5523Pathfinder

Yeah thats some bad mileage! As to add to what everyone has stated, I think you should check the obvious tune up parts. Look for any loose vacuum lines or air leaks after the air flow meter. Remember, the knock sensor is there to detect knocking. I can only assume you are probably running rich and the fuel is not buring off correctly. This creates the knock code. Basicly, its telling to do some investigating. Now, the sensor itself could be bad. Harness could be bad(mice love it). I would throw a timing light on and see what your timing is. Now, this could go on and on on what to check. Make sure there is no misfires, your oil level is correct(overfilled can do some nasty things) and check all your basics. Oh, do you drive with a lead foot or take it pretty easy?

Ahh yes, the old Italian tune up! I actually have to do that on some Infinitis from time to time. Gotta feed your ride some speed once and a while...

The cleaner is supposed to clean your injectors only. If it was to go back into the tank, its just a waste. It would be diluted into the fuel and pretty much do nothing. You want the injectors to spray and clean as long as possible. Yes, it was running on that cleaner only. Guys, as far as the transmission fluid or any other fluid getting sucked in, you wanna make sure its sensor safe. That old trick is for older cars without cats and o2 sensors. Though our rigs dont have a lot of stuff, you could still hurt something. Also, you want to use as little as possible at a time if you suck it through a vacuum line. I have done it with water and some other chemicals, you just dont want to hydrolock the engine. Which can happen with a suprisingly small amount of fluid. I am not here to promote BG by any means. I have just used it for years and know it works. For the guys to may not work on thier rigs regularly, if they should see that a shop offers this service, spend the bucks and try it. Heck, go see if you can watch.

Ok, I brought him in and took a few more pictures. Here you can see how the throttle body is clean and down into the intake runners is nice and clean as well.... Sorry they are not better pics. Kind of a crappy shop camera. Oh well.

Here is the system installed... This is one of those chemicals that I dont like to breath. I hooked up exhaust system and let her run. This system runs with the fuel system back to normal. Two cans are ran through and one goes in the tank to help clean. I disconnect and check out the results.... Yeah, the picture is a bit foggy cause I literaly just disconnected the apperatice and took a pic. Now, here is where my camera died. I tried to take another pic to show how the runners were no longer the goldish/brownish color as before. I also took the time to wipe off any other carbon I could get to around the throttle plate and body. If you choose to ever clean your throttle body, use a sensor safe cleaner and use a rag to wipe out the carbon. DO NOT USE ANY KIND OF SCRUB/WIRE BRUSH. Our throttle bodies have a coating on them that needs to stay. Also, DO NOT MESS WITH ANY OF THE SCREWS ON THE BODY OR BUTTERFLY PLATE!!!. Doing so will cause the plate to shift and the throttle will be toast. I have seen this several times, just dont do it. I buttoned everthing thing up and took him for a test drive. Man what a difference! The stumble/hesitaion is gone. It idles properly and accelerates smoothly. Feels likes its brand new again. I have power to pass in traffic again!! A few cold mornings have passed and I have not felt the stumble at all. So far, fuel mileage hasnt changed much, but I will be honest, I have been enjoying the power a bit much if you know what I am saying! So, Im not sure if this will help anyone, but at least it gives you something to look at as a reference. If anyone has any questions, please ask away!

Not long ago, I eclipsed 200,000 miles on my Pathfinder. To some, its no big deal, others it is. I purchased Big Homie with about 82,000 miles on him several years back and he is my daily driver. I had changed the timing belt at 113,000 mile and knew it was time to do it again. I put in the new timing belt at 209,000 miles, and I was glad I did. There were a few stiches coming out of the belt where it is sewn together. Now I also got all new tune up parts including cap, rotor, plugs, wires, fuel filter and PCV valve. I had changed the plugs around 150,000 and wasnt to worried about them. When I pulled them, they looked to be in fairly good shape. Its tough to see, but the V in the plugs was almost gone. As far as im concerned, when the V is gone in the NGK's, they need to be replaced. Next was my cap and rotor. Thought I had found the problem. Cap terminals were corroded and flakey. Rotor was burnt and probably misfiring... I test drove it shortly after, but still seem to hesitate a bit in 2nd and 3rd. I knew my Air Flow Meter was clean and the filter was ok. Two days later at work, I didnt have much to do. I thought to myself that I should try decarboning. Now I had done this before and always seems to help. VG's are well known for carbon buildup on the valves, intake runners and throttle bodies. After poking around to see what I could, I remembered the 3M Injector cleaner. There was a TSB to use this cleaner before replacing any fuel injectors. Surely I thought with 200k, my injector pattern couldnt be that good. So I hooked it up and let her run... Now this isnt a overly difficult thing to do. You disble the fuel system(fuel pump fuse), hook up the can to the hoses and attach to the fuel inlet tube(from fuel filter). You pinch off the fuel return line as you dont want to just send it back to the tank. I did a little overkill and attached 3 hose pinch pliers to make sure. This is a setup that Nissan released years ago. After the fuel injector flush was done, I did my BG Induction service. This apperatice is installed just in front of the throttle body to help clean it and the intake. The tip has a atomizer so the cleaner travels anywhere air does. Like I said, I have used this device 1000's of times and I love it. Here you can see a few pics of my intake before the cleaning...

Maybe the RuggedRocks.com site may have what you are looking for.

I mounted mine above the radio. It is a custom mount, but it works!

IIRC, back in the day, the Jim Conner Racing suspension setup had dual front and rear shocks. I know its no longer available, but if a guy was good at fab, he could make is own.

Sounds like a loose wheel bearing to me. Jack up one wheel and grab the top of the tire and the bottom of the tire and push in and out and see if there is any play. Now, just for clairification, this is from the owners manual....

How about we stop now and wait for the project to continue for those who are interested?

So I thought I would note a few things I have learned. Though the vehicle I did this write up on was not my pathfinder(my brothers QX4) most of the stuff I do is the same. So, I just finished changing my timing belt for the second time. I as very curious how things have held up from when i installed the belt at 113k miles(I now have 209K). I found that my cam seals held up fantasticly. If you ahve changed your belt, Im sure you have found the right cam seal leaking. I did nothing but spray a little bit of silicone spray on the seal to help with installation. I changed them all out again just because. I had also replaced the waterpump during the first belt change. I had applied this stuff called "Gasketcinch" on the gasket and on the pump. This was nice because when I went to pull the pump, 95% of the gasket came off with the pump. Even peeling the rest off was very easy. If you have ever replaced your pump, you know that sometimes the old gasket can be a pain to remove. Everything else was routine. No abnormal leaks or issues. I used quailty coolant that as supplied by my old work. There was no abnormal deposits or build found, which is a good thing. Good stuff went back in. I changed a lot of stuff again, but nothing was in bad shape. Its nice knowing that purchasing quailty parts pays off.

Knocked out the second timing belt since I had purchased him. Thats right, I have put on over 100,000 miles. I replaced the belt, tensioner, water pump, Thermosat, bypass hose, both radiator hoses and the drive belts. I did a full tune up as well with new plugs, cap, rotor, fuel filter and PCV valve. Though, it looks like I will need a aftermarket upper radiator hose as the nissan one isnt quite long enough to make me happy(i have a body lift). This week hopefully I will perform a fuel injector flush and a Air Induction service to get rid of any buildup on the runners and valves.

I have aquired my box of fun for next weekend!!!!! Timing belt and necessary goodies, full tune up parts and new hoses! May actually dig out my radiator drop bracket and install it also.

They should stock it(we do). Just call ahead! And yes, they will order it for you, but you might have to prepay for it. Im not joking. We have pleanty!!!!

I used to clean all the coolers out with Cooler Cleaner(still do, just not as often). I have never seen it in stores, but your local dealer should have it. Its not that expensive either. All you have to do is remove both your cooler hoses from the cooler lines, put one in a bucket and attach the cleaner to the other line. Pull the trigger and watch was comes out. You will be amazed.

Well, if you can handle it, you could always crawl under the left front, remove the 8 bolts holding the front driveshaft in. You could try driving it then and you will be able to verify the transfer case is not the issue. Im thinking maybe you have a hub locking up.

Bump steer comes from the front. The adjustable links you are thinking about are for the rear. All they would do is help realign the rear axle if lift and such. Someone tried to make a steering absorber for the caR50, but not sure what the deal is. http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=31266

Cool stuff man! Im glad to see that Nissan guys both use very similar tactics when working on a engine rebuild. Though I have never done much more than a rebuild from small block, a few tricks you used I have used as well for a long time. If you ever decide to drive that thing for a long test drive, come down my way! I would love to check it out! Good work!

You could have a Injector not firing as well. If it mechanically failed internally, It wont work. there is a test somewhere......

Ok, so I did my first full on repair the other day. I followed the TSB to a t, then did a bit extra. As you can see from the before and after photos, there was some rust holes on this vehicle. I sprayed a rust inhibitor as well as a etching primer on the holes as well as the entire shock tower. You can see in the second photo the new brace is installed and has structural adhesive on the back. I used the adhesive at nissan when the Quest had a customer satisfaction campaign a few years back, and man is that stuff strong! The holes were covered with several layers of fiberglass and the entire area was covered in two heavy coats of undercoating. Im not saying this is the best repair possible, but it is a good repair if done correclty. Let me know what you think.