Tungsten

You would be surprised how many oversights there are in a Gates catalog.

Correct. Ignore the tightness procedure in the manual. The right way to set the tensioner is with a $600 tension gauge. The second best way is to slowly rotate the tensioner with an allen key to the most optimal position where you can twist the timing belt to almost 90 degrees. Don't forget to spin the engine over twice when you are finished and check for tension again. The 5mm allen key hole in the tensioner should be set to about the 5 o clock position. The spring in the back should just become dead weight. When you are done setting the tension, you have to tighten the nut that holds the tensioner in that specific position to about 50 N/m or 37 ft/lbs. If you over tighten the timing belt will whine and the tensioner can break. For the record, I think it's 40 teeth between the two sprocket punch marks and 43 between the driver side one and the bottom one. The FSM has that information. Use a highlighter to make the marks more visible.

Sounds like fun. It's going to reduce the unsprung weight in the rear and make it ride nice.

You can change the thermostat without removing the timing belt cover. It's preference when you want to change it. Having the rotor point to plug 1 and having the timing belt sprocket marks point to the valve covers at 45 degrees is more than enough for verifying TDC. Sticking something down there is optional unless you are doing something crazy.

It's usually the contact points in the cluster or in the connector to the cluster. You can try pulling the cluster and tightening the screws like Precise1 said. The other option to try is to go and see if the connection to the distributor is good. There is a little wire that goes to the distributor to send the tachometer signal. Sometimes that gets really loose and you lose good signal to the tachometer.

The engine is at TDC when the balancer pulley center mark lines up with the arrow on the timing belt cover and when the distributor points to spark plug 1. Since the camshafts and distributor spin at half the crankshaft speed, you only have a 50% chance of getting it right. The best way to verify that you have it correct is to look at the rotor in the distributor. Put the transmission in N or P and spin it over with the crankshaft nut until it is at TDC. That will also make sure the camshaft sprocket marks are exactly in the top left and top right corners. He cranks the engine over a couple of times with the belt on to make sure that the timing belt is set in before tightening the tensioner. Here is how I tension the timing belts: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/33505-alternative-way-to-tension-a-timing-belt/ The FSM calls for flushing with distilled water only. Many mechanics will flush the block with regular tap water though. The coolant should also have some mineral absorbing properties if there is any tap water droplets left over inside. For refilling the system, you can buy pre-mixed coolant and just pour it in. The only downside to that is you are paying 50% for distilled water.

That sounds exactly like a 2wd VG30E. They have ribbed belts and water pumps that are separate from the timing belt covers. You have to watch those engines because the ribbed belts need more tension and are very prone to breaking the entire balancer right off the crankshaft. They updated the crankshaft later on to resolve that issue.

The fan and the shroud are enough. You can remove the radiator if you want. The balancer is that thing at the bottom with a big pulley on top of it. TDC means top dead center. It's the optimal position for the engine to be rotated to when taking it apart or setting the timing. You can look it up on YouTube for an explanation of what it is exactly. The rotor I'm talking about is the rotor under the distributor cap. It should point to spark plug 1. If your thermostat works, leave it alone. I suggest buying the water pump from Nissan. You can get one off RockAuto but they are not the same quality as the dealer part and will probably not last as long. The Gates timing belt kit sold on RockAuto is plenty good though. I usually try to get all parts from Nissan but last time I bought a Gates water pump and a Gates timing belt and tensioner. The water pump ended up failing on me but I had no issues with the belt or tensioner. I had to go and replace the water pump with a Nissan one. You want to wait a few minutes when you apply the sealant so it doesn't squeeze out everywhere.

If you remove the torsion bars then it's really not that bad to take the transmission out.

That depends on the design of the engine. The Pathfinder VG uses the water pump body as a seal for the timing belt chamber so the water pump can only be taken off if you remove the timing belt. I have done this job and there's nothing to it. All you do is basically drain the coolant, remove the fan and shroud, remove the hoses, remove the balancer, and remove the timing belt cover. Before doing that though, don't forget to position the engine at intake TDC and not exhaust TDC. The rotor under the cap should point to spark plug 1. Then you can go ahead and loosen the tensioner and pop the timing belt off. Loosen the water pump bolts and remove the old water pump with your big hammer. Rub some sealant on the new water pump gasket and pop it back on. Be sure to put the timing belt on the right way with the proper tooth count between the sprockets. All the torque specs are in the FSM. When you put everything back together, just refill the coolant. Don't worry about opening the thermostat since this engine does not need to have its thermostat open to be refilled with coolant. The coolant will fill the engine through the return line in the intake manifold. If you got any questions there's plenty of write ups here and don't hesitate to shoot me a message.

Awesome. Looks exactly like mine! Except it has more paint and clear on it.

Don't forget that it is also the thickness that matters in exhaust piping when it comes to durability. A really cheap thin aluminized steel parts store pipe is going to last maybe 2 years in snow states compared to a proper thickness aluminized steel pipe. Same goes for stainless steel piping. The stainless will last longer than aluminized overall but stainless won't last forever either.

Yes, the VSS communicates with the ECU. If your VSS is not working then the ECU will throw a VSS code. Yes, you can use the older cluster speedometer connections for VSS.

Looks good to me. I'm skeptical if that's a true 2.5" because it looks like a 2.25" from the picture. Could be my eyes though. Can you measure the outside diameter of the tail pipe? Here is mine for comparison.

You didn't see the black thingy behind the speedometer? If you notice the circuit board also goes to the speedometer behind the cluster. I know mine has it and it's the VSS (vehicle speed sensor) in the service manual. The 1993 cluster is similar but it is even closer to the 1995 one because it no longer has the voltage regulator on top.

Yep. Nissan makes their blocks perfect. That's the reason they can go for so long before needing a rebuild. The down side is that Nissan engines are very picky and can be a pain to take care of but are worth the effort. However the main advantage to going SBC over VG is aftermarket parts. The SBC is an enthusiast's dream for aftermarket. If you can get a perfect aftermarket SBC block, some long rods, and some high compression pistons, you can have big power for very little money.

True dual will not work. If you want to go dual, make sure you use an X-pipe. Also, the pipes have to be equal length before the X. Use the gasket as a template for your flanges.

That thing looks like it got a newer A/C compressor too. That's a R-134a spec compressor.

I mean the actual block geometry. Their manufacturing tolerance was nowhere near as high as the VG was.

Is that a crack in the windshield? That can still be fixed if you know the right people. You should look into that before it spreads.

Mentioned this in the other thread but just a FYI the mechanical speedos have electronic sensors that send the same output as the speed sensor in the t-case would.

Nevermind but let me add that lithium grease works quite well for the job. For the door locks, there is an actuator assembly at the bottom that tends to malfunction from solder joints cracking. It's the thing that pushes the lock pin up and down by itself.