lgranch

Mzextreme brings up an interesting point. He states that $75/hr is the going rate for labor. In the Cleveland area dealers are $65/hr and private garages are $35/hr. My father-in-law is in the NYC area and his rate is close to $80/hr. Last week my wife's Taurus needs a new whell bearing. because of time I priced the job. The local NAPA garage wanted $100 labor to change it. Well that was enough for me to just do the job on a Friday night after work. About 3 hours and no blood. I did have to buy a wrench to modify so that it would fit one of the bolts. What is the labor rates around the forum. I think that it is going to depand on teh cost of living in the area. My guess is that Phoenix is high and Texas is low. Ok people fill in the blank on labor prices and make sure you include the general area of the country. :secret:

The automatic versionof the tranny and transfer case weigh about 300 lbs. the manual should be only a little less. The part I have not tested yet is removing the transfer case from the tranny then dropping the tranny. IF this can be done the time savings is enormous. On paper it will work, but I know better than to trust paper alone. It will take me a couple of weeks to have time, but I have an auto tranny I am going to try this on. So let me know what you find. ALSO If someone has the time the tech school is looking for a manual tranny to rebuild. Labor is free, parts only pricing, guarentee is none. Actually with the profs watching over them it is probable that the job will be done completely and correctly.

I just privced the parts $262. Now there is a posting going on in the garage section about manual tranny and replacing the clutch set. There are alot of bad mechanics out there. People have been getting quotes for $1000 to do the job. I have removed the trans from a pathy this job is not that hard and if the truck is on a lift should be done within 8 hours even by following the book ( removing the torsion bars). I guess it could get to $1000 if someone charges you $75/hr for labor.

How about a "worn throw out bearing". This is the bearing on the end of the fork that pushes the clutch in. The bearing itself is cheap. It has nothing to do with the transmission it self until it becomes so bad that it wears the input shaft. By the time it is wearing the input shaft the noise is so bad you will have parked the pathy. A reputable shop should be able to replace the throw out bearing alone for well under $200, start to finish. Now depending on teh mialeage I would not just replace the throwout bearing. I would also do a clutch job. WITHOUT pricing the parts, I would guess $500 total. Now for this mechanic, NEVER, NEVER go back to this place. Either the mechanic is stupid or dishonest.

There are many many times that people write into this forum with failed or failing RE4R01A auto trannys. Being abit of an auto tranny experimentor, i have asked several times what is the failure mode that was found when tranny is repaired. I now have an answer. The common failure is a planetary failure in the tranny. This is a major part in the tranny. Now for the good news. I am become associated with a tech school in Buffalo NY. In January they need auto trannys (and manual ones also) to let their students rebuild them. For the cost of the parts they will return it to you repaired. Now they offer NO warrenty, but the students are carefully supervised. Including the replacement of the planetary the parts costs are around $650. So if anyone has bad tranny ( auto or manual) and is willing to take a small risk, you could get a $1500 tranny rebuild for less than 1/2. Before anyone says it, yes I know that shipping would kill the value and that you can get a Japanese take out for around $700 delivered to your door. If anyone is in either the Cleveland/Erie PA/Buffalo area I would be willing to do the transport, especially if you were giving the tech students the broken trans. (The more trained Nissan mechanics in the world the better) -study-

There was a note on the forum a short while ago about using grade 5 bolts to replace the studs. The writer was very clear not to use grade 8. Now that make some sense to me however in metric there is no grade 5. The gardes are 8.8 and 10.9 ? or something like that. No I know that these grade cooralate to SAE grades, but I am not sure if grade 8.8 is a match for grade 5.

88 is correct there is a problem, however it may not be a major one. Since the tranny is fine when you put it in low and in drive it never seems to go to low then it could be a soleniod or simply dirt. Transmissions have so many passages that can clog and stop the tranny from working correctly. Before you go and have someone service your trans STOP. Most of these people are complete idiots. They know a few minor things and they know how to replace your tranny with another one that will last just until it is out of warrenty. The best way to find someone who knows what they are doing is either word of mouth (not people who just had the tranny replaced, but actually fixed) or go to an auto tech school and ask them for a recommendation. The first thing to do is have the tranny power flushed. This is not just change the fluid. They attach to the tranny lines and force clean fluid through the unit as they open and close the solenoids. Next have someone diagnois the problem using the proper Nissan protocall. It is listed on this forum. If you really want you can reverse the order of these two. Finally if all fails replace the tranny. (DO NOT LET SOME HIGH SCHOOL DROP OUT REBUILD IT). Buy a tranny from a reliable rebuilder like Phoenix, Jasper, or TCI. You could buy a used one from a Japanese importer like SOKO. There are many of these guys. A used tranny should cost about $600 to $800, a good rebuild somewhere around $1300. Next comes installation. Here if you really want to you can use a high school dropout, as long as there is some guarenty if they damage the trans. This is expensive on a Pathy. Plan on paying for a minimum of 8 hours. It could be up to 12 hours. Anyone who has tried to change out an auto tranny knows that Nissan was not kind to the mechanic. You do not say how many miles are on the Pathy or if you have a tranny cooler. Tranny cooler are a "mandatory" item for a hihger mileage Pathy. Installing an external filter is a very good idea. Some people may say that the damage is already done on your Pathy, but you should have at least a cooler on it. Be cardful here also. If you do not do it yourself. I had an idiot tell me that my tranny cooler on my Ranger was on the wrong side of the radiator. He thought that it should be facing the fan. That was today at the Ohio Emmissions test site. Your Pathy is not dead. It is just a little sick :oops: I would understand if you don't want to bother with it. I have a 91 that if someone would give me more than I would get on a charitable deduction I would let it go. Keep the forum informed regarding your decision on the Pathy and don't let any hard stickers belittle you for being an auto.

I had the same problem trying to find a 10 mm bolt 100mm long. I was about to order on line when I was told about an old hardware store. This place has been around for 100 years and down in their basement they had just about every metric blot you could think of. The also had metric threaded rod. The price was not too bad. Both grade 8.8 and grade 10.

It was just brought to my attention. Are the heads on the VG30I and the VG30E the same????? I need to know soon. :help:

I did something wrong. The expanded picture is no bigger than the one with the post. You can not see the girdle in the pic. Educate me someone on how to do this right.

I have obtained a VG30I motor out of an 88 pathy from a fellow forum member. I am in the process of converting it to a VG30E. I know that this is not a difficult task, however I am fixing some problems as I go and I thought that I would post some pics. The engine arrived and would not turn more than 1/4 of a revolution. It was very free in the area that it would turn. Since it was a 1/4 turn vs a 1/2 turn I immediately thought that a rod was broken. I opened the bottom end up. While all the rods were fine, I was not expecting to see a main bearing girdle. This is something racers use to strengthen the motor. OEMs do not put this in. So for those of you who have never seen your Pathy motor opened up for heart surgery here it is. I resized this following 88's direction to 18K. I hope it works right.

Go to the garage section and read the sectionon tranny diagnosis. See if that can help you. However I have been told by many many owners that once the reverse dies then within a couple of days the whole tranny goes. I would like someone to tell me what goes in the tranny. No one has reported the actual repair required. You can get a rebuilt tranny for about $1600. The problem is putting it in. you have to REMOVE THE TORSION bars. Also most of the cross bracing for the frame and of course the drive shafts. Then the thing weighs close to 300 pounds with the transfer case attached. Labor is high. Good luck.

Double check the electrical connection to the pressure sensor. It is located just above the starter. If everything is connected then just follow matterhorn's words. I am now an advocate of getting a complete set of gauges in these puppy's.

I would advise as long as the ticking goes away in a couple of minutes you are just fine. You can ignore it. However if the ticking does not quit, then check for something else. I have a blown motor because I thought it just was the manifold stud.

My experience has been, if you can manage to covert the pedals then you have minimal trouble after that.

$130 for a knock sensor at Drivewire.com- no shipping charge no tax. I bet if I work at it I can go sub $100.

SOKO.com. They just quoted me $600 for a VG30E from Japan. Shipping was around $125. Or you could get fortunate and have a forum member sell you a motor for less than half of that price, like I did. -bounce-

OK GUYS and gals I do not feel so bad about not knowing that my Pathy lost oil pressure. The wire lead was off of the sensor when I started taking the motor apart. IT DID NOT FAIL SAFE. With the sensor disconnected there was NO warning on the dash. This is something that everyone needs to KNOW

True enough about the value of the Pathy, however at some point you have to determine that the cost of the repair will increase the current value of the vehicle by the cost of the repair. Don't put a $2000 rebuilt motor into a 91 Pathy, it is not worth the cost. (generaly). If I could make it to NJ there is a 92 for sale with a blown tranny for $500. Even if I did follow up with this the problem is where I live I could not store the shell when I was done, or even while I was working on it. That is a problem in residental areas.

I am a person who seems to like abuse so here goes. I now offer you forum friends and associates the opportunity to say LGRANCH is a dumbA$$. As I am dissasmbling the motor it is no obvious that the motor lost oil pressure. How could I let that happen? Well there was no warning light, I have no pressure gage and I kept putting off installing one because there were other things to do. While I do not have the motor completely apart yet, it has only been 2 days and I do have to go to work, it looks like the ticking noise that I always assumed was broken exhaust studs was NOT. I now believe that it was the quietest rod bearing knock that I have ever heard. I have discovered that a used engine will cost me at least $500 in this area. An "inspected" used engine will cost me $1000. I have not found a rebuild kit that includes a crank shaft. I only found one that includes rods and bearings. This is a 91 and the value of the vehicle in running condition is only around $1500. So when you are all done calling me names, does anyone know where I can get a good crank for a VG30E. If not I may buy a $500 used engine and go through it fixing the problems. I still do not know why the rear wheels locked when the tow truck tried to recover the pathy.

In an Auto Zone, and other places, you can find an additive called RXP. It is in a small 2.5 oz bottle and will cost about $7. Follow the instructions on the bottle, take the pathy in for testing after it is at full temp and it will very liekly pass the E test.

to jmcardamone- the chassis is a 91. I am located in the Cleveland area. I would be interested in the potnetial of an engine, but I want to wait to verify that the problem is the motor. I will try to take pictures of the damage as I find it. :type:

About the hubs, these are auto hubs not manual ones. When the Pathy made to my home the rear wheels now are free, but the engine is still stuck. Thursday evening I will start to disassemble the parts and see what I have. ANY OFFERS ON A ROLLING CHASSIS???

I take some pride in the ability to diagnois problems, but at this time I am baffled. I was driving on Interstate 90 at 70 MPH. Everything was going well and I had done this for the past month with no trouble. I started to hear a rattle (metal to metal) over the radio. By the time I could turn the radio off the rattle had gotten very loud and then the engine died. This all took about 15 seconds. I coasted (this is important) off the road and up an exit ramp. When I can to a stop I tried to restart the engine and it was siezed tight. The starter just clicks. ( Battery is new). When the tow truck showed it was a wheel lift type. It pick the front end put the tranny and the transfer case in neutral and tried to move. The rear wheels were locked up. The tow tried to push it backwards and the rears were locked in that direction also. He called for a flatbed. While I was waiting I tried to start the engine and it was still locked up, even with the tranny and the transfer case in neutral :oops: The flatbed tow showed up and the pulled the Pathy up and then the rear wheels turned free But the engine was still locked :eek: Ok if the engine lost a rod why did the rears lock up. I am ruling out a mainbearing because of the rattle of metal to metal. I have had a truck loose a main bearing before and this sound was total different. If the tranny blew up , why did the rears lock with the transfer case in neutral? and why did it lock the motor? If the differential blew why was the engine locked with the transfer case in neutral? My guess at this time is the tranny fragmented and locked the ring gear in place with fragments. it could be something stupidly simple like the starter tried to engage by shorting out and locked the motor, but then why did the rears lock? The big pile would be that the motor, tranny and diff all went at once. The one area on the Pathy I do not have much knowledge about is the transfer case. On many domestic 4 wheels the trasnfer case is chain drive. Is this the Pathy also. If the transfer case broke then maybe both ends would lock??. To be clear the rattle sounds like it was coming from the bell housing, but remember I only heard it for 15 seconds. All idea and things to examine will be appreciated. :sniff:

I need to replace the lower ball joint on my 91. For some reason the nut snapped off sometime ago. At any rate I did not consult the manual but I did look at the job. I saw no reason to remove the spindle at all. What am I missing?? There are 4 bolts hoding teh joint to the lower control arm and then the big taper through the spindle. Remove the control arm bolts lossen the taper of the ball and rock it out. RIGHT?????? -study-