Howie

Struts are shocks with a coil over them. You can replace the strut and keep the old coil without any problems. Definitely get new mounts and bearings OEM from Nissan when you replace the struts. $28 each for the bearings, and $22 each for the mounts. How much do you trust the source of your "lightly used" shocks/struts? I'd go new for piece of mind, but that's just me.

Done! I'd be totally psyched about an aftermarket exhaust.

You should replace your shocks and struts at 100,000 miles, sooner if you can. So yeah, do that. The clunk, however, is probaby not from that. It's most likely a CV joint, LCA, or some other suspension issue.

That's the protective sleeve that surrounds the top part of your coil. They wear through after a while. Both of mine were like that when I replaced my coils. Also looks like your strut boot is completely worn through. How many miles on those struts? Judging by the wear I see there, maybe 50-100,000 miles? Time to replace the struts. Coils are okay even without the sleeve thing though. Unless you want to lift it...

I get 15-16 mpg running 91 octane in my 01 SE M/T 4WD.

I got rear-ended in my Pathy by an uninsured motorist once, and at the time I wasn't carrying uninsured motorist coverage. Never again! I had to pay my deductible to have my Pathy fixed, which was $500. Total crap. I asked the insurance company if they would go after the guy to get my deductible back, and they honestly told me that it's not worth their time to do so, because those people never pay. So I was out $500. My only recourse was to try to recoup it from the guy himself. Luckily, the guy was a complete moron, and had used my cell phone to call his buddy to get a tow right after the accident. So even though he gave me a fake number, my dad and I tracked him down, and went to his house to threaten him. He paid me back the $500 in two $250 installments.

How much of a gap does it leave? Pics would be helpful. Mine doesn't leave a significant gap. Also, how would you modify it?

I was surprised too, but if you look at the FSM, there are in fact 4 cats. The manifold cats are UPSTREAM of the big ones, and are almost directly attached to the headers. The resonators are downstream of the rear cats, like you said.

Okay, I found it in the shop manual. For those of you following along, it's on page EM-11. It's referred to as a Three-Way Catalyst, or TWC. Part number should be: B08A04W100 or B08A04W10A for the right side, or Bank 1, corresponding to your code P0420 (Bank 2, left side would be DTC P0430). That's for an '01 Pathy, but since yours is an '03, you should look it up here: Pathfinder Parts I checked with Everythingnissan.com, where I usually get my parts. They have the best prices I've found. They're charging $673.08 for the TWC (plus shipping). Which is way better than the $1200 your dealer quoted, and even better than the $828.40 MSRP. I hope this helps somewhat.

What the hell is a manifold cat?

Did it just start, or has it been happening gradually? Like, if this were the first time it's happened, then go fill up the tank and see if it is in fact half empty. Hopefully it's just a faulty fuel gauge/sensor. 68 miles on half a tank is about 6.8 miles/gallon, which just doesn't seem possible without throwing a code.

Those coarse-threaded lag screws are for wood. What you need to do is get a tap-and-die kit from Harbor Freight Tools for like $30. Get machine bolts that are close to the size of holes that you drilled out. They should have a finer thread pitch, made for holding in metal. Re-tap the holes with the proper pitch threads that match your bolts. Then you know the bolts will hold. Alternatively, if you knew the exact thread pitch and size of the hole that's rusted, you can just chase it through with the tap to clean it up.

I haven't seen any posts on this, so I don't think it's a common problem. But I've been helped out so much by this forum that I thought I'd just add to the database of knowledge with my experience!

With the warm weather just around the corner, I thought I'd post this fix. For a while I'd been losing refrigerant, and just refilling it a can at a time. But after the freezing temps, I had lost more pressure than I did in the past (if you don't have an A/C manifold guage, you should get one because it really helps to diagnose A/C problems). I had the fluorescent dye in my refrigerant (if it came from the factory, they would have put a green sticker on the underside of your hood). When I used a UV light, it was easy to see that I had a leak around the compression fittings where the hard tubing meets the rubber hose on the low-pressure side. The replacement Nissan part is for the ENTIRE low-pressure line, which includes not just the rubber hose but the hard line on either side of it which go all the way to the evaporator on one end, and the compressor at the other end. You can get one of these from the dealer for about $180, or from everythingnissan.com for $110. Instead, I found a guy who specializes in fixing hydraulic lines and hoses. I took the line off my car and brought it to him. He charged me $50 to not only replace the rubber hose, but also replaced my O-rings and valve core. For another $75, he vacuum-tested, drained and re-charged my system. This last step you do need, because even though you can recharge your system a can at a time, once you break the seal by removing the line, then all the pressure is lost. While a recharge can is a few ounces, the entire system takes about 1.5 lbs of R-134A. That's a lot of cans! Here is a close-up of where the line connects to the evaporator at the firewall. Removing that single bolt will allow you to detach the line. It will take a little effort to pull it free because the O-ring provides a pretty good seal. Here's where the line connects to the compressor, on the driver's side of the engine. This one is a nut, not a bolt, but same idea. There's also a bracket you have to loosen at the front of the engine. Once you disconnect these 3 points (they're all 12mm), the entire low-pressure side can be removed. You can either replace it with a new one, or get it repaired for cheaper. I plugged the open holes with nitrile gloves so I wouldn't get contaminants in the system while I drove the truck around. By removing the line myself, I figured I saved some $$ on labor costs. I think if you were to take it to a mechanic it would be at least a few hundred bucks to do the whole job. I got mine done for $126, or about the cost of just the new line.

Wait, REALLY? Why not? That's great! And here I was all worried thinking my engine could blow itself apart at any time...

I have a 5-spd, and it was hard to find. I was living in Pensacola, FL when I bought it, and my car had to be shipped from Georgia. It was pretty cool, because it came right to my house on a flatbed truck.

The KYB Gas-a-just shocks that I have don't have boots. They're just all white.

I'm not sure that Ranchos are better, but I did like the look of the red boots. So I just bought red boots for $4 a piece and put them on my KYB's! Now I have fake-cho's on my car!

I agree that was a very interesting link. It was very thorough, and what he said made sense. I've had my car since 6 miles on the odo, and have changed my oil religiously every 3,750 like the manual said. Kind of an odd interval, but what the heck. When I hit 100,000 miles I switched to synthetic and increased my interval to every 5,000 miles. I have never had a problem with burning oil (as of yesterday), and I'm up to 132,748 miles. So I've probably kept that little drain hole free of debris by changing frequently. If I do start burning oil, I'll definitely check it! If a new valve cover is like $200, I think it would be a good investment. The VQ35 is a good engine, and if that's all it would take to keep it running for a few tens of thousands of miles more, then I'd do it. It also proves that conventional wisdom of frequent oil changes is a good long-term investment.

I did mine last January. Here's what I paid: KYB front struts: 335030 (left), 335031 (right), $64 each at Amazon.com KYB boots (SB139), $11.78 each at Amazon.com Nissan OEM front strut mounting insulators 54320-2W10 $27.55 each at everythingnissan.com Nissan OEM front strut mounting insulators 54325-5V000 $22.05 each at everythingnissan.com Labor for install: $150, which includes the $40 alignment KYB KG4163 shocks $47.92 x2 from Amazon.com Labor for install: $120 The rears are easy, I could have done that myself but I also had the guy replace my coil springs on the front and back, which was included in those labor totals, so I figured why not because it was essentially a lift kit install. Total cost for me was $616.60. So yeah, your $800 estimate sounds really high. I didn't include the cost of the coils, even though I had those done at the same time. But if you want to know, they were $150 for the set of 4. OME 0922 in the back and OME 0923 in the front. Don't ever go to a mechanic that won't let you bring in your own parts. They make money by charging you way too much for the parts. As you can see, you can find them yourself elsewhere and any reputable mechanic will be happy to just provide the labor. They shouldn't charge more than $80/hr, and front suspension shouldn't take more than 2 hours, rears less than one one hour unless you're doing the coils too, like I did.

Wait, you don't think THAT thing is hard to make? You own a machine shop or something?

I have an R50. I've never tried to shift from 2H to 4H unless at a complete stop. But when I do, there's no grinding. I usually have the clutch in, but you don't really have to. I'm just compulsive that way. I just read your post again, and might have found another problem. To go from 2H to 4H, you just pull back on the transfer lever. However, to go from 4H to 4L, you have to push DOWN on the transfer lever while pulling back. If you're not pushing down, I can see how it would grind. You can't go directly from 2H to 4L without first going through 4H. So when you said that you tried to go from 2H to 4L, are you going through 4H really quickly? So remember: 2H to 4H -- just pull back 4H to 4L -- push down on shifter, then pull back Maybe this will help. If not, I still say change your fluid.

I would definitely check fluid first thing. Even if it's filled up all the way, change it. You'd be surprised how many weird transmission gremlins a fluid change will fix.

There is a Nissan sticker on the booster with 3W451 in big numbers, then in smaller numbers next to that is M235T. Below those were even smaller numbers: JKC 866-01017 0Y11. The cylinder body itself has BM50 stamped on the side, with 0W002 and OYA etched into the front.