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Shaun
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Hi all,

 

So I am no mechanic, but feel confident in being able to do general repairs and services.

 

I have bought myself a 1993 pathfinder/terrano petrol v6 manual. I dont have any service history on it at all. Although I believe the cam belt was done recently. I am going to start looking at doing longer trips with the family and some overlanding adventures soon.

 

I would like to know what you guys would do on a general service on this truck and anything else extra you might tend to look at or give attention too?

 

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When I picked up my 92 with 285Kmiles on it, it leaked from every single seal. Look for leaks, fix them if you're capable of doing it and keep an eye on the fluids.

 

I also noticed within the past year, I was consuming coolant/antifreeze. It turned out to be a leaking head gasket into one of the cylinders. 

 

With anything as old as these are getting, you're going to be looking at long haul issues like leaks and head gaskets.... etc...

 

Cam Belt/Timing Belt being changed on a regular basis is a necessity. Whenever that's done, it's also a good idea to replace the water pump and belt tensioner

 

Aside from age issues, they're pretty solid. The one big problem I have observed, some parts are no longer available anywhere unless you go to a salvage yard. You may have better luck on your side of the pond though.

 

Good Luck!!

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:welcome:

What it'll need depends on mileage and how well it's been kept up. Check the fluids, make sure the timing belt has been done or do it yourself. I did mine when I got the truck because I had no record of when it had been done last. Cam and crank seals, tensioner, water pump, and bypass hose should be done at the same time, and I replaced a rad hose while I was in there because I didn't like the look of it. While you're looking at the engine, if the vacuum lines are original/cracking/brittle, might as well replace those before they're a problem. Vac line is cheap. Valve cover gaskets, again, if they're original, they're probably rock hard and leaking. Check for cracks in the tube from the throttle body to the MAF sensor, and if it's torn, check your engine mounts. Check the front wheel bearings, they may need adjustment and/or repacking (you have to take the bearings apart to replace the rotors, so if it needs those, plan for both at once). If it's still got automatic locking hubs on it, consider upgrading to manual hubs. Also check for corrosion issues. These like to rot in the left side floorboard where the gasket for the Y pipe fails and blasts exhaust right at the floor (which can set fire to the carpet), and under the back seat. Mine also had rust in the right rear floor (wasn't expecting that) and the left rear wheel well, in front of the wheel. And of course the frames like to rot in the back, over the axle. And speaking of things that catch fire, check/clean out the heater box. On left hand drive trucks (not sure if you're RHD or LHD in NZ, and I've never been into a RHD dash), you remove the glove box and the plate behind it, remove the blower motor resistor, and then you can clean out the pine needles and leaves that accumulate between the fan and the aircon evaporator. It's not super common but I have heard of hot blower resistors setting that stuff on fire. I glued a screen over the intake to my blower motor to keep the mice out, and it keeps the leaves out too. Check for play in the front suspension joints, including the steering linkage. If the strut rod bushings (rear of the LCAs) are original, plan to replace them--they usually look fine and they're usually trashed.

Oh, and the manual trans needs to be overfilled to keep it happy. Make sure you use the correct fluid.

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Great info, thanks guys!

 

So all the fluids seem to be keeping up levels well, I will need to check the diff oil still though and read through that link about the manual trans to be overfilled.

 

I will go through all these points and check it out.

 

I did a trip on the open road last week and the fuel efficiency was not good at all.

 

BTW in NZ we are LHD.

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The fuel efficiency isn't great on these to begin with, but sensor issues can make it a whole lot worse. I expect 15/16 MPG from mine. Best I've seen was 19mpg on a long trip on mostly flat ground. If yours is worse than it should be, I would check the oxygen sensor and coolant temp sensor (the two-wire sensor, the one-wire is for the gauge only) first. A bad oxygen sensor can make it think it's running lean, and a bad temp sensor can make it think it's cold as hell, and in either case it'll run rich trying to correct.

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Ya, fuel efficiency is not particularly great, but it can be decent. I did experience 21 Mpg on this thing once, but that was moderately slower driving and not fast highway speed. I don't know if the gearing is different between regions, but these things here in the US, at the time, were geared to have an optimum speed of 55 Mph. The highway speeds are significantly higher now than what they were 30 years ago and the higher RPM is going to consume fuel at a higher rate.

 

Nominally, I get about 17 Mpg in this rig. It's not great, but considering I keep it for about one purpose, I'll take it.

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  • 10 months later...
On 4/26/2021 at 2:18 AM, Slartibartfast said:

 if the vacuum lines are original/cracking/brittle, might as well replace those before they're a problem. Vac line is cheap. Valve cover gaskets, again, if they're original, they're probably rock hard and leaking. 

 hi i am curious if you have part numbers or suggestions on how to go about getting new vacuum lines. there are some short/molded lines that would seem to be difficult to replace with bulk line. thanks

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I did all the small-diameter ones with bulk hose. The molded lines for the PCV and whatnot were okay, so I didn't mess with them. You may be able to find them on nissanpartsdeal, or at least get a part number to search elsewhere. Failing that I would bring the tricky ones to an auto parts store and see if they've got a molded hose for something else with the required bend in it that you can cut down to suit.

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