adamzan

I got a payout, based on the cost to repair, so saving the labour doing the panel work myself I should have enough to get it repainted You're right parts are getting really hard to find. Almost tempted to get another parts truck...

I bought a red head for my 1994 years ago and pulled it out of the truck when I got rid of it. It now lives on in my current 1995... Solid rebuild quality, and good service.

Have you checked those fusible links at the battery? I know you said new cables, but hey. Can you jump the solenoid directly and have it roll over? That would at least narrow down where the issue is in the wiring. Mr. Reverse had a "starter fix" for these old trucks that involved adding a relay under the hood.

Steering stop noise doesn't apply to the r50, that's a wd21/22 thing.

I wouldn't go poly, it transfers so much vibration to the cab which is annoying in a truck that isn't a performance car. But it's your ride. I got the rag joint assembly for my Xterra from some wrecking yard in California, they shipped it up to me. Nissan only wreckers is what was called IIRC.

Do you have a picture of them? Might be able to get it from one of those large electrical suppliers like digi-key. They are probably a somewhat common weatherpak connector. Just doing some checking, you can probably match it up at the parts store if no one has any laying around: https://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-1987-1995-Foglight-Assembly-NI2592113/dp/B074QGQ8JZ

That's a huge improvement. Kind of crazy how sagged the springs can get over time. I just replaced all 4 corners in my Golf and it lifted the car by nearly 3 inches... Noticeably easier to enter/exit the car now.

My Xterra has done this forever... I think it is a normalish thing for solid axle part time 4wd vehicles.

I'm not laughing! Running that warm at 40F is definitely not near at all normal. Mine barely gets up to 180F this time of year. I assume yours is like my Xterra where the gauge readings are smoothed over vs what you see on the scan tool, so the average joe doesn't freak out about it moving around. At 220F that fan clutch should be beyond fully locked up but that doesn't explain running warm at freeway speeds. I would suspect the water pump at this point if you've done everything else. The fact that it will overheat at speed then setting down once moving slower to me indicates the water pump isn't able to keep flow at higher rpms? I am not an engineer lol. If the fan clutch has never been changed, I would definitely pop a new one in there if it doesn't sound like a dump truck over 190/200F. The one on my Xterra after replacing it made a huge difference, but it would only run warm in stop and go traffic with the AirCon running.

This looks great. Any updates? There aren't too many SAS r50 around and most of them seem to be hack jobs. Of course knowing you, yours will be the outlier!

Best bet is to rebuild an oem one. Check out this post, there's a couple attachments there with great DIY write ups https://www.clubfrontier.org/threads/distributor-rebuild-on-the-cheap-for-1st-gen-nissan-frontier-xterra.350719/

How has it been? Hopefully all good? I found my VW a major bitch to bleed the air out of. There is no rad cap, just a pressurized coolant bottle.

My old truck had a small hole on the part of the cowl that faces inside the cab... Almost looked like someone had put a self tapper in there at one time, it was leaking and my floor would always be wet. The only way I found it was to sit inside the truck while someone ran a hose all over the front of it. A bit of RTV over the hole and problem solved. Of course this had been going on for years and aided in rotting out the floorboard.

Thanks for coming back... I have a weird issue on mine where it is running incredibly lean at idle unless you give it some load then it smooths out... This part "tested good" on mine as well but since it's easy to change I might just swap it out with a JY spare.

Yeah, it seems to drive the same. I hadn't actually driven it for almost 10 months due to life getting in the way. I was in the middle of replacing a bunch of parts on it and doing a mini restoration. That is the issue I am trying to convey to the insurance. The body shops around here are just giving me the run around saying it'll be 4+ weeks just for an estimate. I got an estimate on parts from the Nissan dealer and made a similar list on Rock auto. If the girl just pays me for that I will just cancel the insurance claim... It will be better for her in the end too. The insurance is just being a hindrance at this point. What the fskc do you even pay it for? And thanks. One thing is for sure. Once I get it repaired I am going to start driving it more. Undercoat the crap out of it and drive it in the winter... What's the point of trying to preserve it if someone can just do this.

I installed a block heater (OEM style) on my 02 xterra with the VG33ER when I replaced the engine. The factory location is the third one back on the drivers side frost plug. Wasn't hard to install but I had the engine out of the truck... It does make a huge difference though, I have heat before I even leave my driveway and the engine doesn't sound like a bag of marbles.

Did they write it off and mark it as salvage brand on the paperwork? That is my fear with going thru insurance... I have a claim open right now but am hoping to do a cash deal with the person. The one body shop I called pissed me off, told me it would be a 4 week wait for an estimate, and then they would just mark it as a total loss anyways.

Got a call at midnight last night about a car accident at my parents... Girl flew off the road, through the ditch, and of course of ALL the vehicles in the driveway I would rather have been hit... She should have her damn license taken away.

If it wasn't a billion dollars to get one over here I probably would have done that already. Then there is the fact it is RHD, though it would probably be pretty simple to convert to LHD with a parts truck...

Really loving the powder coat on all this! Should be corrosion free for years to come.

My parents had one when they were brand new and I can assure you it was not the most soft smooth ride from the get go... Torsion bar front end is strong but a Cadillac like ride it does not provide.

Can you even get OEM fan clutches for these anymore? My local dealer didn't want to put in the effort to locate stock so I just bought one at NAPA... Hasn't blown up or overheated so far.

One of my friends installed a 2nd fuel tank where his spare was. Granted this is on an Xterra, but the concept is the same: https://www.thenewx.org/threads/auxiliary-gas-tank-install-completed.244585/

I would also look at your u-joints.

Very informative, thanks for posting!