Trainman

Hmm, until I go out and look at my 02, my first guess would be for a grab handle? I have speakers on the A pillar and they are low down as you noted. Looked in the FSM, nothing there. Now I got to go look for this

Note that this only when I first turn the system on. There is no delay for any changes after.

On my 02, all I have to do is hit the set button, no need to hold it. But I can not turn on the CC, then right away set it, I have to wait about a second or 2. And it has never cut out on its own, even on steep hills where it will sometimes be pulling 4,000 rpm although personally I prefer to take it out of CC when it is that steep. That way I have a better feel for how the motor is responding.

This was posted in another forum I am on: OPP Nab Speeder in 4-year-old Nissan Pathfinder « on: May 15, 2008, 12:29:45 pm » Big deal you say? The OPP officer was the one driving the Pathfinder! The poor schmuck that was pulled over was driving a new, pimped out Honda Civic. I saw the whole thing go down last night in the northbound lanes of the 416 at the far north end before it joins with the 417 west of Ottawa. Imagine blowing by an SUV parked by the side of the road only to see that same SUV hauling you in with red and blue flashing lights in the rear view mirror. I'll be gob-smacked! Wish I saw that!

This is the stock ride height diagram for the 2002 from the FSM, maybe this can help:

My 02 has LSD, it was a pretty common option up here. Hard to find one without when I was looking. As I have only had the one, I can not comment on how it compares to others. There have been some anecdotal stuff about the reliability of 04s not being as good as past years, so if you had to stay away from any particular year that may be the one. The bad BOSE is from 01 and 02 as far as I can tell (I have one), not all years.

Unfortunately you do not say where you live. IF you live in Canada, it may be the daylight control module, the box that controls the daytime running lights and auto lights if you have them. I had similar issues and that is what it was. Not cheap to fix, close to $500 CDN. And maybe the US versions have a similar box? EDIT: Sorry, I looked at your profile. The 95 that you have may not have such a box as my 02. Good luck.......

They use shims. And some 02s must have them as my FSM makes a reference to them and how to do the adjustments. Real easy......well compared to the bucket style anyway, no need to remove the cam shaft(s).

I should add, if you do get a VQ, try and get one with shim style lifters, not the bucket type. This will limit you to motors made pre-August 2001, so not sure this helps

But the VQ as a motor has been around for what - 13 years or more? If there were any major issues, they would be showing up in the other vehicles Nissan has put this motor into over the years. And an update on mine: a collapsed lifter on the No. 1 cylinder, No 1 exhaust valve. This is so rare the dealer does not carry any bucket style lifters for any of the VQ's, would have to order it in special. But a big headache to replace. Like 16 hrs and removal of the engine from the truck. Sigh.............

A couple of things: the VQ will run fine on regular gas, at least in my experience. Runs better on mid-grade mind you. No one has mentioned the increase in torque in the VQ. Much more important for that off-road grunt than HP if I recall right. But bottom line for me would be finding all the "stuff" I wanted, at the price I was willing to pay, in a vehicle that is in acceptable condition. Would not matter if it had VG or VQ......

Not sure why state regulations would affect this but anyway, you need to open the rear hatch first. Then look for an oval shaped hole above the bumper. Slide the long handle, t-end in first, into this hole and along the tube. It will connect with the chain drive over the tire. You will need the smaller L shaped tool to act as the handle to do the cranking. Note that both these pieces are also used to activate the stock jack. Hope this helps. I think there may be photos here somewhere as this was asked awhile back too. You could try a search for more info.

They estimated around $2,500. I am just going to live with a bit of ticking as it is not affecting drivability at this point. My main concern was that there was something much worse that had to be fixed. I was rally hoping some Nissan guru would come on and say "Ha!, you do not have to remove the cam shaft, just undo the bolts holding it in and tip it up enough to get the old lifter out and the new one in". Oh well..........

Good thought, I will do that

You can adjust the vales, it just such a hassle. You do the adjustment by replacing the bucket valve lifters. Nissan offers them in different sizes/thicknesses to do the adjustment. The FSM describes what needs to be done and the dealer confirmed the instructions. Note this is only for post-August 2001 build dates, if you are lucky enough to have a pre-August 2001 motor, it uses easily adjustable shims with no need to remove the cam shafts. And I have no clue how this happened. I change the oil and filter every 5,000 km/3,000 miles and am running full synthetic. The dealer says everything up top is nice and clean; they are just as puzzled by this as I am.

The lifter is not stuck, it is damaged. The dealer had the valve cover off and actually looked at it and measured the clearance at over 0.030". It is supposed to be between 0.010 and 0.015" depending on if it is intake or exhaust. Best way to describe the system is this: the lifter is an upside down bucket shape with a bit of a knob or nipple on the top. It sits on top of the valve stem and the knob/nipple part rides directly on the cam shaft lobe. Older style VQs had shims for valve adjustments but the newer post August 2001 build date have these buckets. The only way to adjust the clearance is to replace the lifter with one of an appropriate thickness. But because the lifter rides on the cam shaft, the cam shaft must be removed to get the lifter out. To remove the cam shaft, the timing chain has to come off. To get the timing chain off, the oil pan and the chain cover have to come off. This requires the motor be removed from the truck. I have the factory service manual and have read the procedure. The 14 hrs noted is the book time just to replace the timing chain let alone start taking cam shafts out. Trust me, the dealer has tried every chemical/solvent/lubricant they know of to try and fix it but it is so far gone that it needs to be replaced. They think the knob/nipple has broken off. Thanks for your suggestions anyway.

The background to this is here: NPORA Topic Link After several trips to the dealer, this is the final diagnosis: One of the lifters for the right rear cylinder has collapsed and is showing over 30 thou clearance (the largest gauge they have is 30 and it does not contact the cam or lifter). The dealer says the cam shaft has to be removed to get at the lifter. This is a 14-16 hour procedure, plus the 3 hours already into it. The dealer also says that there is no harm in running the engine as is, just have to live with the ticking noise. As it is a 4 valve head, they do not see any issues around power or fuel consumption. They suggest just leaving as is. Any thoughts? Would Nissan (or any motor manufacture for that matter) actually design a valve train that can be adjusted that would take so much labour to do? I guess I am thinking back to the "old" days when valve adjustments were more common, like my '69 510 OK to leave as is or should it get fixed? Thanks, Tman

Shipping for mine was reasonable, compared to having them shipped from the states anyway

vengeful was asking something similar just over a year ago. Lets see what he says

When I bought mine he was in Manitoba.

There is a fellow on another board I frequent who also races a smaller sports car, in his case a Honda S2000. He installed a trailer hitch on the S and trailers his race tires/parts etc. on a little utility trailer. Seems to work well for him. 2001 Pathys are listed here for around $11,000 CDN. I could see going price for well under $10,000. Something to think about as the VQ engine is a beauty. But note that the manual only has a towing capacity of 3,500 lbs vs 5,000 for the AT. This applies to both the VQ and older motors. Good luck.

She was at the dealer today, this is what they found: The cam actuators are working fine and they were able to isolate the noise to the rear of the right head. They now believe that the a lifter has collapsed. So it needs to go back as they need more time plus some parts. That will be next week sometime. I will provide another update then.

Why weld? Just do this, so much easier:

Sounds like the ignition tumbler is worn out (thinks the key is still in). I have had that same issue with other vehicles, notably if they are high mileage. Try wiggling the key as you withdraw it and see it that cures the problem. If so, you may want to budget for a new ignition lock set. I can not think of anything else, maybe one of the gurus can.

Ha, it wish was the manifold, way easier to fix than trying to get at the cam shaft sprockets. We have already ruled that out, so its down to the cam timing or valve adjustment. And for sure I will keep you up-to-date.