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Removing the EGR tube will be the hardest part of this job, i can already tell. The connector bolts look rusted solid! Weird, because I don't see rust anywhere else. I need to re-up my PB Blaster supply

Thx All! Ok, I'm going all in on upper end rebuild, just started breakdown yesterday. Got a full gasket set from Fel Pro on the way and already bought Timing Belt kit including water pump, Tensioner and thermostat. *I didn't get to the leak down test before starting the breakdown and think I missed my window... I'll check how cylinders look once i have her opened up. Hoping I can find a machine shop around here to resurface Heads, if needed. I appreciate the input!

White smoke and one dead hole sure sounds like a head gasket issue to me. +1 on the leakdown test to tell you for sure. And +1 for doing the timing belt etc while you're in there. Cam seals, crank seal, bypass hose, belt, tensioner, pump. I skipped the crank seal the first time I did mine, and naturally it started leaking the moment I had it back together.

Maybe you got the early 27 spline hubs? The hubs and CVs switched to 28 spline between '89 and '90. Don't think I've ever seen a Ridge Line hub. Hopefully that's the last speed bump to it going back together!

Spark but no fire on carb cleaner suggests it's either massively flooded, or the timing is way off. Do you have a timing light? The ignition timing should not have changed if you haven't moved the distributor, assuming everything's as it should be behind the timing cover. I'm also assuming the last guy had it set up properly, given it ran before you opened it up. Confirm that you've got 40 teeth between cam dimples, 43 cam to crank. If you had the sprockets off to do the cam seals, confirm that you reinstalled the sprockets on the correct sides. Left and right are marked from the driver's perspective, not the mechanic's. I've never had an issue with it, though I have heard of people washing the oil off the cylinder walls by using too much. Some starting fluid has oil in it, that's probably better for extended use if you have to run it on spray. I mostly just use it to make sure a small engine's worth buying a carburetor for. I don't know if it's the ether or the stuff they add to stop people from huffing it, but starting fluid gives me a headache real quick. Not that carb cleaner is healthy, but it doesn't hit me like that. I see guys on Youtube using brake cleaner, and they seem to get away with it, but I don't want to know what's coming out the tailpipe when that stuff burns!

I did this job a couple of years ago because I was getting coolant into the cylinders after sitting for more than a day. All in all, doing all of the things you discussed and what I am listing, I think I spent $500 in parts alone. Well worth it if you're inclined to do it. Resurfacing the heads, I think was like $250. I can't remember that exact value. Don't cinch out on the Head Gasket set. You'll need all of the gaskets in that set, including the the gaskets on the back of the heads where the cams go into the head. I almost F'd up my heads. There is an elusive 10mm headed bolt on the back of the passenger side head (Front Drivers side) that will need to be removed in order to take off the heads. I missed that on mine on the passenger side because it's pretty well hidden on the back. You pretty much have to replace the timing belt if you're removing the heads. Or... well... it has to come off, so you might as well do it. I also recommend doing the water pump, and timing belt tensioner, since it's right there as well... There's probably a kit for that. And then there is the crank seal. That can be problematic. I had to get a new crank pulley. It's recommended that you replace the head bolts. I found several exhaust manifold studs broken. They were easy to take out once the heads were off. The manifold to pipe nuts... good luck with those. Hopefully someone along the way has replaced the factory steel nuts with brass ones. +1 on the leak down test. If you're losing your compression into the oil and engine block, that makes plenty of sense. If you're losing coolant, that's a different story, but you might not have that long term information. Good Luck and have fun!!!

You probably know this by now, but the VG33 pulley/balancer is put together with some rubber isolator in between. They were known to go bad back in the day, my dad had his replaced 2x under warranty by nissan on his 2000 pathfinder. It would slip, make noises, and cause the timing readings to be incorrect.

I reached a stopping point today so I thought I would put it down while it's fresh in my head. For the gear driven speedometer models, remove the speedo gear first. If you don't, you'll probably break the plastic oil cover and gutter. I didn't make the name of it... it is what it is. When disassembling the rear end of the case, contrary to the manual, do not remove the front driveshaft output nut or adapter until you're ready to replace the seal. The procedure has you remove that first and, in my case, the front bearing came out of the housing vice the rear which misaligned everything when pulling it apart and the chain would not let me pull it apart. If you leave that part on the front of the housing, it will keep the bearing and sprocket on the front housing, allowing for a much easier removal. Now that the extension housing off, the procedure mentions pulling everything off of the tailshaft. Do NOT do any of that. I spent a lot of time trying to pull that apart and it didn't need to come off. Pull the snap ring off of the shift fork that is accessible. That's for the 4WD. Remove the oil cover and gutter. It's plastic, so use care when pulling. I imagine that's probably unobtanium. There are 6 Torx head bolts holding the mainshaft to the housing. Do not remove those. Split the mid section from the front section. This is where parts fell out. Intact. One was a shim that goes on the bearing of the countershaft that resides in the mid section, and there were the 2 pieces of the mainshaft pocket bearing that resides in the input shaft. I removed the 4WD fork rod and 4Low fork by popping them out from the external actuator. There is a ball bearing backed with a spring, held externally with a 19MM plug. I don't know when you should pull those, but when I pulled them, the ball bearings fell into the housing and were easily retrieved with a magnet. From there, you can access the top 2 bolts of the front cover, unobstructed. Putting it back together, I placed the pocket bearing into the space where it goes and used grease to hold the shim in place on the mid section. That's it!! it's basically lining everything back up and doing the same thing in reverse. Since the front driveshaft rear bearing is stuck in the extension housing, I'm going to have to borrow a slide hammer to pull it out and will continue to try to put it back together tomorrow. I'll be ordering a new front driveshaft seal, so, yet another thing I'll be waiting for until it's done. At least, I can start working on getting it back in the Pathfinder and put that in later. All in all, about 5 hours to work on, and if I knew about the things I didn't need to do, or sequence of events, it could have been much less. Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!!