Nutz

I replaced my first clutch at about 130K, and Im at 230K now. I guess I'm living on borrowed time with this clutch. My old girl spend about 12 years as a daily driver for my wife in stop and go rush hour freeway driving, so I certainly can't complain. I did flush the damper (and slave again) yesterday with my son's help, and its seems to engage smoother starting in first, though I haven't driven it alot in heavy traffic, which is when it usually starts to really act up and get jerky. It feels great shifting through the rest of the gears. Thanks MY1PATH for the info on the function of the damper. I'm not getting any noise from the clutch when it's engaged, so it sounds like the damper is not a likely cause of the jerky engagement in 1st. Piste, I'm completely baffled by your problem. Logically, it has to be a hydraulic issue, not a worn clutch, but since you've replaced the master and slave twice, it doesn't make sense that either of those would be causing the problem. Hopefully the damper was the weak link in the system and its fixed for good.

Did you get the Clutch Damper replaced? If so, did it fix the problem? I don't have the loss of pressure problem you described, but I am starting to get some nasty clutch chatter when starting off in 1st gear. I've flushed the system and bled the slave cylinder with no effect. i just discovered that it has a clutch damper, so I'm going to try to bleed it, and see if it helps. Not sure exactly what the damper is supposed to do or what the syptoms of a failing damper are?

Got it. Thanks Aaron.

I bought some nice thick sheep skins at Costco, sold individually for about $40 for the fronts (for a different car - but they fit the pathfinder's buckets). Haven't seen anything similar for the back seat. Have a look at these too, they are obviously pleather, but for $50 for the full set, might be ok. Ebay Link

cool, glad it worked out well. nice job

$85? your talking about servicing the AC and not replacing the door switch I hope?

the door switch is only held on with one screw, which also grounds it. since its corroded, you may just need to take it off, clean it and put in with a nice shiny new screw. Since they are very cheap, I would just pick up a new switch, with the rubber boot. once you pull off the screw, the switch comes out and you pull of the wire connector and put it on the new switch and screw it back in. two minute job. Not sure about the AC capacity. if you're filling it yourself, don't forget to put some compressor oil in there, otherwise your seals will dry out and leak. But if its very low you probably already have a leak at the compresser or seals. I would take it to a rad/ac shop. for about $50 plus freon they will pressure test for leaks, and refill it for you. Good luck

while your in there, I would also check/change the panhard bushings. the panhard's job is to locate the axle lateraly, so if the bushings are gone, the rear axle will move side-to-side relative to the body, and your butt will wag. trailboss mentioned that he changed his but still has the problem, but his is raised 3.5 inches, which itself reduces the effectiveness of the the panhard, even with new bushings. to fix it, he might need to relocate the mounts to bring the panhard rod closer to horizontal again to eliminate the problem. since yours is stock height in the rear, you shouldn't have that issue, just make sure the bushings are good.

how did the header install work out? are you happy with the results?

[quote Get the fluid power flushed by a shop.] If you get it flushed, don't go to Jiffy Lube. Just saw a story on the news here in So. Cal, they busted 5 out of 8 Jiffy Lube shops for charging customers for work (including AT power flushes!) without actually doing the work. Seems that the problem is not just a few bad nuts, but corporate policy requiring unreasonably billing per vehicle. One employee (whistle-blower) said they actually trained them how not to get caught by undercover reporters using hidden cameras. This was the 3rd such bust in 3 years in the LA area. Go to a reputable shop and watch them do it.

Thanks guys. I guess since it aint broken, I'll leave them alone for now, but shopping around for spares sounds like a good idea. Just can't believe how insanely reliable these trucks are. I guess I just want to keep it that way. I found a set of brushes but it looks like they are internal, so changing them requires taking the whole alternator apart. Not sure it make sense to do that, unless I rebuild the thing with new bearings etc. Sounds like you guys replaced the entire alternator when it quit. Anyway, here's the link if anyone is interested. link - alternator brushes

Hi guys. My 95 is too reliable and its got me a bit worried. I've got about 180K on it and I have never changed the fuel pump or altnernator on it. Just wondering what your experience with these parts are. Is this typical, or are they long overdue for failure? I've changed the T-belt and water pump (worked fine) at about 120K, as preventative maintainance, but I'm not sure if I should change out the fuel pump and alternator soon, just in case. I'd hate to waste money, but I want to make sure I can continue to trust the truck to hell and back. (its only left me on the road once, due to a broken fan belt - too old,my fault entirely). Also, I'm wondering if the alternator brushes are easily replacable (and if so, where is a good place to buy the brushes/rebuild kit). Thanks, appreciate your comments. Nutz.

I had a similar problem with 2 broken studs(one on each side of course), one of which I broke a drill bit into. After a couple of days and nights on my back, trying every type of extraction tool and drill bit, I had made a mess of it and was getting close to the water jacket. I finally had it towed to the dealer, and after their mechaninics pulled their hair out for a couple of days, their head mechanic told me that they could try to drill them out but wouldn't be responsible if they messed up the head. He suggested that they call in their "laser guru" who they used on jobs like that. This guy is an independent "fixer" who does jobs for dealerships and other shops. They have no idea what he does exactly, (he covers the side of the truck with a tarp and won't let anyone watch) but they said it works. I had no choice so I told them to go ahead, and I'm glad I did. I looked at the heads after he was done and it looked perfect. I was amazed because I had made such a mess of the holes ( they were oversized and out of round by the time I took it in.) The guy must have done some sort of aluminum welding to fill in the holes and drilled and tapped new threads. Probably similar to what a machine shop would do with a head on the bench, but he did in on the truck. It was a perfect job and I didn't have to have the heads removed. If you can find a guy like this, do it. His fee was $300 for both sides, which is a lot less that the dealer tried to charge me for screwing around for several days and still not fixing anything. Hang in there. It can be done, just gotta find the right guy Good luck.

MWS is right. The thorley's had to be tested and certified by CARB. The other headers you saw are made by pacesetter, which are not legal in CA. Aside form that, I think the Thorley headers are worth the extra hundred bucks because they are well made and drop right in, while the pacesetters are cheaply made and come with a disclaimer that "some fabrication may be required" to install. That extra shop time and fabrication could easily run you more than the difference in price. I installed Thorley's (from Summit $339) with a Magnaflow high flow cat and a Dynomax muffler with 2.25' pipes. The only issue I ran into installing the Thorley's was bending the EGR tube a bit to make it fit without pulling up on the header. It now has a nice deep rumble, without setting off car alarms down the block. As for heat shields, I didn't use anything other than the factory shields over the cat and muffler. The headers run pretty close to the brake lines and fuel lines on the passenger side near the firewall, but so far, I haven't had any problems with heat. Good luck

My center console wobbles a bit too, but not too bad. Its secured by two bolts (philips heads I think) at the bottom that go through the floor. If you empty out your console and dig to the very bottom you'll see them. Problem is, I couldn't turn them without stripping them. I went underneath the truck, to see if it might be easier from the bottom. They are a pain to reach, but accessible. Good luck. Nutz

no tubing required. The pop charger comes with an adapter plate that bolts to the stock intake (instead of the OE filter box) and the cone filter slides over it. but its a good idea to build a cold air box around the filter to keep out the heat from the engine. here's a link to an example on JWT's tech support site http://jimwolftechnology.com/wolfpdf/POPCH...BOX_EXAMPLE.PDF I built a simple box on mine using aluminum, piece of cake. Sounds great too WHOOOOSSSSSHHHHH

yeah, you'll have to get the studs and nuts from the dealer. The jobbers won't have 8mm metric studs. , unless you go to a specialty fastener shop but you won't save any money there. Just get the newer version OE from the dealer. As for the head gasket job, I read all of your posts and it seems that the issue now is not that the truck is running too hot, but that you are concerned why the temp is still staying at almost half way on the gauge, even when its cool at night, right? If this is the case, I don't think you have a blown head gasket. Its normal. Chances are this is due to your new thermostat. Keep in mind that your thermostat, when working properly, is supposed to close below 170, to let the heat build back up. If your truck was running condiderably cooler before, its likely that your old thermostat was either stuck open, or opening too soon. Either way, I would install an OE thermostat and keep an eye on the temp gauge. As long as its not running too hot, you're good. BTW, I just bought a new thermostat b/c mine is stuck open and the temp never goes past 1/3 unless I'm climbing for a long time under heavy load with the AC on. too cool is not good either. If the engine runs too cool, the carbon and crud doesn't get a chance to burn off, and ECU may bypass the O2 sensor as it does during "warm up". If you still suspect the head gaskets, some things to look for are: 1) are you losing coolant, but can't find a leak? 2) any white smoke from the tail pipe even after the engine is warmed up? 3) do you have any white foamy crap in the oil when you pull the dipstick or check under the oil filler cap? If not, I wouldn't worry the head gaskets for now.

I've had no problems at all with the thorley gaskets. They fit perfectly and sealed tight as a drum. Any gasket will burn out if you don't bolt the flanges together squarely and allow the exhaust to blow past the gasket, so make the sure the fit is perfect before you crank the flanges down. Whatever gaskets you use, just make sure you use some copper/silicone (O2 safe) gasket sealer. Definately replace your studs now and use new nuts, you don't want to be in there again! The studs are about $4 each, but well worth the piece of mind. The last thing you want is to be tightening your header down and snapping a stud inside the head. Most of the tightenting will be with a 12 mm wrench so make sure you have a good one. You can reach some of the studs with a socket and long extension, through the side of the fenders (after you remove the front wheels), once you unclip and pull back the plastic shields inside the fender. Retighten the headers after a couple of days of driving, the studs streatch a bit from the heat. Not sure why you would want to replace the head gaskets, unless you have a leak. Thats a big job and totaly unnecessary to install the headers. Good luck

I paid about $440 at an independant Nissan-only shop which I trust. Its not a hard job, if you have the tools and puller etc, but it does take some time to get in there and put it all back together. I'd shop around for quotes from import shops in your area, since its a very common job, they'll be able to tell you give you a price right over the phone.

AWESOME ! way to go! Its not to soon to have a beer and admire your accomplishments so far! Nice job. Nutz.

The ground cable end is bolted to the block, but it also has to be bolted to the fender well, near the p/s reservoir for the chassis to be connected properly to the battery. Follow the ground cable from the battery. About half way down the cable it has chunk of metal with a bolt hole, which has to be bolted down on top of the fender well. There are also other smaller ground wires that connect to the fender well, and one that attached to the front exhaust manifold shield, which you would need to relocate because the headers obviously have nowhere to mount it. Check all the ground wires are securely attached. Nutz

that's usually the case that you can't cross the cables, but my point was that if you tried a different battery, the terminals on that battery itself may have been different/ opposite to your original battery, so it would fit perfectly on the cables but still be reversed polarity. If you look at your batteries side by side, oriented the same way, check that the polarity matches (+/-) on each one. it should be marked either on the top of the battery near the terminal, or on the side near each terminal post. also check the battery installed now, to make sure the red cable (closest to the middle of the truck,) is on the + terminal, and the black (closest to the passenger side fender) ground cable is on the negative terminal marked (-) If you have a factory alarm, you will have an alarm rocker switch in the console, on the passenger side of the handbrake. Ill have a look under my hood when my wife gets back with the pathy, its hard to try to figure out some other possibilities to check without an open hood in front of me. Nutz

Not starting is one thing, but the fact that you have no power to anything suggests something more basic. I'd start with the battery and follow the flow. You mentioned that you tried a couple of different batteries, is it possible that you reversed the terminals on one of the batteries you tired and fried a main fuse (or worse?). The location of the terminals (+/-) varies on the application of the battery, so its possible that the batteries looks like the original but the terminals are opposite. I'm not sure the extent of damage that would do, if any, besides blowing fuses? Im guessing that would not be good. Other, (less likely) thought, is the factory alarm system, if you have one. after disconnecting power, you may have to reset the alarm after powering back up again, since it has, among other things a starter kill. I think you have to reset it with the key in the ignition at stage II. But that wouldn't explain why you have no power to the dash, headlights etc. Need to keep thinking....