mws

That's a gripe of mine as well.... On the '07, the CVT had a psuedo manual mode. You flicked the lever and the belt would quickly move to another fixed position and stay there until you flicked it again. Gave the car a little personality.

I lke the two people in the background in the first photo.... Looks like my neighbors when I bring a new project home.... "WTF is Martin dragging home now?"

Ooooh... I do like! A lot more muscular looking. We tried really hard to fall in love with a 2007 model that was being offered for a riduculously low price (a couple thousand under the Altimas!). It was with the 4 passenger "limo style" seating and loaded. But couldn't. Functionally, outstanding. Aesthetically, err, just not doing it for me. It was OK and was really nothing wrong with it, but for that much money, I want more than OK.

If the ground wire is showing 12 volts, that means it is not connected to ground. Follow that wire, somewhere it is broken or disconnected.

Charlie is on his way home with Little Black! It will be gun to see this project materialize. Charlie, keep us appraised and feel free to ask lots of questions!

I was looking for set of Heckethorn/Rough Country steering dampers for my F250. Checked a lot of sources. Lots of attractive advertised prices, but then add in their S&H charges - yeah, right Tim. Some were charging as much as $35 for shipping. Just for giggles, checked JC Whitney. Although they were the biggest show in town when I was a young buck, I haven't used them in years. Wow. $2.95 for shipping! They turned out to be lowest total cost - and by a long shot.

As far as filing an insurance claim, I always recommend caution in doing so - especially if you're under 30 years old. It may (actually, will likely) affect your rates for years - potentially ending up costing you more than you collect. I view insurance as being there for catastrophic events ONLY. A simple rollover like this, if you're mechanically inclined, is not catastrophic. Sure, a few evenings and weekends swapping on a new body (he is likely going to pick up my little black body - for free), but it's doable. In fact, I carry only Liability (and uninsured/underinsured since I live in California) on all of my vehicles. And I carry quite a bit of it to protect myself - like $500K. That's a catastrophic loss - you cause a collision that results in others being injured. THAT is what insurance is for in my book - half million dollar incidents. I've never filed a claim, and my rates (home and cars) shock most people. 0 claims = super cheap insurance. And every insurance company wants you! Here's a way to save a few thousand dollars in your lifetime: Carry only liability and uninsured/underinsured coverage. Take what save on the policy and put it in a savings account - or invest it (wisely). If a vehicle is ever stolen or you wreck it, use the money in the savings account and buy a new one with what you have. Otherwise, use the THOUSANDS you're saved to party like a rock star when you retire.

$: Got it for $8800. In outstanding mechanical condition, a little rough looking on the interior - all fixable. As far as gas consumption: Of course it sucks! So I only drive it when I need to - which is to tow our trailer. My thoughts on gas consumption and prices versus usage: If I care what it costs, I don't buy it. Carpool, ride my bike, motorcycle, bus, train, etc. If I want to buy it, I choose not to care what it costs. Lamenting over what it costs does absolutely nothing to change the situation, so why do it? I ride motorcycle or bicycle to work most of the time. If we want to take the trailer to camp, we're going to do it. We budget in for the fuel costs, and then choose not to care when I fill up. For the semi-annual Oregon Dunes trip, we are camping on the sand instead of at the KOA. That frees up a couple hundred bucks for gas. Back to the V10. It actually isn't so expensive to run if you keep your foot out of it. My colleague regularly gets 15-16 commuting to work (mostly highway). Not too far off from some Pathys. Around town, well, it is a tank. Most report 9-13 depending on weight of foot. Again, not too far off from Pathy. As far as towing, we've been getting 6-7 mpg using the '93 F350 dually with 460. Most report 8-10 using the V10. That will be a significant improvement! And the v10 will let me use one grade lower. Why didn't I get diesel? - Our trailer is modest, so we don't need the extra power. Gasser gets us over the Siskiyou grade at 55 just fine. - We don't tow that much, so the theoretical extra life span is irrelevant. Some V10's are over 300K and running strong. - In talking to honest folks, they are only getting about 20-25% better mpg than the V10 gasser. Diesel costs almost that much more in Cal, so not much savings to fill up. - Gassers are SUPER CHEAP right now! Like $5k less than a comparable condition diesel. That buys a LOT of gas!

What did I do? Picked up a used F250 Super Duty with a V10 Triton! They've dropped over 30% in value in just the last 6 months. Got mine for a song.

Note: I just modified the plunger/wiping contact in my pathy with 240K miles. The tip had worn down until it was completely flat. That resulted in the corners being sharp, and they scraped away the surface of the ring until it cut all the way through. Had to replace the ring, and I carefully filed and sanded the corners of the plunger to a nice smooth radius.

Yes, that schematic appears correct. The spring loaded copper wiping contact in the steering column should show 12 V. When this is connected to a ground (any ground), the relay will be energized and sound. But if the path to ground is compromised, no horn. Potential faults include: - copper wiping contact worn down - Spring broken or weak (not pushing firmly against ring) - Wiping surface ring on back of steering wheel corroded or worn through - broken wire within wheel - dirty/broken contacts on horn switch - bad ground path from steering wheel to column to chassis Good luck!

Glad you're OK! I have a pretty darned straight '88 body (black) sitting in the back 40. We've been using it as a parts pig. It is now missing it's front fenders, but the rest is quite good. No rust. I recall a small dent in the hatch and maybe a small one in the fender. Broken front and rear windows, and the interior is hammered. BUT - It's free to a good home if you take the entire chassis (supposedly with a freshly rebuilt engine) and I'm only 100 miles north of you in Chico. I could even haul it for you if you pay gas.

I respect your willingness to give this a serious try. It would be neat if this thing was able to violate laws of chemistry, physics, and thermodynamics. As it is, I remain too sceptical and busy to invest my personal effort in doing it myself. But I will offer sincere suggestions and help if you hit any problems.

Flash back memory: On my 1990 240SX: The section of black rubber line in the fuel return hose between solid line and fuel filler basically dissolved when CA started requiring ethanol addition. Only that one line - all others were fine. It is always possible some of this rubber line ended up on Pathies as well.... So yeah, lift the carpet, pull the access cover and look for signs of leaking on the sending unit cover AND check all the flexible lines as well.

Yup... the key word being NEW starter. The last one bench tested just dandy - it only failed when it was hot. Even after returning, it still bench tested dandy. We offered to put it out in the sun and get it hot to prove, but they actually took our word on it. I am willing to bet this turd gets sent back to rebuilder, who will ignore the defect report, bench test it, repackage, and sell it again.... If you don't want it, buy NEW.

That's absolutely NOT what I meant, Aaron! My experience says less than 0.1% of folks have the confidence to learn and do on their own... and only 50% of them can pull it off. So you are way up there. But as a JOB with proper training and a quality parts supply, it should not be this hard.

That will be my plan when the next one dies - I will dissect and attempt to repair it myself. I did eventually find some sources for Nissan starter components - just not in time to try to do so on little blue. Rebuilding a starter is NOT rocket science and can be successfully done.... I believe the root cause is the majority of consumers demanding the absolute lowest cost combined with parts stores purchasing their parts from the lowest price bidder. I call it the Wal-Mart syndrome. If the customers demand cheap crap, they will eventually get cheap crap. I was severely disappointed when the Beck Arnley failed. I was hoping/wishing they were sticking to quality above cost. They still charge a premium for their parts - either this was an anomoly or they hired an American style "Business Manager" to optimize short term profits at the expense of quality and long term viability.

Heckethorns! As sold by Rough Country (Hydro 8000's). Excellent ride AND control.

Shoot, you're in Minnesota. Out here in CA, we have perfect frames we're trying to give away! Root cause is road salting. The corrosion protection treatments applied by many automakers were just not tough enough to withstand it. Toyota, Nissan, Ford, Chevy, Dodge, etc etc etc have all been accused of making "substandard" vehicles that eventually rust out in the midwest and other areas that salt. Bottom line: The most affected are those vehicle built so well that they stay on the road for more than 10 years. The really shi$$y cars that end up in junkyards within 10 years rarely show these problems.

His input: Just pull the exhaust manifold first. Yes, it costs you a new gasket, but it saves knuckles and time.

We finally got little blue ('95) starting reliably. To get there, we (well, my nephew and his son) had to do 4 starter changes. Which means many frustrating hours. Wouldn't start, so the starter was changed with a rebuild from a very reputable local shop - NOT a Kragen or other crappy part vendor. No change, turned out it was more likely a battery issue. New battery installed. Still had intermittent starting issues, so I started doing electrical testing. The solenoid was getting full 12.6 V but not actuating. Pulled rebuild starter #1 out and took back. They confirmed defective solenoid and exchanged for another rebuild. Rebuild number 2 started smoking and throwing sparks on the second try. Solenoid had jammed and melted down the armature. Take it out and return again. Paid the difference to get a Beck-Arnley rebuild as I have had good luck with them. Rebuild 3 worked great. Until it got hot. When the underhood temps were high (like after driving) starter no go. Solenoid clicked, but no turn over or current draw. Classic signs of intermittent open in the coil. Nephew's son is getting pretty frustrated... So I begged them to buy a BRAND NEW (not rebuild) starter with the offer that if it didn't fix the problem once and for all, I would pay for it. It was something like $170. New starter is in and working perfect. Took rebuild 3 back to store. Like I said, reputable folks and they refunded full price. I will never buy another rebuild. The quality has clearly gone all to heck (low bid wins!) and the small starters are much more sensitive to crappy construction. This week my A/C compressor was found to be leaking. Think I am replacing it with a rebuild? Guess again. I'm coughing up the $360 for a brand new one. The A/C guy I use says he will not even install rebuilt compressors any more unless the customer absolutely insists and signs a waiver. He has had 6 month failure rates as high as 50%.

For reference, I have 32's (265/75-16) on 16x8 with 4" backspace and I get just a scosche of plastic rubbing at full right lock. I have about 1.5" t-bar lift and 3" BL. Every truck fits together just a little different, so YMMV.

mkwas

We have one that has been whining a very long time.... several years now. We just filled her up with Redline and keep monitoring it. It has not gotten any worse.

The horn is a GROUND switched circuit, which is causing the confusion. Most circuits in a car are hot switched. No worries, just need to wire it up a bit different. On the NEW relay: Pins 30 and 85 need to be connected to a 12V source. Can be hot all the time, or a switched source, depending on whether you want your horn to be be usable when key is off. Stock config would have it hot all the time. Pin 87 goes to the + input of the horns Pin 86 goes to stock horn switch in the steering column. Which is the effectively the same as what you described, but reversed. So how you hooked it up WILL work equally well. Is it not working? If so, then I would suspect the contacts in the steering column. The pin that wipes on the copper ring does wear down over time.