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This thread reminded me of this....

As for the replacement CV axles, I've used cardone select (these are new not reman) on many different vehicles over the years and have had great results. As for the hubs, I've had both warn & mile marker. Yes, the warn's are stronger, but unless you're rock crawling with 35's on a daily basis, I think you're fine with the mile markers.

Perfect. And while Warm are definitely nice, my Mile Markers have been going strong for a few years now. I would’t worry. Oh, and I’d avoid Carquest axles. I used to work at an Advance Auto Parts and we sold Carquest axles. I swore by a lot of things there, but not those. I’ve broken more carquests than anything else, and I saw so many of them returned constantly.

Don’t be alarmed, I did the same thing recently after rebuilding my engine and having a misfire issue. I pulled off the oil cap, and there was some sort of residue there, and I freaked out, assuming the worst. In this case, what you’re seeing looks normal, at least from what I’ve seen. However, lets not just shrug it off immediately. What you’re likely seeing is the results of colder outside temperatures (assuming its winter where you are currently), short driving trips, or potentially a clogged PCV system (unlikely, but possible). You see, when your engine warms up, it dumps a lot of fuel to help it warm up faster and get the catalytic converters warmed up so emissions and oxygen sensors play nice. A warm engine is more efficient, and your crankshaft bearings take less of a beating at higher temperatures. While everything’s expanding due to heat, and oil is being whisked around, that excess fuel dumped into the cylinder can blow by the piston rings a little under idle/warming conditions. This is called blowby. The result is a small amount of gasoline mixing in with your oil. Conveniently, modern engines have a preventative measure for any damage that would cause, called the PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) valve system, which allows the pressure from the blowby, and the evaporating gasses from the fuel, to be safely vented into the intake to be burned off. The oil cap, being at the top of the engine, and being made of plastic, is typically cooler than the rest of the engine. Residual gasses from the oil and fuel blowby can condense on the oil cap, leaving behind a range of strange debris or colors (sometimes yellow, tan, or dark brown). This is completely normal, and should only really raise a flag if there is a lot of it, your valve covers and other sealed surfaces seem to be seeping oil, or you have poor engine performance/idle (this would indicate a possible faulty PCV valve). This sort of thing tends to pop up the most during colder weather, and especially in winter climates, due to short trip driving or letting the engine idle up to temperature for too long. So now that you have an idea of what the issue COULD be, it’s a lot less alarming. I really wouldn’t worry, but lets check a couple things! First of all, you said you changed the oil. By dumping the oil or checking the dipstick, a very alarming and fast indication of a blown head gasket would be a milkshake-like oil substance. Usually, it looks a lot stranger than brown sludge, so cross that off your list. Do a quick google search on blown head gasket oil, and you’ll see what I mean. It doesn’t take much for the coolant and oil to mix to make the nasty stuff, and you’d definitely notice it if it were severe enough. You also mentioned checking the radiator. While it’s less likely for the oil to make its way into the cooling system with a head gasket issue, it’s still possible, of course. Typically, the exhaust gasses are what make their way into the coolant, and while it can be hard to detect, there are texting kits for about $40 at local auto parts stores that allow you to test and see if you have exhaust gasses in your cooling system. They’re pretty simple to use, but you might only want to for peace of mind if you’re still not convinced. If you want to put some time into diagnostics further, pull your spark plugs and look at the color of the ceramic tips around the electrode. There are plenty of images online that can tell you how to “read” your spark plugs to know if you’re burning oil, running rich, lean, or have a head gasket problem. If it’s a small leak, it may not be noticeable. While you’re at it, rent a compression tester, check cylinder compression, and perform a leakdown test on the cylinders. This can be one of the fastest ways to indicate a failure of some sort, whether it’s a compression issue, valve issue, or head gasket. You could also rent a cooling system pressure tester. If you have a borescope, this can be really useful, but not everyone has one. You can perform a leakdown test according to the factory PSI specs of the vehicle. Typically, if it holds the indicated pressure (typically 13 PSI for older pathfinders), for 5 minutes or more without dropping significantly, you’re fine. Take it with a grain of salt, because a rental kit may not be 100% accurate, and could leak down even if you don’t have a leak, but it’s usually very slow. Sometimes, if you’re lucky (and unlucky I guess), coolant will come out of the damaged part of the head gasket around the heads or block, indicating failure. With a borescope, in short, you could look in each cylinder after a leakdown test to see if there is any coolant puddled up on the piston. Finally, an old trick from one of my mechanic buddies: Get a white piece of printer paper. Take the dipstick and wipe it off, dip it again for fresh oil, and put a good drop of it on the paper. Try and keep it as collected as possible and not splattered all over it. Let it sit until it soaks into the paper all of the way. It could be a while. If there is any small residue from a head gasket failure, typically it’ll sit on top of the paper and not soak in. Otherwise, the oil should soak into the paper and have very little variances in color. Obviously this is no engineering test, but it’s another quick and easy one for peace of mind. With all of this in mind, “brown sludge,” as you called it, could potentially be a different issue, sludge buildup. This comes with a range of other symptoms, however, and can be found various ways. If the previous owner took good care of her and did routine oil changes, cross that off your list. Regardless, throwing in a little Seafoam into the oil a few hundred miles before your next oil change can’t hurt, and could break up any potential sludge you do have (I usually drain about a quart of oil, dump a bottle of seafoam in, and run it like that for a day, changing the oil the next day). Good luck! Let me know if you have any questions!

Has anyone installed a shift kit on their rig? I picked up a super clean 04 with 104k Miles. I’ve taken out the power valves and did some intake smoothing. About to order some intake spacers and 75mm throttle body. Home built intake removed silencers but kept stock box. Raised Mass air meter for now to help lean her out a little worked great. Will be working on some custom headers and installing true dual exhaust. This is my first pathfinder and absolutely love it. Lowering her a couple inches in a few months when I install new rear suspension kit. My wife has a Durango RT with CAI and Tune my path walks it from a dead stop. I’ts got lazy shifts at wot needs a shift kit.

Holy Guacamole ?

Hahahah wtf Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This one works for me through chrome. Sent from my SM-G530T using Tapatalk

17&32 Working. I’m on Tapatalk. Thx!!

My Mile Markers are holding up pretty well too, though the chrome plating on the trim rings is coming off in sheets. Thanks for the heads up on the Carquest axles. When I had my front end apart, I rebooted some factory axles, figuring it couldn't be that hard and I'd be sure to avoid a bum reman. Next time I'm taking my chances on remans! Those things are a right greasy PITA to get apart, and of the four axles I disassembled (or tried to), only two of them were in good enough shape to put back together.

Nope, I just see plain text with a couple of links. I clicked on one of them and nothing happened except that a little shield popped up next to the address bar in Firefox, which says "tracking blocked" if I mouse over it.

Working for me on copy/paste. Given that it's on Facebook, I wouldn't be surprised if it was an issue of FB not playing ball. See if this link works:

Of course! Get some manual locking hubs when you get the chance too. You’ll see most everyone praising them in Pathfinder pages. They help gas mileage a little, and definitely keep those CV axles in good shape while you’re not needing 4WD, so they’re nice and tough when you actually need them.

Yeah I think it looks good haha I do think the brown coating it from running non-synthetic oil though. Not a particularly bad thing but an effect of dino oil for sure. With my old engine I only used havoline 10w30 dino oil and my cap looked just like that but worse. Dry looking light brown coating that could be scraped off into a powder. This is what a BHG looks like:

Me too, I was gonna comment on that exactly! The style of the interior in these rigs matches the black and wood grain combo nicely.

I love the dark interior. Mr Cox 96R50-97JR50

I found one just like yours bro.@Stpickens Mr Cox 96R50-97JR50

My current Nav setup. Will likely drop the Nuvi, especially once the new head unit goes in with Waze. Add my phone to that magnet mount with Google Maps & I could have 4 maps running at once - probably too much!

It works for me if I paste only this part into my browser:

I'm thinking maybe newly purchased used that forgot the drive out tag. Mr Cox 96R50-97JR50

I've dipped them in flex seal so when they are not being used the banging and rattling around is less. Same idea as the rubber grommets (though much thicker than my flex seal coating) people put on their D rings on their bumpers. I can post a write up and some pictures though honestly I'd be suprised if anyone would want to copy my plans since they will be fairly crude and done with some scrap metal I have laying around. Got the slave and master cylinder installed before leaving to work. Once I get back on Friday going to add fluid, bleed and tighten as necessary

Doesn’t it strike anyone as ironic that the emissions inspector is failing you because you have too MANY catalytic converters? He understands the goal is LESS emissions right?

Yep, that’s why my truck has been sitting untouched in the garage for a month. Why the flex seal? I just did mine in stainless. REALLY interested in your idea of a fold down table on the tire carrier. Please post a write up. We are about to do 4 post facelift swingate retrofits up here in the PNW &!I would LOVE to put a fold down table on more mine!

Definitely a key point, hence the reason it would be a desirable fix to lower the LSV, than to raise the spring mount. More work, definitely more work, but possibly more accurate. I’ll have to put some thought into that one

So it does improve handling and stiffen up your ride. It also makes your ride stronger, and protects the front suspension from undue stress by linking those lower arms together. I legitimately noticed less body roll in cornering, and I guess its harder to prove that it strengthens the structure of your ride, but that's generally what crossbars do..... Also if you make the crossbar a certain way, it serves as a great mounting point for some skid plates

As a follow up, I went through on this approach to the missing link. Definitely added some sturdiness to my ride, and I’m very pleased with it for what it cost