pathfounder

All at once, in any order.

I don't see any of these modifications being worth your time. If they make them for your engine, long-tube headers might be a good start, but fancy air filters and whatnot are going to do very little. The throttle body is heated to prevent what is basically "carb icing" and because warm air atomizes with the fuel better. For mileage, you want this.

If your mileage takes a noticeable dive with outside temperature, then the thermostat may be to blame. I still say though: these are old SUVs and they will never be good on gas. However, I just bought an Accord for $2500, and I figured out that it will take roughly 40,000km for it to have paid for itself in better mileage compared to my Pathfinder (numbers used were my own recorded averages).

This didn't make sense to me at first, but I get it now. The hooks being on the strap itself mean that they become projectiles if there's any failure. A recovery strap has loops at the end, which are obviously pretty harmless. Guess it's time to shop for a recovery strap.

No argument. I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't think so. Crossovers, on the other hand...

I'm probably on my own here, but Nissan, and indeed all auto makers use heat shields for a reason. They lower under hood temperatures. They keep the paint on the hood from breaking down and eventually coming off. They prevent local overheating of the cylinder heads. They lengthen the life of nearby hoses and wiring. If they are rattling, stop the rattling. It makes sense that the rattling would be moreso in drive than park, because the engine is loaded, which changes the harmonics. 1500-1800 RPM makes a lot of sense; that is the RPM range where most V6s of this size have a resonance from their inherent imbalance.

The R50 Pathfinder is just not that good of a choice as a 4x4 beyond a couple inches of lift and slightly bigger tires.

Cast aluminum timing cover: VQ35. Sheetmetal timing cover: VG33.

I'll save you some time.

The timing belt cover is supposed to be more-or-less sealed, but I noticed on mine that there is a small drain pathway at the bottom of it. In my case, it is permitting oil from the main seal to leak out and down instead of staying inside the belt area and ruining the belt. If things can get out this way, then I'm sure that they can get in, too.

I often wonder about "lifetime" timing chains. Sure, the chain might last a long, long time, but what about the plastic guides? To me, it wreaks of "we don't feel like making this serviceable, and the vehicle will be out of warranty long before it matters".

Taking your foot off of the gas in a manual transmission will make enough of a braking effect for the back end to come out. Same goes for downshifting without rev-matching. The best thing to do is steer and then slow the hell down after you've hopefully saved it.

Yeah I wasn't paying attention, looks more like a Blazer or similarly sized SUV Edit: Nissan Navara I guess

I was going to type out a big editorial, but I guess I won't. RIP F150 driver...

I think the flares look better on than off, and that small wheels in big wells can't be helped.

JamesRich makes a good point. You may need the driveshaft shortened ($150).

The clamp is there. You can repair some types of plastic by using a chemical (Dichloromethane) that melts it. Later, it will harden and solidify. I would suggest NOT wasting time with epoxy or plastic steel.

With the truck level, fill the diffs up until you can't get more in without it leaking back out. Whatever amount that ends up being is the amount you needed. I think my rear diff took two bottles and a bit into the third (a bottle being 1qt or so).

The knocking sound is definitely something unrelated. What I was noticing does sound like bearings, like the sound you hear with a worn transmission or something. It's very hard to tell though.

The pinion has a bearing right up front, a bit behind the dust cover. I can't really tell by the video, but I think I hear bearings. If it's the worst in first and gets better with each up shift, then that may mean it is torque related, which makes some sense. The torque in the drive shaft is over 750 ft-lb in first gear. Diffs are replaceable. I have one kicking around.

It's actually possible for the ignition system to cause vibrations, which would be worse under load. The RPM test 5523Pathfinder suggested would help with this, but hold the same vehicle speed and change gears (so the opposite basically). If the vibration changes, it's a problem with the engine, possibly ignition. I chased a problem like this and it turned out to be a bad distributor cap. It obviously doesn't apply to the VQ, but there could be a similar problem.

Blowing up rads sounds like an 'issue' to me...

No, but a tire with a broken belt sure could. Switch the fronts with the rears to see if anything changes.

If you can hear anything when it's up on stands, then a stethoscope will definitely find it! You'll hear basically the same sound when you touch it to the source component, and it will be very clear. I once thought that I had a loose rocker arm on a car, and it ended up being that the exhaust manifold was loose. 30 seconds with a stethoscope located the sound and another 30 seconds to tighten two bolts, and the problem was solved.

Overheating usually causes irreversible damage, even if the engine seems ok afterwards. I took apart a small block Chevy that had overheated more than once and there were a ton of things wrong with it: intake gaskets melted to the heads, mushroomed lifters, mushroomed valve stems, and a few other things that I can't remember. Similar story with an old Supra engine I looked at. Basically, if your engine has overheated badly, and more than once, be glad you got this far, and try to find a replacement.