JamesRich

My 01 quest has both ford and Nissan stamped right next to each other on most of the body panels so it wouldn't surprise me if it is the same rack on the Xploder. I just hope it was Nissan making the parts for ford, not the other way around! James

I pulled an alternator from a 2000 quest (125 amp). It had a 4 gauge wire from the post on the alternator following along the fan shroud and connected to the relay accessory box. Then from there it connected to the battery. If you start your truck with a run down battery it may over heat the factory wire. I was planning on running a 4 gauge cable when I later install the quest alternator but just adding a 6 or 8 gauge to the factory wire should be enough. If you do go 4 gauge get some of that fine strand flexible audio cable so it doesn't pull too much on the post on the alternator. On the quest the cable goes straight back from the alternator to the battery so the only load the cable gets on it is a rotational twisting when the motor torques. James

It's the external fan that is the difference. The pulley on the external fan comes apart in two halves and sits on a spacer. The pulley from the alternator with the internal fan is one piece and the spacer is made onto it. James

Time for a new excuse! Let us know what you come up with! James

R12 was better at cooling. I replaced the evaporator, orifice tube and dryer on an 86 Lincoln town car once. Parked in the shop with the fan on low and recirculate I got 17F out the vents. Of course that's not how you properly test the system we just wanted to see how cold it would blow. When charging a system you should always have the blower on max and fresh air not recirculate. Some times I even leave a window open. If it gets too cold in the car while charging the system you will get false reading and end up over filling. Unless you’re using one of tungsten’s idiot proof "machines" that has a scale so you know exactly how much refrigerant left the supply bottle. Yes I have used one of those before and they are more trouble than they are worth. With the orifice tube systems it's a fixed size port that lowers the pressure so when the blower is on recirculate the air keeps getting colder and the pressure keeps dropping until the compressor starts cycling. The expansion valve system that most imports and our pathfinders use is adjustable with temperature. When it reaches a preset temp the orifice starts to open and lower the pressure differential keeping it from getting too cold. The orifice tube systems will blow colder under the right conditions but the expansion valve systems usually blow cold faster and adjust to a wider range of conditions. I enjoyed A/C work; it’s really a simple system once you learn it. Once you know how the system works it’s the same on any system even your house. Yes tungsten read correctly you can use butane but who wants to ride around with a time bomb on their vehicle. The cooling from the system wouldn’t over ride the sweating from waiting for it to explode! James

Well you can purchase a vacuum pump to work with your gauges. Every shop I worked at had one. If you cleaned and repaired your system correctly and know what you’re doing with your gauges it should work years later. For those that don't know there is a machine. James

So how is the "machine" going to correct the pressure between the high and low lines? If there is a problem with your system and the pressures are off the only way to remedy that is by repairing the problem with the system. What kind of "machine" do you keep talking about? The only "machine" I have ever used on an A/C system was a recovery machine. That only recovers and cleans your refrigerant. When recharging the system there is no machine involved, only a set of gauges. These gauges will tell you if the system has a problem. James

I've used them before and they do work if your leak isn't too bad. The compressor front seal was leaking on my pathy when I got it and this stuff stopped it. The system had probably been empty for years and the seal was dried up. If you ever charged an A/C system before you would know you don't need a "machine" just a good set of gauges and the high pressure gauge is just there to monitor the high pressure. If nothing is wrong with your system other than it being a little low you don't need the high pressure gauge at all. The problem with these cans is that they have a couple of ounces of oil in them too. If you use a couple over time you will have too much oil in your system and that will stop it from cooling as well even if you have enough refrigerant. Most A/C system use a total of around 8 ounces of oil. And you know most guys think, "If one worked that well two will work better!" James

I'll have to agree with Nunya. I pulled the starter from my 87 5 speed in maybe 5 minutes when I was dropping the transmission. Today I pulled the starter from my parts truck, a 94 auto. It took longer to get the oil filter off and the bolts loosened than pulling the starter out the front. I had to jack it up and pull the tire though because it was sitting on 3 flats. Putting it back would be hard without taking at least the tire off though. James

Damn you Nunya! That is my favorite style hood. I had one on my old chevy. I just put a black hood from a 94 D21 on my pathy. My hood was an after market piece of crap and I really like the no vents look. It fit perfect other than the driver corner near the hinge is a hair high from being level with the fender but everything else lines up perfect. I'm going to post a picture in my ride thread and ask how to lower that corner. I would really like a cowl induction hood though! In the link that you posted, Not that I don't enjoy looking at a model in a bikini but she needs to get her butt out of the way so we can see the hood! James

http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_articles/articletype/articleview/articleid/1298/project-pathfinder-part-10-how-to-build-the-nissan-vg30e.aspx This article explains putting VG30 heads on a VG33 block but it shows you how to check the passages with the head gaskets. James

What he said! Unless you truck didn't come with a/c, I converted mine when I got it. The imports use an expansion valve that adjust for the different refrigerant so when converted they usually work just as good as a factory 134 system. James

I knew they wouldn't be cheap. That would be the perfect connector you need. Get one with a few extra terminals so your set if you add things later. I'm book marking this link for later. James

That DVD player looks like it was made for that spot! James

I was thinking the same thing, they in a world of crap up there! I hope everything turns out ok for everyone. It would suck to loss your house to wild fires. James

I've been looking for some bulkhead connectors too for when I put lights on top. I talked to a friend of mine that builds fire trucks and he mentioned this place. http://www.austinhardware.com/ I haven’t had time to search their web site yet. He also told me that when they need a lot of wires through the roof they just use a grommet and silicone! I'm not putting silicone on my roof. We need bulkhead connectors that can handle some decent amperage. Most that I find are for small gauge wire. James

Not from experience on my pathfinder but magnaflow mufflers have way less drone than flowmasters. I had a 40 series flowmaster on my titan that would rattle the radio face plate at certain rpms. I replaced it with a 18" magnaflow and the drown was just a little more than stock. James

useing a shop vac for gasoline could turn out bad! James

I remembered another story which could have been off road, I’m hell on company vehicles! I was working as a fleet repair mechanic for a Pepsi bottling company. The company truck I had was an 84 Toyota diesel pick up with a work bed on the back. Back in 92 or 93 we had a really bad flood. Most of the town had water and in some places half way up people’s houses. I found a way home with not too much water. While cruising through the water and all the belts were slipping I’m thinking nothing will stop this thing because there’s no distributor to get wet. I crossed a small bridge and the road dipped down that the water was coming over the hood and it never stopped! Made it home that night with no problem. Next morning I picked a different route that actually had less water. BUT while I’m putting along a big jacked up jeep crosses me with his foot to the floor! When the wave he was pushing hit the grill of my little truck it sucked the water right up the intake and locked the motor solid! Of course I tried to hit the key and it was locked. After a couple of minutes the water started seeping in till it was up to the seat. Finally I got an idea. I took off my boots and rolled up my pants then got my tools and pulled all the glow plugs out. Even though the starter was completely submerged it spun the motor over until all the water came out. I put the plugs back and it started up but had blown the rings out of cylinder 3. The pressure in the crankcase would blow the dipstick out and puff like a steam train. I backed it out the water and drove it to work. The most speed I could get was 35 mph but they didn’t have to send a tow truck for me! James

I didn't put those metal brakets back on mine. I figured when I weight it down the brakets wern't doing anything anyway. James

I put a 3"x 30" cherry bomb glass pack on my titan and it was loud! The drone was bad with the full pipe so I cut it right after the axle. It reduced the drone but made it even louder. Both me and my neighbors were glad when I put a 18" magnaflow on it with the full pipe again. I'm still waiting on my pipes for my pathfinder. James

Thats what she said!

I thought about making a compartment like this under my rear seats for a truck gun. It was just an idea so far, I didn't look to see if there would be enough space for what I need. My floor doesn't have any rust back there or else I would have done it already. It would be cool to have a place to leave an old rifle and some ammo out of the way of prying eyes. James

You still driving it around with open headers! We do need a video of that. James

That's great! I'm sure the MPI should have better top end then the TBI. You get a chance to see what fuel mileage is like? James