY wich was a 88, in stock form with 230,000 miles and had been in the hands of young man strait out of high school. I aquired it on a trade and it had been well taken care of from previose owners untill the young man had got a hold of it. With in the first month and $1200 in parts i had replaces all shock, swaybar links, the whole power steering system, headlight, tail light, fuel hoses, ball joints, fixed a/c and heating, the spedo cable, techomiter. I also added some extras to the outside like Rino liner to the bottom of rockers and fenders, 4x8 foot roofrack custom front bumper with hi lift atached to it. At this point I had owned it for about 5 months when my wife desided that a 2 door would not soot our growing family and as most men do we listen and anything that might be projected as fun has to go. We (she) desided that since it was a strong vehicle and dependable it should be given to her younger sister and boyfriend who are just staring out and where needing some help. (Sure), I thought to myself at least it is staying in family and i can keep an eye on it and i would have first dibs on buying it back if they wanted o get rid of it.

Well to make this story even longer Just this pass Friday I found out that the pathy was sitting at a burger joint 2 hours from the house and had been there for 2 days and my sister inlaw had desided she didnt want it anymore due to it being a money pit. After retreiving the pathy and mulling for the weekend I desided to investigate why it had broke down. After jumping it off and hearing the worst noise of ticking comming from every corner of the engine I thought it was a gonner.



Things that cause this and some other problems that i found where,

1- no oil, only 2 quarts when i changed it

2- broken sparkplug wires

3- vacume hoses not atached or missing

4- no water in radiator

5- no powersteering fluid and found a leek in one of the hoses



Some other things i noticed that were missing, door handles, door panels, speekers, radio, some carpet in a few places, and couple of lugnutts. In other words it was trashed. After deconstruction and reconstruction, I went ahead and replaced the oil with 15w-30 desiel oil ( i've found that when there has been abuse the thicker oil helps fill in any bearings wear), new filter, wires, water, and pulling the pws belt so it wouldnt fry anymore than what it has already, I sat in the seat of the pathy and said a prayer to the motor gods and turned the key. There was thirty seconds of all kinds of racket and then like Mosses parting the Red Sea it all went away. I couldn't beleive it had worked, It was like a golden beem of shunshine just lighting up my face. I still cant beleive how tuff theise engines are.



After comming in and cleaning up my wife had to ask allthough she already knew the answer, (so are we keeping it) I looked at her and said, " Yes and guess whos car is getting sold this time". I think in most relationships this would be a dumb thing to say but my wife being a trooper and knowing when not to fight with me on things just told me " I thought you would say that....OK..", and just walked away. Anyone want to by a Tahoe....HA HA.



I just want to say thanks again and I hope you find my story interesting, I wish I had Joined the first go around when I had her. Will post pics soon. RYAN.



P.S. Yall is a word in Texas.

[stabworthy]

Yay.an another texas member and welcome to NPora.

[gv280z]

Wow, and uhh,,, nobody died...after all this? That's one hell of a story Bro I just don't know where to start or even what to say....God must have beat you about the head with the Stick of Patience.

 

Unbelievable. Glad all that madness is over with. Like waking up from a horrible nightmare.

 

That 15w30 doesn't fry the oil pump? Seems like it would put a load on it. How long have you been running diesel oil in a lighter weight engine like that, without an issues?

 

You ever feel like making the trip down south, Jason (TXPath4x4) and I can take you out Bro, we just found a great place to go wheeling this past weekend over in Baytown.

Edited March 25, 2015 by gv280z

[ryan88pathy]

Thanks GV280Z,

 

Yes I have been beat with a patience stick, I work for a collage police department and have seen everything under the sun from theise mature adults.

 

The 15w-30 was just a percaution I took not knowing if the engine was trashed. I had an oldtimer show this trick on a farmal B tractor that had bad bearings. Funny how somethings just stick with you over the years. It also worked on a 88 ford ranger for about a year till the head cracked, blew a lower hose in rush hour traffic.

 

Now that l think the engine is ok I will chang it back to a 10w-40 since it gets so dang hot around here and throw some ATF down one of the vacume tubes to clear out any carbon from the burning oil.

 

Also thanks for the invite, I grew up down around BRENHAM when I was younger and still have family down there. So not to far off from there but the truth is that its going to alot of $$$$ to get this pathy back on its feet.

It was put through hell but still holding together. If I can only get that damb door panel back i will be set. LOL!

 

[Kurruppt]

nice someone close to me. cant wait for the pics

[teixeira]

We got to see some pics, we love them.

[ryan88pathy]

http://s1065.photobucket.com/user/rylpr1029/libr

 

I'm dumb and it wont let me load photos. I hope this works, there are some before and after shots mixed all in there. On a sad note I just found a water leak on the backside of the engine, well found on the ground, haven't determined where it is yet.

[Precise1]

Welcome to NPORA Ryan!

 

I have to ask, why did they neglect/trash the vehicle so badly? Doesn't sound like a $ pit, any vehicle will have problems if you trash it. Sounds like an easy come easy go mentality maybe? Anyway, glad you got it back and that it seems to have survived...

 

B

[ryan88pathy]

Thanks for the welcome.

 

I think it has to do with how the younger generation has a lot given to them and not having earned it, and then you add in a know it all attitude and there you have it. I just spent $40 and had it running like new again, oil change, hoses, and a sparkpluge wire I had sitting on the shelf.

 

But I think its not done yet on things that have been tore up, I drove it to work last night and noticed that every time i hit the brake it started pulling to the right. First thought is always the breaks but after further inspection the centerlink is worn the hell out. I've seen people wheel these things hard and know they have front steering issues but dang it has play at every joint.

[ryan88pathy]

So i have some more good news and some not so great news.

 

The good.

This past weekend I got out and replaced the center link, sway bar links, and decided to go ahead and install the vinyl floor and take out the pee and vomit soaked carpet. Some of the guys at work wanted to run some tests on a few spots to see if it was human or animal bio. I don't think I really want to know! They said it looked like a few crime scenes they have been to.

 

The Bad.

When i had the tires in the air i just so happened to lean on the driver side tire and found a lot of play due to what i think is a bearing going out. This will be fun to replace.

 

1-The new ball joints i installed when i had it the first time are now shot.

 

2-I am now down to an average of three lug nuts per tire. I think they all might be stripped.

 

3-I heard a ticking and think a cracked exhaust manifold or broken stud. Might be time for headers.

 

4- I just so happened to drive it to work and what seems like the worst rain storm in years just so happens piss down on me and what do you know, only one wiper works.

 

So as I'm sitting hear thinking of everything that"s been done and whats left to do I have decided that an all out build is going to be in progress soon. Now only to get the wife on board, and ask for a raise in my allowance. I;m thinking of doing the vg33 engine swap of course,3" body lift, all new suspension and try to keep it as close to stock but beef it up with new torsion bars and spings, hd shocks, try and get as close to 33" tires as possible with some trimming of the fenders, light weight rims,larger gears, 12,000 lb warn winch thats sitting in my garage, lights, snorkel, new seats, dual battery's, larger alternator, ARB fridge, and a roof top tent.

 

I think that's all to build my back country safari rig. Just something dependable, capable to pull a small trailer, get 15mpg or greater, drive 500 miles to the boarder spend another 100 miles off road back country and still make it back home.

 

o ya. rear bumper build with tire and fuel carrier.

 

Any body and every body share your thought and ideas. Thank Ryan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kingman]

On the wheel bearings, those are serviceable. Maybe a clean, repack, and adjust is all they need. If you're thinking about doing brakes that'd be the time along with the lug studs. Everything is one unit on these.