Simon

It was a cheap aftermarket friction plate that failed. The $1100 bill was from a dealership. All Nissan parts, and labour. That was CAD as well, when it was worth far less than the USD.

It sounds like throwout bearing to me as well. They can last a LONG time doing that. It may not be a big deal, until it starts doing that with every gear change. I had mine going out for a year before I did the clutch. I had the clutch replaced once, in an emergency, as one of the friction plate screws popped out, and jammed against the pressure plate. Essentially, I couldn't take the truck OUT of gear. I limped it to the dealer and they replaced the clutch for me. $1100 all told. This was 5 years ago.

^^^^ Absolutely right. Cap those suckers off. It's not imperative, especially with a brand new rad. But if 10 minutes worth of work and $1 worth of caps cause you to loose all your coolant one day, you're going to be PISSED!

Try manifold paint, or even barbecue paint.

Yep, find a PPG store. They can put any of their products in Aerosol cans for you.

It's the transfer case binding because the tires are spinning at different speeds when turning (inner front tire will spin at a different speed than the outer, and the rears) It'll do the same thing going forward if you turn sharp.

Man, you talk about service interval. That's considered maintenance. A timing chain doesn't have a service interval. I never said they don't wear out, or don't break. But if they do it's a repair, not maintenance. Timing belt replacement is part of regularly scheduled maintenance. You're mincing words to try to suit your nonsense claims. Knock it off.

How have you come to the conclusion that yours has the 3.3L motor? I've never heard of that in a 2002 R50. If you do, in fact have a timing belt, don't be fooled by a timing belt that appears to be in good condition. The defects in them due to wear can be hard to see. If you're not sure if it's ever been changed, and you're near the interval, change it out.

Why do you think you have to service a timing chain as a part of regular maintenance? Nowhere, be it the FSM, or Owners manual is there any mention of timing chain maintenance on a 2002 Pathfinder. You're spouting crap as facts again. You're getting very close to having your posts put on moderator approval because of this stuff. Knock it off. ANY part will fail given an infinite amount of time/mileage. That doesn't mean it becomes part of a regular maintenance schedule. There is a difference. Unless there is a suspected problem, the timing chain is left alone.

Thanks Dowser, that is what I meant. Nefarious: If I hit a rock with my driver's side tire, the tie rod ends, 2 connections on the centerlink, as well as the pitman arm, are all going to take the brunt of that force before the stabilizer. THAT is where the damage is done. The transfer of force across the centerlink would be minimal in comparison, even without the stabilizer. If the hit was hard enough to do that much damage across the centerlink, the steering wheel would be ripped from the driver's hand on the hit as well. In this case, yes, the stabilizer would help absorb some of that energy before it hits the passenger side components, but the driver's side would still have taken a far worse beating. Shocks do not dampen the stiffness of the ride of your vehicle, so your comparison is wrong. They dampen the bounce. Take your shocks out of the back of your truck, and go for a slow drive. The ride won't be more harsh. It'll be more bouncy. The springs do far more to determine ride harshness than the shocks. The shocks serve to stop the momentum of the bounce after you hit a bump. Ever seen an old Caddy going down the road? The shocks were set with such light damping (relative to the weight of the car) that the things would bounce seemingly forever after hitting 1 bump. Yes, a stiff shock can cause a harsh ride, as they dampen with more force (quicker) to stop the bouncing. But the stiffness is determined by the springs.

It only cuts down on vibration that the driver can feel. All the vibration generated by the tires will still transfer through all the joints. It MIGHT decrease transfer from one side of the truck to the other, but even then, I'd be inclined to think that's minimal. And while you're right, it's not supposed to do anything for the actions that break parts, that is what we're dealing with here. The stock steering system will hold up for years, just fine, under normal circumstances, on a stock truck. We're looking for something stronger, that can take the abuse of lifting/wheeling where the stock system leaves lots to be desired. From what I'm reading here, it appears that a steering stabilizer is being touted as an integral part of the system, and I don't see how it improves anything other than driver feel.

Theoretically, yes. You should be able to press them out. They're not ball joints,in the traditional sense, but spherical bearings. Something like this: http://www.mcmaster.com/#spherical-ball-joints/=grb6og Best bet, though, would be to contact Grassroots 4x4 to see if they'll work with you on a replacement. They may knock a few bucks off the cost for a return customer.

I have questions...... 1) How will a steering stabilizer increase the life of the steering system and/or make it stronger? The stabilizer does not help support the ball joints in any of the components at all. If, for instance, the passenger side tire hits a rock or other obstacle hard enough, or repeatedly, the ball joints on that side will all take the hit. The stabilizer MAY cushion the shock from the other side of the truck, that I'd even debate, as vibration, like anything, will take the path of least resistance. It can't do anything more, logically. The only thing a stabilizer does is mask steering problems. This is why I'm generally against them. 2) Introducing bent components into the steering system is asking for trouble IMHO. The steering system is designed to run in straight lines. Lifting creates "bends" in the system, which creates leverage, which screws up the stock centerlink. I can see how this CL will resist those forces better, as there's no "dogbone" to leverage up, causing the twisting, but the 2wd inner ends with the bend will become a weak point. I can see those folding up even worse than WD22 tie rods do. I don't see how this design is not just a matter of relocating the problem?

He said it was the first time in 200K that he's had a rad issue. I wouldn't consider that "blowing up rads"

If there's no motor issues don't touch the motor. I don't know why that was suggested. FOr 200k, I'd just go with another stock one. I think you'd be hard pressed to find anything else that will last that long, aftermarket or not. Also, if you Q is Auto, your tranny cooler is inside the rad. Keep that in mind if you look to buy aftermarket.

X2 Pezzy's wheeled hers for years, and I've only ever replaced 1 inner, and 1 outer tie rod end on her R50. If there's no play, leave them alone.

Easy conversion: US MPG = 235 ÷ E E = The rating /100kms in metric. So, for instance, 10L/100KM 235 ÷ 10 = 23.5mpg

Have you checked your motor mounts? Torque increases when in 4lo, which can cause the motor/transmission to jump wildly if you've got a mount broken. That can put tears in the intake tube, and cause the issues you're describing. In some cases it might even stall. Pay attention to your shifters when in park and you rev the motor. IF they seem to move too far to the right, that'd be a motor mount.

By "hubs" they mean locking hubs for the 4x4 system. The R50 has fully engaged drive splines from the factory. A set of Warn hubs will disengage the front end when 4x4 is not in use, and stop the CV's and front diff from spinning needlessly.

He said no MIL (Same as CEL) Out of curiosity, if you turn it off, and start it right away, does the problem still happen? Or only after waiting a few minutes, and restarting while it's still warm?

Agreed. An Add a Leaf and/or shackle replacement is all I'd do. Don't overcomplicate.

$77 shipped to my address from Rock Auto. That's where I'd be ordering from.

That's the battery with the wingnuts. The marine terminals are the boxes that distribute power (similar to the fusible links) that are held on by said wingnuts.

Fusible links can definitely go bad. I had the connectors go bad on one of mine a few years ago, and ended up hacking it out, and using a marine style terminal to connect everything that previously was wired via the fusible links. http://www.iboats.com/Battery-Jack/dm/cart_id.274325333--session_id.727511683--view_id.38869

As long as it's not rusting, sure. Specifically look in the front wheel wells at the strut towers. Other than that, make sure to change the timing belt if you don't have proof of it being done.