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Hi guys, first time posting, I just picked up my Pathfinder a few months ago. Steering is shot to hell, Les Schwab wants 1500 to replace center link, upper ball joints, inner/outter tie rods, front wheel bearings and an Idler arm. I want to do it myself but I’m not sure where I should buy parts. I see such a range in prices for some components. Not sure where it’s best to spend my money. It’ll be my first time doing tie rods or ball joints. Any recommendations would be great!

Any auto 4x4 transmission from 1988-2004 VG powered truck/suv will work. So that's Xterra, Frontier, Pathfinder, Hardbody pickup. If you are getting one from a newer Xterra/Frontier with the Supercharged engine you will need the flywheel to go with it as the bolt pattern is different on the torque converter. Reuse the 1992 dipstick as well. Other than that they are pretty much a bolt in swap. But you might want to check if it isn't running properly first, check the timing, etc to make sure you don't waste your time.

Thanks for triggering my PTSD over this even though it was nearly a decade ago.

Good luck. Is this still from rock auto? The original one on mine is pissing from the front shaft seal (just oil for now, still holding charge). But replacing the condenser and entire front of the truck, so may as well swap a new compressor on there. I hate these "consolidated parts" they are always a compromise. In looking them up even for my Xterra, it seems like they're just not putting the sensor in there. I guess they have enough confidence in their parts that they won't overheat and fail, LOL. The GPD one on RA is for a diesel so that makes sense that it would be incorrect.

Yeah unfortunately there wasn't enough entries, perhaps someone new should take the reigns?

I ran the test and unfortunately I do have exhaust gases circulating through my cooling system. I know changing the head gaskets on the VQ35DE is a nightmare but I think I'm up for the task. I've been able to pull up the factory service manual but I was wondering if anyone had access to any other resources online that they think would be helpful. I still have a good bit of research to do but I was also wondering if there is anything else I should replace while I tear the engine down. Thanks.

Thanks for the update, and glad you're back in business!

Truck is back in my hands. $2500 all said and done which is a lot, but better than sticking an unknown used engine in there Everything is great except I think they put in a cooler thermostat. The temp gauge doesn't go as high as it used to and it failed smog today got to go back and make them put in the correct one

I went to test the amp module again according to your post above, but I immediately noticed something was off. I had left all the wires connected to the amp module, with the clips to the marine battery I was using for test purposes just clipped to the battery case, next to the terminals. But, I noticed the positive and negative terminals on the battery were in reverse order of where I thought they were. This means the previous testing I did when I went to replicate my first test, except now to measure across terminals 2 & 4, were invalid. I must have used the marine battery and put it back differently in between my original test, and the retest. I corrected my error, and tested again as I had previously. When I connected power to pin 5, I could hear the relay click, and I never heard it disengate. When reading across terminals 2 and 7, I got -2.3V, which is close to what I had gotten in my original tests (I did have different leads, so this seemed reasonable). But now, when I read across terminals 2 and 4, I got a -12.5V. It did not seem to matter whether I had pin 6 going to ground directly, or going to ground through one of my inline spark testers, or completely disconnected. The -12.5V was with the positive lead from the voltmeter going to pin 2, and the negative lead going to pin 4. Maybe the behavoir above with the disregard for pin 6 connection is consistent with what my rear wiper is doing (never cutting off)? Side note-I don't think those inline spark testers work as DC test lights, as I could not get mine to light up even going directly across the battery terminals.

So I have a 1992 pathfinder I got for free with a bad transmission, was able to find one and installed and when I drive it in D range it seems to struggle up to 3rd gear but if I start out in 2 range and up shift to D at the top of 2nd it seems fine...has no power to pull obstacles in D but pull to 2 and it goes....guessing I'm needing another transmission?....if so which ones will work on mine and what do I need, I only wanna do this 1 time more...I am also a 25 year nissan master so I can do it just need info outside of what the parts manual shows

I have a 1992 pathfinder 4x4 which I got free due to a faulty transmission, I was able to find one and install....now when I drive it in D range it's seems like it has a torque converter stall, like won't barely pull hills etc....if I drop it to manual 2 and shift to D at the top of 2nd ,that way seems fine....guessing this trans is no good either...so what tranny's will work and what EXACTLY do I need?

When I tested before, I had pin 6 going directly to ground. I totally missed the screwdriver looking thing in the diagram, or took it for a banana plug jack or something. That's a good catch! I was also just using my voltmeter in place of the test light, across 2 and 4, or 2 and 7. I think I have a couple of inline spark testers around somewhere that I guess should work. I'll see if I can dig them out and give the test another try.

Thank you for the information! I am not that experienced with electrical. I get what you are saying. I re ri Ed my 4th incorrect one yesterday. After talking to customer service, which I did before I even placed the order and they still sent me the wrong one -this new customer service claims they were able to verify themselves and that I am receiving a misboxed one. They say they're shipping me a replacement next day shipping.

Oil in the coolant is never a good sign. Bizarre that the blue schmoo in the coolant would slow the oil loss, though. I diagnosed a head gasket on a neighbor's Toyota last year. No clouds, plugs looked OK, no obvious misfire, though he said it felt down on power. I got an occasional bubble out of the radiator with the cap off, but wasn't sure I'd bled it right when I'd refilled it, so I wasn't gonna call it just from that. The smoking gun was when I put compressed air to one of the cylinders (like you would with a leakdown tester, except I didn't have one, so I just used the air nozzle) and the air just boiled out of the radiator. The combustion leak test should tell you the same thing. A failed cooler could explain the oil in the coolant, but I don't think it would explain where the coolant is going.

So I had a poke at mine, and didn't have any luck with the test either. Then I looked at the diagram again, and the wording that made no sense, and I think I may have worked out what it's actually supposed to mean. I think the lead from battery ground to #6 is another test light, probably the screwdriver-with-a-bulb-in-it type, judging by the picture. You're still grounding #6, but through resistance, I guess? When I tried it this way, I started getting results. So that's 1 and 3 to ground, 5 to +, 2 and 7 or 2 and 4 to the test light they bothered to label (which I assume is a dummy load for the wiper motor), then clip the screwdriver test light's lead to ground and touch the tip to #6 to trigger the amp. The amp clicked when I set it up. If the dummy load light was hooked between 2 and 4, like the '87 manual says, when I triggered the amp #6, the amp clicked and the dummy load light lit up and stayed on until I disconnected power. If I wired the dummy from 2 to 7, the relay clicked when I triggered #6, but the light did not come on, and the amp clicked again a moment later, like it could tell that there was no load hooked up and it was going back to sleep. I never saw the bulb in the screwdriver light up. If my current understanding of this really poorly documented test is correct for a change, then this amp tests good by the '87 manual, and bad by the '95 manual--which is bizarre, because it came out of a '95 with a working rear wiper. Try the test with two test lights, see if that makes yours do something. I won't get to it for a few days, but I'm thinking I'll try plugging the '95 amp into my (square-dash) '93 to make sure the amp is compatible with the earlier controls.

You are very welcome, I'm always happy to help, and thank you again for all of your views and support. I'm also pleased to hear that you have found my YouTube videos helpful. Chris.

Mmm. Hard to tell from the pics but most likely you have the trigger + wire on one connector and the ground - on the other (grounding the compressor elsewhere) - confirm in the FSM. In order to save money and increase compatibility across different makes/models, aftermarket suppliers will sometimes just ground it to the case (and on through the engine block). In this way the compressor will work on both single plug and dual plug models - at least in theory. It will probably work fine if you just connect the connector with the + trigger and leave the other disconnected. Alternatively (what I would do) is cut off the ground connector from the old compressor and butt splice it onto ground wire on the new compressor.

Thanks for the feedback! I will go ahead and order that combustion leak test and go from there. I have watched a good chunk of your youtube videos and have found them extremely helpful when performing maintenance or modifying my R50.

Sorry to hear about the recent issues you have been having with your R50, you can complete a head gasket combustion leak test. Here's a link to were you can get said leak test kit. https://amzn.to/3Rf56Jc It is straight forward and very easy to complete this test with the use of this test kit. I sincerely hope it's not a blown head gasket. Oh you can also try bleeding air from your cooling system via the bleed port on the backside of your engine, it will be covered by a rubber cap. Just make sure you are doing this when the engine is cold and with it off Good luck. Chris.

Just in case re-uploading doesn’t work! https://imgur.com/a/2dAgkpe?

Welcome! can't wait to see more of your rig in the future. The picture you sent isn't loading, try using imgur and importing it that way. Usually has better luck that method

Hello everyone! I picked up my 99.5 Pathy a month ago as I’ve been looking for decent off-road rig and can’t afford the Toyota Tax out here in CO. She had 121k on her and was completely stock but otherwise in great shape! In the past few weeks I’ve done a bit of paint work(flares and bumpers) and put on a set of Allied Daytona 30x9.50R15s and wrapped them in some Cooper Open Range A/Ts. I daily it mainly but plan on building her up for trails/overlanding. I am insanely inspired by all of the builds I have looked at on here. So much so that I’ve made an account and this post! Hope to see you all around!

I recently took my 2004 Pathfinder LE with 188K miles on a 3800 mile road trip with a couple of buddies. After the first few days the pathy started run hotter than normal and we noticed the engine was losing a significant amount of oil and coolant had been spraying out of the plastic cap of the overflow tank. We were in a pinch being so far away from home so we limited our driving significantly and made sure to top off oil and coolant everyday. After further inspection I also noticed oil sitting on the surface of my overflow tank. My first thought was the headgasket leaking oil into the cooling system causing it to overpressurize and spray out. However, the car was running completely fine as long as fluids were closely monitored and I don't have any indication of "milkshake" in my oil cap. There is also no white smoke coming from my exhaust. After more research the oil cooler looked like a possible suspect. I do have a slight oil leak there visible from the underside of the car, so I opted for a bottle of blue devil oil stop leak. In the following day this greatly decreased my oil consumption and seemed to keep more oil from getting into my coolant system, but I was still rapidly losing coolant. I did make it back home without any overheating but I wanted to get outside opinions since I have never experienced this before. Is it possible my head gasket is still leaking exhaust fumes into my coolant and causing excess pressure? Are there any tests I could do that anyone recommends? Thanks.

I think it was like a U1011 code or something like that, but thats the only code ever see. 4WD hasnt worked in a couple of years is there a common cause?

I measured 33.5" on one front corner and 34" other 3 corners from ground to fender edge for reference. Has 265/65/17s on it (30.5" tall) seems like thats higher than OEM?