lgranch

I would suggest that you do not do anything with this tranny except put in an aftermarket cooler. The tranny will likely work out its own problem with driving. I base this on the your statement that the truck sat for 6 months. If you want to help things along, add a product called Prolong into the tranny. it is a teflon based additive that helps sticky solenoids. You have a real problem if recerse stops working.

Would you please post some pics of this frame repair.

SLick, Let me know what you want for parts. These parts trucks are everywhere he in the midwest. None of the frames are any good, but everything else is fine. This is one of the few east coast frames not rotted through.

Recently there has been some talk on this forum from people who have had the classic frame rust out repaired. Months ago someone posted pics on a complete frame replacement. Lets see some pics of a frame repair. I have only seen hack jobs so far and I want to see one repair done right.

How about some pictures of the repair job. The repairs I have seen in the past are hack jobs. I want to see one done right.

Reasonable amount of talent showing here. Slick I think that you are getting some pretty good advise. I was a bit surprised that the t'stat could have been installed wrong, but I guess now that I know a Chevy guy did it then....... I have been trying to figure out which bolt you snapped off and how Nissan could charge 45 for a new one. Most of the bolts that I can think of in that area are small metric grade 5.5 or 8 s that cost 50 cents at the local hardware. So I am a bit confused. Now for a subject change. Precise1 how about a picture of your carbide spade drill. I do not think I am in a position to "make my own" but I'd like to see what you are refering to. Yes spiral bolt extrators only work sometimes and most of the time I agree they break off. I have some frame bolts that I am going to be working on soon. I know that they will be trouble. Heat is not always possible without lighting the entire truck up.

Transmisson repairs scare many people so the price is high for someone to fix it. The reverse problem on the pathy tranny is only a couple of things. The easiest is the solenoid that engages the fluid flow control. If this goes bad you get nothing. A quick check of this is do you get a bump when you put it into reverse. If no then it is the solenoid. Cheap part and easy fix. If you get a bump then it just doesn't move, the most likely issue is the pump. This costs abit more but still is an easy fix. Usually when you have a transmission shop work on the tranny they want to rebiuld and replace all of the soft parts and sometimes the hard parts. Even in CDN $4000 is replacement of all the parts, hard and soft. Parts cost for a rebuild is about $500. I'll post a web site for them sometime. The biggest expense on a tranny fix on a pathy is getting the tranny out and in again. On this forum is a complete check out list for a tranny. I would advise that both of you follow it and narrow down the problem. I have used a tranny at my place in Cleveland. It has a broken input shaft but reverse works.

well you do have an interesting problem. I am going to assume that since you pulled the motor that you did NOT remove the heads. Your statement that everything was fine before you pulled the motor tell me that a head gasket problem is not likely. The telling fact in this problem is that you are loosing coolant all the time. 4 miles should barely warm the engine up, instead you overheat and loose coolant. To be very clear--- This all happened after you pulled the motor or did this happen before you touched anything? Someplace you have a short circuit in your cooling system. It is very probable that this is a cylinder wall crack or a head crack. There is wear in your 2,3,& 4 cylinders as shown by the compression check, but the cylinders are not in a pattern that I would guess is related. The greatest probability is that one of the heads is bad. Did all the plugs look the same or did one or 2 look like they were steam cleaned? Do you see any vapor out the tailpipe? If there was a crack in a cylinder wall to let oil in the water, then the water would look brown and foamy. You do not report that. The water can only go 2 places - leak out on the ground as a stream. or out the tailpipe and vapor. I think the heads need to be pressure tested. There are not many places that can do this any more. Most places just replace the heads since rebuilt heads are so cheap. Look for the vapor or steam cleaned plugs first.

When I said I did not take out the T bars. i mean I did not remove the cross memeber that they are mounted to. I can get the tranny out with just removing the front cross member

Well you do not have to take out the t bars to drop the tranny. I did not on my Pathy (90 auto).

I never have found an on line source of these exhaust studs. Nissan only charged me $1.35 a piece for the studs.

I agree with the advise from Grimgreg. One thing you did not say the year of the Pathy. If it is a 94 or 95 then before you drive it next check the frame from the rear axle back. Make sure that the frame is not rusted through. If the truck is a 90,91, or 92 then check the radiator support under the battery. They rot away. That is an easy fix. If the truck is a 93 then check everything esspecially the floor under the driver. Let us know what you find

Sorry to inform you but the check ball in the PCv valve is suppose to rattle around when you shake it. It is when you don't hear a rattle that you know something is bad. You said you blew air into the plug holes and nothing but oil came out. That is bad. Nothing is suppose to come out of the plug holes at all. All of the cylinders should be within 10% of each other. You clearly have to different sets of compression numbers. The problem is that the sets do not make sense to me. If it was one bank of cylinders vs the other then I'd say you had a bad head gasket, but your numbers are mixed. Remember when it comes to internal leaks. Oil pressure is 60PSI. water pressure is 15PSI. Oil will always go to the water. Seldom will water go to the oil. Water goes to the oil with an internal leak when you shut down the engine. The oil pressure stops immediately while the water pressure remains until the engine cools. You have not gievn enough info in your thread for me to guess what is happening. I obviouslly have concern about the drillin gof the manifold bolts, but was the head off the truck when this was done?? There is little value in telling you what you should have done now, so I will not. I doubt that this is something major. I'll give you a head if you need it. All you would have to do pay postage. What I need to know is when you said you rebuilt the motor, what did you actually do. When I rebuild a VG30, the block is bare, cylinders are over bored, the main bearings are line bored if required, new pistons, rings, rods, bearings, water pump, gaskets, etc. I do not think this is what you mean. For others on the forum, lets talk this out. We can fix you up and cost you minimal $, but there is going to be a time cost.

I thought the guy would be a deadbeat bidder because of the distance not because of being Canadian.

Last Saturday I looked at a 94 Pathy from Ebay that claimed the frame was rotted. The seller was basically honest with his ad. He did not say the frame was so bad that it had broken in half about 1 foot in front of the axle. This caused the rear suspension on the right side to jamb up into the body. The body then buckled at the floor pan and the roof so that the rear door overlapped the body by 1 full inch. I passed on this truck even though it only had 88,000 miles. I do not need engines or trannys, I have several good ones. So I told the seller that I would watch the auction and offer the winner that I would buy parts if they just wanted the engine. The auction ended the truck went for $1027. The buyer is from Canada, the truck is in Cleveland. I have talked to teh seller thinking that this would be a deadbeat bidder. This guy has already paid $500 and has made arrangements to get it trucked to Canada. What is going on in the world. This truck can not be fixed at all. A good drivable Pathy in the Cleveland area is only $2500. I can buy engines for under $500. I purchased a VG30 for $200 last fall. I know that the west coast has high prices, but not here on the midwest. This is just crazy.

It is true that all 90 to 95 frames will fit. However try to find a 90, 91or 92. Nissan had a steel problem starting in 93. Almost all 95 frames are rotted. Most 94s are and some 93s. If you replace it with a 95 then the problem is still there and you get to watch it rot again. Do not drive a frame rotted Pathy. The rear suspension depends on that frame to be stiff and straight. If it moves around the rear axle will move around. Eventually there will be flex cracking and the rear axle will separate from the frame. There was one person on this forum that had the frame replaced. The cost was just over $3000. If you have to pay someone to do this job either frame replacement or welding then it is not worth the expense--- go buy a pathy with no rust. A good used pathy in the Cleveland area is around $2500. Now if you are doing the work yourself then ok have fun. I have my choice of frame rotted pathys for about $100. The bodies are perfect and the frame is totaly gone. These are parts trucks only. Sorry if this is too negative a post for you.

A blown timing belt takes the heads out. You replace the heads and go on about your business. I have never seen a piston valve contact where the piston needed replacing. On the surface it sounds like more work was done than required.

I only partially agree with JJ Big Shoe. I have rebuilt VG 30E motors. The rebuild kits are expensive and do not come with all of the parts required. Performance cams and port and polishing will cost a signifcant amount for these VG motors. There just is not enough people building aftermarket parts for them. Remember the VG30E is 10 years old. If money is no object or you have a source then go ahead. Your current motor has still got plenty of miles in it. Check the compression. If all of the cylinders are within 20% of factory spec and all within 10% of each other then forgetaboutit. The VG30 motor is very strong. The lower end has a strong cast girdle and except for losing oil the crank should last forever. A blown motor does not usually even need to be line bored. The cylinders do wear, but hang on to good compression until the very end. While do not know of any cases a well maintained low stressed VG30 should go around 1,000,000 miles. Add in some mild stress and then I drop that to 500,000 miles. Add the stress that 88pathfinder puts on his motor and I would guess maybe to the end of his driveway.

If you are still using the 95 computer, that is most liekly the problem. While the engines are interchangable the computer programs are not. All of the sensor maybe there and working fine, but feedback voltages changed from year to year. Ok there are some years that will interchange but not across the board from 90 to 95. I find myself again in agreement with 88 ( I really need to meet this guy, agreeing too many times lately) Run the codes first. You may get lucky and find the sensor giving you the problem. The other way is to find the exact year of the replacement engine and get the right puter for it. Now this is all said IF the used motor is a North American take out. If this is Japanese version imported then you do have a problem. The only fiz I know for this is to take all of the old sensors out of your blown 95 motor and put them into the replacement motor. BTW how did you blow the motor, I lost oil pressure in mine. welded the #2 pitson rod solid to the crank.

There has been some talk on the forum about pathy prices. The west coast guys are paying dearly for WD21s. I have frequently sadi that in Cleveland a pathy is cheap. So being from Pittsburgh anothe rNE city. What is the mileage and the price? I have been looking for a 95 that has not got major frame rot and can not find one. A guy in Erie Pa can not give his 90 away. I have looked at it the only real problem is that it took a rear end hit in a minor accident. The rest of the problems are very minor for someone who knows Pathys and major for someone who doesn't. Currently he has it on Ebay for $275. last time I looked no bids. So what does a good Pathy in Pittsburgh cost?

I'll start out showing ignorance What is a chilkoot? I do know Nissan auto trannys however. What make you think that it is a "reverse seal"? First all of these Nissans have a diagnosis output onthe computer. That needs to be checked. Then a complete analysis on the tranny completed. This is a 20 page routine for the 90 to 95 pathy. I am not sure how long a procedure it is for a 98. 90,000 miles is way to early for that tranny to trash, unless it was abused without installing a after market cooler. If I understand your post correctly you all ready have had the tranny repaired. The pricing you listed in $cnd is about right for a rebuild not just a seal replacement. For that the clutches should have been replaced and all of the rest of the soft parts. What does the bill indicate they replace? Finally as for an assurance to another buyer, are you nuts? You are trying to warrenty someone elses work. never do that ! If no after market tranny cooler was installed .... there is no assurance at all. With an after market tranny cooler ...then the assurance is to the end of your driveway. If and only if the mechanics did the proper job on a rebuild then the tranny should be good for ever if someone services properly and keeps the cooler clean and clear. However if the mechanics did not run the complete diagnosis on the tranny then ........ sorry. BTW if a chilkoot is a snowmobile or something then never mind.

Ok first off I am more of a WD21 guy, so my statements about a 99 tranny may not be perfectly accurate. If good parts were put in, they just do not go bad that fast. Based on what is being replaced I suspect that there is an electrical malfunction. Most likely this is a wiring short or a voltage spike to the component. There is nothing that I no of inherently in the tranny that would blow the TCM. The mechanical portionof the tranny could be replaced < even by a dealer, for $3000 or less. This would only fix the problem if the short was in the tranny connection. ( if you ever open a Nissan tranny you will find alot of electrical wiring and components under fluid in there.) This Nissan dealership obviouly does not work on many trannys and their diagnostic skills are poor. We have discussed on this forum before that there are very few honest transmission repair shops. I would suggest that you get you money back from the dealer and try someone else. Recognizing that this is not probable then start complaining to Nissan district managers right now. It will take a long time to get someone to help you. You can try a local TV consumer advocate, but this is not an interesting story for them because is happens all the time. Keep the forum posted on the outcome

I agree that the stock tranny cooler needs to have an aftermarket cooler added. However if you live in cold climate leaving the stock cooler in place can have a benefit. It will warm the tranny fluid faster an allow for smoother shifts while the truck is cold. One way to avoid this is synthetic tranny fluid. If you live in an area that seldom goes below 10 F then I agree bypass the stock cooler completely.

You can save yourself trouble by going with the manual tranny. I say this and I am an auto tranny geek. However you have bigger issues than manual vs auto. MANY 95's will have significant frame rot. Lost of 94's are the same and some 93's will be rotted. You must carefully examine this. Here in the Northeast there are currently over 10 pathy's for sale with none repairable frame rot. (yes anything is repairable, it just is not worth the expense) Also VG30 engines almost always have exhaust bolt failure. This is significant job to replace the broken off studs. Finally auto trannys did fail without adaquate cooling. if the truck does not have a BIG tranny cooler then you will very probably have trouble. I have been lloking for a good Pathy body & chassis for more than 6 months and have not found one yet. Ask questions on this forum before you buy. There is a kid in Erie PA. He bought his Pathy for $700 in July. Put another $700 in it repairs. It still does not run hardly at all and he can not sell it for even $500. :oops:

I can not fathom how bad a coolant leak has to be to have the antifrezze leak out the muffler. If the truck will not run hardly at all then maybe. I have a head leak so bad that the cylinder filled with coolant when the truck was not running, but it never traveled back the exhaust system. make sure you post when you find the cause