Simon

Um...no. There should be NO movement in any of your steering parts, unless that movement is in unison....meaning; turning a tire, pushes tie rod, pushes centerlink (and idler arm), pushes tierod (and pitman arm) , turns tire. If there is movement at any joint, there is a problem.

Yep....I sort of used the clutch as an on/off switch while off road. In the proper gear, it hooked well, and I never really abused the clutch. The only time I found I was wary of it, was on long rocky hill climbs, where I'd stay on the throttle a little longer than I would in an auto, as I didn't want to have to start up again, or clutch too much.

It's easier. There's less in the way. Once you get into the timing covers, the job is exactly the same. Actually, most of the job is exactly the same, except that the accessories are in slightly different places. That "How-To" is quite thorough, and will do the job just fine for you.

Idler arm bushings can be done with basic tools I'd recommend a vise. The bushings themselves are plastic.

I have never bought a timing belt anywhere but Nissan. That's personal preference, and I'd be willing to bet that a lot of them are made in the same place. But I like to KNOW that it's OEM. That's just me.

Your idler arm is easy to check. Go to the passenger side front tire, and move it side to side as if you're turning. You will see the idler arm move front to back if it's bad. If there's no movement, it's okay. You can get idler arm bushings to replace them, rather than replace the whole arm, as there's nothing to really go wrong other than the bushings. Your problem, I'm 99% sure, from what you've described, is the rear control arms.

Make sure that the wiring isn't resting on the exhaust....it's possible that the shop did replace the O2, but the wiring is shorting intermittently on the exhaust. I'll 4th the NTK sensor.

I don't know. I would think the readings would be different if you've got it on one side as opposed to reading from both sides.

It has to be after the y-pipe, or the readings will be way off. And yes, exhaust leaks can throw off the readings, though, if it's running okay, it shouldn't be too bad, other than using a little extra fuel to compensate for the lean reading.

lol....stock they were rated for 11 seconds.

If it's still good, don't worry about it. If you do change it, go with high flow, to take advantage of the headers.

There are SOME GL-5 fluids that won't hurt your manual tranny. You may have gotten lucky in those trucks and found the ones that are. There are some that state they're safe for synchromesh transmissions, and there's also some that say they aren't corrosive to soft metals. Either way, those are alright. However, that said, I'd rather have the right stuff in my truck, so I always tell people GL-4 only.

Check your belt. It could be too loose and slipping.

Also be 100% sure that they run GL-4 oil in it ONLY. Some GL-5 fluids will wreck your transmission.

4" 4.25" is for Toyotas.

That's what you have to do. Hopefully, if it's not making noise now, the sychros should be okay, and should remain okay if you get that stuff out right now. I, on the other hand, wasn't as lucky, and my synchros were destroyed by GL-5 in my old truck.

Contradiction much?

Is there any difference in the feel of the temperature slider? I'd be willing to bet the "baffle" is stuck, allowing the hot air from the heater core to travel through the ducts all the time, as opposed to closing when the temperature is set low.

I believe the jack is also mounted to the carrier.

The strut rod could be off center, or when compressing, you could see some movement that you don't see on the other side.

heheh. Like my burgundy LE's little brother.

I was thinking that too....what a mess that was..... First post on this forum..... Oddly, I still don't know for sure.

Most likely the strut mount itself. The strut bearing wouldn't make a clunking noise, as far as I know, you'd get a sound when turning, I believe.

Your rad cap should never spew coolant when it's closed. I'd try replacing that. It could be too old to contain the pressure.

Not just the SC owners....all the VG33 owners in the Xterra and Frontier seem to have the issue. Our local club has like 15 people all with knock sensor codes. A few have relocated them to the intake manifold, where they seem to work just fine.