Earth1

Welcome from another Hoosier. I was raised in IN. Good luck with your oil leak. Sorry, don't know of any Nissan mechs there.

I had a really loud squeak that got worse until it drove me nuts. I started a topic last summer about it, maybe you've already seen it. http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=5245&hl= I don't think mine were off like that though. I don't think you have to worry too much though about the hard poly bushings like the flex style bushings in the tube uca's. They can't really crush, at least not too easily. General consensus is that poly bushings will squeak, but the greases that Precise1 linked me to have worked great with one application. Good luck. But... for the price you paid for those pups they should be perfect. If there is a prob, they'll probably send you a new one. You will have to wait until the ones you have get there and inspected and a replacement is sent out. Kinda sucks.

Nice. I'd love to see pics of how you mounted.

As mentioned before: DO NOT USE THORLEY GASKETS! I just put on the headers and used their gaskets for the header collector and cat flanges. One blew out right away. That's just a lot of unnecessary work to replace when you can avoid it in the first place. I was reccomended to use Fel-Pro, but couldn't find those for the lower flanges, only for header to block. If you can get something on the studs to hit with a hammer before removing that will help break up the rust. Like Casey said PB Blaster will help a lot. That little broken sheild bolt may be a bit of a pain, but just wait to see if you can jerk the shield off (broken bolt in place) when all the other bolts are off (if not you may need a bolt extractor). You'll be huckin those sheilds anyway, no need to be careful with them. No use for them with headers. Remove anything that's in your way if you can , it will save you time. You will need new studs and nuts for sure and if the budget allows new washers too. Beware that hardware ain't cheap. I spent almost $100 just on that. Check the pinned topic in the garage for updated stud part #'s. Head, valve cover, and intake gaskets are an entirely different and unrealted project, but if you have the time will and money, Why not? If youre going for one of those, then yes do all of them. As well as the stuff Slick mentioned. For the headers some helpful stuff: -various lengths of ratchet extentions are pretty necessary; up to at least a foot would be good -gear (ratcheting) wrenches are really nice -air tools if you can get ahold of would help for a couple spots -a cheater pipe to slide over your ratchet handle- cut to necessary length -a second pair of hands -can't remember nut sizes, but new Thorley's are standard as well as metric for header stud nuts -oxygen sensor if you don't know when last change was is a good idea, if budget allows- again like another $100 -RTV silicone -new studs go shorter end into the block Good luck! you've made a wise decision.

Good to know.

Wow nice work and like they said, so quick. I sure could have used some help lately.

I'd be pretty freaked with holes in my tank. Go grab one at a junkyard.

Looks good! That's a fair price for a bumper if someone wanted another. Right about there with the price of some others I've looked at. What did you guys do for a finish? Paint? Powder coating and shipping would probably make it more expensive than if I had one made locally that I could pick up but if I lived nearer the North border I'd be interested. Any pics from the side or 3/4 angle? Again really great design, one of my favorites.

Thanks kingair. It looks mostly like the info in the factoy service manual that I'm using -- but an excellent link for anyone that doesn't have that book. :cool2: Also a great way to get pages from the manual printed rather than tugging around and greasing up my manual.

I may have diagnosed the oil pan leak wrong. I think (fingers crossed) it may be just power steering fluid. It was looking dark, but I think it was from dirt on the outside of the engine. The nut on one of the lines on top the pump was loose and definately leaking. The main exhaust leak has been fixed. The gasket on that flange blew out already. It was missing a layer for about 1". I guess Thorley gaskets do suck. I could see the carbon from the leak on the flange. I replaced it with the ring type seal and I can't feel a leak anymore and it sounds better. I still smell exhaust though. Maybe I'm just not used to the sound of the headers, but it sounds leaky when I give it gas. Not a tick like the old manifold leak, just kinda raspy. It's not what I expected it to sound like. Does an exhaust shop have a way to test for leaks? I can't feel it blowing out any of the joints. I gained a little more power by fixing that gasket issue, but it still doesn't feel like a cam & header modified engine. I didn't mess with the timing yet today. It idles low and lumpy kinda like a Harley, not so low that it dies but way differnent. It will be interesting to see how it responds to a higher octane gas. I wasn't expecting a drag car, but I'm not seeing the results I was expecting yet. I will try reading the ECU tomorrow.

Now I've found another leak. :oops: Looks like it's coming from the oil pan seal. Great. Can the oil pan come out with the engine in place? It looks like it would be a challenge. This is so depressing. For the exhaust I'm only finding flange gaskets that have a metal crimp ring around the hole. Besides the shape, they're nothing like the Thorley gaskets. It doesn't seem like that ring would do much considering the flanges have those raised welds. I would think a softer gasket would do better. I found some high temp paste that cures hard for patching exhaust. I'm gonna try it bettween the flange and gaskets. Changed the idler pully and the sound stopped. I effed the bearing in the other I guess. So I can expect it to get worse here real quick. SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET! I need a beer.

I'll just give it a few days and get my other probs smoothed out. If It's leaking too bad I'll pull the tranny and get to it. If I ever were to do this again, I'd plug all the oil lines before installing and dump some oil in to see if there were any leaks. Can't believe I didn't do that. :X :X

Nope justa finicky manny tranny.

I drove it around for a while today and it's running pretty good -- but I have some bugs to work out. Man am I glad I didn't gloat yet. First and worst is painful. An oil leak at the tranny. It's not gushing but definatlely leaking; actually more than my old motor. I'll have to pull the tranny to find the leak. No way around it. I can't imagine why my new seal is leaking but it is. I can live with it for a while maybe until my suspicious transmission bites the dust. Or, I may just get right to it. Exhaust leak. The triangle joint at the header collector on the passenger side is leaking at one bolt. It's leaking enough to feel it with my hand. Just in that spot as far as I can tell. I've progressively cranked the bolts down to the point the washers are cupping and it won't seal up. I'll take that piece off and check the flange and gasket. It may be effecting the compression too; I am definatley missing power. I was thinking of using 2 gaskets on that side. I can hear a hint of nice sound, but mostly just a crappy leak pretty loud throught the floorboard. The idler pully is bent. I may have tensioned the belt before tightening the center bolt. Can't remember. It makes a nice little whine, Ryan actually caught that one for me. I just happen to have a spare and I'll be sure to do it right this time. The gas gauge was all over the place for about 20 miles but it seems to have settled down. There is a definate lack of power. The exhuast leak may be most, if not all of the cause. I need to make sure the throttle cable is adjusted right, something I forgot to check. I still haven't touched the distributor -- Going with the obvious stuff first. 85 octane could be contributing too. Nothing is toooo awful, if it weren't for the oil leak it wouldn't be a big deal. I expected some issues but that one hurts. Back at it tomorrow...

Thanks for the ideas. I got it figured out. After looking at Ryan's truck I realized I had the fuse relay thing that's bolted with the positive terminal on the wrong spot. I had it screwed down to the fender like a ground. Screwed it to the positive post and problem solved. It runs! :cool2: It's running a little rough but I only ran it for about 15 minutes tonight. I'll try to tweak the idle tomorrow. I still have to cinch up the slide joint on the exhaust. I didn't have the shifter boot on and it stank to high heaven in the cab for the test drive around the block. It is so much louder with the headers and especially with the leak at that joint. I still need to reconnect the broken power steering plug, drain the water in the radiator and get some coolant in there, top off the oil, tighten exhaust and final adjustments with the idle. I still have some 85 oct gas in the tank, trying to decide if I want to drain that and get some higher octane or just run it and start with a fresh tank of something higher. I suppose I'll see how the new cams respond to both. I can't believe I've pulled it off! It's still too soon for gloating but the feeling of accomplishment is starting to set in. I'm getting tired of spending my evenings in the garage, and borrowing cars, and commuting back and forth. Looking forward to driving my truck. -bounce-

Starter wired wrong? Hmmm.. How specifically did you have it wired wrong? I can barely see anything with that thing in place. I might just take it out. I'm gonna hit up Ryan (AK9849CY) to have a look at his engine about those 2 plugs. He lives really close to where I'm working. Any fuses in the cab that could cause the failure?

Nice suggestions. I don't think I have an alarm. The battery was definately hooked up right because I had a hard time getting the cables to the posts while they were crossed. I don't have an elec tester, and have never used one... but I guess I'll get one and figure it out.

Something to consider. If you plan on getting headers the skid will need to mount a little lower, i.e.- not flush with the crossmember. I just put my headers on and was surprised how low they are.

I'll check the interlock but I don't see how the clutch would affect? It's not just that it won't start- there is no power at all. Anything else?

NO JUICE! It's all your fault K9. I turned the key... nothing. I've cursed, pounded, kicked and yelled with no luck. I've tried 2 batteries, one I know for sure is good. I have no electrical- no dash, headlights, nada. I've checked and checked and checked again and don't see anything unconnected. I've pulled a lot of the connectors apart and put em back together to check the connections. The only thing I can't see well is the starter, which I may pull off soon to see if anything is weird. Ground is on the block. Any ideas? Actually there are 2 harnesses that aren't plugged but I can't find any possible place for them and I think maybe they never were attached to anything. They are both right by each other near the battery coming off the main wire group; one is blue and one is grey. They are both dirty inside like they haven't been attached for a while. Not to be mistaken for another blue connector nearby that is hooked up. The only other thing I can think is the ASCD box I took off. Maybe that is affecting something. How do I start to find the problem? I know about as much about wiring as I did about engines when I started. Clueless...

Umkay. Bled the clutch line and everything seems ok. Gonna try to start er up today! -bounce- Got the oil filter relocator on. I mounted it to the firewall just above the fender on the passenger side. After removing the cruise control box and relocating the fuel filter a little there is plenty of room. Changing oil will be a breeze now. I already have a new stock size oil filter so I'll run it for the first few and start using a larger Ford filter next change. Pics soon. Headers are on. It was a pain to get all the pieces lined up and bolted together. The angle where the crossover slides over the driver side down pipe is off a little. A design flaw- for those not going with an entire new exhaust system. The stock pipes will only move so far. I'm not happy with how low the crossover hangs. It is routed way below the crossmember and is now the lowest point on the bottom. It would definately be the first thing to get ripped off on a rock. :oops: I'll have to design a skid that will cover that now. pssd I don't why Thorley designed that to be so low. It's not like these are for a car, they're for a PATHFINDER for godsake! There is plenty of room to just make the flanges on the downpipes a little shorter. I'll ask the exhaust shop if they can chop a section out before the flanges and weld them back on to raise that piece. Is the slide over section at the crosspiece supposed to be welded together? Pics soon. The new motor had a different power steering bracket, making the belt too short. I had to swap the old bracket and the lower hard coolant tube from the oldy. Took me a while to figure out why my belt wouldn't go on. I was too pissed and tired at this point to get out the camera. The oil sensor near the starter and filter was different too. Spliced the new clip and good to go. I just need to get the fluids in and I'm ready to see if all my hard work will pay off. I've got to tell you, I'm nervous.

I'm in over 5000 now. The only work I've paid to have done is a new clutch, alignment, and a day of labor for diagnosis once. All the other work I've done. I'm saving about 2000 just by doing the motor swap myself. I didn't even realize I'd spent that much until I just thought about it. Ouch!

I've got to hand it to ya, you're persistent. Nice job with your site. From the looks of your pix you have the speaker boxes in the back cargo above the wheels. Under the mesh cover there seems to be enough room to put 6x9s in the place of the back stock speaks if you trimmed out some of the plastic and made room for 6xs. That's what I was going to try.

Hey Rampart is a great place to test the waters. A lot of trails there. I have buddys that go dirtbiking down there all the time. I'll give you a shout next time we're heading that way. Like I told the other new Chris from CO, I think you'll be surprised what the Pathy will do stock. Happy wheeling.

You'll learn a ton around here Chris when you start lookin at the old stuff and asking questions. You'd be suprised what your truck will do stock. On a lot of the trails around here, you'll see easy routes bypassing the harder sections anyway. Let us know when you want to get dirty.