adamzan

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.

The compressors in these don't fail often. I'm betting whoever had it before just didn't replace the belt when it broke. If you have a set of AC manifold gauges you could throw them on and see what is in it.

The MAF ground was a very common issue for some of these trucks. My first one had the issue and it stalled several times in traffic before I figured it out. I did add the same ground to the terminal and never had another issue. That was the cause of my injector leak code, actually. It is a bit misleading. Depending on what EGR yours has, you might have a tiny rubber hose going from the EGR to the BPT valve (small egr looking thing beside the egr valve). If that hose has a split in it, it will cause issues. If the engine light flashes while driving that could indicate a misfire. I'm not sure these are smart enough to detect what cylinder but be sure your plugs are good and the wires are seated well. It may also just be time for the cat to be replaced. If it is the original one with a lot of miles or was driven with the vehicle running poorly, it will have failed. My brother drove my VW with a misfire for over an hour out of a northern Ontario park before cell service was around, and the cat failed shortly after that.

Those temps are perfect. What fluid did you use, and are you running an external cooler?

Not my pathfinder but I replaced the UCA bushings, idler arm, drivers side CV axle, and front brake pads on the Xterra today. Should be good to go for next weekend!

I find the best fluid for these other than the oem or cheap dex 3 is the Amsoil ATF. Mine never ran cooler than with that fluid. It just works very well. And that fluid needs to be changed, it should be a reddish pink color. That looks like it is halfway to brown/orange to me.

That looks pretty clean. And a fair asking price for a car that is getting hard to find it decent shape. The fuel gauge issue is likely the voltage regulator on the back. There is a how to for fixing it on here. Just a small solder job. Common oil leaks are the valve covers and rear main seal.

Check your fuel pressure, make sure the lines aren't leaking or anything.

Re-booted OEM ones are the strongest. Otherwise I've never had an issue with the trackmotive ones. I had a defective casting once but was warrantied and no issues since.

That would be cool, the caster/camber is such a PITA to set. I just get it "close enough" to where it is at least even on both sides.

The centerlink and idler arm. I've only ever had to replace one set of tie rods and those were the original 1995 ones. And I only replaced the loose ones as they wore. I think I still have one original tie rod. Since you've got the RC arms like I do you won't go through tons of upper ball joints like the 4x4parts UCAs. Just make sure to use good parts and keep them lubed. After upgrading the CL I find the front end is pretty stout. Rebuilding the idler arm every other season is a pretty small price to pay. Grease those UCA bushings at every oil change.

A stock CL at my local parts house in Canada is over $250 (I get a commercial discount so I wouldn't pay that, but still). So in my mind it's an easy decision. The stock one would last a month worth of only driving when I lifted the truck. The idler and CL would start twisting and wear out very fast. You don't have to do it now, try the truck out and see how it feels. Maybe it'll be fine, but I never had good luck with it.

If you are planning on wheeling the truck, I would strongly suggest this as your next upgrade: https://www.grassroots4x4.com The stock one does not play nice with suspension lifts. As well as an idler arm brace. Then your steering is pretty much bombproof.

Oh crap, I thought you meant the ones holding it to the frame. Yeah, I had those nuts loosen on me as well. Throw a little loctite on there.

Do the threads have good engagement? How much of the bolt is threading in? You may want to get longer ones. M14x1.5x60mm instead of 50mm. A little loctite won't hurt.

Nightmare is an understatement lol. I helped the last mechanic do mine. It still took 4 hours of adjust, drive around the block to settle the bars, recheck, etc.

You’ll need a long philips head screwdriver to reach the bottom of the box. There might be a piece of rubber or something at the bottom blocking access to the holes. The box with the cup holders slides into the console but is screwed in so the screws hold it and the console down. Does that make sense?

Mine easily saw 20-24mpg when I drive it cross country.

That is fskced up man. I was in that area last summer. One member of NPORA in prince george told me not to stop for anyone on the side of the road.