RJSquirrel

I run Valvoline or Castrol full synthetic 0w30 and Purolator PureOne Filters. I change the filter every 3k, and the oil every 6k.

I just Googled "Landing NJ auto frame repair" and came up with Dimension Frame & Unibody Service 108 East Ave # 6, Hackettstown, NJ 07840-2661 (908) 850-4940

consider looking around for a frame repair shop or body shop that can do the work. It's often not as expensive as you might think, and you'll get professional results, instead of just some amateur trying to learn on your rig before he does his own. Ask around at local mechanics or welding and fabrication shops and look for shops that focus on restoration rather than collision repair. Also, alot of good body guys and weldors will work on the weekends for cash, if you get my drift... You're not the first guy in NJ to ever end up with a rusted frame on his vehicle. This problem has been solved by someone living near you before. Look around before you give up.

Get a gauge that has a range from 100F to 250F. If you are pegging the gauge, you need to shut the truck down. In fact, if you are getting over 180F, its a problem. JB weld is just epoxy with metal fillings. Epoxy is used to insulate transformers. Without a good ground, you won't get an accurate reading. BTW, I use stewart-warner or VDO gauges.

Ooh! They have the internet on computers now?!?

try a new cap first. If you do change the distributor, make sure the timing is properly set. Good luck.

Does the transmission make the sounds when you are in just neutral or moving slowly(engine at idle)? When you say "neutral," do you have the clutch pedal depressed or not? If it makes the sound with the pedal depressed, its likely your pilot bearing. If it occurs in neutral, its one of the input shaft bearings. If it changes depending on the gear you are in, it may be the tailshaft issues. X2 to Precise1 on the Redline MT oil. Not cheap, but *excellent* product. I don't understand what you mean with the "squeak in back" issue. Personal problem? Lay off the mexican food?

I was hunting around on car-part.com and found some frames for $400 in Kentucky. Its far enough south they should be in good condition, but not so far away it will cost a fortune to go get it. You might check the salvage yards near you for a pathfinder involved in a front-end accident before too many michigan winters got to it, and go cut the rear of the frame out. It might be worth your time to put some miles on your big truck and go down south to fetch a clean one. Just a thought to save your rig, and you some time and $$$. Good luck.

True, but the speakers in the door in pre-94s are round (5.25"?) I've never owned a square dash pathfinder, so I don't know the dimension of the doors, but I always thought the ceiling speakers were 5x7s. Anyone?

I'm 6'3" 225# or so, and I have the gauge mounted in the same place as Precise1. I sit mostly upright to keep the hands at 9&3. Slightly leaning forward give you full visibility. The steering wheel spoke does slightly impair the sightline, but it mostly affects the bottom of the gauge, and if you choose a gauge where 180F is 12 o'clock on the face, you will only really ever glance at it. Once you get over the new-toy aspect of having the gauge there, and become familiar with the situations where the transmission builds heat, you will learn that most of the time you won't need to look at it much. It's not ideal, but A-pillar and dashpad pods always look so ricey to me. I wanted an installation that was subtle and reasonably clean. You might also consider a gauge pod mounted on one side of the steering column. I'm not sure if there is enough depth, but there is space on the center console just behind the t-case handle.

Is the shop going to use a rear clip, or are they going to fab up a new one?

Sounds like the caliper guide pins rusted to the knuckle, so only the pad on the piston-side ever moved. As a Michigander you know about rust even better than I do, on the "dry" side of the lake. I'd make sure the calipers are properly lubed, and nothing is binding up, or you'll be doing the job again very soon. Anti-sieze and lithium grease are your bestest buddies in the rust belt.

Jacobg: Is your Pathfinder a 5-speed? Could this be the difference in being on the dynanometer in say, 2nd gear, vs. 3rd?

The fin types are supposedly more efficient radiators than the tube&fin designs, so for a given size, you get more heat rejection. Also, when the cooler is mounted behind the AC condenser, its de-rated to 70% of the stated capacity it would have if it were in the front getting the coolest air possible.

The transmission cooler does not need to be in the front of everything, but you do get the best efficiency there.(100% rating) The cooler is getting the air before its heated/impeded up by the AC condenser. (70% rating) The maxi-cool one should be in front. The economy one is generally considered to be too fragile to be put up front. You certainly could mount the cooler lower, and use a fan, but by the time you've invested in the expensive fan-cooler, and all the wiring, machine work, etc., you could just pull the radiator and install a simple cooler or two on the back of the AC condenser. In florida, you don't really need to worry about cold weather operation. When was the last time your antifreeze was changed? Neither cooler you have displayed is sufficient as a standalone replacement for the radiator cooler, but as an augment to the radiator cooler either would be OK. Personally, I wouldn't buy a cooler without a rating. You need at least a 18000# GVWR or 20,000Btu capacity to operate as a standalone, taking into account where the cooler is installed, if you operate mostly on the flats.

Recheck your distributor and verify your ignition timing. It sounds like its isn't advancing properly. Use a timing light to see if it advances as you change RPMs. Re-verify that each plug wire is good. Is the distributor cap and rotor in good condition. Are the spark plugs clean and gapped properly? A dirty one will identify which cylinder is misfiring. Check fuel pressure. The pump may not be able to keep up as the RPMs increase. Rust in the fuel rail may be starving a cylinder as the RPMs climb. Good luck.

10gauge is thicker than 1/8 plate (0.135" vs 0.125") Good luck with the fix. Make sure you get it straight/square before you start the welding, or it will never be right.

Always look at your vehicles as if they are worth $0. Compare the costs to what a new car costs with payments, taxes, etc., and the $3100 outlay is not very much. Mods generally return 10-15% of the initial spend. Unless you are buying a 1929 Bugatti or similar, automobiles are just an expense, not an investment. 33s are no problem with the mods My1path is referring to. You need at least the HooHaa centerlink and an idler arm brace. Otherwise, you'll have to treat the centerlink/idler arm/tie rods as consumables that must be replaced often with hard use.

For your safety, park that thing. Good luck with getting that thing fixed. I can't wait to see the before and after photos on this.

2x to what Kingman says. I run Mobil1 0w-30, but it does tend to get a little bit cool around here in the winter. I have yet to find an engine that doesn't like the faster oil pressure build, even in the summer. The only deviations I've made were for 0w-50 in a pretty tweaked 4g63t I used to have, but that was only for summer use. At a minimum, go 10w30 or 5w30, especially with summer and look for cheap oil for a flush.

As a professor, and more importantly, as a self-proclaimed conservative, I'm surprised you are afraid of a little research. Would you accept this kind of work from a student? I should think it would take no more than one cigar (two, if you're lucky) to get through all the transmission cooler posts to find the different solutions attempted heretofore. You have good insights into problem solving, so you may arrive at a more elegant solution than anyone on here has yet attempted. Several of us have t-fittings, myself included. Its been trouble free for several years, so far. Precise1 has a nice writeup on a filter and external temperature sensor installation not too dissimilar to my setup. The fluid flow through the cooler is of sufficiently high volume that putting the probe near the cooler is not an issue. Some 3/8" barb fittings, and a few brass plumbing parts are all you need to do this. Better yet, use compression fittings on the copper tubes you ran into the cooler you installed. What happens to your insulation once it gets wet? Besides, the sensor is in the end of the sensor body. It would be better than no gauge at all, but I can't see this solution lasting through a rainy season much less a winter. Bill, you're psyching yourself out. You worked through the t-belt which is a much, much bigger job than this. T-belts even give me pause, so I understand your apprehension. The most tedious part of installing the temp gauge is actually installing the gauge, and fishing the wires through one of the grommets in the firewall. The plumbing work is an hour's work at most. Doing a tidy installation will take a little longer, but good work rarely fails to pay dividends in reliability. Do what you will, but I wouldn't solve the problem in the manner proposed.

SeaFoam in the oil, following the directions, and promptly change the oil/filter. You might need to do that a couple times to get everything cleared out. I like the Purolator PureOne filters. If that doesn't work, cleaning/changing the lifters is in order. Its not that difficult of a job since everything is on top of the heads, but it will take some time to get everything out of the way to get to them. If you are worried about the cost, you can attempt to disassemble and clean the lifters. If you do that its crucial to reinstall them in the lifter bore you got them out of, or you can smoke your camshaft in short order. There's a writeup over on nissannut that goes into some detail on this. You may only have to buy one or two if they are irretrievably clogged to solve the problem. Alkorahil can get you a good price on Nissan OEM parts for NPORA members. Good luck.

DoctorBill: Check out this thread. This should give you a good start. http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=23236 There are quite a few on transmission coolers for the pathfinder out there. Search is your friend also.

I run 32s on legos with the AC 3" lift. No rubbing issues.

Probably the best thing is getting the full kit. It will save you time since you won't have to engineer the system. I had intended that using the MD nylon rod you could cut full spacers, so you could sell off the old lift to recoup some $, not just make pucks. good luck.