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I have an extra distributor that I marked core. I have had it so long I forget why I marked it that way. I figured I would try and put that one in and see if the issue goes away. The issue went away. I couldn’t get it any closer than 17 degrees. That’s within the range the manual gives. I am relieved to know that it should be the distributor. I will get an another one and cross my fingers that it fixes the problem. I will report back after the new one is installed.

I'm the second owner of my pretty much stock 03 Pathfinder SE (auto, part-time 4wd) since 2015. Things happened in 2020. Decided to convert the Pathfinder to manual. Bought a manual trans from a 2002, took my time, and in summer 2023 finished rebuilding it. Not including that here as it's pretty routine - all new synchros, bearings, input shaft and some gears that had chipped teeth, then back together. If you have a 2000, 01 or 02 part-time or rwd you can swap in a manual, get a manual ECU, (deal with NATS), and be done. (You can't manual swap a full-time 4wd, fulltime unit only works with an auto) My problem with the 03 was Nissan discontinued manuals in the US in late 2002 for model year 2003, which also had new revisions with a more advanced ECU including electric throttle body and other changes. So I could either go 'backwards' to a US 2002 manual ECU and install throttle cable, find a wrecked US manual truck and swap everything across - or get an 03 manual ECU and make it work. I didn't want to go backwards. I'm also in WA which doesn't do smog checks so no issues modifying or mixing and matching. Luckily, Nissan still sold the 03-04 as manual in Canada. Looking at parts diagrams in Amayama it looked like the Canadian auto 03 model was near-identical to the US model, so the manual couldn't be that different, I figured. The worst outcome was it wouldn't work at all, or that I'd have to keep spending money until it worked or I gave up. I took the gamble. I reviewed the earlier Pathfinder auto to manual guide linked on this forum, and also looked up a lot of 350Z conversion forums as it's the same engine and ECU. Also Nissan Skyline and 300ZX forums as different engine, but same transmission. I found the throttle body changed part numbers in 07/2002 from cable to electric, so that was the cutover date. Anything after that was right. I searched individual junk yards in Canada until I found a place selling a clutch pedal and bracket, ECU, and flywheel. The tell with the 'right' car was there were no throttle/cruise cables in the engine bay pics, cuz electric throttle. The yards that had what I needed were in rural Alberta. Apparently Alberta has a lot of R50 Pathfinders in their yards. I mainly used car-part.com. I sent the ECU away to get NATS disabled so I wouldn't need to deal with it. Got everything in and worked end of summer 2024, and wanted to share here. Pics and posts to follow once I get an image service set up.

The manual transmission chassis cover plate was unavailable, so I cut the existing one to fit the manual shifter The service manual says to fill the transmission from the shifter hole, so I did Intermediate covers and soundproofing Manual transmission trim installed The original auto transmission connector block. I connected up the neutral position switch to the PNP relay so it only starts when the shifter is in neutral. And connected up the reverse lights, just four wires

I made an adapter for my transmission jack to securely hold the manual transmission in place. I've used ordinary jacks to reinstall car transmissions before but this thing is pretty heavy even without the transfer case and I didn't want it falling on me About to go in Lining up manual transmissions just right to install is always annoying. Sometimes you gotta take it completely back out and down and start again. Sometimes it pops right in You can see the innards of the transmission before the transfer case is attached. Without sealant the transmission oil would all seep out Technically the manual transmission transfer case is different - it has a small gutter under the input shaft, and subgears to absorb shock. But nothing that is needed for the conversion. The auto transmission transfer case works fine. But you have to apply sealant as the back of the manual transmission is open

A pic of the back of the new flywheel showing 03-04 signal plate A view of the clutch fork from the outside. It pushes towards the engine, which pulls the pressure plate 'off' the clutch and flywheel

So first I tried a 350Z flywheel - but it was too high and wouldn't allow the pull clutch to work so couldn't release the clutch. So pulled the transmission out again, and next I installed a US '02 flywheel But the signal plate is way different, it's for the cable throttle ECU and the engine wouldn't start 00-01-02 signal plate on left with like 300 or something holes. 03-04 signal plate on the right. The right side has 3x 10 holes. That's what I needed, but flywheel not flex plate I found I needed part number 123105W90A (03-04 only) which is unique to the R50 Pathy due to the pull clutch. It was hard to find but found one in the UAE from I think partsouq Correct flywheel installed I found the starter motor had to be shimmed back about a 1/2 inch otherwise starter gear would hit the flywheel. There's an official part number for this, a plate the starter sits sandwiched under, but it's out of stock so I just used washers OEM clutch plate is an Exedy Pressure plate installed It's pretty big as pressure plates go, but the pull clutch means the clutch pedal is light (is why they chose it for the Pathfinder - more grab but lighter to use)

Clutch pedal installed. I couldn't find a Pathy brake pedal - probably because its bracket wraps around the steering column. I kept hitting the brake when I went for the clutch, so I ended up just cutting the brake pedal the same size as the clutch pedal and it looks factory now You can't really see, but the clutch pedal bracket goes where the auto trans computer used to be. It has a clutch starter switch but I didn't connect it (did connect the neutral start switch though) The Pathfinder manual uses a pull clutch (not a regular push clutch) which I had to figure out how it works Got the OEM parts Assembled. It 'clicks' into the pressure plate on installation. Then to release you pull out that pin, and the fork falls out. You lift the collar on the clutch release bearing to release it from the pressure plate. It's kinda hard to explain without seeing it in action.

First things first - remove the transfer case Lots of extensions needed to get to bellhousing bolts. I bought proper long ones after this. Auto transmission detached Flexplate Flexplate removed Source of my rear engine oil leak (after clean up) - rear pan seal job was badly done Sealed it up good. Also I didn't take a photo, but you need to remove the steel inner collar. It's a total pita to get out. It centers the torque converter, but the manual transmission uses a small brass one. There's videos online, the 350Z auto to manual conversion videos cover it. I couldn't get it out for hours and broke various tools, I thought that was the end of the project. But I got it out eventually with the exact right sized puller. Fortunately the R50 chassis has the clutch master cylinder hole already there under a plate Turns out the auto trans computer sits on the other side of the clutch blank plate so both come out at once Factory clutch master cylinder. I thought about steel clutch lines, but ended up using an ebay 240SX clutch line kit. Works fine.

I had never rebuilt a manual trans before. Followed the service manual, "Beer Garage" (since deleted), and youtube videos and took my time. I used a toaster oven to make dropping the press fit gears back on easier. I bought a factory shifter. But I thought it was too tall so I cut about an inch off it and welded. I am not a professional welder at all. But it has held up fine. I also found and bought a NOS Pathfinder clutch, and a 350Z flywheel. I figured a 350Z is the same engine and clutch, and the clutch and flywheel fit together. Seemed so far so good.

I did the same with my auto. I don't tow but I just don't want the auto to break. Like yours it went into the radiator cooler, through the Hayden aux cooler and to a magnefine filter. I took the trans out at like 177,000 it still shifted great, so I think it helped. Didn't seem to do any harm. When they were plastic you could unscrew and open them. When replacing them I'd take the magnet out and keep it. Looking at the magnet and filters you could definitely see they caught some stuff. Better than the standard pan for sure.

I ran the hoses today. I used the included band clamps for all the hoses, and everything turned out OK. I got an additional 5ft of hose (I asked for 4, the guy at the auto parts store was generous to give me 5ft for the price of 4 since only the 5ft was left, and a 1ft piece of hose would not sell ) for the aux cooler input line. Both of the hoses were too long, but I'd rather have some slack than for them to be too short by like 2 inches. The band clamps all looked like this. Perhaps I'll eventually replace them all with fuel line clamps from the junkyard. I didn't tighten the clamp around the stock cooler's output enough at first and it leaked. After tightening that, I tested thoroughly before actually driving by revving up to around 1500-2000rpm in all the gears and there were no more leaks. On the drive back though, the trans was acting a bit funny, seems like it was hunting for gears or something, but maybe I just was iffy with the throttle or something... since it was raining and dark I didn't check for leaks when I arrived home, but will check in the morning. I didn't lose very much fluid, maybe 300mL, and strangely the fluid level still remained in the middle of the "HOT" mark, so I did not need to add any more fluid. I was expecting to add at least some due to the additional capacity of the cooler and the in-line filter... I'll have to check the fluid again. The stock cooler's output line is on the passenger side as indicated by TSB NTB00-056b "1988 AND LATER NISSAN VEHICLES AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION OIL COOLER CLEANING". I secured the hoses using a few zip-ties. I'll need to see if the stock undercover will still fit properly; the only thing that might interfere with it is the bottoms of the cooler's mounting hardware. I will post some pictures of how I routed the hoses tomorrow. Overall it was a very easy install, didn't take more than an hour total to mount the cooler and run the hoses.