Eli

Get some rock sliders. If you're gonna wheel, they are the most important and most used accessory you could possibly purchase to extend the life of your vehicle and keep your doors from getting permanently shut lol.

Western Hills, King County, WA (10 minutes from Bellevue). Ready to wheel.

10-4

Sorry to disagree with you twice in one day 88pathoffroad! but the alternator is there to power the vehicle and to charge the battery. The battery is for starting and for a tad bit of voltage spike regulation. The battery(ies) will also compensate for an amperage overload situation, but only temporarily...if all the alternator power is going to accessories, and there is still additional amperage needed, the battery will slowly drain, causing the alternator to overwork. As the total vehicle voltage drops, the alternator will have to put out more and more amps to keep the voltage regulated. This will overhead the alternator and reduce its life considerably. I went the expensive route and bought Wrangler NW Power Products' 130 amp high idle output alternator (90 amps at idle). Works great.

I respectfully disagree with this info. Changing out the shocks in the rear for longer shocks will allow the Pathfinder to fully flex with the rear sway bar in place. No sway bar and 4-link = no-no (see DEATH WOBBLE). I removed my front sway bar a long time ago, because I kept breaking the center mounts. You'll probably want to stiffen up the front end to compensate, or she'll lean heavily into and out of turns, which greatly affects cornering agility. I've done two things to compensate. First, I had stiff valving installed on my front shocks (but any stiff shock will do). Second, I adjusted the second stage of my 2-stage torsion bars so that I was just sitting on the "stiff" stage. This helps tremendously with body roll around corners. Obviously, without adjustable shocks and 2-stage torsion bars, you're gonna have a sloppy ride when going any direction but straight. But try it...worst case you can put it back on!

No body damage at Evans Creek? I've been worried about protruding roots and side-sliding into trees.

Hmmm....OK.....I live on the Eastside, so Cle Elem and Reiter and all the other decent wheelin spots are the same distance from me.

Meeting at Cle Elum Safeway at 10:00 am, Sunday, Sept 3rd, to go up to Lake G-something-or-other with C.O.R.E.

I know y'all hate the dealerships, but IMHO, you should at least drop a C note to let 'em check it out. A reman tranny's big bucks, even if you install it yourself.

Since the biggest overheating problem on the WD21 is the transmission, try and fit the external cooler in the front for 100% efficiency. Flush the transmission every 15,000 miles (not 30,000 as the manual recommends).

I'm heading out to Yakima with C.O.R.E. (www.core4x4.com) for the "PNW4WDA Region Four and Yakima Ridgerunners Corn & Steak Feed." My girlfriend and I are leaving Friday. The event is Saturday and Sunday, with the Poker Run early Saturday morning. $10 per day to enter and participate! Hope some of you show up! The weather is forecasted to be in the mid- to upper-90's. Here's more info. http://www.yakimaridgerunners.com/

A little off topic, but 2 questions: 1. Did that roof insulation make a difference in cabin noise 2. Did you have trouble re-securing the factory headliner after insulation installation?

To reiterate, when towing *anything*, the O/D OFF switch should be activated. Not only will this prevent the transmission from shifting into overdrive, it will also keep the torque converter locked up. Switching the E/AT transmission switch into POWER mode will not override the O/D OFF torque converter lockup. You're friend may be right regarding the POWER mode in overdrive, but the combination of O/D OFF and POWER will keep the transmission much cooler than in AUTO mode (where it will shift more often and from a much lower RPM to a much higher RPM than in POWER mode). I hope this makes sense. It's the only way to keep the transmission healthy, even though it's not mandated in the Owner's Manual...you have to piece the information together from the Automatic Transmission section and the Trailer Towing section.

Here's another transmission code link i found: http://autorepair.about.com/library/faqs/bl137d.htm

Does it blink 18 times? If not, hmmmm. If so, this might help: http://autorepair.about.com/library/a/1d/bl714d.htm

I posted this in another thread somewhere, but I'll repost it since this thread got big. Kreg Donahoe (Donahoe Racing) put mine in my fenderwell. I was skeptical about vunerability, but he promised me that's where lots of race vehicles' oil filters are located. It's been well over 5 years, and still no problems. This picture is small, but it's showing the filter (standard size VG30E filter) which is located in the front of the passenger front wheelwell. No oil on the starter (and those gear-reduction starters are *expensive*).

I think I bought my first set from Automotive Customizers (www.4x4parts.com) a looooong time ago, before they offered ceramic coating (so I had them Jet-Hot coated). I warranty replaced them and payed for the ceramic upgrade during my engine rebuild. They had cracked due to broken motor mounts. If you have an automatic transmission, make sure you mention that to the seller, because Thorley now has a kit specifically for automatic (you used to have to have the y-pipe modified). However, you'll need to add 2 u-clamps and some muffler sealant (I think that's what it's called) to the slip joint under the auto trans pan to keep it from leaking.

The air gap in the manifold gasket will draw in outside air (post-combustion) and send it down the exhaust to the O2 sensor. The O2 sensor will cause the ECU to read a false "lean" situation and compensate with additional fuel. Your power, gas mileage, and catalytic converter will suffer because of the overly rich condition created by the manifold gasket leak and subsequent ECU compensation. This phenomenon occurs when there is a leak or crack of any kind after the head and before the O2 sensor. And futher more...Thorleys ROCK ;-) Just make sure you follow the retorquing instructions (after following the initial detailed install procedure, retorque after 100 miles, 1 week, 1 month, and then every 6 months thereafter). Once you let a gasket leak for too long, it ruins the gasket, and you have to start all over.

Sorry, I meant to add that it's also very jerky when going from throttle to coasting, but of course you're right about shifting techniques affecting shift jerkyness.

Jerky's a good word. IMHO, they are too jerky when the throttle is let up before a shift, but I suppose some of that could be corrected with stiffer front shocks.

Trailing arms don't squat (or at least not very much) as opposed to a-arms, which have terrible squat charactersitics (see an older stock BMW 3-series for an example). That side-push you're noticing on the rear is almost certainly worn lower control arm bushings, or (less likely) worn track bar bushings. These are easy to find and check, so grab a flashlight and jump under the vehicle. If worn lower control arm bushings go unchecked, death wobble will eventually rear (no pun intended) its ugly head.

Better than what? Some of us don't like the way the Nissan manual feels to drive (or be a passenger in) and some of us wouldn't ever consider an automatic in anything we drive. I fall into the category of I wouldn't ever consider a manual in anything I drive. A manual swap is a lot of work, but a k9sar says, quite a few folks onthis board have done it. If all you're looking for is a bulletproof solution, you can make the automatic bulletproof with a lot less effort than a manual swap.

The 2500 to 3000 RPM "shift" you are experiencing is normal. That's the torque converter unlocking. In 3rd and 4th gear, the torque converter locking and unlocking is especially noticable, but nothing to worry about. If it's locking and unlocking repeatedly (or rapidly) in 3rd (like going up a steep grade on the freeway), simply push the "O/D OFF" button on your transmission shifter. This will hold the vehicle in 3rd and lock the torque converter. Because of the lack of power in the VG30E compared to the curb weight of the Pathfinder, even us automatic transmission owners need to be proactive with the Drive/Overdrive Shifting...

AUTO: Regular shifts POWER: Higher RPM shifts and quicker downshifts (ie, less throttle is required for a downshift)

TrailDisaster lifts the best? I think you have a point of contention here. Poor control arm geometry, exposed torsion bars, sloppy welds, excessive tie-rod angles, and mandatory 3-3/4" or less backspacing are a few reasons to avoid this lift. The aftermarket UCA's are caster-adjusted so that the vehicle can be realigned with a minimum of shims when the torsion bars are cranked up.