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mws
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Posts posted by mws
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Regarding the 240SX option - the seat rails and mounting method in my '87 pathy look verrrrrry similar to the ones in my 1990 240SX! And they do fold forward and slide with the side latch.
The only down side: While they were extremely comfortable when new, I found the 240 seats to wear out too fast for my liking. At only 80K, the foam had collapsed/broken down enough to notice metal digging in, and the cloth was wearing pretty severely on the tips of the side bolsters.
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Getting ready to change mine ('87 v6) so I was under there at lunch with the PB Blaster... It is a 3 wire.
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Yup, reliability. Never a come back with NGK's. Not glamorous plugs - they just do their job. And do it. And do it.
I like the concept of the Platinum plus 4's - especially in vehicles with ultra high power ignitions and/or difficult access. With 4 "wear" points, they should last quite a bit longer - unless you get the "one out of a thousand" that breaks. But with the ease of access on my vehicles, I just use NGK's and change every 30K miles.
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Anybody have input on wires and caps?
I'm considering ordering a Bosch cap & rotor and Beck/Arnley wire set. Less than $100 for all at Rock Auto. And less than $100 ($72 delivered with Bosch wires) from alloembmwparts.com. Wow! Pays to comparison shop. Any reasons I should choose differently? I could also get NGK wires for about $13 more...
I am planning to upgrade the ignition to a Jacobs Pro-Street capacitive discharge box and high output coil in the near future.
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I'd like to get a factory shop manual for my '87. Anybody know where I can order one? I assume somebody has rights to continue publshing and selling them...
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A resounding YES to your offer! Many thanks! I just PM'd you.
Martin
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I have a buddy who was a Nissan, Acura, and BMW mechanic and now has his own shop. He highly recommends NGK's for Nissans as he has never seen any problems with them.
He "lightly" advises against Bosch Platinums in Nissans, and I was one of his data points for this. For some reason, they VERY OCCAISIONALLY have a tendency to come apart in Nissans - the ceramic on the tip cracks and breaks away. I had that happen in my 240SX, and he saw 5 or 6 other incidents in Nissans. That's 5 or 6 plugs out of thousands he's seen and it rarely causes any real damage, but it is strange as he's never seen it happen in BMW's, nor has it happened with NGK's in Nissans .. No idea why.
Since then, I've only used NGK's. In my 240, in all 5 of my motorcycles, and now I'm even using them in my BMW. NEVER a problem, so I'm sticking with them.
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One other problem with my Pathfinder is the blower for the HVAC. It only works on postion 4 (hurricane setting). The pathy is an '87 XE, pretty much baseline with V6.
The previous owner had a little fire (if there is such a thing...) under the dash on the passenger side on a hot day with A/C cranking. Turns out the resistor pack module overheated. Severe enough that a big chunk of the HVAC plenum box is melted away. That's easy to fix.
BUT, after a couple hours with a multimeter and some jumpers, I still can not figure out to fix the blower speed control so I can get a lower fan speed. I'm still trying to find a factory shop manual, so thought I would try you guys.
Here's what I know:
I do have the (borderline useless) Chilton manual and the schematic in it.
The toasted resistor module was removed and tossed and I have not been successful in finding a new one (may have to get from $tealer or fab my own). In the meantime, the Chilton schematic indicates I should have been able to jump across terminals in the resistor module connector and the fan would run (at full speed) at with switch at settings 1,2, or 3. No luck. Still only runs on 4 only.
The A/C compressor appears to funtion fine when switch is pushed, but the light does not come on in the switch. The bulb tests OK. (Clue?)
Probing the contacts on the dash contol switch revealed 0 volts at all terminals except the one on the far right - blue/white wire which is at 12V. That's odd. I expected the grn/blk to have 12 V.... (Clue?)
So I'm suspecting one of the other components upstream (downstream?) died. The Chilton schematic indicates there are several things -
- Thermo control amp
- Dual pressure switch
- A/C relay
- FICD relay
- Blower signal relay
- Diode
- ECCS control unit
Any ideas which I should analyze or replace first? And where it may be?
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I read in a magazine article (use this information appropriately!) that you can USUALLY get away with as little as 10 psi on a non-beadlock wheel. Any less than 10 psi you really want beadlocks. And of course, you have to really slow down (10-15 max) to avoid overheating and damaging sidewalls.
At 10 psi, the factors that affect your success:
- weight of the vehicle (heavier will peel bead loose sooner)
- side loading due to rocks or side slope angle or tight turns (more side load will peel sooner)
- the individual wheel and tire combo. Some beads seat tighter, some looser.
On a pathy, we could probably get away with 8 or 9 psi in a straight line on sand or mud!
My personal limits are:
20 psi unless I have re-inflation capabilities on board! Even at 20, I keep speeds down under 55 and monitor carcass temps (stop and feel) until I can re-inflate.
15 psi unless I really, really need to go lower.
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You speak with wisdom...
Thanks for confirming I use the original sized studs. I'll order up a full set of the improved versions. Only $2.34 ea at newnissanparts.com
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Just picked up an '87 V6 in outstanding condition. Well, except for the wreck damage (now fixed!) and leaking manifold.
After reading all the info here, I'm going to fix the problem once and for all and install the Thorley headers. So what are the best fasteners to use?
Will the original studs work?
If so, should I still replace with the 14065-v5004 studs? Seems like the much thinner (and steel) header flange would be less likely to fracture the studs..
Or do I need to install shorter studs or use aftermarket bolts?
TIA!
New O2 Sensor = Wow!
in The Garage
Posted
I replaced the O2 sensor last night, and I am impressed with the difference it made!
The rest of the story:
I bought my '87 pathy with 177K well maintained easy commuter miles. It drove fine, but not impressively. Within a couple days, I determined that there was a problem with the thermostat - she never warmed up fully. So I get a new thermostat to swap in. Pull the TS housing (WARNING: The Chilton book is WRONG when it comes to the location of the TS - true tripe!) and hmmmm..... there was no thermostat at all! Evidently some knuckle dragging "professional" forgot to put it back in after a repair (I know the owner, and they had only "professional" mechanics work on it). It had been several years since anyone had been inside the engine that far.
New thermostat = much better. She warmed up, and finally idled under 1200 rpm. Ran the ECM through all diagnostics and everything checked out fine. Took it in for smog check, and she failed emissions at idle. Fine at cruise. Grumble grumble.
Since it had been running in "cold engine" enrichened mode for so long, I figured the cat was likely sooted up. Pulled it out - yup. Black as night in there. Installed a new Dynomax Super Converter (only $59!) and 2.5" exhaust. Ran better, but still had a couple quirks:
- Kinda stumbly when cold
- Would miss and lurch when accelerating under 2K rpm
- blipping the throttle resulted in minor stumbles and backfires and a bit of an rpm surge right as the throttle was released. Classic sign of lean.
- Yawn inducing performance. Not having driven a good pathy, I had no benchmark to compare. Now I know the V30 is a rather low performance little V6, but still...
So - it had been years since a good tune up. New NGK plugs and wires, Bosch cap and rotor, Bosch fuel and air filters.
- Ran a little better, but still the same symptoms.
Although Mode 1 & 2 testing of ECM indicated the O2 was functioning properly, I decided to replace it anyways. It had never been changed, and it seemed that the rich exhaust condition could not have done it any good. If the cat was sooted up, then the O2 sensor had to be getting fluffy too. Unbelievably, the old sensor came right out (I had been soaking with PB for a couple days).
Wow! Stumbles went away, backfires gone, revs much quicker. And it pulls noticeably harder! Seat o'pants dyno says at least 20 lb-ft in the midrange. The accleration induced yawning was significantly decreased.
Moral: Even if it tests OK, a new O2 sensor may make quite a difference! I now understand first hand why it is suggested they be changed as part of routine maintenance.
Now to get it smog checked again.