ONe21

I've had a front-end vibration since buying my QX4 and it's been diagnosed as the motor mounts by a local mechanic. I bought some used OEM mounts to replace the worn ones. It looked like a pretty straight-forward job for the driver-side so I attempted to tackle it, but was unsuccessful. I looked in the factory service manual but it strangely didn't offer any details on the process. I lifted the motor until the exhaust made contact with the uni-body, but it wasn't enough clearance to remove the mount. Do I need to remove the manifold? Can anyone offer advice?

Bushnut, that sounds like the path of least resistence. I guess I need to fight my urges to go farther than I need to. The battery is a 750 CCA/900 CA Bosch that is less than a year old. Really the issue that brought my attention to the cables/terminals is, while I was in India, my wife got stranded the other week back in the States because the terminal loosened itself. She wasn't too happy with the situation as we are newer-ish to the area and don't really know many people we can ask to help out. I just want to make sure that it doesn't happen again for her sake and the kiddos. It's probably my fault, as I have done work several times under the hood and probably banged the positive more than once. I haven't re-tightened it in quite a while. I'll just clean everything up, grease it and re-tighten everything and I should be good. P.S. I still would like to know what the red connector is and what it's purpose is. It looks like it may just be a "collector" so that everything can connect to the terminal. Thanks for the help!

I guess to simplify my question... what is the red box and what happens if it is eliminated along with the male connectors? I want to cut them and just clamp the wires to a new terminal.

Alright, I finally got around to looking at the cables again. I took some pictures to make sure we are talking about the same stuff here. So the fusible links are the two wires going to the red connector from the fuse box, correct? Do these power the fuse box? I'm thinking that since it would be a complete headache to pull the wires from the stock harness and re-run new ones, I'm going to cut the connectors from the alternator wire and what I assume to be the fusible links and get a new terminal that will accomodate all of the wires. Does this sound like a good solution, or should I just buy a new stock connector? The negative cable is a no-brainer, I'm going to buy a new terminal and crimp some new connectors to a new wire.

I've been having some starting issues due to my positive battery connectors being loose and some cable corrosion. I want to replace it all, but the pathfinders have a mess of wires that are in a harness and several connectors. Has anyone changed out this stuff? I'm going to look closer tomorow so I can see where everything runs, but I thought I would ask to see what others have done.

I just got my re-alignment. It looks like the toe changed a little, but it was always with-in spec. The tech said that the feathering is normal and it shouldn't cause any serious wear issues. Here are the new specs: Hopefully some of this is usefull information for somebody out there.

When I purchased my pathy, the tires that were on it had obvious tire wear issues - there was progressive wear from the inboard shoulder to the outboard like a sort of cone effect. The tires were otherwise at the end of their service life, so I got some used Dynapro ATMs mounted to hold me over until I could afford new tires. I didn't get an alignment because everything seemed to track straight and I wanted to wait until I got new tires mounted. I replaced the ball joints shortly after because there was some play in the driver's side wheel. A little time later I noticed that the tires were wearing in a similar pattern as before and I took it to a shop to get a front-end inspection. They said that the bearings were loose/needed replacing and that the shocks/struts were toast. They also said that the tire wear issue was due to the suspension. I replaced both - they were right about the shocks/struts, they had no life left at all. The ride was way better after and I continued to drive it without an alignment. The tires continued to wear as before. I ended up taking it in for an alignment, but I replaced the outter tie-rods before. They aligned it and the post-alignment specs were as follows: According to the tech, I didn't do too good of a job aligning it myself - I think he was just jealous . Well, after the alignment I finally broke down and got new tires. After 500 miles I noticed some light feathering on the outer shoulder of the driver's side after only 500 miles on the new tires. The passenger side has no signs of feathering though. I'm taking it back to get the alignment rechecked (lifetime alignment). After some internet research, it seems that the feathering is pretty normal for new tires. I've never noticed it with other tires, but maybe I wasn't as hyper-aware as I currently am. Here is website that I found regarding the issue: http://www.justanswer.com/chevy/5umzr-2003-chevrolet-silverado-aligned-times-bought-tires-weeks-ali.html My issue isn't even as bad as the pictures on the page, but I'm still going to monitor it. Anyone want to weigh in on this?

I was going to get a local shop to do mine, but got the quote and it was around $400 for labor/shop fees (front and back). Being the super thrifty person that I am, I decided to risk my life and do the job myself, haha. It actually wasn't bad. Removing the struts took a bit of time - it's kind of a tight fit. I went to a shop that let me use their strut machine for like $10 bucks. It's very rewarding to be able to do the job yourself, plus you save a ton of cash - It helped fund my new tires! I would suggest doing the rears as well, if you haven't already. It took me about 30 minutes to do the rear because you don't even have to remvove the wheels.

I've used Seafoam in the past, but never in the oil. If the huge cloud of smoke is an indication that it's working, then I'd say it works great! I've never noticed an increase in performance, but I've never had a performance car/truck either. PINION, when I Seafoamed one of my cars the fire department showed up at my house, haha. I make sure that I do it in a remote area at dusk now.

Thanks adamzan. I had a free voucher for an oil change at Firestone, so I took it in this morning. They use Kendall Synthetic Blend - never heard of it. I'll try something else for the next oil change. The reason I was concerned with sludge is the previous owner used the pathy to get around on his land and for short trips into town. I know that short trips can cause build-up.

While I had a valve cover off today I noticed that there is some build-up on the rocker arms and also on the heads of some of the bolts, as can be seen in the picture below. Is this normal? There are 145K miles on the vehicle. I've only had the vehicle since 136K so I've only done a couple of oil changes, and I'm not sure what oil the previous owner was using or how often it was changed. Right now I'm using 10W30 conventional.

I just had an alignment done and the camber is a hair out of spec. Probably from the springs having 140k miles on them. I measured all four corners and there is less than a 1/4" difference from left to right. The tire bulge kind of gives the appearance of extreme negative camber. I got mine at Discount tire as well, so no shipping. Out the door it was $566 with replacement cetificates. I'm on an Air Force base and the shop here will do mount/balance for $44, so that puts me at $600 ($530 when I get my rebate). There is a Firestone on base also and they had a special for Destination LE2s that would have been around $450 mounted/balanced, but after reading reviews on them, they aren't as good as their predecessor so I passed. I've read/heard a lot of good things about the A/T3s from people using them on-road and off-road so I look forward to mounting them up. Does anyone here have wheel spacers on stock rims? I want to get an idea of what I will need. I'm thinking 2", but I don't want the wheels to stick out beyond the top of the fender flare. I'm sticking with hub-centric and the only choices I've found for under $200 is a 1" and 2". I'm not sure that 1" will get me where I want to be.

Thanks nunya. That's good to know. Since nominal sizes and actual sizes vary by the tire, I'm hoping that I don't have rubbing issues with the new tires. I'm planning on getting wheel spacers to increase the front track and so it doesn't look so awkward from the front. I'd like for them to be flush with the top of the fender. I'm going to wait for the new tires before I decide though. I leveled a 2x4 with it resting flush with the top middle of the fender flare for a visual.

So I've been looking at tires for the past month since my 31x10.5 Dynapro A/TMs are wearing down. I rarely off-road or carry anything heavy that would require the C load rating, but I got a crazy deal on them. I was looking for alternative sizes, since the 265/70/15s are sometimes hard to come by. A local shop said that they had some 265/75s in stock. I like the fact that they are a little bigger than the stock size, but they are still E load. Well, after looking online at one of the major suppliers (not sure I can mention the name) they had some Cooper A/T3 tires in that size for $132 each, plus free shipping, plus $40 instant rebate, plus a $70 mail-in visa card rebate. I just ordered them because it was the best deal that I've found yet. Why don't others mention that size when having the conversation? I always hear 31x10.5, 265/70/15, and even 30x9.5/15. I used the tire size calculator and they appear to be virtually the same size as 31x10.5s.

I'm actually in the middle of debating whether or not to buy those rims, except in matte black. Do you have any other pictures, from an angle? What size and backspacing are they and what kind and size are the tires? Nice rigs you have there. Also, is there a lift on the second one?

No problem. I know that the front end noise can be frustrating - at least it was for me. This is the cheapest of the components to fix and the labor involved isn't bad etiher. In my case it wasn't hard to tell that the bushing where the culprit. After a quick jarring of the anti-sway bar it was pretty apparent that the bushings were toast; so it was a no-brainer as to whether I should replace them or not. Next is new tie rods and a mis

Since I bought my 98 Pathy SE 4x4 there has been a clunk in the front end upon hitting bumps. I owned a 2001 QX4 before and the issue was fixed with anti-sway bar end links. So, I replaced those first... no luck. I noticed that my tires where worn kind of funky and that my truck was kind of all over the place on the highway when hitting bumps, so I inspected the shock/struts and they were toast; I replaced with KYBs. The ride was WAY better, but the clunking was still there. I then discovered some play in the passenger side wheel when moving/shaking it from top to bottom, so I instantly thought of ball joints. Replaced them, but it didn't solve the problem. After that was fixed and the driver side wheel still had play I decided that my wheel bearings were loose. Instead of repacking and all that mess, I just replaced them and torqued them correctly (it was cheap); that didn't fix the clunk, but it removed the slight play in the wheel. I removed the plastic "skid plate" and little H bar thing to take a look at the anti-sway bar. I grabbed it and shook it violently and BINGO! It had enough movement that I knew that had to be it. Sure enough, that's what it was. After replacement and a quick test drive, my problem was completely solved. I thought I'd share because I know that the front end clunk is a common issue we deal with here. It was only a $15 fix and totally worth the work. The replacement was pretty straight forward. It took less than 2 hours from start to finish (including clean-up). Things you'll NEED: -Jack stands, ramps, or a lift (would make life so much easier) -10mm, 12mm, and 14mm sockets -3/8" or 1/2" ratchet -at least a 3"-4" extension Chances are that the bolts are NOT going to want to let go so I would suggest the following: -PB Blaster -Breaker bar -Impact -5lb mallet Ok, you'll start by removing the following (plastic skid plate and "H" brace): There are a bunch of 10mm bolts for the skid plate and only 4 14mm bolts for the H brace; pretty easy stuff. Now you will be able to see the bracket that holds the sway bar and ties it to the chassis. There are four 14mm (If I remember correctly) bolts. I would hit these with PB Blaster and let them sit for a while before tackling them, unless you have some of the optional tools such as a breaker bar or impact. They may not be frozen, but it depends on your climate and what kind of crap you put your rig through. Here is a picture with all four of the bolts visible. It should be pretty obvious which one's I am referring to but just to be sure, it's the one with the wrench hanging from it and the other three of same kind on the bracket. The bushing will be sitting around the anti-sway bar when you pull the bracket away. Here is a comparison of old versus new. From here it is simply put everything back the way you found it. Hope this helps!

I've never had an issue either. That gap never changes because the strut moves with the wheel. I can't edit my post for some reason (post count?) but I forgot to add that I don't have any issue with rubbing, not even in full lock. Due to bad struts, the tires that were on the front (now in the back) are almost to the wear bars so I'll probably replace all the tires with 30x9.5 tires soon. I'm also adding 2" spacers and I'm afraid I'll have issues rubbing with 31"s. EDIT: I can edit now! I guess 15 post is the magic number!

1998 SE 4x4 Wheels: 15 x 7 Tires: Hankook Dynapro AT 31x10.5x15 LT Lift: Nope I put a 2x4 flush with the fender flare and leveled it so you could get an idea of how far inboard the wheel sits in relation. All of the these measurements were taken out to the board for reference. 10.5 inches?! I should have used something for reference, but it's about a 1/4" gap between the tire and strut. My measurement for backspacing was nearly 5.75". I had to add a 1/4" for the outer lip. Would a 2" spacer push the tires beyond the fendert? Precise1, you say that your tread is actually 10.5? With my 8" tread I guess I would need a 2" spacer to get my tires flush.

I'd like to know the answer to this too. I don't want the 55mph wobble of stud centric, but I want to be able to use manual lockers.

I saw it in my local paper (Mobile Register). It was in Alabama if I'm not mistaken. I assume they checked it out if they put it in the news paper. I could be wrong though.

I could kick myself pssd Last week I was surfing auto trader, like I always do, and I happend to stumble upon an incredibly beautiful 1995 pathfinder. It was an XE 4wd with 148k on the chassis. It had a new engine that had recently been put in, new powdercoated black steel wheels with red pin stripes wrapped in brand new maxxis mudders, 31x11 if i remember correctly, a recently installed 3in. body lift, cd player with infinity components all the way around, new brakes, a nice black brush guard, etc. All this was incredible, but the most amazing thing about all of it... was the price. $3200. I couldn't believe it. I already have a pretty nice 94 SE 4wd, but I thought that this was an amazing price that I couldn't pass up. Well, to bring it to a close, I thought about it for 3 days, and it was 3 days too much because it just sold! I hate myself...

I'm having the same problem except it's when I shift from Reverse to Drive, or Drive to Reverse. It only does it the first 1 to 2 times I shift, and after it heats up a bit it doesn't do it at all. My fluid was changed recently, before I bought it, and it look good. I didn't exactly get that little test. I don't know what the heck it means, hehe. If someone could explain it I would appreciate it. Also, what kind of after market transmission cooler do you guys recommend? What all am I going to need other than that, or does it come with the lines and such? Thanks. :help:

My wife used to have a Lexus SC300 (Toyota) and that was a popular mod on those cars as well. One thing that they did in addition to that was to put a plate on the side and top of the front section to create a large air box. They called it the BFI mod. (Big F*ing intake) A couple of people did dyno runs with it and had gaines as much high as 11-12hp at the wheels. But the intake on those cars is pretty restrictive from the factory. It might be a good idea though.

Wow, that looks pretty bad. How do you extract them without jacking up the threads? My guess would be to drill into the middle of the stud and use an easy out, but it seems like the studs would be pretty snug in there.