robbie

Nevermind. After reading more posts on electric fans I caught the bug again. I'm doing the mod. When the weather warms up and I have some money. But I would still like to know if anyone knows of a bigger fan blade that can be easily swapped with the pathy's. (or if this is even recommended.)

I did some extensive reading about fans vs. electric fans awhile ago, and from what I remember there's some debate about which is better. I took away the conclusion that putting in a larger fan blade is about as good as putting in an electric fan as far as moving air and cooling. (Am I mistaken?) So I was going to shop for a used Quest fan (which I thought was bigger) but now I'm reading that it's an electric fan. Which fan do you recommend to just simply replace the pathy fan with? Or should I just go with the electric fan mod? I'm confused now from all the posts about fans.

On the right rear corner of the truck where the amps go is the perfect spot for me. There's a nice little plastic door and the hole goes down pretty deep. I don't know about it being a good stash to hide from cops but it's a good place to hide things from thieves. I don't know why people break into my car so often. I have done nothing to make it stand out and always park it next to nice Mercedes, Jags, Acuras, etc. So tired of replacing broken windows.

Thanks for all your help and listening to me bitch and whine. I fixed everything (except that elusive black plug, which I'll save for another decade) and the truck runs the best ever! This is the result I wanted when I changed out the camshaft and did the Tbelt job several months back. I even went ahead and put in a transmission cooler and I haven't felt her slip... yet. I can really hear her breath now and hear the low thump and grumble of the engine. Sounds great and very responsive. I think I'm finally finished with the truck. Nothing else more to do except fix the windshield washer and a bigger fan blade. Thanks so much guys. It's been a true journey starting from ignition wire changes 9 years ago to overhauling the suspensions and actually putting in a camshaft and t-belt change. I owe it to all of you guys and this awesome site! I'll drop in time to time to try and help others out with questions. Have a wonderful new years! Rob

k.. thanks.

Okay.. I had a last go at it for today and I think I know where I royally screwed up. I had taken everything off (Plenum Chamber, Cam Sprockets, Valve Cover) to do some work like mainly to put gasket on the Valve Covers and tighten up the belts (not timing belt) and put in a transmission cooler. I forgot that the distributor comes right up so like an idiot I took off the Cam Sprockets to try to get to that one bolt on the Valve Cover that was under the distributor. To further complicate things I don't think I set the distributor in the way it was. Would this cause the engine to not start? meaning giving no spark? It turns over but nothing seems to be firing. I guess the only way to correct this is to take all the belts off again and find the TDC and reset the distributor? I made a few hour job last 2 full days and I still didn't get it right. I think this is the last time I work on an engine. I should've asked you guys first before I did something stupid like taking the cam sprockets off. Lesson learned: never work on an engine when you're frustrated in general. *update: I think maybe the coil died. The Plenum Chamber (with the coil still on it) slid off something and dropped 2 feet. It didn't land hard (cuz one of the small pipes took most of the shock by bending on impact) so it may or may not be the prob. Gotta find a way to check it... tomorrow.

Holy crap. Thanks! I think I see it in the second picture! Now I have another problem. I put everything back to how it was when it was running. But it won't start. Someone shoot me. I checked every fitting and every plug, checked all spark plug wires... everything. It's cranking but I don't think it's sparking for some reason. I'll try changing the sparkplugs but I don't see why I would have to when it was igniting fine before. I've been at it for like 15 hours straight... I think my knees are going to give out. I'll get to it tomorrow.

Thank you for the reply. I can't find the mate to that plug. I was studying the diagrams for awhile and I think the plug goes to the knock sensor, but I can't imagine that I pulled it out because it's way down there on top of the cylinder block (under the 6 hole metal thing where the plenum chamber mates to.) I searched for a loose connector for almost 2 hours and can't for the life of me find it. This is the second time I'm trying to find where that plug goes to. I drove a good 6 thousand miles with it not plugged and noticed that the truck would idle kind of erratically. Sometimes the engine would die at idle if driven hard. I changed everything and cleaned out everything too, so I'm guessing the culprit is that black plug. Not sure... my mechanic told me there's a leak somewhere that's causing the truck to idle like that. (MAF sensor cleaned... the EGR or PCV Valve (the thing that screws into the Plenum to control idle is clean too). I was thinking it was because I didn't apply silicone gasket to the metal gasket when installing the Plenum Chamber... that it was causing air to leak in. But I guess that's not the problem by reading the replies. Man I dunno. Kind of frustrated here. Been at it all day since last night. I'm ready to give up and put everything together and I guess live with it. If anyone can help that'll be so cool.

Hi.. I'm trying to reinstall the Plenum Chamber and I can't find where this one black plug goes that's hanging off a group of wires and plugs... it's right by the two little coolant hoses behind the back of the chamber. Anyone have any idea? (It looks just like the three plugs that's between the two valve covers but the square part is black not gray.) Also the metal gasket sheet that goes between the Plenum Chamber and Engine.. are you supposed to apply silicone gasket on it? like with Blue Silicone? Thanks! oh.. I have a 94 pathy

well, I took the truck in to my mechanic today and he tells me that there's no way to adjust the fuel/air mixture unless I get a new ecu computer or get it reprogrammed. I thought that he just didn't know enough about pathfinders but by the non-reponse to my question/problem in the forum I guess it's safe to assume he is right. well... thanks for those who looked at this thread.

I did the ECU diagnosis thing and the truck's running more than 5% too rich. Background of my 94: I recently changed the camshaft to Euro spec ones from Nissan. Adjusted timing to 15 degrees BTDC. Great power across the band where I feel like I can race cars like civics and integras as long as it's under 75 mph. The truck runs very strong now. But, my mpg dropped more than 3 mpg. I used to get around 19 to 20 mpg driving very conservatively in city/hwy combined... I tried driving the same conservative way and I now barely get 16 mpg. The funny thing is that I still get 16 mpg when I drive hard. How do I adjust the fuel/air ratio? Do I have to get a new computer? Get it reprogrammed? I'm certain everything else is running fine... no problems reported on ECU diagnosis. I also changed just about everything that can be changed on the truck including new oxygen sensor, new timing belt, drive belts, everything that can be changed while doing a T-belt job, h20 pump, radiator, all new hoses, cleaned out plenum, throttlebody, new ecg valve, new sparkplugs and thicker 8 mm wires, fairly new k&n type air filter, cleaned out maf sensor, fairly new thorley headers, borla catbacks, checked all fluid levels. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I did the camshaft job recently and was answering a few questions for someone interested in doing the job. As there's some info on there that may not be covered on this thread I'm posting the email for anyone interested: Yeah, I did everything I could to the truck from all suspension upgrades to the k&n, sparkplug wires, cleaning out the throttle body, throley headers and borla catbacks cuz my 94 was really underpowered. The headers and catback helped but still felt weak compared to practically every other car out here in LA. I got the Nissan euro spec cams which isn't rated to give a drastic boost in power but from the concern of passing smog here in CA I decided to stay conservative on it. I think there are Nissan cams that can give more boost in power but it's supposed to idle kinda rough, which is no big deal. Still I'm pretty happy with it. I feel like I can pass up cars in most situations now under 75 mph. And hills and mountains are no problem either. I guess only thing that I'm kinda concerned about is at very low but small rpm range under 1000 when I'm just barely touching the gas it's starting to do this undulating thing. Instead of just going up linear it does an up and down thing but it's so small that it's not a big concern. It didn't do it for the first 200 miles. I'm not sure what's causing that. Anyway the job isn't that bad if you've already done a tbelt change before. Just the only pain is the plenum chamber, especially the 2 little coolant hoses in the back. I managed to pull out one and got frustrated with the other one and just cut it. You might wanna just save yourself the hassle and just cut those and replace them. And besides the oil hose that hooks up to the passenger side valve cover (you should just cut that too and replace it) that should be it for anything that connects to the back of the chamber. There's also 2 electrical connectors underneath the chamber, and on the driver's side there's a bunch of crap you gotta disconnect but it's easy to do cuz you can see it right there. As long as you know that you don't need to disconnect anything else behind or under the chamber. It's just really tight back there and hard to see and it wasn't coming off so I did bunch of unnecessary disconnecting. When I finally got it off I saw that I disconnected everything that basically attaches to itself and felt stupid. The cams are pretty straight forward. Just be careful not to dent anything when taking the camshaft out and putting the new one in. Also there's a hole to the lifters so that oil can get inside. Just make sure you lay the new lifters on the side and rotate it so the hole can take on oil for a few days and when you lay them in the engine make sure the holes face each other so that oil can get inside when they're working. You'll see what I mean when you take your old lifters out. Just make sure you remember to note which way the hole is facing on each lifter. I would've overlooked this if I wasn't being observant. Also you should measure the play of the camshaft with a dial indicator but I didn't get it delivered on time and just said screw it. I figure since Nissan made it it shouldn't be too different from the stock camshaft. But I wouldn't recommend it cuz if there's not enough play it supposedly can cause the cams to seize. The guy who wrote up his camshaft change talks about it in the forum. Oh, and I forgot to coat the new valve cover gasket with non hardening silicone so I have some oil leak. I'm gonna have to take out the plenum chamber again. I am SO looking forward to that. It'll be a good opportunity to also dump like 2 to 3 cans of throttle body cleaner in the chamber to get all that tar looking crap out. Also do that to the throttle body. I guess the last thing would be to make sure when you bolt and unbolt the rocker shaft do it in like half turn at a time when it's close to getting tight. And you need to do it in order from outer bolts in as to not cause too much stress on the shaft as they're already being pushed up from the valve springs. Conversely when you're tightening them down go in order from inner bolts out. If there's no strict emission laws in your state I'd go for as much more power as I can get. I think it's a little more expensive but you're already paying a lot for new cams anyway.. just spend a little more and get the most power out of it. Oh yeah, because you have to coat the lifters and the cam lobes with molly grease the engine oil's gonna get dirty quick. So, before you do the job get an oil and filter change, drive for about 50 to 100 miles then do the job, and after the run-in (keeping it between 2000 to 3000 rpm for 20 minutes) I'd do another oil change right away. The guy who wrote it up said to do the oil change after the first 50 miles or so but I noticed the truck started bogging out a little and even died at idle once I think because all that molly grease caused some resistance or something. The oil was really dark when I changed it after the first 100 miles. I think that's about it. Kind of a lot to read but I think it's gonna be helpful when you start doing the job.

Here's my order with Nismoparts... They are the 84-89 Z - Euro Cams .392"/264 deg. It appears there's other guys selling them too for cheaper.. check out the link: http://www.z31performance.com/forum/viewto...6802&hilit= Also Nismo seems to have specials periodically when you can get everything at employee's cost. 3 days after I ordered them they sent me an email that they're having a St. Patrick's Day special sale. Kinda sucked to see that. <ORDER DETAIL> -------------- 21200-RS580 : 1 : $53.34 (Nismo Thermostats open at 62 Degrees Celcius) M- 13001-07P80 : 1 : $152.40 M- 13061-07P80 : 1 : $152.40 13231-V5014 : 12 : $9.82 : 117.81 (Lifters) ----------------------- Subtotal:$475.95 Shipping:$57.11 Tax:$0.00 Total:$533.06 ----------------------- Thank You for shopping with us, Nismoparts.com Your nismo online parts experts! http://www.nismoparts.com

My father just got his old Volvo back from the shop and they put in new engine mounts. I had no idea it could make such a dramatic difference. That old piece now feels like he just bought it. The car rides so smooth like it was brand new. I'm thinking... now how can I get my pathy to feel like I just picked it up off the showroom floor. So... has anyone put new engine mounts on their truck? I've been looking for a how-to on it.. but not having any luck. Is it a pretty straight forward procedure? The shop charged my dad $500 ... though it was worth it I think he got overcharged... which is typical here in LA.

I just finished the camshaft job yesterday and I couldn't be happier. Thanks to you guys I actually got down to taking apart an engine! I probably asked too many questions here but it was my first time and was a little nervous about everything. But now I feel like T-belt job is a piece of cake! She runs great! So much more power. I can go uphills through the canyons at 35 - 40mph at 1500 rpm now! I would normally be struggling at 2500+ rpm. The pathy now actually feels and sounds like a truck. Couldn't be happier... and none of this could be possible without this forum and the coolest cats here. Take it easy y'all... till next time I'm in trouble! lol

Hi, I'm still in the middle of the camshaft replacement job and I'm wondering if someone can help. I probably asked too many questions but here's another one. I'm really confused because I'm reading the factory manual and they say to Install the distributor: 1) Align mark on shaft with protruding mark on housing. 2) After installing, confirm that distributor rotor head is set as shown... Rotor head position (No. 1 cylinder at TDC). The cam sprockets should be lined up to the TDC mark. But... My camsprockets are lined up to the TDC mark, but when I was undoing the back bolt for the RH (passenger side) camshaft it rotated around (with the distributor off and rocker assembly bolts loosened) and seem to rest several teeth after and when I rotated counterclockwise it spun and came to rest several teeth before the TDC mark. So when I was tightening the camshafts I rotated the camsprocket so the mark lined up TDC (with rocker assembly bolts tightened). That means the RH cam is in between the engine turning over right? So how can this be the TDC? Maybe I don't understand the engine well enough. And does this affect the crankshaft at all? I feel like everything's screwed up now. I'm actually really scared to start the engine when I have everything back together. I have absolutely no idea how screwed up the ignition timing's going to get. I figured I'd just put everything back the same as I took it off, but LH cam rotated too (but I rotated it back to the TDC) but this probably screwed up the position of the distributor drive gear that'll screw up the position of the distributor rotor arm when I bolt it back on, and I'm not even sure what the manual's referring to when they say TDC cylinder No. 1, 2, 4, etc. Please help... thanks. One more thing, should the new cam seals be flush with the metal part of the engine (cylinder head?) that it goes into? The old cam seals were set in like 1-2 mm but I can't seem to get it like that. I pushed one side of the RH cam seal way too far in and it was such a pain to get it back out again. And there's no way I can get the LH cam seal out if I screw up without damaging it. Man I wish I had the right tools.

I did some reading and I think I need to replace all the discolored parts on the valve train. Man..... Well I guess it's better that I found it now. Anyone know a good place I can order all these valve related parts? InstockAuto doesn't seem to carry everything.

did you clean the inside of the plenum chambers with carb cleaner? mines coated black... i was wondering if it's advisable to clean it.

OK, I finally got the valve cover off and for the Passenger side I see two rockers that's discolored brown. Does anyone know how bad this is and what might've caused it? Also trying to undo the rear bolts for the camshaft without an "open jaw spanning tool" according to one how-to thread (not sure what that tool is.) Any ideas how I should hold the camshaft down while I undo the rear bolts?

Ok... I have one question. I got the plenum chamber off. Man was that a royal pain. I just wanted to make sure that I did not have to drain the oil before taking off the valve cover. I imagine oil just flowing over everywhere once I start opening it. Much appreciate!

Ok.. here's my latest update. I finally got the right chicken tool and got everything off. Everything is cool but the marks don't line up. I found a post that addresses this so I'll work on it. I had a few questions though: What is recommended to clean coolant off the gears? Any ol' degreaser? And what is the silicone that I need to use to seal the thermostat? I couldn't find it at pepboys. One more thing... for the camshaft install... what size should the "brass drift" be? and about the intake gasket.. I just ordered the following: NIS041951 14035V5202 Intake Manifold Gasket 90-94 (vg30e) intake Man Gskt Hope I got the right ones... Thanks!

Thanks again. I'll do the lifters in regular motor oil (right?) I have everything except the intake gasket? Do I just call up a shop and ask for an intake gasket?

Ok.. here's an update if anyone's interested. I got most everything off for the T-belt job except the crank pulley and water pump. I tried the crank pulley puller but the one I bought seemed too short. The middle rod only touches when it's almost all inside the middle hole of the crank pulley with three fork like things hanging out. So I looked at the pictures from the post and it looks like they have it off the car and is pulling it with the puller. So I unbolted all those little bolts and the brass parts came off with only the black core part still on the engine. The black core part doesn't wanna budge. I guess I screwed up? I think I'm supposed to put everything back together and get a new puller and hook it into the last brass groove where the belt goes on and pull it, right? Also when I pulled the thermostat coolant came gushing out onto the black core part of the crank pulley. Is that okay? Well I think I'm well on my way to getting this job done thanks to you guys. This forum has some very cool guys on here. Thanks again!

I tried but I only could find belts made by Bando and Tensioner made by NSK. I did get the timing belt made by Nissan.

Thanks. Another question. I got the crankshaft bolt off pretty easily by vicegripping two belts where they cross but do I unbolt all the pulleys? I unbolted the one on the upper left of the crankshaft (as your facing the front of the engine) but stopped there. I don't want to do more work than I need to. I also pulled the fan clutch and the pulley attached to it (I guess that's the water pump?) The write ups here don't seem to clarify how many pulleys to pull out.