porsche4786

I've been thinking about using that stuff on my Xterra. Just wasn't sure how good the material is. Any input on the quality?

I've only seen an Xterra without a roof rack once. And it looked extremely silly because of the roof lines. I want to raise it a little more, but I'm pretty close to the garage door opening . The spare is located under the rear of the truck, gas tank under the passenger side back seat area. Very nice not having my spare inside the luggage area like with my old pathfinder! Also, if you have any fender flares for the pathfinder you don't want, I want to see if I can make them fit the Xterra. Nobody offers any for it, other than the flexy flares universal stuff.

Wow, I never replied with what I ended up doing! I looked at quite a few automatic xterra's, almost went with one, I was going to make a deal on it the next day. And then a really nice 2004 came on craigslist from the original owner, manual transmission with 60xxx miles. So I jumped on it. This was probably 6 months ago now...It was completely stock when I got it, then I added a few things, and will continue to add a few thing Need to figure out a way to keep the mud off the side just from driving on a gravel/dirt/mud road. Nissan made a good move for the oil filter location on the VG33E vs the VG30E, no more dumping oil all over the starter. Cracked exhaust manifolds still a common issue...

Finally.....found an Xterra with a manual transmission, and just under 61k miles. Glad that is all over with. When I sit at a computer the first thing I do (without even realizing it) is get on craigslist and see if anything new is on.

Guess I'm wrong, but seattle is a pretty far drive to look at a car.

Maybe they are just aren't available in the US

Right, auto only.

Right, if they abuse it, it can do more damage. And it's hard to tell what people do with their cars. I feel like nowadays people drive like complete idiots. I looked at an Xterra after work with an...automatic....It's at a dealer that does mostly wholesale, but I guess business is slow for him, so he's selling a few retail. It hasn't been cleaned up (wholesalers don't usually do that, that's up do the retail resellers). It's got 125k miles, needs a timing belt, and rear windows won't go up without use of your hands. He's asking $6950 or something. Not quite sure what to offer him. Small dent in lower passenger side door. It is a one owner car and was traded in at a dealer. Thinkin about doing an auto for a couple years till I get some more money and go for manual then, when it's got low miles. So I can have more fun with it.

ahhhh, ok

Yeah, I'm not sure either. I just keep getting closer and closer to needing a vehicle that I can drive daily and get stuff done. I'm going to need to haul lumber, dirt, water troughs, and all that sorta thing in soon and the rx-7 isn't an option for that. Plus it doesn't tow a trailer. The rx7 isn't fun to drive everyday, and with a racing seat, I'm getting too beat up lol. The dealer told me it's 105k miles. They charge $1050 to do it. I can do it myself though, but it's a bargaining point I guess. Most dealers say "well it runs fine though", I guess their mentality is that if it's not broke it doesn't need fixin?

That's pretty cheap. I looked at a supercharged one with an auto, I wasn't sure how the supercharger effects reliability though. Most of these things need timing belt right when you buy them, either they don't realize how important it is to replace, or it's just before 105k miles.

That would make it easier!

Well, my pathfinder is going to get sold. My car is an rx-7, which is a 2 seater (not much for a people hauler), and a GSXR motorcycle. It's a hard choice to me, pickup is nice for hauling stuff. But if I need a pickup for something I can always use my dads 3/4 ton truck. But then again, that involves driving over to get it too. I think my main thing is, I do not like automatics very much. I like my vehicles in my garage so people can't screw with them, and when I'm working on them they can sit in the garage and the door can shut. It's dry and warm, and mostly theft free. Plus my driveway is fairly small. As for off roading, I don't really go seriously. Mostly just snow or fire roads in the mountains for wood/shooting/fishing. Wood is for a friend, and I use a trailer, and they drive a pickup. My pathfinder always being broken is because the person before me didn't take care of it at all. And I'm finding this out one thing at a time, usually right after another. I like the pathfinder when fishing cause I can put my pole inside without taking it down, and my fly pole is 9 foot. Skis can always go on the top, and I've got a basket I can use from the pathfinder. Only problem with the crew cab truck is I'd have to get the short bed to fit in the garage (and being able to get around it) but I would have a harder time hauling 2x4's and fishing poles and stuff with only a 4 foot bed, lots of them around here don't have sliding rear windows also. And if it's raining, then you'd get water inside too. I don't know what I"m trying to talk myself into or out of. Hard finding good shape rigs in this town for some reason. Nobody likes to take care of their vehicles anymore.

I'd like the longer bed normally, but it wouldn't fit very well in the garage. So it would have to be the shorter bed. I don't really do much for off roading, since my pathfinder keeps breaking. I went and looked at a 4 door frontier. I was kinda surprised by how little leg room there is with the crew cab. The xterra has much more as far as that goes. I did find a really nice xterra on CL but it's an auto. Probably the nicest one I've seen so far, also one of the closest. I noticed there are a lot more manual transmission nissans up in WA, closer to Seattle. What's with that!

I'm looking to get an Xterra or a Frontier. I would prefer the Xterra but I can only seem to find them with an automatic. Which I've never owned an auto. I can find Frontiers with a manual. Most of them are an extended cab (king cab). But I have seen a couple crew cab with a manual. Which would you get? I rarely have more than 1 passenger (and most driving is alone, to work and such), but when I do have multiple passengers it's usually a longer drive; fishing, skiing, camping type of thing, not just a short drive. I think I would prefer the Xterra more for everyday things like grocery shopping as well. More room to throw the groceries in (I'm a once or twice a month shopper). Would be looking at 1999-2003ish years.

Pretty much .680'' exactly, unless I tighten it down on the lifter. Then it is slightly under .680. But mine only show me .XXX, after that you are guessing. Mine are not digital. I wish!

Okay...here's some photos of what the ruined lifters look like, they are pretty much all the same. The scratches on the bottom of the lifter are pretty hard to feel with your hand. I tried to get a descent shot of the cam lobes, but was having trouble with the light reflecting too much off the steel. I double checked the old lifters, and they are all flat as far as I can feel. edit: They all seem to be pretty darn close to .628''

Maybe I'll just throw a rotary in it and be done with it I'm getting antsy to get home and start looking more into the lifters themselves...I did buy the cheapest ones rockauto had.....Next time I'll make sure I get made in USA. edit: I still have the old lifters. What would happen if I tried a couple of those in place of the bad ones? I don't know which of them came from where though...

The old lifters that I took out didn't have a rounded bottom, they were all very flat by feeling them. These new ones are very obviously rounded, I'll try and get a photo when I get home from work. Just weird that the old ones were fine, but all the sudden the new ones are junk.

I check craigslist every couple hours lol. I did look at one xterra with manual, but it had some funky engine noises, and timing belt hadn't been replaced yet and it's at 130k miles...Not that's its hard to replace, just the time factor. And the noises I wasn't sure about.

Okay, what is the deal with finding used manual transmission pathfinders (97+), frontiers 4 door (99+), and xterras with a manual transmission? I've been looking for weeks and nobody seems to have much of anything (that is also 4x4). Do most of you drive auto's or manuals? I refuse to drive an auto, so I always end up looking for almost a year to find something decent.

I'll have to double check, but I'm pretty sure yes they do. Because there were two worn lifters on one far side, the middle two were fine, the other end has one fine and one bad. I was also wondering if a rocker arm shaft, if not perfectly straight, could cause extra wear on the lifters. Or if the shafts were not torqued down properly. I turned the engine over a little and one of the lifters pushed up and took the slack out. So yeah, you're right. I did notice the angle on the cam. How does the cam cause the lifters to get caved in like that? I thought it would be due to not enough oil getting there? As I understand, the cam is a stronger steel than the lifters. Too bad you can't write off a loss on your car in your taxes..... I've spent probably double what I paid for it a little over a year ago...

Ok, pulled lifters, 3 out of the 6 are rounded now, not flat.....what causes this? No oil? The cam looks to be fine, but I can't get my micrometers in there.

Ok...while my hands aren't oily I snapped a couple photos of the lower set of rocker arms (I don't know if they are exhaust or intake). The long arm pad of the rocker arm is very worn compared to the lifter pad side. The valve ends also have markings to match the rocker arm pads. I haven't pulled the upper set yet. The rocker arms and shaft mic'd fine.

Delaware showing their authority... Because we can't just let people play basketball.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0ZZHGO5sXw