arctic_mark

Yeah, I think the supersoaker is the way to go. The idea behind snapping on the winter rad protector just before hitting the offending mud hole would be along the same lines as the tarp over thr grille. But only just before the mud and then off right after. May work, I'll see, there's plenty of mud right now in northern Alberta to go play in!

Still pretty new to wheelin' but am finding out the hard way that my Pathy just loves to overheat after dropping into a good mud hole. Get that hot chocolate gunk all over the rad and in a few minutes my temp is at the top of the dial and boiling out! Apart from the obvious (don't go into the mud hole!!!) are there any Pathy secrets (mods, techniques) to going through mud up to the top off the hood without coating your rad in high quality insulating material!? Would clipping on my winter rad grill-cover before entering the goop (and removing it after) help shield the rad in any way or do I need to carry a built in jet washer!!?? I've even considered a built in reservoir, water pump and spray-nozzle system to clean the mud off the rad on the fly! Any thoughts on this would be great Mark

Yeah, the trucks old but the boots aint, I replaced them about 18 months ago! So that's why I'm thinking they were pinched in the CV joint when the suspension compressed. Are there any bigger or stronger boots out there?

Was wheelin' at the weekend and afterwards found both inner CV boots were ripped. Nice clean cuts too, almost all the way round. Only thing I can think of is that I was givin' her to get up this soft steep slope, front wheels both came off the ground and landed hard, but not too badly. Otherwise the trail was pretty tame. I've just also recently installed a Calmini 3' suspension lift as well. So, the questions!:- Is this typical if you jump the front end? Is this going to happen to me again if I pull the same move? Is this due to the increased angle over stock on the CV joints pinching the boot? What's the soultion 'cos I don't want to have to keep replacing my boots every time I wheel her hard!? Hope you can give me some advice. And for the recdord, didn't look like any dirt got in there so I taped one up with duct tape and the otehr I tried one of those split-boopts from AC but it was the wrong size so that got the tape as well. Thanks - Mark

Just a couple more questions about the lift from this novice wrencher! 1) There's a bit of play on the upper link spindles resulting in slight lateral movement of the A-arm bushings and sleeves (and thus the upper A-arm it self) so that when I brake there's a nasty clunk/bang. Hopefully I should be able to tighten the nuts on the end of the spindle to stop things from moving this evening, but if not, would adding suitable sized washers (same diameter as the sleeve or bushing) to the outer ends of the spindle do the trick? 2) The whole suspension is now creaking like crazy even though I lubed up all bushings with dielectric grease as recommended by a couple of dudes I wheel with who've lifted their own rigs. Is this typical after an SL job, will it settle down after time; is there anything I can do to get it to be quiet; or is indicative of a crappy lift kit, poor install or other bent frame/knuckle spindle problems!!?? Thanks for the help people Mark

Commiserations dude!! That's insane. Wish I'd know that before, would have gone some place else! As it was it took them over a month from getting my cash to actually sending out my order. I got my Pathy booked in for a dealership alignment but that isn't until next Wednesday (was the earliest of all three nissan dealerships in Edmonton!) and then well see if the problems are Calmini's, my effed-up rig, or my poor instal job!!

Well, it was a b**ch to put on and I haven't got it on the trail yet either. Wanna solve the alignement probs, let the T-bars settle down, and solve the damn knocking from the upper a-arm spindle when I use the brakes! Seems the sleeves and bushings don't want to go tight enough! May have to add a few washers on there behind the nuts on either end of the spindle (would this work!?). Or is this a Calmini problem?! pssd And I'm hoping that the alignment probs aren't a Calmini problem too! It better darned work well for all the cash that's been flowing in the wrong direction so far!

Don't know what I'm getting at the moment though I've got it written down at home (will post soon). But thought I may post this link too:- Acetone fuel suplement Sounds like it gets results adding a little acetone to your petrol. I'm thinking of trying this but before I do, has anyone else tried it, or what's the consesus here? Good or Bad!? Mark

OK, so tell me what's the deal with Calmini? Sens me a PM if it's that bad!!! :X And I'll try the dealership first before I look at the adjustable balljoint option. Mark

Installed the Calmini 3" lift kit over the weekend and took the rig to Kal-Tire for alignment. The left front wheel is fine but according to their technician, there's no way to correct the excessive positive camber on the right side. Was a little bad before the lift but now it's awful. He suggested that the frame could be distorted a bit requiring expensive straightening!! Would ball joints (either upper or lower) with elongated slots rather than holes (where they attach to the control arms) giving room to slightly re-position them help solve this, and do they exist as aftermarket items for the WD21? If so, where can I get them? I know you can get them for other import makes. Guess if i went that route I'd need to replace them on eitehr side? If they don't exist, would it be safe have a machinist extend the holes into slots to give more room for adjustment?? Thanks Mark

OK, this may sound stupid, as I've been under my rig on many many occasions (most times voluntarily! ). But last time, I noticed that I don't have a catalytic converter, just your standard exhaust pipe running past the heat shield where the cat should be. Did the 1994 Canadian WD21 SE V6 4WD come with a cat, or has some cheapskate not replaced it when they put a new exhaust in before I bought the truck a couple of years ago!? And without it, will I start failing emissions tests (thinking MoT annual testing here when I ship her back to the UK!? Thanks Mark PS: had no warning lights or ECU troubles to indicate that the electronic control system was looking for a cat.

Went through everything more thoroughly last night rather than just thinking "Oh Crap" and dashing off to work. The full tally was no corner lights, no chime when lights left on (but chime worked when keys left in ign.), no tail lights but brake, indicator and reverse lights ok, no illumination on instrument cluster, and my CB was dead too. Turns out that the new snorkel install I'd done a couple of weeks ago had caused the +ive wire to the front left corner light to rub through and ground on the frame, continuously blowing the fuse (lower row, furthest right) in the fuse block. Managed to miss that when I checked them through at midnight the night before! So traced it back to the snorkel install after watching 3 fuses blow in succession and there you go! So yeah, I was totally missing something obvious!!

After a worrying "ffzztt" sort of sound from under the dash, the front side lights (corner lights, or clearance lamps according to Nissan?) and that annoying warning chime that you've left your lights on no longer operate! Everything else electrical on my 1994 Canada spec. SE V6 seems to be operating OK. All the fuses in the fuse block check out OK. Am I missing something obvious or are there some hidden fuses somewhere? The garage manual wiring diagrams are doing my head in! Any advice would be great Thanks Mark

Well, went wheelin' the other weekend with new rear swaybar disconnects on an otherwise stock suspension and really noticed the increased arcticulation. Made a hell of a difference, though the 31" tires were hitting the wheel arches way more often than wheeling without them. But I think I'll be reconnecting the bar for on-road use for that very "seat-belt, ABS" reason. Does anyone have any ideas for rigging front swaybar (quick!?) disconnects as it don't appear that there are any after-market ones. But while I ponder that, I'll be installing the Calmini 3" lift this weekend! Mark

Sorry, no pics from me as the wife is away on fieldwork up north and took the camera! pssd But hopefully some of the lads should be posting their pics on the Northern Alberta 4WD Assoc. forum under Offroad Trips & Trail reports. http://www.hboss.net/forums/index.php Was a pretty good trip all things considered, peaty mud with a gravitational pull on your rig, some good very bumpy hard packed sandy trails, thick goopy clay that turned even the most arresive boggers into racing slicks, steep sand hill climbs. Shame the river was too far up to make a crossing, but hey, you can't have everything. As for the disconnects, I was well impressed with the articulation, and the rubber bungee cord option for keeping the sway bar out of harms way worked really well. If any pics of the day come up, I'll post the link. Mark

Yeah, tested 'em out on Saturday, out with a few rigs from the Northern Alberta 4WD Assoc. up on the Athabasca River near Fort Assineboine. Sand hills with muskeg in between. :cool2: Really noticed the difference with both ends disconnected and held up with bungees. Will keep the bar there though as I got a long commute in to work and the road gets fast and bendy! Still, least it wasn't me who's rig started drifting down river in the current, wasn't me who bust their winch cable, and it wasn't me who flipped their TJ when trying to pull a YJ out of the goop!! Fun and games!

yeah, I'll give that a try tomorrow out in the sand hills. Bungee cords, duct tape and cable ties, life's three great all-purpose solutions!

I got me a pair of rear sway bar disconnects from AC recently, got them installed nice enough too. But if I disconnect both of them the sway bar just sags there, resting on the rear diff with the disconnected ends pointing at the ground and just inviting something to snag on them. What would you recommend? Securing the disconnected bar with bungee cords? Only disconnecting one end? Truth is, that un-lifted, with the long disconnects on, the ends of the bar point down pretty low anyways, so I'd rather disconnect both ends and stow her away underneath out of harms way. Got a Calmini lift on order so it shouldn't be like this for too long. I'd loose the sway bar totally but I do a lot of highway driving in my rig. Anyway, any advice would be great, would the bungee cord option work? Mark

My rocker panel is bent up pretty well, had to attack it with a rubber hammer just so the door could open and close properly. Doesn't appear to be much damage to the inner panel though, just the outer. Like the idea of covering up the ugly dent it with diamond plate, adding rock sliders and forgetting about it!!

Got bitten by a rock out wheelin' a while ago and pretty much crushed the passenger side rocker panel! Took my Pathy to the local body shop and they wanted CDN$ 785 to pull it broadly back into shape, cut out the main damage and weld in a new section. Right now I got better things to spend my cash on (like rock sliders!!!). Is it possible to drill out the spot welds on the old damaged panel and bolt on a new one or is this a job best left to the experts? If it can be done at home, has anyone done it, and what is their advice? Thanks Arctic Mark

Hi Folks What mods should I be making to my (pretty-much) stock '94 SE V-6 in order to cross rivers deeper than my wheel hubs? :allclean: I can think of the obvious, extended breather tubes on diffs, trany, t-case etc; relocate ECU from the floor to somewhere dry; snorkel. But am I missing anything? Are there any electrics in the engine bay that are particularly vulnerable and how can I proof these? Also, central locking keeps locking by it self in the cold Edmonton winter? Any solutions/fixes? Thanx Mark

Thanks for the link, I'll look into it. I did come across a system from Brazil called the FlexTek (http://www.flextek.com.br/?lang=eng) that you wire in between your ECU and injectors. You set the ethanol/gasoline ratio in the unit, including all mixtures as well as pure gas and pure ethanol. Apparently it interprets the signal from your ECU in the light of your ethanol percentage and adjusts the injectors accordingly. They say that the system isn't supported by Nissan engines but the problem is simply one of incompatible connectors. They tell me that Nissan drivers do use the system successfully but have to hard wire it rather than just plug-and-play. Think I may have to go for this and give it a try. Just need to get into home brewing now! javascript:emoticon('') smilie Mark

Hi all Newbie to forums but got some questions. Hearing a lot about alternative fuels here in Canada right now what with high prices at the pump and environmental concerns. I know they’re big into Ethanol in Brazil with cars running on anything from E10 through all the grades to pure ethanol. Does anyone have any info on running either blends at higher than E10 or mods required for running pure ethanol in a ’94 SE V6 ? I guess there may be duel fuel conversions out there but have come across any, and what are the pros and cons? Heard on CBC Radio 1 this morning that later Brazilian engines are designed as flex fuel engines to automatically sense the percentage ethanol content of fuels and adjust automatically. Can you retrofit an old VG30E to these standards or is this a stupid question?! Failing that could you drop a used flex-fuel engines available in Brazil into my Pathy (or is that an even more dumb question)? Any help or advice would be appreciated! Cheers Mark