adamzan

Nice work on the rust repair. My old pathy I just welded in patches. Luckily my current one is clean.

Has the o2 sensor been touched? If it looks old or original just replace it. Made a big difference on my 95. My temp never goes above 1/3 on the gauge. I run a Nissan T-stat but they do run kinda cool. You can also change to a 180F one if you want.

33x10.5 is still made by BFG. I just bought a set of KO2's for my 95 last summer. And I checked the KM3 which I want for my Xterra are available in that size. It really is the perfect 33 for our vehicles. Minimal power loss compared to 12.5 wide tires.

You can do 33x10.5x15 on stock height. Provided you're using the oem "lego" wheels. But anything wider or different wheels you need to lift and possibly trim.

There should be little plastic round "stick" things that go on each end of the water pump. I never had a need to put any permatex on there. But I do always put a skim coat on the gasket. Holds it still for install, and prevents any leaks from the normally crummy gaskets they ship with things these days. Never once had a leak that way.

Since the transmission cooler is in the radiator the tranny should be running at close to the coolant temp. So when the engine is up to 170-180F I would check the fluid then.

Drive by wire with a manual trans is horrible as well. My 04 golf has that. My Xterra SC has a similar issue but not exactly the same, it is cable driven, but the throttle plate has a much more aggressive opening (to make it feel even faster, I guess). So in 4L on the trail it lunges forward with the smallest application of the throttle. Something I've just had to get used to/live with.

Nah, it's a survivor and collectors are willing to pay... All the cheap ***** on the facebook page make me laugh. It's almost 30 years old. They're classics now.

It depends on how rusty it is. Mine took a whole weekend, though that was my first time doing that sort of thing. I had help with a few friends. That was years ago, but did one last summer on my friends Xterra in 1 day.

I have the Hardbody ARB on mine with the 3" BL. Yes we had to mod the bumper to fit, but it wasn't that hard. Anyone who can weld can do it.

I noticed the last few times I started the truck, fuel would start dripping from the back, to the right of the fuel tank. The lines all look good, and it seems to stop after 5-10 minutes of running which is even more odd. I'm going to assume it is something to do with the sending unit or the rubber hoses up top. Yay!

Try and find a used VG30 from a JDM importer place. I bought one for $500 and it had less than 50,000km on it. Runs like a brand new truck. (Mine didn't have the same issue, the previous owner drove it with no coolant lol).

There's no way the transmission cooler would cause the engine to overheat. There is a huge amount of surface area in the radiator and the trans cooler is just a small tube sitting in the bottom tank. If the engine is overheating at low speeds I would investigate the fan clutch.

Exactly. My old 94 pathy had it on the lugs from the previous owner. It took me forever to get rid of it all.

I've never used anti seize on things like lugs or spark plugs. I just clean the threads and maybe a couple of drops of ATF so things spin smoothly... Never an issue in 14 years of pathy ownership.

If it is this stuff, it is very good. https://www.amazon.ca/Permatex-24125-Ceramic-Extreme-Lubricant/dp/B0018PSASU/ref=asc_df_B0018PSASU/?tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=293019627565&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1965653352532573737&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9000662&hvtargid=pla-571820984777&psc=1 Those rotors are toast and the pads are wearing like that because of the ridges in the rotors. Replace rotors and pads.

Yeah, 2004 X would be the last one.

I honestly wouldn't touch it. I've never in the 14+ years of owning and driving wd21s had an EGR issue. I'd focus your time on mods that will improve the off-road prowess

So in metric grade 8.8 is equivalent to standard grade 5. 10.9 in metric is standard grade 8. If the nut held the torque it is probably okay. But just something to be aware of and a lot of people get confused.

Take it into a good fastener store and they should be able to find the right ones. You'll want a grade 10.9 nut as well.

Good call on changing those seals. I didn't when I put mine in but didn't have any issues. It's always a gamble though.

The easiest, cheapest thing to do would be find a low mileage vg30, replace all the gaskets and seals on it, and drop it in. Next would be a vg33 swap, r50 pathfinders and first gen Xterras are easy to find. JDM motors can be had for less than $500 if you look around.

140-180F is the normal range mine runs at. Maybe sometimes close to 200F on the trail.

I would take a VG33ER Xterra over a VQ R50 any day. You can make the suspension flex just as good with revolver shackles, and it is cheaper/simpler to lift. The VQ is a good engine but the VG is a workhorse. I'd probably still prefer an N/A VG over a VQ just from the simplicity/reliability standpoint. All the ones I've had to work on have been a pain, and the oil consumption is annoying. At the end of the day all of these platforms are "old". Pick whatever one you like driving the best. I own a 1995 pathfinder and a 2002 Xterra. I love them both, the X has tons of power with the supercharger and the torque comes in nice and early. It has the steep WD21 gearing so the power difference is really noticeable.

While you're in there make sure the idle air control is working. Mine ended up having a crack in it allowing un-metered air in. It only happened on cold starts and once it was warm it was okay. Worse in the winter. Does it happen hot or cold? I spent months chasing down a similar issue that occurred when cold but slowly got better as the motor warmed up.