Trainman

The servicing is done at a local shop, no quick lubes in my small town Oil level and pressure where the first things looked at, all is OK. It has never burnt a drop. And just to clarify, the oil and filter are replaced every 5,000 kilometers or about every 3,100 miles. Sound is coming from the right side of the motor, more noticeable towards the rear. There has been a history of the valve timing sensors doing weird things in this truck and the dealer did a flush a couple of years ago (long before the ticking noise started). As for replacing the solenoids, the dealer said it would take about 1 hr to remove and bench test both and re-install/replace, so not too bad. I sure hope that is all it is. And I will get an oil flush done at the same time I think. Interesting thought about heavier weight oil, will talk to the dealer about that. This may be an unexpected side effect of going to full syn? Thanks for the input, I will update on Tuesday after the dealer looks at it.

No sounds, no lights, no dancing beavers, just plug it in and go. The only thing you will notice is that when it gets to about -10 or less, the truck will start easier than if you left the block heater unplugged. If you see a little flash when you plug the extension cord into the wall, then you know its getting juice.

So my motor has developed a tick that has been getting worse, the dealer suggested running that valve lifter cleaner stuff for a couple of oil changes but it is still getting worse. Then on the weekend, it threw 2 codes, one an O2 sensor and the other a cam positioning sensor. Dealer is suggesting the following: Check both the sensors to make sure they are working, replace if required (they are some sort of solenoid that activates the cam adjusters). About 1 hour labour plus parts. If they are OK, then it is a big front end job to inspect, clean and replace if required (at $400 each) the actual cam adjusters. They estimate almost 16 hours to do this as it is essentially the same as replacing the timing chain. So worse case it will be pushing $3,000 with taxes and parts. Has anybody had any kind of experience themselves with this? They mention that as these parts are all hydraulically activated, that they can get "gunky" but I have been using full syn oil for the last 40,000 km and since I bought the beast, with 60,000 km (it now has 143,000 km) the oil has been changed every 5,000 km, dino or syn.

North Shore Off Road in North Vancouver had been advertising a Pathfinder bumper a while back, may be worth giving them a call. North Shore Off-Road Phone: (604) 988-7677 Fax: (604) 988-3366 Toll Free: 1-866-507-5674 Email: info@nsor.com 1440 Columbia St. North Vancouver, B.C. V7J 1A2 Monday - Friday: 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM Saturday: 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM

Glad you are OK and the Pathy will be good as new in week or so. Only 40 klicks? Not fast enough to deploy the air bag me thinks. I understand that it is a combination of your speed and de-acceleration rate that triggers the airbag. But to be safe, get it checked out, especially after a collision like that.

I have been using full syn for over a year, no issues. No leaks, no oil usage. Motor has 140,000 km now.

Plus 11 here today, and no issues Like Simon, I have started mine up in -30+ without any problems. I use the block heater when it is -10 or less if a plug is available but that is not always the case when traveling. Note that windchill has no effect on motors, only skin

I picked "other" but I do not use it as I can not get to it easily: Because I keep all this in the back (my work stuff although the fire backback is only there in fire season): The side cubby gets used for a windup radio/flashlight, plus a couple of other small items.

Yup, the latest Pathy can be had with a V8. And the R50 LE, at least with the 3.5, was never available with the 5 speed (at least in Canada), so that is why you never saw one.

The loggers and their mechanics that I deal with just hate the rear discs that have been standard on the Ford, GM and Dodge P/U's they are running these last few years. Issues include: Poor self-cleaning ability for mud, snow, dirt; Siezing of the calipers; Poor performance of the parking brake; More expensive to repair; Generally poor reliability in the sever service they are used in. There is a reason that the bigger rigs have not gone to disc brakes when used off paved roads, they do not hold up. I am quite happy with my rear drums, they have given me no problems and I have no stopping issues. Our Mystique had rear discs and they were much more problems with them than the fronts, including sized calipers, parking brake not working, pads getting destroyed, etc. They had to be serviced twice as much as the fronts but in theory only are responsible for around 25% or less of the braking power in a vehicle.

Well, as I said, I am biased However, the 3.5 has been name one of the 10 best motors for 13 years in a row by Wards. It also has more power and just as importantly, torque. And the same or better fuel economy as the 3.3. All motors have issues, I see the power valve in the 3.5 as a similar thing to the timing belt on the 3.3, just a routine maintenance item (although the power valves should not be). But as I say, I am biased.

I am a little biased here , I say go 02 or 03. I have heard from some that the 04 is not as reliable as past years for some reason, but this is just from a few comments, no facts to back that up. Getting a newer one should give you more years with it, it will have less wear and tear, better motor, more power but same fuel consumption. Less likely to be able to find a manual trannie tho, if that is important.

I have had issues on and off ( ) with lights for a while, including one side of the instrument panel gauge lights not working (speedo and temp) and the right low beam not working. To fix the headlight issue, they had to replace the daylight control module. This little box beside the battery controls most of the lighting in the truck, so I am told. I hope it clears up the dash light issue as well, only time will tell (the dash lights have been working for the last few months). You may be having issues with your little lighting box as well. Cost to fix? (I am sure someone will ask): The box was almost $300 plus the labour time to diagnose, total with PST/GST was close to $600.

The closest I have seen to a "secret" hiding place in my R50 is that shallow well under the rear cargo area, accessible by lifting up the carpet. In my opinion almost useless due to its size and the fact you have to remove whatever is in the back to be able to get at it. And the border guards know all the "secret" places as we humans are not very imaginative when it comes to that sort of thing. If you think of it, sure enough some else already has and was caught.

Where I live, we have govt. run insurance. 88's idea (unless you are trying to defraud the insurance co.) will not work as any "off road" damage is split evenly among all participants, even if you are stopped and in the clear. I would check your policy first before trying to get this covered as it may also impact your own rates. I agree with the above about staying away from this guy, not even a sorry is rather poor. And too bad about your truck, hope you can fix it up OK.

While cleaning out some stuff, I found a section from the Victoria (BC) Times Colonist paper, July 13, 2001 that has a 1/2 page colour ad for Victoria Infiniti Nissan. It has 2 that may of interest to some: Xterra XE: $29,451 Pathfinder XE: $31, 988 Unfortunately neither say what trannie this price would have gotten you. So, for 2001 anyway, the XE was available in Canada.

Careful, Ford might sue you for posting pictures of ITS truck without permission

To follow up on navygz19 post, here is my set up (not a CB though): Radio: Antenna, fender mount, no visible holes:

I did a quick search/review of the BC Buy and Sell for 2001-2003 Pathfinders and found the following: Trim levels: Chillkot, Chinook, XE, SE and LE, plus a few listed as SE/LE. The majority of those listed are LE. I found at least one SE listed as a 5 speed manual. I noted only one that actually said AWD and saw no reference to AllMode. About half the listings are from Nissan dealers, so I would hope they know of what they talk about. Prices? All over the map from less than $10,000 to almost $25,000 (asking of course )

Maybe you can make more sense of this than I can: From what I understand, the AllMode is a "slip 'n grip" type, not a true AWD a la Subaru. I was told it varies the power rear/front as it detects slippage, to a maximum of 50% to the front. The only time the maximum split is applied without any slippage is when starting from a dead stop, then it goes to 50-50, with a reduction as speed increases and no slippage is detected. I have found it better than other "slip 'n grips" in that is seems to react quicker but is not as good as the Subaru's constant AWD.

I had the rad plug up one spring/early summer from driving through some long grass. The shop suggested a bug front to help keep the rad clean. It gets mighty hot around here and the last thing I need is to have the rad plugged up with seeds or bugs. So I use it. If you do find the inserts, post up some pictures and name please.

All of mine have staid on, no problems so far but yes they do look pretty bad when there is no front or bug screen on. I had the FIA winter front on another vehicle and ended up running small, self tapping screws through the center of the snaps into the grill, that worked IF you wanted the snaps to be permanent on the grill. Its no biggie for me as I run the bug screen in the summer anyway. Unless you can find one of those metal type that fits inside the grill, I am not sure what else you can do. This is the only one that I know of that is designed for the Pathy.

BowTied and Orangetang, out west here in BC when I was looking, the AllMode was quite rare to find. And according to the dealer, the Chilkoot did not come stock with the AllMode, it was an additional option on top of the automatic trannie (this showed in a web site that listed trim levels as well Link: 2002 Canadian Pathfinder Specs/Prices ). Total of close to $1,500 to get both. Stock was the 5 speed. And in 02, the XE was still available as well as the Chilkoot, SE and LE. Can't see that they sold a lot of XE's, as the Chilkoot was a better deal and not many XEs were to be seen whem I was shopping. In fact, not many SE's are seen out here either, mostly Chilkoot or LE. I agree about the AllMode, it works very well for the kind of driving conditions we get in Canada 10 months of the year And seems to work well enough off-road when locked up.

Fair enough but he should be a little more aware of his vehicle and what he would like to do with it. This has been discussed a lot on NPORA and a simple search would have given him the answers he is looking for. Suspension lifts are a pinned item at the top of the R50 page, a quick look through there and he should have realized that a body lift is not possible with these versions of the Pathfinder. And good for csutke for posting some links, that will make it easier for all who do a search on body lifts for R50s.

This (last now maybe?) spring I had my belts replaced on my 02. With Lordco junk. They could not get tight enough to get rid of the squeal. So ended up using Nissan belts, no problem. But tightness is an issue, the shop had quite a time getting them tight enough to stop the squeal.