keithb7

The amount of power your engine can produce is severely effected by the lack of fuel being delivered to it. When I mean fuel I mean oxygen. The little explosion inside your engine, every time the spark plug fires, needs gasoline, air, compression and an ignition source. Alter one of those needs and power performance will change. There is less oxygen in the air as you climb in elevation. People who climb Mt. Everest can attest to this. I am been out hiking at elevations of close to 10,000 ft. It is exhuasting, feels like someone tied a ball and chain to one of your legs. It's ok to keep driving, pulling over and stopping won't make much difference. A K&N filter might help a little as it allows more air into the engine at all times. I have experienced this several times while out on my dirtbike as well. When you get back down to sea level it feels like you just gained way more H.P. Opening the gas cap won't do much. The fuel cap is pressure regulated. Keith

Last Sunday I attempted to replace the back up light switch on my 1993. There was no way I could get in there. Someone (88 I think) suggested that I remove the crossmember and drop the tranny slightly to get in there with a wrench or socket. Here is a photo of where the switch is located. It's the one with the cream colored plastic showing, I yanked the wires off it already. It's located just to the upper right from the centre of the photo. It's really tight in there. Too tight for any tool I can think of using. Here now is another image of the transmission support (crossmember). Is this what I need to loosen or remove to drop the tranny? Do I just loosen it and the tranny will drop slightly. I see that the the torsion bars are in the way and I only have about 2" of space to drop the crossmember. In the centre off the crossmember, there is a rubber transmission mount, maybe if I remove this I can drop the tranny slightly more? Is the transmission not firmly mounted to the engine? I was thinking if I loosen the crossmember, the engine is still going to firmly hold the transmission in place, in line with the engine. Comments appreciated. I ordered a manual, should be here next week. In the mean time I was hoping to get this done today. Keith

Holy cow DSM_Guy that's pretty discouraging. Lots going wrong there with your pathy. My 1993 has the following problems: 166,000 KM's. Rear hatch cylinders are getting saggy. Driver's door arm rest is starting to crack. Exh manifold is making some noise when cold. Not bad, I'm not about to tackle it yet. Rear back up light switch needs changing. Going to try and accomplish this later today. Failed attempts last Sunday. Need to drop the tranny slightly I guess. And that's all folks. The above is just minor stuff. Keith

Did anyone mention PIAA's? I hear they are good.

Any luck finding the problem yet? -study- How about an update when you get a minute?

I was just thinking, before I read the post about the Chev 350.... There's no way the V6 Nissan engine was going to pull that rig very far. I am trying to imaging how that beast would be off road in the mud with stock Pathfinder engine. Ha!

Wow, pretty major job there to replace broken manifold studs! That's the way things go sometimes. I have been there, one thing leads to another to another. Next thing you know you've yanked the engine. I have a question regarding the new headers. Is this a performance improving mod? I know you said the old ones were rusted out, but will these new ones be more free flowing?

Sorry folks too late for photos. I never heard any responses requesting photos. I did the job on Dec 4th. I didn't take any photos. Easy fix and now the locks seem to be working fine. Keith

Good idea 88 about the circulating fluid with the rad cap off. One more question, if the gauge reads low, do you have much heat in the cab? Are you in a cold climate where you'd really notice a heat loss in the cab? Another thing you can do is let the vehicle fully warm up with the rad cap off. The system won't pressurize. Once it's fully warmed up, you can see that the temp gauge is not going any higher, you could put a thermometer in fluid from the rad cap opening. This you would give you an idea whether or not your gauge is out.

Sounds very much like a thermostat problem. I had a stuck thermomstat last winter, right in the middle of a work transfer and relocating the family. I had no time to change it as I was too busy and in between homes, I had to shop to work in. It was very cold, like -30. It was 6 hour commute on weekends. The vehicle I was driving at that time had an electric fan. I disconnected it and stuffed a large piece of cardboard in front of the radiator. That at least got me some heat. Not much but at least it was above freezing inside during the 6 hour trip. Upon removing the thermostat later, I did find it stuck open. My advise, change it. At least that's a good starting point. It's a cheap fix if you do it yourself. Also buy some extra antifreeze to top up when you put it all back together. While you're there inspect the upper rad hose. Might want to change that at the same time, seeing as you will have it partially removed.

I tried a 19mm open end combination wrench. No luck, won't fit either. It's really a bad spot to get into. Hopefully someone has a Nissan manual. Maybe they can shed some light. Thanks, Keith

I am frustrated as heck trying to replace the back up light switch on my 1993 Pathfinder. I can't get a wrench or socket in there. No room! A 19mm deep socket is a perfect fit but no room to get the ratchet on, nor will a wobbly and an extension work. Too tight under there. Anyone done this? Does anyone out there have an original Nissan manual who can look this up for me? Is there a special tool shown in the manual for this job? It is located in the front top part of the transmission housing, under the passenger side. Once I get the old switch out, I'm not quite sure how I'm going to tighten the new one. The wires will be in the way of a socket getting on there. :furious: Keith

I would expect a slight fuel milage increase all the time as there is less load on the engine. All these belt driven components like alternators, A/C compressors, power steering pumps, water pump, and fan drive all rob precious horsepower from the engine. Look at a 1/4 mile car, they pull everything they can off the front of the engine. They usually have electric fans and electric waterpumps. Usually the one lonely belt drives the alternator and that's it. All adds up to more horsepower to the wheels.

Take your interior door panel off the driver's side. There is a plastic switch mechanism wired to the electric locks. It is probably broken. This happened to me when the dealer locked my key in the car on the lot. They got a slim jim to break into the truck. They broke that little switch mechanism. 2X my wife had the doors lock on her. One time we had to call a tow truck. I took the door apart and phoned the dealer and complained about them breaking the door switch. They supplied me with a free switch. Actually just picked it up yesterday. I am going to install it tomorrow. I can send a photo of two your way if you like. I have a digital camera. It only seemed to happen when you start the engine, then close the door to go back in the house to let it warm up. Then the doors all auto locked!

So...Where do I start to go get an electric fan. How about a temp fan stat switch? Where do you screw it in to the cooling system? Thanks.

What about an electric fan? Any improvement on fuel costs? Am I reaching for straws here? There must be somethin can be done. I can live with the poor fuel economy if there was at least decent horsepower. I keep thinking either improve the fuel economy or the power, as this V6 is one of the weakest 6 cylinders I have driven. Maybe the gearing is low as this is a 4X4, maybe its the larger tires? The extra weight of the bush bar and the side steps? It all adds up I know to poor fuel economy. Other than fuel costs I do love my Pathfinder.

I think I read somewhere on here that if you replace the auto locking hubs with manul lockers you can get a significant increase in fuel milage. Has anyone actually done this? If so did you do a fuel milage calculation? Any improvement? I did the full tune up last summer, plugs, filters, rotor, cap, etc. After the tune up I was getting about 20 Mpg on the Hiway. Not the greatest in my opinion. Maybe I'll try changing the O2 sensor and installing a K&N filter.