PathFound

I live in Squamish, BC. It's a bummer to have repairs. But I knew about the exhaust manifold problem on these Pathfinders before I bought the truck. I was expecting to repair at sometime. I thought I could do it myself. If I still had access to my dad's shop I could've done this job.

I brought the truck to the shop. I had just the right side manifold done. They had to drill out and tap 2 cracked studs. The cost to remove and re-seal the manifold was $192. The additional cost for drilling the studs was $200 for labor. With tax it was a little over $400. Basically it was about $100 to drill each cracked stud. Not bad considering the tools and know-how to do this is much, much more. I supplied the parts (6 bolts replacements and a manifold gasket that I bought from the dealer) for about $75. I think the dealer is charging a little too much for the studs/nuts/washers though. So the whole job (parts & labor) was around $500. Now I know what to expect for the left side manifold. Also, the manifold they removed was good. No warpage. No cracks. I'm surprised they didn't try to just put a new one and make more money. (I told them to put a new manifold IF the old one was bad.) Must be honest mechanics. Now I know why these Pathfinders are cheap to buy! Oh well, now that the manifold is re-sealed it should be good for a long while. Thanks for all the replies guys. P.S. The above prices are all Canadian dollars.

88pathoffroad: I did buy new gaskets. I couldn't put the new ones on because I couldn't fully remove the manifolds. I'm going to bring it to a mechanic where they could put the new gaskets on. Exhaust manifold warpage is what I'm worried about. The right side manifold has been missing a stud for what seems like a while. If that's enough to warp the manifold, should I get new ones?

I went to a Nissan dealership and bought 12 new studs/nuts/washers and 2 exhaust manifold gaskets for my '91 Pathfinder. Got home, soaked the existing right side exhaust manifold nuts in penetrating oil and proceeded to remove them. I removed 5 nuts, then noticed the 6th nut didn't exist. One of the five nuts I removed came out with the stud attached and sheared in the middle. Damn! I then found the 6th nut/stud jammed between the frame and a hose. It was sheared, but well rusted and must have come out a long time ago. So at first I thought the end of the stud on this one was stuck in the cylinder head. Just great. With 2 sheared studs I figured my cylinder head was doomed. I pulled back the manifold and (thank the car gods!) the old stud was not stuck in the cylinder head and the recent one I broke had a section sticking out. I grabbed it with some vice grips and unscrewed it. Lucky for me neither of these studs were left in the cylinder head. I couldn't remove the manifold from the exhaust Y-pipe because of lack of tools, seized bolts, and a tight of working space. The larger problem, however, is that a piece of the old exhaust manifold gasket broke off. I had to bolt the exhaust manifold back on with only 4 bolts and a torn gasket. As a result, my Pathfinder sounds like an old logging truck. It's basically undrivable. I didn't bother touching the left side exhaust manifold, but I suspect it leaks. I'm going to bring it to a mechanic to fix the exhaust manifolds and a bunch of other stuff. My suggestion to anyone is don't touch the exhaust manifolds unless you know what your doing and have the necessary tools. My question is: Will having an obvious leak (ie. missing gasket fragment and short 2 bolts) cause any permanent damage to the engine? I need to drive the truck atleast 2-3 km to get to a shop. It's loud like a Harley Davidson motorcyle. The right side rear cylinder is pretty much dumping it's exhaust in the engine bay. Thanks.

Thanks for all the replies. CaseyT I'm 737 km from Spokane, WA. About a week ago I added more coolant to the resevoir because it was closer to the 'low' mark. I topped it up to the high mark. I drove the Pathfinder over 700 km this week and have not noticed any dripping fluid on the ground where I park. This is bizzare. The problem obviously did not fix itself! I will have to pull apart the engine to inspect.

When I'm filling my '91 Pathfinder with fuel once it's 3/4 full the tank puts up a fuss about recieving more fuel. The nozzle stops pumping fuel and I need to slowly force the last 1/4 tank to get a full tank. Is this normal? Does anyone else have this issue? I never experienced this with a vehicle before. Also, about half the time, when I unscrew the fuel filler cap there's some pressure released. Not a lot of pressure like unscrewing a hot radiator cap, but some obvious pressure where air can be heard coming out. Is there supposed to be a fuel tank vent? Maybe mine is clogged? Thanks.

I think a point-end punch might work better than a Phillips screwdriver. But the screwdriver would work too I guess. CaseyT.: Yes, I tried to inscrew it counterclockwise. Thing is just too tight. It would help if the frame wasn't in the way. It's a tight spot for an oil filter and I can see that the oil coming out is gonna go everywhere!

Last weekend I did the first oil change in my '91 Pathfinder. I drained the oil, plugged it back up, then tried to remove the oil filter. First I tried a Strap type oil filter wrench. Not much luck there. It is then that I realized the oil filter is in a real awkward place compared to other vehicles I've had experience with. I tried a Cap type oil filter wrench. Still wouldn't come off! I mucked around with it for almost an hour. Surely the oil filter was installed too tightly. The only alternate solution (from my Chilton's manual) is to punch a hole in the filter to unscrew it. I didn't want to do that because I didn't have the proper punch tool. And I didn't want to have an undriveable truck with a hole in the stuck on oil filter. I left the old filter on and just put in new oil. My next oil change will be soon - maybe 3000 km. Has anyone had experience with a stuck on oil fitler? How did you get it off? This was very frustrating for such a simple job. Thanks

Precise1: my 1991 Pathfinder has 244,500 km. Overall it's in great shape. For pictures, look at this thread: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=10670 I don't have the maintenance history so I need to replace the timing belt to make sure it will last a while. Grimgreg: That's interesting info about the waterpump leaking out of a weep hole. I hope that's the only leak problem. If I'm gonna take apart the front of the engine I might as well replace the parts (timing belt, water pump, thermostat, cam seals). I'd feel a lot more comfortable for a mechanic to do the work, but it could cost thousands. I'd rather pay one of the knowledgable people on this forum to help me replace the parts! Anyone live near Squamish, BC, Canada? Thanks for all the help. Much appreciated.

Well I'm glad the leak is not oil. There is some old oil on the engine but it's right under the oil filter so I assume some oil spilled out from the filter area on the last oil change. Thanks for all the replies. If I'm gonna change the waterpump, like CaseyT said, I might as well change the timing belt, thermostat, and front cam seals. This is gonna be a bigger job than I thought. I might need to bring this to a mechanic.

I've had my Pathfinder for a few weeks now and I noticed a small puddle under the engine. I had a closer look and based off what I've read on this forum I think the water pump is leaking. I'm far from an expert and largely unfamiliar with Pathfinders, so I was hoping someone could look at the below picture which is directly underneath the front of the engine. I'm assuming this is a coolant leak because the wet stuff looks bright green. Thanks,

Haha, the dealer shined it up nicely. So much Armor-all on the plastic it felt greasy! I'm getting it dirty this weekend. I already tried the 4x4 over a sandy incline. My question is: How do I engage the other 4wd settings? On the shift knob it says: 2H 4H N 4L I drive in 2-wheel drive for normal pavement and only engage the 4x4 for gravel. But it seems the shift handle is either forward (2H) or rearward (4H). How is 4L engaged? I realize this is a stupid question but I didn't get a vehicle manual!

Pics of the Pathfinder:

I live in Squamish, British Columbia - mountain territory. There's a lot of places I want to explore with the Pathfinder. And I intend to take tips to snowy Whistler this winter. My Pathfinder was driven in the Vancouver lower mainland region where there's no snow and they don't salt the road, so the body has no rust and the undercarraige is good. No rusted frame. I hope I can change the timing belt myself. I am no expert, but pretty good with a wrench. It's been a while since I worked on any vehicle.

As a 2nd vehicle I decided to buy a Pathfinder for off-road/camping use. It's a 1991 Pathfinder 5-speed. It has 243,000 kilometers on the clock. Everything runs good though and the body is in perfect shape with original paint. I intend to check (and possibly replace) the timing belt, exhaust manifold bolts, and change the tranny fluid. I love this truck! I look forward to reading and posting on this forums. And I can't wait to get the Pathfinder dirty!