lgranch
-
Posts
280 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Calendar
Posts posted by lgranch
-
-
I know that I am in for a lot of grief with this title, but this weekend I would have just as well found a cliff and pushed the Pathy off. I have owned the old girl for a year now. She has had every problem known to pathfinders except transmission problems. She is a 91 with 148,000 on the clock. THe 4 link rear suspension had to be rebuilt. the antilock light has been on since the day I bought her, the exhaust bolts are broken, the headlight switch fails every month, I have found the bolt sheared off of the lower ball joint, the stabilizing bar has ovaled the holes in the control arms,the steering box creaks, the tailgate will not stay up any more, I can not listen to the radio through the static, the door hinges are shot, the floor is rusted through under the rear seats, I have a hole in the kick panel by the driver, the rear roll pan has rusted off, and now I find the radiator support no longer attached to the body. The only thing holding the rad in the truck is the top bolts through the rad itself. I found a place selling the rad support for a reasonable $65. This was the entire radiator shell behind the headlights down to the bumper. Thats not a bad price, but he guy want $120 shipping and handling. This part weight about 15 libs.
So I really did consider a crusher this weekend. The problem with that is that I can afford to replace the pathy. The best I could do is a $1500 POS and I would be buying someone elses vehile that they want to push off a cliff. I do have a full size Bronco that I have had parted since I bought the Pathy. It runs, but it is getting scary to drive. If any of you saw the movie Nobady's Fool. Paul Newman calls old Ford trucks wanderers as they drive. This is true, it wanders all over the road.
I just had to write this for someone to read. At home I get a "thats nice dear, what would you like me to do about it" (Married 26 years)
Anyone want to trade Pathys? :oops:
-
Some a couple of weeks ago was reporting that they were installing new headers on their Pathy. They stated that they were going to take pictures specifically of the bad exhaust bolts and how they got them removed.
Has this happened and I missed the photos??? :confused:
We guys over 50 need all the help from you young whipper snappers that we can get. Sometimes we just do not recognize the help even when it bites us.
-
Sorry Car-part.com
-
This post has been unanswered for a while. I can not help you but I can sympathize. I read about many of these other forum members buying parts from salvage yards. I have gone to about every salvage yard in the Cleveland area and there is none that have a Pathy. Several have 1 or 2 OLD (early 80's) pickups. Even these have been completely picked over. As for the swap being talked about with alternator from a Quest, they do not exist here in a salvage yard.
I am in the same boat you are. i have several interior parts that I could use, a console being one of them. All I can suggest is logging into one of the used parts web sites and letting them try to find the part across the country. You really have to watch the price on these guys, because everyone wants a $ to send you to the next guy.
I believe Cars.com is the best 1st try.
-
First off with the light in the dash flashing you still have a problem somewhere. I'll look that one up and get back to you.
As for the tranny cooler, An aftermarket cooler is just fine in traffic. There is only one potential issue with the aftermarket cooler. In really cold weather the engine will bring the tranny fluid up to temperature faster with the stock cooler. I think that is someone's idea of an advantage. It may have been very true in the old days, but now the tranny fluid is so good that I doubt it maters much. Go with the after market cooler.
-
Are you still having trouble?? It is a little over 2 weeks since you first posted. I be glad to help you run the diagnosis on the tranny if you still need to. :secret:
-
You have a problem in diagnoising your tranny problem. There are obvious things, like leaks and the color and smell of the tranny fluid. As for trailering with the cruise control on hurting the tranny, BULL. Heat hurts the tranny and long uphill grades generate heat. The only potential difficulty is if the cruise control fails to drop down a gear when it should. The reason why you should not trailer using cruise is for vehicle control in turns and varying road conditions.
Now for tranny diagnosis. You would need to check fluid pressures at variuos points. It is very unlikely that even a excellent amateur mechanic has the tolls necessary to do this. So your problem is that if you take it to a tranny shop for them to check it out, even if they fix the one you have you leave about $1200 poorer with only a 12,000 mile guarentee at most. Most of these tranny shops are basically clowns who do not do the best for you. (There are exceptions but you have to know someone who can verify the shop's performance)
I agree that in general the best bet for a 92 is to replace the tranny with a used one. If you are a good amatuer then you should be able to change it yourself. A warning though it is not as easy as a Ford or Chevy. Nissan has really put this thing in with many cross braces and lots of anchor points and wires. Oh by the way the $600 for a used tranny does not include a torque converter (or the ones I have purchased for that price do not) A torque converter is the one thing I would not put back in the truck used, esspecially the one that came out of your truck.
Good luck and keep the forum posted on your adventure.
-
I did check the threads but maybe I missed it.
Anyone have pics of changing the broken exhaust studs. I have seen pics of the job completed, but not what is under all of the shielding.
-
I have a 91 and I am 95% sure that it is not a transmission lock out.
-
When I go to start the pathy sometime when ai turn the key nothing happens. Usually I just rock the steering whell and everything is fine. This morning that did not work. I had to hold the key in the start position and after 15 seconds the starter decided to turn.
It is not a battery problem, that much I know. Any other suggestions?? The obvious are a switch in the tranny or the ignition switch itself.
-
I am capable of fixing just about anything. I even tackle auto trannys. The problem I have with taking on this job is time. Most of you guys on this forum are on the younger side and I remember when I had that amount of time to do the things I wanted to do, not what I had to do.
So does anyone have pictures of what I am going to see when I start this job?? 88's thread on timing belts convinced me that it was an easy job and it was.
BTW. 88 your thread says that it is not a DIY job to replace the door hinges. Someday I'll take the pics as I am doing it- it is not tough at all - I use to hang doors in the body shop all the time. :asleep:
-
Ok, I have the classic problem of broken exhaust studs. I'll have to fix it before emissions testing, but how long can I run it without doing damage to anything. Anyone with experience??
It has been real loud now for about 2 weeks.
-
My 90 Pathy does it only on left hand turns. I have not found the problem yet
-
Ok guys I am going to go against the grain on this one. I have recently read an article about plugs and test that was done to determine the amount of energy required to spark them and the duration and energy of the spark. All of the forked plugs and the platinum plugs required more energy and had a shorter suration than the standard plugs. The actual test showed that Champion required the least amount of energy and had the longest duration. NGK was a close second.
Obviously high energy output and long spark duration should be the way to go to get the best efficiency on the fuel. My guess is that you are seeing an improvement because the old plugs were in bad shape and needed changing.
I run NGK plugs in my Pathy. For some reason they are the only plug that I have found that stays tight. All of the other plugs lossen up as the engine heats and cools.
-
As for the cracks in the body under the seats, your not seeing rust holes starting are you? That is the classic location for them. :secret:
-
I don't want to be insulting, but once in a while the questions on this forum get a bit on the novice side.
Is there anyone who has rebuilt their alternator? I am trying to find a voltage regulator. I know where I can find a set of brushes but they do not carry any regulators. Sometimes I have just purchased a rebuilt alternator, but the quality lately is in the toilet. These guys are trying to compete on price and they do a very poor job. As it stand right now I believe that the diodes on the alternator are starting to quit. I could buy a new unit from a Nissan dealer. but I know how to rebuild a alternator, I just need to find the parts.
Is there anyone who has upgraded their alternator for the trail? I want a high output unit that will produce at low rpm. I am willing to switch to a one wire alternator, but what does that do to the computer system. Spiking the engine rpm to get a one wire system charging is no big deal. It is my contention that in the long run the one wire systems run better and longer than the standards. However with all the computer system regulation everything I do not know what else will hate the one wire.
Hey diesel boy. you live in the middle of nowhere, what do you do about alternator issues? :bow:
-
You have problems son
( I just had to say that) Now on to the real reply.The tranny on these pathfinders is total run by the computer. Now there always can be something wrong internally with the clutches or the converter or dirt in the passages, but I am coming to find that most of the time the problem is either a sensor or the computer itself.
The first thing to do is reset the computer. This was discribed in a posting awhile back. It entails getting to the computer and disconnecting it. It also requires reseting the main computer as well. Disconnecting the battery alone will not reset the tranny computer.
If that does not work then you could have a sensor going bad. The power switch on the dash is suppose to blink a code to you to indicate where the problem is. If the power switch only blinks once then it thinks everything is ok. The problem here is that this code reading "system" is often defective. The power switch frequently does not work.
As for the sensors. There are lock up sensors, rpm sensors, load sensors, etc. If any one of these is giving a false reading the computer will shift the tranny trying to adjust.
Here is one thing to try that is easy. The next time the problem occurs. Shut the engine down immediately and resart it after counting 10. Does the power switch blink more than once? Does the problem go away for a short while? If the answer to either of these is yes then the problem is electronic not mechanical. -thnkboutit-
-
I am not sure which wires you are using from Taylor. i looked through the catalog and the they make a set of Spiro-pro which are suppression wires. They also make a set of braided stainless wires that do not claim to be suppression wires. These of course are obvious because they have the braiding.
Also you have no RFI at all??? Which plugs are you running and did you upgrade your coil and the "transformer ?" on the back of the coil? Mine is the old style from 1990 and according to the local Nissan dealer was a cause of RFI problems.
I can spend money I just do not like to keep changing wire sets at $80 a set without getting something for it. Hey thats almost to tanks of gas around here. :eek:
-
so I guess this fixes all of your tranny problems including the power switch? What did they find there or could they not tell what was wrong?
-
That is exactly the question I wanted answered. So it is a dead topic.
-
I knew that go Ole 88 would have an answer to this. No I have a set of high end Beldens on my Pathy. I have been trying to find a good set of wire for 4 months and have come up blank. Where did you get the Taylors from?
-
Yess 88 there are ways to "fool" the emissions tests. While you do not have to concern yourself about it there are many states that do require it. In Northeast Ohio everyone has to pass the emissions.
This forum does reach father than Oregon.
The question is by posting on how to get around emissions is there a liability to the forum?
-
I need some help with plug wires. Will someone in the forum grab a plug wire near the distributor cap and report back it there is a tingle. I want to know if there is a field leak in all pathfinders. I just bought a new set of Belden wires for the pathy and I can feel a tingle right through the wires. In onther vehicles this is not normal until the wires start to degrade.
-
Ok moderators I need your help.
I just wrote a white paper to Jay here on how to pass the emissions test. Is there a liability problem for the forum in posting such a document.?
I can say to Jay , tune the truck , run it up to full operation temperature, and an exhaust manifold leak is likely to help decrease carbon monoxide at the tail pipe.
Moderators or MR. JIM ( MR BIG ) himself please get back to me on this liability question.
new pathy parts on older paties?
in The Garage
Posted
The general problem with boneyards is how they price things. They usually want a percentage of the part if it were new. Now new seats are very expensive based on the fact that they seldom need replacing and that every seat seems to be a bit different than the next, (color, texture, etc) Every try to find the same seats in different years.
What you need to find is a recycling yard who understands that demand is not too high for these seats. Or are you looking at the high end sport car seats that everyone wants?