[Key fob signal really weak]

Battery is fine, I actually tried more than one. Mine always works its just a matter of proximity. I would imagine if it "forgot" the signal it wouldn't work at all. I'd be interested in wether other R50 owners have a similar problem. Can a Fob wear out?

[Key fob signal really weak]

Don't know if this is a common problem or not, but it's super annoying. To activate the alarm/doorlocks with the key fob, I have to practically stand next to the truck. With my old WD 21 I could be in the house with the doors shut and it would still work. I changed the battery in the fob, but nothing changed. Anybody have this problem, or know how to fix. I know this is a minor problem but it bothers me every day, especially when I find the doors unlocked because I was in a rush to get into the house.

[Just curious...how do you guys refer to this site?]

my wife has dubbed it "car porn" so thatss how I usually refer to it.

[so i want a roof rack, what you got?]

For my WD21 I moddded an old yakima rack that was designed to be mounted to a rain gutter.(check out old VW or volvos) I took off the clamps that would have held it to the gutter and shaved down the feet so that they would slip between the door and the body and rest on the door frame. I then drilled holes through the feet of the rack and corresponding ones into the body of the pathy. I used stainless steel screws, rubber grommets, and a healthy dose of silicone to mount the rack and seal it up. It worked really well and as mentioned above you could rock the whole truck back and forth by holding the rack. I did buy a wind deflector as the noise of the naked rack was horrendous. The wind defector works well and looks pretty good. The point of this is that you can probably get an old yak or thule rack for pretty cheap and mod it to fit your rig. If your interested in pics of the rack let me know.

 

-this will only work for a 4 door-

[center console box top]

totally different size.

[I NEED YOUR HELP!]

The circled bit is the tension rod (compression rod).

thinking back, the mechanic may have said, trailing arm...or something... Whatever it's called that's what broke. It didn't make the truck collapse or any thing, just made steering much more optional.

[I NEED YOUR HELP!]

Isn't that a trailing arm? At least thats what the mechanic called it. I broke the one on my 95 a few weeks ago. It was less than $100 for the parts. plus $150 for labor and alignment.

[New Pathy for me!]

Thanks every body the 95 will always be remembered fondly. I had always wanted one and was thrilled to have had the opportunity to own one. I psyched to have the R50 now, it has way more goodies (like a LSD and a sun roof!) and is much more refined in terms of comfort. She is in the shop having the filler tube recall taken care of today, hopefully all will go well.

 

[New Pathy for me!]

Congrats on the upgrade. I know you needed something other than a beat up a WD21 and you seemed to have found an R50 you like. We now have almost as much support/information for the R50 as for the others. Are you going to lift it??

 

B

You know I really did love that WD21, It never let me down.

Lifting the R50 would be sweet. But I think i'm just going to work on paying it off before I put any money into it. Although I would like to level it out though, and maybe put the 31" tires that I never mounted on 95, that are sitting in the garage. I pretty sure there is no easy trick to leveling it like tweaking the torsion bars on the WD21. I believe I need spacers, which cost money, which brings me back to paying it off before I put any mods on it. Damn I need to start playing the lottery!!

 

The leaking filler tube is getting replaced on friday. WOO-HOO

[New Pathy for me!]

yea I'm pretty fired up. I have to be honest the first ride i looked at was a 96 r50, and after driving it I couldn't wait to get back into my beat up 95, that particular r50 was just awlful and I kind of felt sorry for people that were driving the r50's, fortunately this new one is completely different and I had no qualms about trading up. As for being unsupported I looked into buying a haynes manual but it seems like the only one available is devoted to frontys and X's with just a bit on the pathfinder. whats up with that?

[New Pathy for me!]

I got a new pathy. I'm stoked! Its a 98 se with a manual transmission, 4wd and a LSD. I was really bummed about having to give up the 95 pathfinder, but I really didn't want to get in to fixing a rusted out frame. I've been looking for about 2 months and i finally found pretty much exactly what i wanted. I even manged to get $1000 for the trade in on the 95. Trust me, with the broken manifold studs, sticky lifters, fist size rust hole, and hail damage I got a good deal. The only problem is that after filling it up with gas it seems to leak a bit from the filling tube. Apparently there is a recall associated with this so hopefully tomorrow the dealer can take care of it. I'm still pretty stoked, it had one owner who seemingly took pretty good care of it. Shiny paint, clean interior, timing belt done at appropriate millage, etc. I look forward to learning all about this new to me pathy.

[opinions on 2wd]

I couldn't bring my self to do it. A 2 wd truck just doesn't seem right, I mean why not just get a station wagon. So I traded in my 95 pathfinder for a 98 pathfinder w4wd instead and think Ill be much happier. Now I'll just have to figure out the ins and outs of the R50. fortunately I have you all to help me through it.

[opinions on 2wd]

The regret is wat I'm worried about. I think that I'll probobly always wish that I had held out for the 4x4.

 

Hey Ticker, look around, there are 4wd Xs for sale in town. I saw one on Friday (private sale) sitting on 36/37 just outside Delaware.

I've seen so 4wd Xs around but this 2wd is about 2 thousand dollars cheaper and unbeliveably clean. And unlike any other vehicle in the price range it didn't seem to need any work. The good thing is I just saw a 98 pathy, 5 speed, 4wd for sale in Pataskala that I'm going to look at as soon as my ride is out of the shop. That would pretty much be the ride I am looking for.

 

 

Well, how often do you use 4 on the pathy?? 5-10 times a year. I love knowing that its there when I need it and that no matter what's going on outside I can get to where I need to. You know?

 

(assuming it's 4wd)

 

Driving a rear wheel drive (2wd) vehicle in the snow, does take some getting used to. The last rear wheel drive I owned sucked in the snow, 83' 240 volvo, after that I has fwd volkswagens until the pathy. fwd worked great. 4wd obviously rocks.

 

 

I think I've made the decision to hold off for now, but keep the X as an option.

Thanks All

[opinions on 2wd]

I have the oportunity to get a 2001 Xterra that's really clean and for a great price. The problem is that it is two wheel drive. I've always thought that 2wd trucks were kind of silly. I know that there are folks here that rock the 2wd and are perfectly happy. I don't plan on doing any hardcore off roading, but it does snow here occasionally and I love being able to get out and kick some a$$. The trailing arm on my 95 broke today, so now I'm having to fix that just so I 'll be able to drive it to trade it in. I don't want to buy out of desperation but the X is looking better and better especially as I drive around with my 15th month old. Can anybody talk me into the 2wd?

Thanks

[looking at a 97 to replace my rusted out 95]

Thanks peoples,

The advice is appreciated. I was looking for any advice specific to this model pathy. I'm hopefully going to check it out this weekend.

[looking at a 97 to replace my rusted out 95]

So the frame on my 95 is rusted out pretty badly and since I'm a new Dad I'm looking to get something a bit newer. Unfortunately funds aren't all that great right now so upgrading to the 97 seems like a good deal, since it has airbags and the frame isn't going to break in half in the next 6 months.

So it is a 97 with 116,000 for something like $4795. Hopefully I'll be able to negotiate a bit even though this is a "sale" price. It looks really clean in the photos. I was hoping I could get some advice on what to look for in terms of potential problems or issues. If there is a post already out there links to it would be appreciated.

Thanks

[the rusty holes in my frame are freaking me out]

If you think you can handle it I'll let you borrow my welder if you want. I would offer to do it for you, but I haven't even found the time to get to doing what needs done on mine. When I did mine before I just grabbed sheet steel from Fortin Steel on 5th Ave. (much cheaper than Lowe's).

Hey Ryan, thanks for the offer. I really, really appreciate it. Although I would love to learn to weld, I'm just not feeling like I'm up to the task at the moment. Like I said if it was just me I think I would be all over it, but the fact that the baby is going to start riding with me every day makes me not want to risk it.

 

take it to D&M welding in dayton , theyll be a much better price, theyll fix anything, i used to work there fixing stuff just like your rusted frame. 937 293 4189, ask for Brian. tell them travis reffered you to them.

 

thanks for the tip Travis. I think Dayton might be a little too far out of the way at the moment.

 

You guys are what makes this board a special place

[the rusty holes in my frame are freaking me out]

Yeah, Its all about the baby these days, and she is definitely worth it. Once again my humble thanks, I'll let you all know what happens.

[the rusty holes in my frame are freaking me out]

DUDE!!!

Thats a joke for "most" of a day!!! WTF is their labor rate?? $120/hr?? Materials?? $50 in steel MAX?? Some welding rods and gas?? Fark those jokers. Go find someone else or wait till the neighbor gets back and offer him $250+materials and your help...

 

B

[/quote

 

I hear you man, it was $70/ hr for an estimate of 10-12hrs, plus materials. I think that it was more like in the 850 and up range but who knows what else he's going to find once he gets in there. Both the guys I talked to were willing to do the work but i could tell that they thought that I should think it over and decide if the the pathy was in good enough shape to warrant the expense.

The real problem is I called a bunch of places today and no one wants to do it. No one will take responsibility for their work. I'll have to see what my neighbor thinks, but like I said it ultimately comes down to cruising around with the baby and feeling secure about the repair.

[the rusty holes in my frame are freaking me out]

Wow, I'm really bummed out. Since my neighbor is out of town I decided to take the Pathy to a place here in town that does frame repair. When I got there the guy behind the desk asked me what year pathfinder and when I told him '95 he gave me a knowing smile. He then sent me over to Ed who asked me the same question and when I told him he said that was the magic year, apparently they have seen this many times. First off, Ed couldn't be nicer, he stopped what he was doing and got under the path with a light and a hammer and proceeded to give the frame a thorough examination. The damage was way worse then I thought. On the passenger side the rust goes all the way to the bumper, and on the other side it is starting to head that way too. Although he did say that the top of the frame and the backside were in great shape it was just the outside and bottom that really sucked.

The bottom line is that it is repairable, but it would take most of a day which gets us close to $1000 w/labor and materials. The good news is that that the rust isn't near anything structural and he said that I would make it through the winter, but that after that it would really be a mess, since I don't have the skills or the time to tackle this myself I'm going to have to look for another ride. The biggest factor is my one year old daughter If it was just me I probobly wouldn't care that much and might go for the home made fix, but I just wouldn't feel comfortable driving around with her in the back without knowing that it was really fixed.

 

If I trade it in am i obligated to say anything about the rust? I wouldn't sell it privately and not disclose it. ARRRRRRRGGGHHHH I really love my pathfinder. Anybody want to buy her?

 

 

Oh and thanks for all the advice and encouragement. I love this place and hope that I get another pathy so that I can still hang out.

[the rusty holes in my frame are freaking me out]

Definitely don't want to get in an accident. I don't have a welder but I might be able to get my neighbor to help me out there, and my father in law can get me the metal peices I need. How hard is this to weld up? I have no experience but my neighbor builds hot rods so I'm sure between us we can figure it out. Thanks

[the rusty holes in my frame are freaking me out]

I started poking at a rusty spot with a screwdriver today and wouldn't you know that it just kept getting bigger. I only had the courage to poke at the passenger side but I found one large hole and two smaller ones. I know that there is similar rust on drivers side. Its the large hole (3inchs wide by about 2in tall, with a small 1/4in hole forming on the pavement side) above the rear when thats really freaking me out. I've searched around and found two methods of dealing with it. The first is to weld some new metal in which from what I have read is a good cost effective way to go for the big holes. How much have you paid to have the frame repaired like this?

For the smaller spots I saw recommendations for a rust inhibitor of the Por-15 variety. I don't quite understand how this would work as the frame seems to be rusting on the inside as well as the outside judging from the amount of crap I pulled out of it, how would this painted on product help stop the rust on the part of the frame thats not accessible?

How much have you paid to have the frame repaired? How sketchy is it to drive around like this? I need the pathy to last me at least another year.

 

Thanks

[Photo Radar blocking]

I saw an episode of "mythbusters" on the discovery channel a while back that tested out all of the various items you can purchase. I don't think any of them worked well enough to get out of a ticket. I remember for sure that the license plate cover didn't work at all.

Bummer about the ticket. Good Luck

[found one broken stud]

Does anyone one have an explanation or directions on accessing the manifold studs on a stock pathy while the engine is still in? My 95 ticked since they day I got it but lately seems worse. The only time I've even seen a manifold stud was when I was changing the alt. I tightened one loose one and put a new nut on one that was missing one since I was in there, but When I'm under the pathy I just cant figure out how to get to the others.

[pathy vs. caddy and 4 other cars]

Here are some pics I know it was ages ago but we have a 6 month old baby that takes up nearly all of my time now.

 

I managed to get all the parts I needed for about $200. I had to get creative to mount the bumper as there was alot of hidden damage, which wouldn't let me hook the bumper back on an both sides, but it all came out OK in the end.