Manifesto

www.nissannut.com/maintenance/vg33e_upgrade **bookmarked for future reference!** I miss having vg33e power xD

Well, I've been procrastinating quite a bit, but I finally was able to put in some work. Took everything apart, changed out the water pump and tensioner, as well as pulled the rad out and hosed all the dried mud out of the fins (there was ALOT) and reinstalled it. All that's left now is to install the new timing belt which... is proving kind of tricky I swear I need 4 hands to pull this stunt off XD I get the belt positioned on the crank, and then I'll get it on one of the cams while ratcheting into position, then fight to get rid of the slack on one side and get it where I need it so I can get it on the other cam while trying to get that cam in position, just to see that the belt had come off the crank and skipped 3 teeth >_< I gave up after about an hour of this -_- I had the new tensioner on, but I tightened it so I would have as much slack as it would allow, would it be easier to install the new tensioner AFTER the belt is on? Yes, I read the How To, I know what I have to do, it's just DOING it that is proving problematic. Also, while replacing the thermostat I realized that it hadn't come with a new gasket... I went ahead and made a gasket out of a cigarette pack and spray tack, as well as put a tiny bead of black gasket silicone type sealer around the thermostat before I threw it in, so I'm pretty confident that it will hold. ONE MORE thing, slightly off topic... without realizing, I was able to turn the crank with a wrench while it was still in 1st gear... is my clutch gone O.o?

Edit *** Moving to The garage

HAHA thank you Precise1. Well, I've been procrastinating quite a bit, focusing my attention elsewhere but finally got to work on her. After my buddy 'towed' it home for me (which was just throwing a recovery strap around the rear axle of his old chevy (his bumper rusted off and wasnt much else to hook onto lol) and pulling me 40 blocks through city traffic (omg big tires and no power brakes are scary... established that the parking brake works) Yesterday I changed out the water pump and tensioner, as well as pulled the rad out and hosed all the dried mud out of the fins (there was ALOT) and reinstalled it. All that's left now is to install the new timing belt which... is proving kind of tricky I swear I need 4 hands to pull this stunt off XD I get the belt positioned on the crank, and then I'll get it on one of the cams while ratcheting into position, then fight to get rid of the slack on one side and get it where I need it so I can get it on the other cam while trying to get that cam in position, just to see that the belt had come off the crank and skipped 3 teeth >_< I gave up after about an hour of this -_- I had the new tensioner on, but I tightened it so I would have as much slack as it would allow, would it be easier to install the new tensioner AFTER the belt is on? Also, while replacing the thermostat I realized that it hadn't come with a new gasket... I went ahead and made a gasket out of a cigarette pack and spray tack, as well as put a tiny bead of black gasket silicone type sealer around the thermostat before I threw it in, so I'm hoping it all holds lol. ONE MORE thing... without realizing, I was able to turn the crank with a wrench while it was still in 1st gear... is my clutch gone O.o? I should probably be writing in a tech section but... oh well, I already started here

@Dave - oh great, thanks for the link, I'll give them a call right away today REALLY good to know @Precise - thanks for the info. I've got it pretty much all torn down, just waiting for a new water pump. Those cam and crank seals are pretty cheap, how much is involved in replacing those? I think I can already tell that a repair manual will be a good investment for this thing lol @Dowser - Yep, I'm the guy. Lol the ashtray is still full of his business cards haha. I've already got a few buds hounding me to hurry up and get this thing finished, we already managed to get an '84 Chevy pretty stuck... and then the Ford Ranger that was supposed to pull him out wouldn't start... so now nobody's going back out until I've got the pathfinder around to bail them out XD. Going out with some seasoned wheelers would be a great experience too, so I'll have to check out that TNTGP group sometime too and yes, you'll be the first one I call errr message IF I ever part it out. You may not have to wait tooo too terribly long, it's got a crap load of rust, and I bought this thing so I'd have something to beat on instead of wrecking all the new cars I buy, I'm hoping it lasts longer than the R50 did XD

ha, I'm not sure about ALL of us, but the majority of the people I hang out with are all a bit unstable lol anyyy way, timing belt is coming along, just waiting for some parts to come in from Nissan. soon as I started loosening up the timing cover, coolant starting dripping out, its pretty nasty in there- looks to be coming from the pump so I'm going to replace the pump seals for sure. Should I replace the water pump itself since I'm taking it out? And how hard is the oil pump to get at on these motors? Both pumps still work, I'm just wondering what all I can replace while I have it all apart O.O

oh noes, what have I done? XD

i look forward to seeing what this thing can do I'll post pictures of my progress guess I'll find out tomorrow, but it would be wicked awesome if all the valves are good if not - well I've already taken the liberty of locating a wrecked '95 Pathy with a VG30E at the local scrap yard with the motor intact if i need parts

haha thanks. She ain't pretty that's for sure -- it's going to be nice out this weekend here so I'm hoping to get that timing belt done and hit the trails I dooooo miss that R50 though XD

304000km on my '92 there was 198000km on the R50 before it died... the good die young XD

OH and the '92 pathy has a yellow stripe now I'll get more pics of how it looks now- sometime this week but here it is on the way to the shop can you spot the R50? ;P

haha thanks Pezzy the R50 had a good life ..well... for the most part it died an honorable death anyway xD I miss that pathy at work, diagnosing the dreaded check engine light this is where I kept her patched up Staff parking after just 2 hours of snowfall (deeper on the other side) *sigh* ... I pulled alot of people out of that parking lot lol packed rims back on the pavement after playing in the snow wish I had some pics of it in the snow, couldn't stop, had to keep up the momentum mud tires in deep snow really aren't that great XD lol

Hi there I recently just picked up a '92 XE 4x4 with a 5spd manual for $700 lots of tasty mods, but has a snapped timing belt. There's 304000 km on the odo and not a single leak ANYWHERE. Some rust in the usual spots- frame's still good though. I didn't buy this truck to be a show truck so im not overly worried about it. I've been made aware that these are interference motors, so I'm well prepared that I may need to replace some valves. This pathfinder in particular rolled with the Northern Alberta 4WD Association for quite a while, so the previous owner had kept up all the maintenance[front end work when required, a full motor and trans rebuild 3 years ago -- showed receipts ] Abused most of it's life, I'm hoping to get a couple more years out of it with proper maintenance while hitting the trails. I've been out of a 4x4 since last spring ever since the death of my R50 pathy (a beautiful gold, fully loaded 2000 SE 4x4 with 5 spd) so now im looking forward to finally being able to hit the trails again after a little TLC