RJSquirrel

Impact wrenches(at least the ones most people can afford) are only to be used to remove fasteners. Tighten them with an air/manual ratchet, and then use a torque wrench and the correct pattern & setting for whatever you are tightening down. People watching pit crews in NASCAR don't realize the impact wrenches being used to change tires are precision-calibrated units that cost about $2000 each. Impact wrenches will over-tighten fasteners, and can warp hubs and brake rotors and damage wheel bearings because the clamping forces are uneven. I do use an impact wrench occasionally for speed, when tightening fasteners, but I have the impact gun set to its very lowest setting so it will stop as soon as it hits any resistance at all, so I don't damage anything. Even with this, I need to start all the fasteners by hand so nothing gets cross-threaded. Impact wrenches are just part of the toolkit. If you are limited on funds, and trade in your impact wrench on a torque wrench, remember to buy a breaker bar for loosening things. A torque wrench is only meant for tightening.

Both the pieces for the 4 door pathfinder and D21 truck are outers only. The inners are relatively simple stampings and you should be able to just weld in sheet 16g for patch(es) if they are not too far gone. A trip to the junkyard with a battery powered drill and sawzall might get you a patch section you can use for the inners if one of the ribs is gone.

67 3/8" is the overall length. If you only have rust in the front, you could probably get away with buying the rocker for the D21 pickup, and sectioning it in. I happen to have a pair of those, too. They are 35 1/2" between the lap weld flanges, and 38" overall length.

Must be a rare factory VH45-powered J-spec model. For a unicorn, its even white!

Flushing the transmission is not the same thing as just dropping the pan and replacing 5 qts of fluid. Flushing the transmission fluid (without special equipment) requires filling the transmission through the filler and running the engine to pump out the old fluid through the cooler outlet line. To flush 97% of the old fluid out, it takes about 5 gallons of ATF. Dexron III is a suitable, inexpensive flushing fluid. Napa sells 5 gallon container of Dexron III fluid (part# NOL75203) for about $65USD. Only after you've dropped the pan, cleaned it, replaced the filter, and performed the flush, should you install the inline filter. If you get a second bucket to pump the old fluid into, you should be pretty close at not over/under-filling the transmission. Make sure you attach the outlet hose securely to the drain bucket as the fluid comes out with quite a bit of force and makes a huge mess *fast* if not directed properly. Ask me how I know. If you really want to do a thorough job, jack up the rear axle(use stands, and chock the front wheels) and cycle the transmission lever through all the different gears while you are doing the flush, so all the passages get flushed out. That will probably take two people, one to pour the fresh fluid in, and the other to cycle the transmission through all the gears. Putting the truck on jackstands and dropping/cleaning the pan and replacing the filter takes longer than the rest of the flushing process. The hardest part of the job is balancing a 5 gallon bucket of transmission fluid over the filler funnel without spilling. 5 gallons of fluid will go through the transmission in just a few minutes. Take the old fluid to a transmission shop or proper hazardous waste disposal center. Alaska has about the last clean water on the planet, so keep it that way for the next generation! Good luck.

The 4 door pieces should work on a 2 door if trimmed appropriately. The 2 and 4 door pathfinders have the same wheelbase so the length should be fine.

VSS == vehicle speed sensor. It provides the electrical signal to the speedometer/odometer. It attaches to the transfer case. Any issues with the speedometer/odometer reading properly? The sensors have plastic gears on them that can be replaced. The plastic pieces are known to fail from time-to-time, causing issues even if the sensor itself is still good.

wheel spacers are never a very good idea, even when they are well made. Well-made spacers would likely cost more than a set of decent wheels, and even then, they can radically accelerate wheel bearing wear, increase loading forces(wear) on the steering linkage, and increase the scrub radius of the front suspension(tire wear), adversely affect handling , and increases turning radius. The only use that makes any sense would be in racing where one is trying to fit the very largest tires possible without concern for the durability of any of the aforementioned components. :thumbsdown: on spacers, especially on daily drivers.

Are you sure about that? The rebuild bulletin I found sometime ago showed that all 2001+ transmissions were uprated. The bulkpart transmission rebuild kits only go to 2000. I don't imagine Nissan would maintain 2 separate part numbers for that. Given the old transmission design had so many failures, I would expect it to be a design revision for the entire line. Can anyone definitively confirm/deny this? Alkorahil: Any chance you can look into this and settle this myth once and for all?

If you have a completely misfiring cylinder (bad plug/wire/cap) you'd be dumping raw fuel and air into the exhaust, which would cause the computer to see a lean condition, and richen the others to compensate. Since it cant compensate for all the unburnt fuel, it might think the O2 sensor is out of range. The computer would eventually go into failsafe, and this would explain your smoke and lack of power.

I have heard of a bristle brush. Don't know about the other two, though. Is it possible the distributor wasn't tightened down and has moved? Severely retarded timing would cause black smoke too. Have you replaced the O2 sensor per the code reading? Did you lose a tooth on the timing belt? You did install a new one before you installed the new engine, right?

Here's the thread I posted a few weeks back... http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=31274 This same outfit sells rocker panels for hardbody pickups. Between the two part offerings, you should be able to get something working for a 2 door pathfinder. Somebody should probably pin this so it doesn't get lost. I bought a pair for my rig.

Bad rear transmission mount? Bad Engine mount? Flush your transmission and replace the pan filter. Install an inline filter. There really isn't any such thing as "too clean" when it comes to ATF. Replaceable units from Magnefine can be spliced into the cooler lines and are good for up to 30k miles. Better units from Racor are available but are spendy and require more elaborate installations for the spin-on filters.

Try 0w30. It will flow faster than 10w or 5w, and will help get oil up to the lifters sooner, especially in the winter. I run 0w30 year-round. Mobil-1 is available from Walmart. Alternatively, try some high detergent Rotella Diesel Engine Oil to dissolve sludge deposits that may be clogging your oil galleries. Its available in 10w30 and 5w40. Mix both 1:1 or so to get to about 5w30. Rotella is also readily available at Walmart. Make sure you have a good filter with a functioning anti-drainback valve. I've purchased quality filters that had defective anti-drain valves that cause the startup tick, since the oil pump needs to refill the filter before it can pressurize anything else. I only use Wix/Napa Gold/Purolator PureOne filters as they have silicone anti-drain valves, and good filtration properties. Everything else seems to have such spotty quality I just don't bother anymore. As an aside, I had a dodge with a 4.7l v8 that had what was commonly referred to as "lifter tick" at startup. I put a bottle of Lucas fuel system cleaner (not a typo) in the gas, and the startup tick disappeared. Noisy injectors ended up being the issue, and might be worth a try as well.

With a grey interior, green or tan won't really match, IMHO. How about something like this, especially with the boxy lines of the WD21:

Sealed Power makes 0.5mm over (.020) for the VG33, so I would expect they probably would make 1.0s and 1.5s, but that is pure conjecture

They will load up with mud if the soil is mostly clay, but otherwise they work very well. If the mud is more sand or loam they clear pretty well. Good performance in rain, and pretty much unstoppable in sand and snow. Aired down, they crawl pretty well too. Smooth and quiet on the highway. For weekend warrior rigs, they are one of my favorite tires.

Kudos to you. Everyone is busy chopping theirs up. Its nice to hear someone wants to keep one original for a change.

Infiniti Q45 (VH45DE) will bolt up to the pathfinder transmission, though on a manual, you'll need to obtain a 300zx bellhousing to make it work. Wiring will prove somewhat challenging, but it has been done a few times. There are a few build threads for VH45 swaps on the forum. The H233B rear axle isn't quite a 14 bolt, but its stronger than a dana 44 or a ford 9 inch. It can handle 35s no problem. SAS'ing the front will unlock most of the hidden capabilities of the pathfinder. If you're looking to build a bogger rig, you're looking to pretty much build a complete truck. Perhaps sell the intact pathfinder and find a junkyard chassis to start from? If you have enough time/money/access to fab equipment, you can do anything. Good luck. Keep us posted on your project.

Without a lift, 32x11.5x15s will rub. Its not the height thats the issue so much as the extra width. They won't always tuck into the back fenders when flexing, even with a lift. They rub on the rear fender lips if you turn fast or have much of a load at stock height. In the front they will hit the backs of the fender flares. At least they do mounted on Legos. With a 3" lift, The fronts rub occasionally when flexing. I have BFG AT KOs, BTW.

Before doing any mods, make sure your front suspension towers aren't rusted out. Get that addressed ASAP. After that, I'd say make sure your suspension/steering parts/half-shafts/wheel bearings/hoses/belts/ignition/fluids are in good shape before you spend money on tires. A worn out suspension will only wear out your fancy new tires. Big tires will magnify *anything* wrong with your setup and accelerate the demise of anything marginal. Once you have a solid baseline established, then consider mods, but figure out what you want to do with your rig. A weekend trail rig for driving on fire roads to go camping or mountain biking will be built up much differently than a rock buggy and differently from a mud bogger, so consider your end goals first so you aren't buying parts twice. First mod I'd do is add an external transmission cooler with an external inline filter. Bar none the biggest problem with pathfinders is cooking the tranny due to a clogged up factory transmission cooler. Second mod I'd do is upgrade the brakes so when you buy bigger tires you can still stop safely. Replace the brake fluid because its probably 14 years old and should go. I never skimped on brakes, and have had close calls that I don't think I could have avoided without them, so I never consider it an extravagance. After that, create a plan, and get to work Consider doing the suspension lift before you buy tires, so you can plan for both at the same time.

The procedure you are referring to is the generally accepted way to properly break in the valve train on flat tappet engines. The mention of ZDDP enriched oils are to provide a means to provide proper breakin lubrication. Modern roller-tappet engines do not require oils with as much ZDDP, so modern formulations don't include much. ZDDP has adverse effects on catalytic converters, so it use is being scaled back. There are special breakin oils available(Redline/Joe Gibbs Racing/GM EOS/etc), but Rotella or Delvac (both formulated for diesel engines) motor oils are readily available and much less expensive, and have high ZDDP content. Don't skimp on the valvetrain assembly lube, it's what protects everything in those first crucial seconds before the oil reaches the valvetrain from the oil pan. You want cylinder 1 and 4 at TDC to minimize the amount of spring pressure on the cam and followers during assembly to minimize the chance of galling the cam during assembly.

Hesistation is probably not the tranny. It will shift slow, then funny, and then reverse will go out. I'd check for water in fuel or bad/loose ignition wires? Are the plugs properly gapped? Distributor Cap/Rotor?( I know you said you did complete tuneup) Is ignition timing properly set?(Too much advance or faulty knock sensor) Worn bushing in Distributor can cause issues also, but doesn't sound like your issue(check last) Coolant in oil?(head gasket?) Any codes from ECM? Carbon in the intake? (Seafoam or Chevron Techron fuel injector cleaner) Loose/Dirty battery contacts? There is an issue with faulty grounding on the MAF sensor that can cause misfire issues. There are some threads detailing the correct fix. I believe there is even a factory part that addresses the TSB on this... BTW Erratic tach is a grounding problem or bad solder joints in gauge cluster...

I've always had good results with Gates.

17V will boil your battery out in short order. As for the lights, missing ground wire somewhere?