johnm

Though it's the more expensive option, I would save up and get the new OEM control arms w/ bushings. That's what I'm doing, after my mechanic wasn't able to source new bushings. Yes, I know I could get poly bushings, but suspension work is beyond my DIY skills and tools.

Well, then, if you have the know-how, tools and time to replace an entire engine, you can do the cam-seals for the $50, or whatever they cost, yourself and you wouldn't have to spend $500 for a new engine, or $1400 for shop labor, would you? But that's completely beside the point, the OP asked what it would cost to have the cam-seals replaced (presumably by a shop).

where are you going to get an engine and get it installed for $500?

LOL, around here for 500, you get scrap metal. Shoot, I've been looking for a car with better mpg for my wife. For $1500 these are the kind of cars I find: 92 Saturn, blown head gasket 99 Civic, transmission blown 88 Accord, no reverse, needs tires, suspension, crash damage repair, and they don't have a title 04 Ford Minivan, bring your own wheels and tires cuz it don't have any, no 2nd gear, no lights, odometer broken Sorry to get off topic.

Put in another what for 500? Auto parts and labor must be really cheap in Canada.

Had a leak in the same place on my 99. It turned out to the be the cam seals (the other choice was the head gasket). It was around $1400 for labor and parts. Basically, it's a timing belt change with the cam seals. My cost was probably a little higher than average, but I have a good mechanic that I trust, which is worth the extra cost to me.

The TSB will show you how to construct the harness and how to route it in the engine bay. You can pull it up here. The bolts that go in the head are special ones, you need to order them from the dealer, they are 7.5x1 metric. The bolts on the intake manifold are 6x1 metric. When you are buying parts, make sure to get the right size eye connectors. The wire is just wire, I used 16 gauge. I built the harness with the larger eyelets on one end and left it longer than it needed to be, and cut to length after it was routed. I didn't measure the wires after install. I'd guess it was 30" long?

I'd fix it, unless there is something else wrong with the truck and this is the "last straw" to a trade in decision. As a side note. Blended oils that have a viscosity range may differ from brand to brand and type to type. This is a result of the blend of oil and additives to give a particular viscosity "curve" over the desired temperature range and is usually a proprietary formula. Pick up 2 random bottles of engine oil and you are very likely to see a viscosity difference between them at room temperature. That one is "thicker" doesn't necessarily make it "better".

Other results need not suggest that the 2000 data is in error. It's not unheard of for the one model year to be significantly better in reliability than other model years. Particularly the last model year right before a major change, in this case, the 2001 models got a different engine. Though the 1996-2004 Pathfinders are grouped together, the 2001-2004 model years have differences from the preceding models.

Check out what this guy has to say: http://rivermud.blogspot.com/2011/06/gear-review-cooper-discoverer-at3-tires.html He seems to like them pretty well.

When I bought my 99 SE a couple years ago, it did the same thing into reverse and the 1st to 2nd shift while driving. The tranny fluid was low. Getting to the proper level helped but still had "hard" shifts, though not jolting. A full flush of the tranny made it better still. There are several TSB's issued by Nissan for the R50 transmissions and transaxle regarding hard shifts, shift flare, and noise. They issued one TSB advising to only use a specific type of tranny fluid. Anyway, my advice would be to check the fluid level and if you decide to buy it, get the tranny flushed before you start thinking about U-Joints and other drive train components.

Yep, I installed the harness yesterday. Reading a little about the O2 feedback sensor, fuel trim, ECM, OBDII, loop...not necessarily just on Nissan, though. It appears that an O2 sensor that had a slow failure (over time v. acute failure) can make the fuel trim learning adjust to the out of limits O2 voltage readings, so that even when the new O2 sensors go in, the fuel trim will still be off and will still trip the ECM fault. Though nothing I read indicated this, I wonder if disconnecting the battery for such a long time reset the ECM and the fuel trim at the same time, which "fixed" the fault. I'm also not sure this is the same thing as the TSB problem of poor grounding of the ECM. All speculation on my part, of course. The bottom line for me is that the truck is running well, I have no SES light, and my gas mileage has improved a few 1/10ths. Getting 17 mpg combined city highway, and 21 mpg on a recent highway trip.

Just so this is out there for future searches: The nissan bolt that goes into the right cylinder head is special. It's an M7.5x1, but 5-6mm of the bolt end has the threads stripped off and the bolt comes with an aluminum compression washer. So just bite the bullet and order it from the dealer. They cost like $1.36 each.

Just to add another mystery twist to the intermittent "you'll never understand why I'm lit" SES light on my dash. Earlier this week, I built the harness and when installing it (without the mystery size bolt) disconnected the battery. While I'm still waiting for the bolts to arrive from Dallas, the SES light is off and has stayed off. So apparently, leaving the battery disconnected for an hour changed something? Who knows. Maybe some retired engineer at Nissan in Japan? I'm still planning on installing the TSB grounding harness when the bolts come in, but it sure would be nice to understand the system a little better.

OK, so what size bolt is between 7mm and 8mm? I picked up some M7x1 bolts today, the thread pitch is right but the diameter is wrong. Is there such a thing as a 7.5mm bolt? Well, it doesn't matter, I have no idea where to get such an odd-ball thing anyway. Guess I'll have to get the official nissan bolt.

Great, I found the TSB text online, including pictures of the harness, routing, and part numbers. I can probably build the harness myself, but out of curiosity, does anyone know the size of the bolt that goes in the cylinder head? Threads/inch or mm and diameter?

Well, before I laid out money for new sensors, I figured I'd retest all the grounds and circuits with a new multimeter. $20 is less than $200, right? Voltage from the O2 sensors, .3 to .6 (within spec range). As an aside, at the connectors on the harness side, the purple wire (right bank) and the purple/white wire (left bank) are the ones that send the signal to the ECM. Put the DMM read probe along the wire into the connector and black probe to ground to read the voltage. (Easier than trying to get to the ECM pins). TSB99-004b, intake to ground voltage was anywhere from .15 to .31, and bounced around quite a bit. So, my prior test was done wrong, or the old DMM was reading wrong. So I will comply with the TSB directions before I do anything else. Sometimes it pays to double-check. So I owe a thanks to Precise1, if he hadn't said something, I probably wouldn't have.

Already checked the TSB, that is not the problem.

Yeah, returns only in original packaging with receipt of unused items. Warranty return are preauthorized, by the new parts, send back the "bad part" and wait for them to say it's bad, then 10 days to get a refund, and I pay for shipping both ways for all the parts. I can't tell if I have to pay the restocking fee or not. That's what I get from ordering the parts online. How old are they? Well, they've been in the truck for a little over a week, but there's no telling when they were manufactured.

Took the truck in this morning for a diagnostic. Which showed no system faults, at all. The mechanic reset the learning computer and cleared the codes, which immediately came back after a trip to town. I asked him if it was possible that both new O2 sensors were bad. He said it's possible, that it's happened before. Well, at $60-80 bucks a pop for sensors, and no return after use, I'm not really happy about that. So I'm stuck with replacing the new O2 sensors. How do I tell if they are any good before I install them?

Not me. I thought about it, but I wasn't able to find an R50 kit and didn't want to mess with customizing something.

The 3500 v. 5000 lb question has been asked before. I don't think anyone has come up with a really good answer. Some of the thinking is that it's a design thing based on the gearing (transmission and final) or because automatics make it easier to tow?

OK, here is a link to a tow load calculator: Link Max Combined Gross Weight for an Auto Pathy is 9500 lb. The other major limit you should pay attention to is max tongue weight...with a class 3 hitch, it's 500 lb. With a trailer loaded properly, 10-15% of the total weight would be on the tongue. 15% of 3500 is 500 pounds. To answer the question: the most weight I've towed was about 3600 lb. The pathy pulled with no trouble up to 45 mph with O/D off. However, even with trailer brakes, stopping was the limiting factor. Brake fade in the mountains would be a major concern for me at this weight. I did a cross country trip towing 2200 lb with the pathy loaded with luggage and stuff. Maybe a Combined total weight near 7000lb. It required a lot of patience going up-hill, the pathy doesn't have the power to do 70mph up steep grades. My recommendation? Up-hill = switch off overdrive, and aim for 50 mph/80kph. Take your time and you won't overheat the engine or tranny or use too much gas.

Further examination of the service manual for these codes indicate that it could be any of the following problems that can be diagnosed with a full diagnostic computer and procedures (to which I don't have access). Faulty O2 sensor Ground fault in O2 circuit Ground fault in PCM (from about 15 different locations) Heat circuit failure for O2 sensors Air intake leak Low fuel pressure Bad injectors Though I guess I can rule out both new sensors being bad, and I suspect it has to be something that effects both sensors equally since it throws both codes at the same time. So I guess I'm off to the mechanic. <sigh> This is not what I needed right now, money wise.

Moderator, is it possible to move this over to "The Garage?" It probably should have been posted over there to begin with.