M in KC

'88 the bio sez '90 but Ryda should confirm. It would eliminate some confusion. Ryda where you at ....

Would a quick and dirty way of checking for spark off the coil not be to unplug the coil wire at the distrtibutor cap and lay it along side something conductive and check for the spark to jump from the end of the wire to the metal source? I essentially do this on my motorsickle when I trouble shoot iggy problems there. M

I did the same thing to a '79 Dodge Aspen SE non-the-less with a slant six. Wow now I have exposed myslef here. Bigger filter more filtering surface, more oil, more heat disipation it worked for me in this application. So long as you can get it on and off it's all good. Oh don't change a head gaskets on a slant six or anyother vehicle after a case of courage from the fine folks at Anheiser-Busch. -alcohol- If you miss torqueing just one head bolt would you believe the head would warp a few weeks after it was serviced. :o Who would of thunk that. Keepin' the boy and girls at A/B on overtime this holiday season... M

I'll see your floor mat and raise you a fuel pump. Now my mom is pretty resourceful. But she did have a momentary lapse like all of us do from time to time. She sez my car starts and then just stops. Mind you this is a '74 Buick Century. For you youngens it has a carberator and a mechanical fuel pump driven off a lobe on the camshaft. So anyways my mom's pretty savy and she is adimit it is the fuel pump. OK. So trusting your mother's judgement you replace the fuel pump. All be it the end of November in Nebraska and outside. A couple of hours later Dad and I have the new fule pump in. Crank it over and the same result starts and dies shortly there after. Did this routine a couple of times and I just happened to look at the dash. Son of a _ _ _ _ _, there wasn't any gas in the tank. Moral of this story, always always check the simple things first. Floor mats, fuel, fuses, and on and on and on. Ya it's histerical now but I was not a happy camper then. M

This was covered a couple of weeks back. The consense was as I recall to stop all forward motion before engaging 4 wheel drive. While I'm sure you can shift on the fly into 4 wheel drive it's just easier on the system if you're not moving. I will shift out of 4 wheel drive on the fly and have never expeienced the horrendous clunk that you are talking about when going into 4 wheel drive while rolling. I bought my 'finder new in '91 and it has always clunked into 4 wheel drive while in motion. So I just stop and lock it in and roll on. Keep the shiney side up! M PS and as Animal sez you might have to service your hubs.

"Neutral" will be your friend. Take the power of the wheels going down hills, make no abrupt changes in speed or direction and yes these short wheel based vehicles can come around quick. I have had to dumb*hits do the headlight -taillight pirouette in front of me in the last 10 days. Both promptly found their way to a ditch of their choice. The one spinning out of control coming at me last night was a real treat since I had the wife's Maxima and it was snowing like a banshee. Yep it's the same snow you will be getting or have already gotten. Super dry powderie stuff with just a hint of ice under it. These vehicles are very capable but they are not bullet-proof. Keep the shiney side up! M

FL, man I'm not trying to rain on your parade because your plates look very stout and they should take a good pounding but if you didn't block a back wheel when you got your rig on those ramps ... The parking brakes on these things are marginal at best. I just don't want to hear of a fellow board member being injuried needlessly. Afterall who then would be our resident thread liberian. Any time someone is looking for a topic, you're all over it! Sorry if I'm sounding like a prude it's just my Risk Management background coming out. M

These under powered pigs of motors need to exhale better. Even with all the fitment/quality issues associated with the Pacesetters they are by far better than stock exhaust manifolds. I noticed performance gains both in power and efficiency. I'm sure the Thorley's are a better quality product than the Pacesetter but that's not what this thread is about. The way I see it if you have to replace a stock exhaust manifold because it's cracked or exhaust manifold studs because they are broken you are already there and you might as well take a performance upgrade by installing headers whos ever brand they are. When I did the costing on mine a few years back it was as cheap or cheaper to hang headers rather than replace the stock exhaust manifolds. Having run headers and stock exhaust manifolds, I won't be going back to stock exhaust manifolds ever. When my crappie Pacesetter give up the ghost I'll put some of Doug's pipes on and keep on driven'. It was an easy decision for me, but to each their own. JMTC M

Ele, been there done that with the Pacemakers. Unfortunatly I bought mine before I found this board. Once you get them on things will get better. Something to watch out for are the slip joints leading to the "Y" pipe. If you don't weld these joints the cheeseball clamps they give you in the kit will not keep the joints tight. Nor will HD pipe clamps. Again it's a fittment issue. Warner or Wagner makes a stepped exhaust pipe clamp available through Summit Racing and others I'm sure. Get two of these if you don't weld the joints they are the goods. Otherwise that annoying exhaust leak will still be there. Do a search for the clamp here. I as well as other have posted it. Conider replacing your O2 sensor will the installer is down there if it wasn't been replaced recently. I know it's more $$$ but they do have a certain life expectancy. M

Dennis love your detailed write up on replacing the voltage regulator for the fuel/temp gauge issue. I can't wait (wait a second, I can to) to give it a go on my '91. My regulator up and left on me last night. :furious: M

Something(s) is contributing to this condition. I'm just lucky we don't have smog checks where I live in the midwest, yet. I still live in an attainment area as per the Clean Air Act. However, I still demand that my vehicles perform at optimum levels. Please post if you find something(s) on your deep dive. Here's to ya! M

I don't know about that specific module but I think the consesous on the board is to send your ecu to Wolf Engineering for reprogramming if you're thinking out electronic enhancements for engine performance. Do search there have been a few threads mentioning this modification. M

They are in Michigan, not Missouri, still a boat laod to ship. M

Cool enough.

Slick did you ever get this sorted? I've got the same symptoms on a '91 V6 with MT. I've done the obvious fixes just like you. Mine seems more intermittent. M

P1 is probably the man here for bit recommendations with his machine shop knowledge, but I used left handed titanium coated 135 degree bits. Center punch the studs first, start small and work your way up, tape an approriate depth on the drill bits so as to not go too deep. Slow, straight and steady are the orders of the day. And of course the penetrating oil of your choice. We're all pullin' for ya. R. Green M

I'm truly sorry to hear about your lose. You're in my thoughts and prayers.

Personally I don't think an extra think gasket will get you very far. You need the binding pressure from the fasteners (studs, washers and nuts in this case) to seal the exhaust manifold so it doesn't leak. With broken studs you have no way to apply adequate pressure to the manifold and then to the head. In addition to the junk studs that Nissan used in this application the stock passenger side exhaust manifold has a design flaw in it that contibutes to cracks in the manifold and .... you guessed it more exhaust leaks. Yeah! I don't want to keep piling on but you need to know as much as the rest of do for this problem so that you can make informed decisions. M

There are aftermarket headers avaiable for your motor. Thorley and Pacesetter make sets. I have the Pacesetters. I think the general consenses is Thorleys are better quality than the Pacesetters. Anywho, the Pacesetters use the same bolt pattern as the stock manifolds. I can't speak for the Thorleys. But I suppose if you're handy with a plasma cutter and a welder you could cut the flange off and make it what ever configuration you needed and weld it back on. You will pick up a few ponies with whatever manufacturer you go with on headers. And on these under powered motors the more horses the better. JMTC M

I'm unaware if they make a reverse bolt pattern maniflod. Broken exhaust manifold studs are a common occurance in this vintage of Pathfinder. You can use heat, left handed drill bits, right handed drill bits and screw extractors, and your choice of penetrating oil and remove them with the head on the motor. It can be done but it will be a PITA. The word of caution is the water jacket for the head is very close to the stud holes. One miss guided drill bit and you'll get to take the head off. One other potential option is heli-arc. But I can't remember is the heads are cast iron or aluminum. It's been a while since I've done mine. If the heads are aluminum a machine shop might be able to heli-arc the studs out. Basically, the steel will melt and literally run out of the aluminum like water. I've had this done on motorcycle cylinders before it's slick. It won't trash the threads in the head either if it's aluminum. Other than that I'm out of answers. Nissan did have kind of a half arsed recall on these studs but I doubt any stealership will own up to it and admitt it. I think their criterial was like less than 100K miles. I think you will need the ZX 300 exhaust manifold studs when you get these out. I'm sure other will chime in since many of us have been throughthe same thing. M

After break-in of your belts you will have to adjust them for they have stretched. You should end up with about 1/2" - 3/4" of deflection on the longest run of belt between pulleys. Also some belts will run longer than others. I know this sounds crazy but it is true. So if you're out of adjustment on your new belts you're going to have to start over. Get a measurement on the belts and ask the parts monkey to get you a shorter one. JMTC M

Did you clean your throttle body butterfly valve? And like B sez check your electrical connections. You might consider running diag. on the ECU. Let us know how it goes. M

Is there an aftermarket tranny cooler?

What the others have all said before. Have good tread, slow down, allow more stopping distance, take a couple of pounds of air out, sand bags, etc. I have been in the snow belt all my life, so I have had plenty of opportunites to hone my winter driving skills. I've driven my '91 in the snow from the word GO. Purchased it in Dec. of '91 in Nebraska and drove it to my home in Minnesota. Over the years I've only managed to get it stuck once in snow and it was my own fault. Joy riding with my bro, and wife at 3 AM on some unfamiliar country backarsewards roads I managed to slide her off into a ditch. I had snow pushed up to bug wacker on the hood and over the external spare in the back. No I'm not exagerating. It was snowing like a banshee. Other than that episode I have never had a bad experience in inclement weather with my 'finder. I used to drive 60 minutes (in ideal conditions) to work one way and I never missed a day due to weather or the capabilites of my ride. I worked with others how were whims and lived in town and couldn't make to work even though they had less than a 10 minute drive. I have even gone and picked up co-worker in my 'finder when they called in and said they couldn't get in. Pansies. Sure it may have taken me 4 or 5 hours once or twice to get home but I made her home, in one piece and my ride in one piece. Bottom line, drive within you and your equipments capabilities and all will be good. Don't split a 12 pack of bug squeezer light with your brother, while replacing a head gasket on Slant Six in a '79 Dodge Aspen. 3:00 AM rolls around and it's snowing like *ell wouldn't have it and think "... this would be a great time to go wheelin'..." Oh BTW we missed torquing one head bolt and the motor was trash shortly there after from a warped head and the ingestion of antifreeze. But that's another story or another time. M

Repack, I'm not aware of any link between pad wear and the ABS light. Did you ever read the code on the ABS light when it was lit? I did read mine and I got a 10 on the secert decoder thingy. Anyway that essentially limits my ABS light to the speed sensor on the drive shaft, faulty wiring/connection (always my personal favorite) or a junk control module. My troulbe shooting guide goes like this, check resistance at #9 and #10 leads at control module harness. Check resistance at speed sensor coupler. Essentaily if the two reading are within range the speed sensor and the wiring harness check good. Then the only part left is the control module. The funny thing is when I went to check the #9 and #10 leads only the #10 has a wire routed to the wiring harness. Nice. No I haven't been in the juice tonight. Not yet anyway. I looked at the wiring harness scematic six ways from Sunday and no #9 wire. So I checked the #16 and #17 wires (opposite of the 9-10) and bingo the same resistance reading as the wheel speed sensor. Well my speed sensor and wiring haress check good and within range so my problem is the control module. It looks like the module will run around 100 smackers. Eeouch! And take 2-3 days to order. I'll be placing the order tomorrow. It should be a simple plug and play install. B, read the code when your ABS is lit and your fun starts from there. The little decoder thingy on mine any way was stuffed up under the hood latch release. Next time plow that cell phone yackin', latte sippin', lip stick smearin' wench's field for her. The sound of crunching metal is far more attention grabbing than squallerin' 31's! Plus why would you want to flat spot a perfectly good set of tires for titch like that? M