XPLORx4

If you're losing traction in 2WD when going uphill, then shift. That's completely OK, and that's what it's for! If you're not losing traction, then don't bother. Be careful not to automatically assume that you'll need it every time there's a tiny patch of slush on the highway. Sometimes it'll be more of a pain to shift BACK to 2WD, since you may have to relieve driveline binding. Just drive according to the road conditions and you should be fine. When going downhill, 4HI won't do a thing for you. Use your brakes. Just because you have 4WD doesn't mean you're gonna stop any faster. All cars are 4-wheel-braking.

As a general rule, use 2WD on any road that you wouldn't be worried about driving a passenger car on. Use 4HI on low-traction surfaces, such as dirt, sand, mud, snow, at speeds as high as is safe to drive. Technically, you can go as fast in 4HI as you can in 2HI, but it's usually not safe to drive that fast on a low-traction surface. Operate the transmission and modulate speed in 4HI just the same way as in 2HI. The "shift-on-the-fly" system allows you to shift from 2HI to 4HI without stopping the truck. However, to shift from 4HI to 4LO, the truck must be STOPPED and the transmission in neutral. Push DOWN on the transfer case lever, and while keeping downward pressure on the lever, pull it back swiftly and smoothly until it seems nearly horizontal. This will be 4LO. Do NOT pause or hesitate while shifting or you'll grind the gears and will have to shut off the engine to complete the shift. Use 4LO when you need maintain very slow, controlled speeds in 1st gear, or to ascend or descend very steep hills, or when you don't anticipate going any faster than 30mph. The stock reduction ratio of 4LO is 2.02:1. So, if you think about the fastest you can go in each gear, just cut that speed in half. Basically, 4LO will reduce the likelihood that you'll burn the clutch while driving over difficult uneven terrain. If you and/or your son are inquisitive about the 4WD system on the Pathfinder, the main thing you need to know the Pathfinder has what is known as "part-time 4WD". For lots of info on the use of 4WD, type "how does 4wd work" into google. Here's one of the very informative links you may find there: http://www.4x4abc.com/4WD101/

You can also reference the photos here although the photos show how to replace the hub, not the rotors. The effort is practically the same either way. And while you've got the hub removed, you might as well repack the bearings, too.

I placed a few washers on either side between the mount on the axle and the collar/bushing on the shock. Works great.

Trash. A couple of years ago I ripped a BFG AT sidewall coming down a steep rocky trail and had to drive about 50 feet over rocks on the just the rim before I could change tires. The rim got toasted. The other 3 were already gouged, scratched, looked like crap, so I swapped to black wheels:

And now they're red: but I last year I put on a set of black rock-crawler steelies, so you can barely see 'em.

x2 The combination of cheap tires, inexperience, and excessive throttle are contributing to your spinouts. 4HI (or 4LO for that matter) are not for use on dry or wet pavement. Ice-covered or snow-covered, yes, but not wet. As I mentioned earlier, other RWD vehicles handle just fine on wet pavement. Your Pathfinder doesn't have anything special that would make it more or less likely to spin out on wet pavement. For reference, my truck is a '97 LE. It has heated leather seats, fake woodgrain dash, sunroof, chrome bumpers, plastic door moulding, and pinstriping. It also had an LSD, flat, flimsy chrome running boards, no fender flares, and cheesy luxury-spoke aluminum 15x6.5 wheels. Old pic from 1998 (when the only mods were wheels and tires): Like others have said, yours is probably an XE with the sport package.

So you're NOT in Canada, then? How do you know it's an LE? Does it have large plastic moulding on the lower part of the doors? What kind of wheels does it have? Chrome bumpers? Does it have the LE badge on the tailgate? And what kind of tires do you have?

Are you driving a Canadian Pathfinder?! US-market LE's didn't come with cloth! They were leather only! You can only tell if you have LSD if there's an orange sticker on the rear differential that says "Use LSD Oil Only" or by lifting the rear of the truck up and seeing how the tires rotate while in Park. If one tire rotates opposite of the other, the diff is open. If you cannot rotate the tire, you have an LSD.

You may not feel understeer, but the steering should be much heavier than in 2WD. What the brand/size/condition of your tires? This has a HUGE impact on traction.

LE's didn't come with the AWD transfer case until 2001. '96-'00 have part-time transfer cases.

Any chance it could have been installed incorrectly?

You should not use 4HI on dry pavement, since it does lock the front and rear driveshafts together. The truck will be excessively difficult to steer and you are definitely risking breaking something, or at the very least shortening the life of the driveline components. If you don't notice any handling difference at all between 2HI and 4HI, then your t-case may not be engaging even if you put it in 4HI. 4HI should only be used on low-traction surfaces. It's not an AWD system. Wet pavement is not considered a low-traction surface. Plenty of FWD and RWD vehicles accelerate just fine on wet pavement. If you're swapping ends in 2WD on wet pavement, you need better tires, your right foot needs to lose some weight, or you need to learn how to better handle oversteer conditions. Just my 2 cents.

Sorry I can't help with the other problems, but this sounds like you just need a new right valve cover gasket.

Yeah, on the bottom of the storage bin, there's a little clip. Press down on the center of it with a small Phillips screwdriver, and pull the clip out. Then the box can be removed. After that, removal of the panel is the same as the driver's side.

It doesn't look like that on level ground. That pic is taken from the top of a steep incline (click link for pic), with a few hundred pounds of camping gear loaded in back, so much less weight is actually on the front tires than during normal driving. Click to view full-size version

Does it look like this?

FYI, camber is not adjustable without aftermarket parts. Unless you get special camber-bolts, the shop's alignment machine computer will tell the tech that camber and caster are not adjustable, and no attempt to correct camber will be made.

Uh, yeah, it looks like the IACV is buried near the back of the intake. This diagram from the service manual shows the BACK of the engine, as viewed from the firewall.

Here's another "how-to" of sorts.

Doesn't sound abnormal to me. You're basically going from open-throttle, then immediately slamming the throttle plate closed. The drivetrain is just reacting to this instantaneous change in power delivery.

You do realize that the torque converter unlocks under certain conditions, right? When the torque converter is unlocked, it will seem like each gear is "slipping", especially when accelerating uphill in overdrive. Usually, when the torque converter is unlocked, the RPM difference in a given gear will be 400-600rpm. Also, the TC does not lock until the ATF reaches operating temperature. Obviously in colder weather, it will take longer to reach operating temperature. On my truck, this can be as many as 5 miles at freeway speeds. Are you sure you're noticing something totally different than normal TC locking/unlocking? For example, accelerate and hold speed at 60mph. Turn off Overdrive. Note RPM. It will probably be somewhere around 3000. (The exact RPM's may be inaccurate. This is only an example, but your results should be somewhat similar.) Accelerate moderately (about 1/2-throttle) up to 70 and hold, and at the same time you start accelerating, turn on Overdrive (the light on the dash should go out). You should immediately notice that the RPM jumps up to about 3400, then a moment later, down to about 2800, and then down again to about 2500. Here's the tranny state at each RPM in the above example: 3000rpm @ 60mph, overdrive Off: 3rd gear, torque converter locked 3400rpm @ >60mph, overdrive On: 3rd gear, torque converter UNlocked 2800rpm @ >60mph, overdrive On: 4th gear, torque converter UNlocked 2500rpm @ 70mph, overdrive On: 4th gear, torque converter locked If this isn't what your transmission is doing, you'll have to give more details if you want better advice. Any chance you can post that video online anywhere?

Haha. Yeah, there's plenty I don't have! (Just go look at the topics I don't post pictures in.)

Good point about iron particles collecting on the sensor. That could be it. The rear sensors are protected, inside the axle. The front sensors are sort of exposed, though. To get to them for cleaning you'll have to remove the front hubs. In the photo below, the ABS sensor is a small protrusion located at about 2 o'clock just inside the smaller ring of the dust shield.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I didn't mean that the weight would decrease your approach angle. It looks to me like the fairlead is the lowest thing on the bumper now, which decreases your approach angle. That's why I recommended the hawse fairlead; it doesn't stick out so much. Either way, nice work.