Mr.510

Evans 6-3-10 Evans 311 Trail 7-8-10 When we put a video up of yesterday's run I'll add a link to the thread here.

I (finally!) started a thread HERE with the video. Hopefully Silverton will add some pics.

I'd hook the PCV back up if you want your engine to live a long time. I run a PCV system even on full race engines. When you're off the throttle manifold vacuum sucks fresh air through the crankcase with the PCV system to draw out the fuel vapors. This keeps the vapors from condensing and mixing with the oil. There is no performance downside to running a PCV system. By 1/4 throttle or so the PCV valve closes due to lack of manifold vacuum. It doesn't cost anything in performance or mileage and while it's technically part of the 'emission control system' it's actually there to increase the longevity of the engine more than anything else. Everything else you listed: Yeah lose it! (For off road use, of course.) I've kept the carbon canister in my Pathy. As with the PCV there is no performance downside and it's an awfully tidy way to vent a fuel tank in a way that it will not leak liquid fuel or vapor even at odd angles, like when my truck is laying on it's side. My cat is coming off soon. My truck sees enough tall, dry grass on our acreage that the cat scares me every time I park the truck off the pavement.

My first guess would be the ECU is going haywire. It could also be the crank angle sensor in the distributor but I personally have only known them work perfectly or not at all. The fact that it runs decent until it warms up makes me think ECU or coil. A bad coil isn't likely to make a cylinder get a spark at the wrong time and make it start backwards though. If it consistently starts backwards my guess is 99% it's the ECU. No other component could screw up consistently enough to make that happen! The power steering pressure switch or idle kickup won't have an effect on any of this. On running backwards, if the ignition is 'on' the injectors are spraying fresh fuel onto the intake valves regardless of which direction the crank is turning. The ECU has no way to know the crank is turning the wrong way so it goes about business as usual. The tach probably works too. Even with the intake and exhaust valve's functions reversed (as you described exhaust out the snorkel) some of the fresh fuel sprayed at the intake valves is going to dribble into the cylinders and keep it running. It takes barely more than a little vapor to keep an engine running poorly at a few hundred rpm. I would not let it run backwards very long as it will have little or no oil pressure. Soot will foul up the air flow meter in short order as well.

I just read your other thread. EGR and PCV will have zero effect on something like this. You've got a major ignition timing issue. Whether it's the ECU, crank angle sensor, cross-firing, or the firing order is scrambled you have to be getting spark to the wrong plug at exactly the right time (piston near BDC) for this to happen. You probably get a 'chuff' noise in the intake just as the starter disengages. This is a cylinder firing near Bottom Dead Center while the intake valve is still open. You aren't, by chance, running it with just a flex plate without a transmission bolted up are you? A lack of flywheel inertia can contribute to a problem like this as it takes much less energy to reverse the direction the crank is rotating. Racing engines with very light rotating assemblies are highly prone to 'dieseling' at shutdown due to low rotational inertia.

I've seen this happen a couple times on older Datsuns but am surprised that an injected Pathy engine could run backwards for any length of time. Some old L-series four cylinders will 'diesel' (run backwards with no ignition spark) all day long after the ignition is turned off if you don't let the clutch out in gear to stop the crankshaft. I let an old POS L16 'diesel' for 20 minutes once to prove it was possible. The times that I've seen it happen at startup a backfire into the intake due to a serious electrical miss caused the engine to reverse direction just as the starter disengaged. I don't *think* any amount of exhaust back pressure would be a contributing factor. Do you have the firing order mixed up? If the plug wires are scrambled or you have cross-firing between two wires (or inside the distributor cap) that could be a factor. Does it start and run backwards consistently?

Silverton and I are going to Evans Creek this coming Thursday, July 29th, 2010. Anybody else that wants to go is welcome. Our intent is to run the 520 Trail complete. This is the trail where we were stopped by snow last time, in early June. The snow should be gone by now. We may run some other trails while we're there as well. Stock trucks are welcome. Non-Pathfinders are welcome. If you're on tires smaller than 31s rocker damage is likely. Here's the trail report with pics & video from our last time on the 520: Evans Creek 6/3/10

So now I'm 'Mighty'. I guess that's a step up? Thanks guys and Happy Birthday to all that share this day!

Yeah, Timeserts are great and they are really thin-walled which is nice in tight places. The be-otch with them is if you mess up an insert. They're really difficult to get out (even with a milling machine) without seriously buggering the parent material and/or destroying drills and/or endmills. The nice thing about Keenserts is that if you mess up the threads in the insert you can replace the insert with zero damage to the parent material. I use Keenserts in virtually all threaded holes in production CNC tooling when the fixtures are built.

Mutant Hobbit? I fixed it and Silverton owes me another pizza. He made the classic VG mistake: Didn't blow the sand and crap out of the spark plug wells before pulling the plugs! A grain or two of sand wedged into the threads in the aluminum will mess the threads on the sparkbolt up quite nicely... and they will, in turn, screw up the threads in the head even more. I took my Re-Coil and Keensert kits to his place but only had to chase the threads. It sucked getting the tap started straight. A Back-Tap would have been really nice here and I will be getting one! For anyone else that has to fix one of these: My Re-Coil kit uses standard Helicoils but has a piloted reamer/tap that's great for fixing stuff like this in place. It has a 'chaser' tap section on the nose followed by a tapered reamer followed by the tap section for the Helicoil. It makes fixing sparkplug holes in place super-easy as it follows the existing hole very nicely. I only had to use the chaser/pilot section to clean up the goobered threads on Silverton's motor. You can Helicoil the hole in place by filling the tap voids with grease to catch the chips and then cranking the Re-Coil tool straight in (after being sure the piston is not at TDC!). Then tie a length of heavy thread or dental floss to the break-off tab of the Helicoil and add a dab of superglue so it cannot come loose. Feed the thread up through the center of the Helicoil. Crank the Helicoil in until it's 1/2 turn past flush with the install tool. Pull the install tool up a bit, turn 90 degrees, and push down and it breaks the drive tang off the Helicoil. Pull the thread out gently and as long as the Helicoil drive tang is still attached you're good to go. If you screw up the Helicoil repair you can always open the hole up even farther and install a Keensert. They make special Keenserts with sealing rings specifically for sparkplug holes and they work great but are more difficult to install. They can also be done in-place so you don't have to remove the cylinder head.

You say that like it's a bad thing?! As others have said, that's a deal for the parts involved. It could end up a nightmare or it could be a well-built rig and the guy doesn't know what he has. He bought it pre-built. Maybe he got a deal on it, smashed it up a bit, and figures it's not worth much? To most people running down to Safeway for some groceries it's not worth much. What percentage of the buyers out there (or guys driving trucks like that one) are actually wheelers?

That's not even close to correct. The Subie 4EAT has an integral front differential with halfshaft outputs just behind the bell housing. Here's the only pic I could find of a 4EAT: If you want to 'beef up' a Pathy RE4R01A transmission don't bother: Start with the Heavy Duty version that came out in '01! It's stronger stock than a heavily modified original transmission. Silverton and I both have "RE4R01A-HD" transmissions in our WD21s and they rock. Note that Nissan does not denote the "HD" designation. It's origin seems to stem from aftermarket transmission rebuild parts companies that needed a way to easily differentiate between early and late transmissions (since Nissan did not change the transmission designation when they upgraded it.) Nissan massively upgraded many internal components for the '01 model year to deal with the increased output of supercharged VG33s as well as VQ35DEs. Thankfully all '01-on models got the beefed transmissions, not just the ones that 'needed them'. The Jatco 3N71B dates back to 1969 and was used in everything from 510s to 280ZX Turbos and a whole bunch of Mazdas. It's one of the simplest and toughest automatics ever built. The 'L' designated a locking torque converter. Just a little bit of my opinion here: I don't think the stock Pathy automatic sucks nearly as badly as people seem to think. If you put into context the fact that most original Pathy autos have never been serviced, are running on their original fluid, and they rarely fail before 200k miles what's to complain about? My original transmission went 280k? miles and I beat the piss out of it. How many Toyotas, Mazdas, or any other make of 4x4 SUV are still running and/or road worthy at the mileage where our transmissions typically fail? It's not so much that the transmission sucks as the rest of the truck is exceptionally good, IMHO. I've got 371,000 miles on my Pathy and it's still tight, smooth, and rattle-free even after years of trail use and a flop onto it's side.

I read in a recent thread that you can buy the splined piece as a replacement part from Warn to make them 28 spline. Apparently they also make a 'weak' splined piece that's designed the fail before a CV grenades. The 'weak' version is cheap and disposable: You're supposed to carry spares so you can replace them on the trail should you break one. I see the logic in that fixing a hub on the trail is easier than replacing a CV you probably don't have with you, but I'm not adding any deliberate failure points to my Pathy! Here it is: Warn 27 to 28 spline conversion

I did this exact swap less than a week ago so it's fresh in my head. After you pull the auto hub there is a snap ring about 2" back from the end of the splined shaft. Pull that off and slide off the assembly it holds on - it's part of the auto locking mechanism. Then slide on the manual hub one with the big end first. Next rotate the flange that has the six notches in it so they line up with the six hub mounting holes. Then install the snap ring... it now uses the groove that's almost at the end of the splined shaft. As MY1PATH said you may have to pull outward on the CV to get the snap ring into the groove. I found with the front wheels straight mine went right in. I tried first with the wheels turned and had no luck. Make sure that snap ring is all the way into the groove! Lastly the manual hub body goes on. Make sure it's 'unlocked' before you install it or you could damage it. The locking hub body should slide right on 'till it hits the hub it bolts to. If there is any resistance something is wrong, don't force it! Enjoy your new hubs, I'm lovin' mine!

I dunno, I'll think about it... I carry a large CO2 tank (similar to the biggest Powertank) for inflating tires and such when I go wheeling but I really want a small dedicated compressor & tank installed for the air shocks when I put the permanent control system in. I may also end up with air shocks in the front. The article linked at the start of the thread is what got me started thinking about doing this. It's interesting that the guy who wrote that article kept slacking off his T-bars and increasing air pressure until he got the results he wanted with his IFS Toyota. Makes me wonder about chopping a coil off my rear springs and upping my 'standard' pressure so the shocks carry more weight all the time and force more flex offroad. If I put air shocks on the front, slack the T-bars off, and chop a coil or two out of the back I could run *really* low on the street and my Pathy would look like a stadium truck!

I knew I wanted to gain a whole bunch of droop travel so I searched the forum to see what shocks people use with JGC springs and 3-4" of lift and bought air shocks for that application... and I miss-posted above. (I'll fix it now!) They aren't for an F150, they are for a Fullsize Chevy pickup. D'oh! Here's the application chart from the eBay auction where I got my shocks: I paid $49 including shipping for them. Add the $15 for a valve and fittings and I'm into this project $64. I figured it was cheap enough I'd just try it and see what happens.

On flat ground the back of my Pathy was about 3/4" lower than the front prior to the air shocks. At 25psi the rear gains 13/16" and looks level: This is at 25psi and is where I'm running it on tarmac for now: This is with 175psi as that's the maximum pressure of my shop air compressor: Here are the results of air pressure vs. ride height. I'm going to list these by decimal rather than fraction as it's easier (at least for me) to visualize. This is in inches: 25psi 0.812 lift 50psi 1.250 lift 75psi 1.875 lift 100psi 2.500 lift 125psi 3.000 lift 150psi 3.500 lift 175psi 4.000 lift 200psi ????? lift So 175psi will get you 4" of suspension lift and with cross linking I'll bet one tippy-flexy ride as the springs won't be carrying much weight. I have not driven with that much pressure cross linked and I don't know if I will! I do not know how quickly the air can pass from one shock to the other through the tiny supplied lines. The fact that mine run all the way to the console can't help. I'm going to test my current setup and see how it works. The hole through the existing fitting into the air chamber is about 3/16" diameter. If I feel that removing the air restriction may help I'll go up to 1/4" lines. This will require either making some custom fittings to screw onto the shock ports or TIG welding fittings onto them while the shock is under water so I don't burn the seals. As far as forced articulation goes I only did one test. On flat ground if I keep 25psi in one shock and put 175psi in the other the low pressure side goes up 1-3/8" while the high pressure side goes up 3-1/8". The ride of the Pathy is great with 25psi in the shocks. It is smoother under compression than before but a little harsher when rebounding. The added rebound harshness was expected as my old shocks were just about toast. Handling is the same with the shocks isolated and that makes me very happy.

A little teflon tape and some wrenches and I've got a $15 setup to get me by until I can afford to do a high pressure onboard compressor, tank, and valve system to replace it: Here it is hooked up and resting on the console. It seems to be happy on the passenger's seat while driving for now: I guess it makes the most sense to talk about the permanent control system now. These shocks have to be pressurized with at least 25psi at all times to prevent internal damage. Their maximum operating pressure is 200psi. It takes very little volume to go from zero to 175psi with these shocks. Plugging a tire inflater onto one of the Schrader valves with the cross link valve open will do it in less than 3 seconds. What I intend to do is get a small 12 volt compressor that's capable of at least 200psi and mount it and a small tank somewhere, probably in the storage compartment that will replace my folded back seat. Then I'm going to put one of these in the dash space to the right of the steering column that's made for an emergency brake handle: It's an Air Lift part number 26157 dual air pressure gauge with two paddle valves built into the panel. It has two needles in one gauge, one red and one black. It's about $70 on eBay or from various online vendors. I will make a couple of changes, one being the addition of a valve to select cross linked vs. isolated and the other being an adjustable relief valve on the 'dump' line from the valves. By adding a relief valve here it will not be possible to drop the pressure in either shock below whatever that valve is set to. In the world of CNC machine shops we call this an 'Operator Resistant' feature. It'll keep me from being stupid, letting all the air out of my shocks, and ruining them. With the shocks inflated to their minimum of 25psi I drove up the ramp with the cross link valve closed and ramped 714: The distance from the ground to the top of the rear fender arch in this pic is 48". Sitting on level ground it measures 34-13/16". So I now have about a foot of rear wheel droop, the rest being due to tire flex. After measuring this I opened the valve and nothing happened. I scratched my head for a second and decided that the air shocks will not effect full flex since one shock is already fully extended and the other tire is crammed hard into the rear of it's fender opening: I need more tire clearance! The only place they rubbed before was the tread hitting the very top of the inner fender at full flex. Now, due to longer travel and 'flex steer' I have to do some fender well massaging with my handy BFH. As the driver's side of the axle droops it moves forward. This in turn moves the passenger's side rearward. Not having the tire buried in the sheet metal may help full flex a tiny bit but it's pretty much maxed out here: So the air shocks don't help with full flex. That makes sense to me now since I'm out of travel without needing air pressure. They might limit full flex if they were at a higher pressure but I didn't think to test this while I was set up. I'm sure they will improve flex until the point that one runs out of travel. Remember that it's not just keeping the tires touching the ground, it's keeping weight on the tires to gain traction that counts. The tricky thing is that I can't think of a simple, scientific way to test this though digital race car scales and a floor jack or forklift do come to mind. When I think of something I'll try it and post an update.

Next up I bolted the new shocks into the Pathy: There wasn't much to see here and it's exceedingly difficult to take pics while installing a shock! The passenger's side shock slips right in with no issues whatsoever. The driver's side is really a tight fit as the shock slips between the spring & mount, exhaust, and Panhard rod. I found that I had to slip the upper eye on about half way and then do the same with the lower. Next slide the upper all the way on and then repeat for the lower. My exhaust clears the shock with plenty of room but this needs to be checked on each individual truck: Note that the air chamber portion of the shock can be rotated relative to the upper shaft. I rotated mine so the air fittings point straight out toward the outside of the truck. This kept them the most protected from damage from both debris and the hot exhaust on the driver's side. Next up I slipped the O-rings, sleeves, and nuts off one end of the supplied air lines and connected the other ends to the shocks. I made sure to put a nice strain relief loop in the lines where they leave the shocks so there is plenty of room for them to flex as the shock angle changes with suspension travel: I zip-tied the driver's side air line to a wiring harness that's just above the front of the fuel tank. I then ran it across to the passenger's side tying it every six inches or so. I routed the lines forward along the frame rail where the fuel and brake lines are: There is a large body plug underneath the passengers seat and it was the perfect protected spot to get the lines into the interior so I cut an 'X' in it and pushed the lines through: After they were routed I used some of Nissan's own amazing silicone gasket maker to seal around them so the floor remains waterproof: I unsnapped the ECU cover and cut a slit in the carpet about 2" long to access the spot where the lines come through and zip tied them to the rear ECU bracket: With the cover in place they will be well protected from damage: Note that when I finish the control system the way I want it the lines will be routed under the carpet and up under the console further forward. For now I have to be careful not to damage them. They are tied to the seat mount base so the slider mechanism can't hit them. Next up is the temporary 'control system'. I'm using a ball valve to select between cross linked and isolated. I've got a Schrader valve on each line so I can add air independently though this is only practical for testing so I don't have forced articulation in the real world yet. Here are the fittings used: These parts are all 1/8" NPT. At the top of the pic are the Schrader valves and at the bottom are 1/8" push-to-connect fittings. These are really cool as you just push the line into them until it stops. When you want to remove it you push in on the little ring that sticks out and pull the line out.

Next up I disconnected the driver's side swaybar endlink. I left it disconnected for the remainder of the pics and measurements as I will be making quick disconnects and won't be using it offroad. With the rear swaybar disconnected the Pathy ramped 606: Now that I had a 'baseline' for comparison I pulled the existing rear shocks off the Pathy and unpacked the new ones. This is what was in the box: Notice how huge in diameter these things are! The contents of the plastic bag: You can see the 'T' that cross links the shocks and contains the Schrader valve I mentioned above and the hardware for installing it through a panel. There are also some line clips, a couple extra O-rings in case you loose some, and the two flexible plastic air lines with fittings on both ends. In my installation I used only the lines and the fittings on one end of them. Since the shocks are intended for a Chevy pickup they don't quite drop into a Pathfinder as supplied. The upper end has a pinched tube through the eye that has to be removed. First, I cut off one end with the bandsaw but a hacksaw would do it quickly enough: Next I pounded the tube out of the bushing with a drift and hammer: The hole in the rubber bushing in the upper eyelet is too small to fit on the Pathfinder's mount and the one in the lower bushing has a sleeve through it. Once the sleeve is removed the hole in the bushing is too big for a snug fit. I pushed all the bushings out with my hydraulic press, a socket, and a drift: A vise could be used for this if you don't have a press. Alternatively you could pound the sleeves out and carve the rubber out with a steak knife but it wouldn't be any fun! The rubber isn't just pressed into the eyelets, it's bonded to them. I didn't plan ahead well enough and didn't have new shock bushings on hand. I pressed the ones out of my old shocks as they were in good shape. They come out much easier than the Chevy pickup ones as they are simply pushed into the eyes and are retained by a lip on each end. I forgot to take a pic of this step as I was busy beating myself up for not having all the right parts on hand. Next I pushed the old rubber bushings into the new shocks by hand. Spraying them with WD40 makes them slip right in and then stick like they're glued. They fit like they were made for these shocks: Edit: 'F150' to 'Chevy pickup' again.

Yesterday I installed Gabriel HiJackers part number 49218 air shocks intended for the rear of a Chevy pickup in the rear of my '88 Pathfinder. While I was at it I did a whole lot of measuring and taking pictures so I thought I'd share the process and results. This might be a little long? No, this is going to be very long! Background: My Pathy is an '88 SE-V6 with the Offroad package. 4.62 gears, LSD, rear disks, etc. One of my front torsion bars completely collapsed so I installed the slightly stiffer bars from a four door. I'm running it with about 1/2" between the droop stop and upper A-arm so it's not lifted, but at the upper end of factory spec. It's had mystery stock-replacement aftermarket shocks since I got it and the rears were about used up. I've been running 33-10.5-15 BFG All Terrain TA KOs on Lego wheels for a few years. When my Pathy is completely empty it sits level when measured at the top of the wheel arches. But it's never empty! I carry a lot of gear off road and the rear sags about an inch when we're 'trail ready'. I also put several hundred pounds of stuff in the back on a regular basis and that makes it sag a bunch. Air bags: I considered running air bags in place of the rear bump stops in addition to my stock coils. They would be ideal except they are quite prone to damage offroad, especially in the forests of the NW where I wheel. Sticks, branches, and tree roots tend to skewer air bags rather easily. If I lived in Moab I might have gone with air bags. The air bags that fit inside the spring are better protected but don't actually increase ride height much, if at all. They function by keeping the existing coils from being able to compress. This increases spring rate massively thereby upping the load-carrying capacity. Unfortunately everything I've read says they make the truck ride like a buckboard wagon when pumped up enough to do their job. Since they only increase spring rate they could not be used to force articulation and cross linking would have little or no effect. Air shocks: I decided that rather than installing cut-down JGC or aftermarket rear springs I would try air shocks. Remember that I'm not really after lift here, I like to keep my trucks as low as possible with big tires stuffed in the fender wells. After reading this article about cross linked air shocks to improve articulation in the front of an IFS Toyota I decided the same principles would help to keep the weight evenly distributed between the rear tires of my Pathfinder while it flexes. I thought it might be useful if I could manually force articulation and/or reduce the body roll angle in severe side hill situations as well. I also like the way my Pathy handles on tarmac and really didn't want to screw that up too much, if at all. Cross linking: Cross linked is how air shock manufacturers assume you will install their product. This is where the air lines from both shocks are hooked together with a 'T'. In all the air shock kits I've seen this 'T' also contains the Schrader valve used for inflation. There is an upside and a downside to cross linked air shocks. Both air chambers are sharing one volume of air so as you compress one shock the other tries to extend. The upside is that offroad the further you compress the suspension on one side the more downward force is applied to the other. Another way to think of it is that whatever percentage of vehicle weight is carried by the shocks will be equally distributed between the rear tires. Now the downside. The more weight the cross linked air shocks are carrying the more body roll you will have while cornering, on or off the tarmac. Raise the rear of a truck 2" with cross linked air shocks and it will have a noticeable increase in body roll. The same goes for putting a whole bunch of weight in the back of your Pathy and pumping up the shocks. The shocks will correct the ride height but also make body roll even worse. In short, cross linked air shocks or air bags have exactly the opposite effect that anti-swaybars do! Independent control: What I want is the best of both worlds. I think 90% of the time offroad I want my air shocks cross linked. Maybe 5% of the time I want them isolated but still at 'normal' operating pressure. Mild side hilling and going relatively fast on logging roads between trails are situations that come to mind. The remaining 5% of the time is when I'm in really ugly spots that are either serious side hills or really gnarly obstacles where some degree of forced articulation might be helpful. 100% of the time on tarmac I want the shocks isolated from each other so I don't have much, if any more body roll than stock. Comparisons & measurements: Going into this project I wanted to know what, if anything I would really gain from my new shocks. They are much longer travel shocks than stock so I've got some flex numbers and pics that apply to any Pathy, at least if it's on stock springs. I have a slidebed tow truck and I've used it previously at events as an adjustable-angle RTI ramp. I set the bed at the standard 20 degree angle used on most RTI ramps and slid it back until the back of the bed was solidly into the ground. All of my 'standard' wheeling gear was in the Pathy except my Powertank as I forgot about it. I also aired my tires down to 15psi as this is what I run 99% of the time in the woods. RTI: RTI or Ramp Travel Index is a calculated number that allows relatively fair comparison of the axle articulation or 'flex' of very different vehicles. For me it's also an easy way to accurately gauge what I've gained or lost in flex after any given mod. This is my Pathy 'stock' ramping 562: Edited to change 'F150' shocks to 'Chevy pickup' shocks!

I'll keep my eyes peeled as well. My shop is in a popular 'dumping ground' for everything stolen from trucks to safes. It is probably parked on the street somewhere in a 'low-rent' residential. That's where most stolen vehicles are recovered. Many are 'found' when parking enforcement comes along. Also keep in mind that if they were going to drive it around it may have stolen plates off another vehicle on it so look for the stickers noted above. Everyone should have a hidden fuel pump kill switch even if you have a good alarm!

Going to Evans Creek on Thursday, June 3rd 2010 if anybody else wants to go. Stock trucks are fine for this run, there's enough trails to keep a stock Pathy busy for an afternoon. I was there with Silverton last week for about five hours and had a blast. We ran out of daylight before we ran out of places his stock Pathy on 28" all seasons would go. He'll be on 31s this time as I'm going to loan him one of my spare sets.

What about the one from AC? Idler Brace They're $30 and mine fit perfectly.