dmag23

The short tube you are asking about is used on a throttle body pathfinder (87-89). Not sure if it would be used on the 90-95. It is the heated air pick up tube. It is secured to one of the driver side header tubes in a vertical orientation using a hose clamp to secure the tube to the header. Foil duct runs from the underside of the air cleaner to the pick up tube so you get heated air into the engine during warmup on a cold day. Mine came welded onto the header. Your arrangement just allows the pick up tube to be put wherever allows for the best placement.

Posted the response below to this forum in July, 2010. Have not had the starter "click" problem repeat itself since I made the adjustment prior to July, 2010. Not saying my problem solution is a fix for everyone, but it's an easy procedure to try before modifying the starting circuit with bypass relays and such. I've been fighting the starter/click problem for a long time now. Over time, I replaced the inhibitor relay, battery, battery cables, starter, traced all the wires to check for bad connections. The last item I replaced was the ignition switch. Not the key/tumbler mechanism, just the electrical side of the switch. It went from the typical "click" issue to nothing. No click, no start, no nothing. All the other electricals were working as normal. So I removed the new ignition switch and checked with a multi-meter. It was working properly. Turns out the alignment of the switch into the key/tumbler mechanism was not right. The switch has a register mark that fits into a groove in the key tumbler mechanism. The switch is then secured in place with a single screw. I left the screw a little loose when I reinstalled the switch, allowing me to rotate the switch ever so slightly. That "ever so slightly" is what made the difference between getting nothing when I turned the key to start, and getting a click when I turned the key, and finally having the starter turn over likes it is supposed to. So the problem I had all along was................even though the key was rotated into the start position, the ignition switch contacts weren't fully engaged because it wasn't aligned properly. I modified (via drill bit) the ignition switch and key/tumbler mechanism to allow me to rotate/re-position the ignition switch so that when the ignition key was fully rotated into the start position, I got good engagement of the ignition switch contacts. I haven't had a problem since. Try it yourself. Pull off the upper and lower steering column covers, exposing the electrical side of the ignition switch. Find the securing screw at the bottom of the ignition switch. Loosen it or take it out completely. With the key rotated into the start position, rotate the electrical side of the ignition switch as it sits in the key/tumbler mechanism. It would go from starting, to clicking, to nothing, with very little rotation of the electrical switch. When I say very little rotation, I mean 1 or 2 degrees of rotation (if not fractions of a degree). For kicks, I did the same thing using my old ignition switch. Same results. It wasn't the switch (or any other component for that matter) causing the "click" issue, just the switch alignment. I used the drill bit to open up the hole in the ignition switch that the securing screw goes through. This allowed me to get enough extra rotation with the ignition electrical switch (before I locked it down with the securing screw) to allow good engagement of the switch contacts when the key was turned to the start position.

As I recall I did not have to deal with the front body mounts when re-installing the new radiator support. My wiring harness ran along the top edge of the radiator support from passenger side to driver side. It had clips that held the wire harness to the radiator support. I just unfastened the clips and re-secured after the new support was in place. Wasn't a problem with the wiring. I have found that aftermarket parts are not very well protected from rust. I cleaned my new rad support and spray painted it front and back with truck bed liner. Costs a little more than spray can undercoating but it drys to a hard finish and seems to hold up a little better over time. I also sprayed the mating surfaces on the Pathfinder that the new support bolted to before I attached the rad support to the body . After I finished, I sprayed the exposed galvanized bolts on both sides of the rad support for a little extra protection. I replaced the rad support because of a minor front end impact. Glad I did now, since the original was rusted anyway. Because of the wreck though, the A/C condensor and radiator were part of the replaacement also. And to answer your question, yes, they had to be removed to do the radiator support replacement anyway.

I replaced mine last year. I purchased the spot weld drill bit but found it was difficult to only cut through the rad support panel without sometimes going through the other panel as well. Ended up just drilling all the way through on all the spot welds. Instead of spot welding the new rad support back in place, I used galvenized nuts and bolts ( as many as there were spot welds before) since I don't have a spot welder and also didn't want to have to fight future rust from the weld burns. It's tight and stout. No problems since. You do need to get your alignment right before you bolt it up (or spot weld).

Check the ignition switch in your steering column. I battled that problem for years. Turned out to be the alignment of the switch in the steering column. There is a single set screw that holds the ignition switch in the steering column. The alignment of the switch in the steering column has to be just right or you'll get the "click" problem. Remove the set screw that holds your switch in place and you will be able to rotate the switch a few degrees in either direction. Insert you key while holding the switch. Turn the key to the start position and rotate the switch in both directions. In my case, it went from "click" "click" every time to start start every time. Now there is no adjustment with the set screw that holds your switch in place. When the set screw was tight, the alignment was right at that "click"/start threshold. I drilled out the set screw hole in the switch, which gave me just enough adjustment in the alignment to get past the "click"/start threshold. That was over a year ago. The problem has never repeated itself since then.

13 mpg here. 1987 tbi, 5spd, 4.3 stock gears. New engine, trans, diff's, etc. Ground up rebuild. New everything. Running Thorley headers and 265/75/16 BFG's. 13 after taking into account the larger tire size. Great ride, just doesn't get the mpg's.

I've been fighting the starter/click problem for a long time now. Over time, I replaced the inhibitor relay, battery, battery cables, starter, traced all the wires to check for bad connections. The last item I replaced was the ignition switch. Not the key/tumbler mechanism, just the electrical side of the switch. It went from the typical "click" issue to nothing. No click, no start, no nothing. All the other electricals were working as normal. So I removed the new ignition switch and checked with a multi-meter. It was working properly. Turns out the alignment of the switch into the key/tumbler mechanism was not right. The switch has a register mark that fits into a groove in the key tumbler mechanism. The switch is then secured in place with a single screw. I left the screw a little loose when I reinstalled the switch, allowing me to rotate the switch ever so slightly. That "ever so slightly" is what made the difference between getting nothing when I turned the key to start, and getting a click when I turned the key, and finally having the starter turn over likes it is supposed to. So the problem I had all along was................even though the key was rotated into the start position, the ignition switch contacts weren't fully engaged because it wasn't aligned properly. I modified (via drill bit) the ignition switch and key/tumbler mechanism to allow me to rotate/re-position the ignition switch so that when the ignition key was fully rotated into the start position, I got good engagement of the ignition switch contacts. I haven't had a problem since. Try it yourself. Pull off the upper and lower steering column covers, exposing the electrical side of the ignition switch. Find the securing screw at the bottom of the ignition switch. Loosen it or take it out completely. With the key rotated into the start position, rotate the electrical side of the ignition switch as it sits in the key/tumbler mechanism. I would go from starting to clicking to nothing with very little rotation of the electrical switch. When I say very little rotation, I mean 1 or 2 degrees of rotation (if not fractions of a degree). For kicks, I did the same thing with my old ignition switch. Same results. It wasn't the switch (or any other component for that matter) causing the "click" issue, just the switch alignment.

There's another bolt (or two maybe) at the top of the housing. You also have to go under the hood and unscrew the high side and low side refrigerant lines at the firewall. I'm assuming you don't have any refrigerant in the system. Otherwise it will need to be recovered. There is a small plate that bolts to the firewall that secures the two refrigerant lines. Remove the plate and the rubber bushing. Once you've done that and gotten the top bolt out of the housing, the whole evaporator/expansion valve housing can be wiggled out from between the ductwork.

Does anyone know if the third member from a '95 Path (11-bolt) will fit into the axle housing from an '87 Path (9-bolt) or are the holes in the diff arranged completely differently? I've got an '87 axle housing; found a '95 diff. Need to know if they are compatible.

Don't blame you for that decision.

I can get a pallet and secure the trans/transfer case unit to it. Two people can lift it up and place in the freight truck. That shouldn't be a problem. The freight companies usually specify a business address for pickup. That I can do as well. Let me know what you find out and what information you need from me and we can go from there.

I have a working 5-spd with transfer case for a VG30 from an '87 Pathfinder. Miles are unknown but likely between 50K-100K based on what the previous owner told me. It was a little stiff shifting from 1st to 2nd only when cold but otherwise everything else was fine. It has been sitting in my garage for the last year and a half taking up space. It is yours for the taking if you want it. Simply arrange shipping and you can have it. I'm located south of Houston, Texas (zip code 77539). I also have a working vg30 engine from the same vehicle that you can have as well. Items are free. The only down side is shipping costs. I need the garage space. If anyone else is interested, chime in. I'll be on travel from 10/31 through 11/2. Let me know if you're interested. I'd rather someone make use of them than end up taking them to the dump.

Well I appreciate the offer but I suspect that the cost just to ship from Washington would pay for much of the repairs needed on my unit.

MWS - As for now, I do have the Air injection and EGR plugged. That's only because I couldn't get the pipes out of the original manifolds. I'll have to fab some new pipes. As for the -2 units. I struggled with that one before ordering. In the end, I decided to go with the -1 (long tube) set thinking that it would be a better match for the Throttle Body setup. As it is now, and looking at UNCC pic's, I wish I would have gone with the -2's. UNCC - I didn't lay the original manifolds up against the header assembly to compare paths. I knew they would be different. Actually that's good. A larger bend radius on the Thorley tubes (as compared to the stock manifolds) helps the flow rate. The down side is interference issues like I have. The crossover pipe matches up perfectly, along with the header/crossover flanges. And it mates up to the original exhaust perfectly. Everything bolted in with no problems. It just sits too close to the steering shaft. I contacted Thorley and they are looking in to it. I sent them a bunch of photos to review. I'm waiting to hear back from them.