Towncivilian

Yeah, I did something similar using some sort of lock ring pliers I lent from a shop, but from what I've been told that won't be sufficient and it'll eventually loosen by itself. The tool is required to properly set the bearing preload, so I need to obtain one soon and set it correctly on both my front wheels soon. There's no O'Reilley parts stores around here, and AAP/AZ/NAPA don't list it on their website, and Carquest's website blows. Any other source except Summit Racing online?

Magnefines have been tested by Ford and they restrict flow only negligibly. They were even tested backwards. Ford issued the Magnefine their own part number and used it as standard equipment after a remanufacture/rebuild of a transmission. The bypass valve in the Magnefine prevents a clogged filter from stopping flow. Magnefine filters contain filtering media in the range of 35 microns, as well as a powerful donut magnet to catch all ferrous wear material, leading to a slightly higher efficiency than 35 microns ultimately. Just install a Magnefine (I'm not so sure of the construction of the other "clones") and sleep well at night. You're overthinking this. EDIT: Even your typical "fine filtering" full-flow oil filter, such as a Purolator PureONE with its 99.9% efficiency at 20 microns (for all except the four smallest filters; PL14610, PL14612 and their SAE-threaded equivalents are rated at 99.9% at 40 microns; this filter is spec'd for many Nissan vehicles, but I'm not sure about the WD21s), flows quite well. See this thread.

This thing is a unicorn, I can't find one anywhere. Does anybody know which common 4-prong one will work with our wheel bearing lock nuts after grinding two of the prongs off?

MCCC doesn't have PEA in it as far as I know, PEA is only used in fuel system cleaners. I've never heard of anybody sucking MCCC through a vacuum line, I don't think that's how it's supposed to be done. I believe you spray the entire can into the intake with the engine running - obviously gradually as to not stall the engine. A B&M 70268 trans cooler will fit in front of the A/C condenser without any modification to the bumper; I believe anything thicker than 3/4" (which is the thickness of the 70268) won't fit. The 70268 is rated at 19k GVW (10k BTU).

I live in Florida and still got inspected. There is a separate recall bulletin (R1108; this PDF is R1107, which is what you must be referring to) for non-salt states that involve an inspection without preventative undercoating, but if significant rust is found the repairs are still performed as per R1107 TSB. Give your dealer a call.

My buddy and I replaced the front passenger rotor, pads, and regreased the inner and outer wheel bearings today. It went a lot more smoothly and we were done in about 2 hours from start to clean-up. We had a bit of trouble removing the rotor/hub from the knuckle or spindle or whatever it's called, and trouble putting it back but other than that things went without a hitch. I also adjusted my cruise wire, since I had forgotten to do so when I adjusted my accelerator wire.

Mopar Combustion Chamber Cleaner, Amsoil Power Foam, hell even plain water will be just as effective if not more so than Seafoam for top-end cleaning. The first two are sprayed into the throttle chamber with the engine running (follow the instructions on the can) and water is carefully ingested via a vacuum line. Several short oil change intervals (3000 miles or so) of an oil marketed for its cleaning properties such as Pennzoil Yellow Bottle will help clean up any sludge/deposits gently. To clean the fuel system, use any PEA containing cleaner that I mentioned in my previous reply. I don't know much about EGR or other emissions systems, so I don't know what to advise to solve your CEL, sorry.

The rust recall affects all 1996-2004 Pathfinders / QX4s in the United States. Your dealer will perform a free inspection and repair if necessary. I'm not sure whether SC will get a free undercoating or not.

75W-90 will be fine, it's still within the range of a 90 grade gear oil at operating temperature. Being a 75W and synthetic, it'll be thinner at cold startups which is preferable.

D'oh, I should do that next time I replace my rotors or regrease my bearings instead of using some lock ring pliers to attempt to preload the bearing properly.

I don't think there is a point to paying through the nose for boutique oils for anything short of 15k oil change intervals. If you are stuck in the mindset of changing every 3k or so, stick with conventional oils. Otherwise, any name-brand synthetic will do fine for 7.5k mile OCIs; any longer and you would need used oil analysis. The question between conventional vs. synthetic oils is not which one is "better" - it's about which one lasts longer in relation to cost. You should consider your change interval, operating conditions, and then choose the oil, not the other way around! As for oil filters, Wix/NAPA Gold, Purolator, Bosch, Fram (XtendedGuard only, the lower tier ones have horrible construction) are all excellent choices. Of course the Royal Purple, Mobil 1, K&N (which is just an M1 filter w/ nut welded on bottom), Royal Purple, etc are all good choices for extended drains, but there's no need to spend the extra money for those unless you plan on using the same filter for 2 or more OCIs (which is viable; if your engine sheds enough crud to clog a filter in one OCI you have bigger problems) or extended drain intervals. Don't bother using Seafoam, all it is is: 40 - 60% pale oil as a carrier and light lubricant 25 - 35% naptha, a solvent 10 - 20% IPA (isopropyl alcohol) - a solvent and octane booster when used in the gas, which is why some claim a performance increase when using Seafoam, until the next tank without the added IPA! The white plume of smoke generated by Seafoam when ingested via a vacuum line is the pale oil burning up. Carbon generates brown smoke when burning, which is why you sometimes see clouds of brown smoke emanating from other vehicles on a highway on-ramp during high load for example; if one drives like a grandma, faster carbon build up can result and a high load can purge some build up. Pale oil also coats the catalytic converter and oxygen sensors, which can impact the sensor's ability to sense and the catalytic converter's, well, catalysing ability. For fuel system cleaning, use a fuel system cleaner containing polyether amines, which is proven to clean deposits without leaving behind its own residue (SAE paper detailing PEA). Products which are known to contain PEA are Chevron Techron, Gumout Regane, and Redline SI-1. Engine oil blenders spend millions of dollars in research and development to generate a formulation of oil that is designed to meet API requirements and to do the best job lubricating and protecting your engine. Why throw in some harsh solvent such as Seafoam or other snake oil to upset that formulation? If you keep up with oil changes, you should not have any sludge to worry about in the crankcase, and do not require Seafoam or any oil additives for that matter.

Yeah, your seatbelts have a lifetime warranty so they will replace the slow retracting seatbelts. Read this thread.

In that case, I'm not sure what it'll do to the alignment. I've read that KYB strut mounts/bearings are to be avoided. Make sure you torque everything properly - see SU-9. Some nuts are supposed to be replaced according to the FSM as well, but if they're in good shape I wouldn't bother.

Strut plate? Do you mean strut mount or bearing? I'm not intimately familiar with R50's suspension setups (not sure there's something like a "strut plate") and I only got 4 hours of sleep, excuse my potential ignorance.

I don't think a throttle body could impact MPG that much, unless it's like an inch layer of carbon or something. How will you be cleaning the injectors? Replace the PCV valve too, it's real easy - guide on NICO as well. A malfunctioning PCV system can cause oil consumption, and the OEM part is like $15 so it's "cheap insurance". A PCV catch can install is also a wise idea to condense blow-by vapors to avoid oil potentially pooling up in the intake manifold and leaving deposits on the throttle body and the rest of the manifold. The blow-by vapors slow down and condense in the container and eventually must be dumped when the catch can becomes full, which is the only downside to a PCV catch can set up (constant maintenance). Some people use an in-line air tool filter. NICO also has a guide for installing a catch can on a Maxima, but the basic concept is the same for almost every vehicle with PCV. See the guide here.

There is a how-to on NICO here. I don't believe replacing the fuel filter will help fuel economy any, but either way it's a wise idea to replace it.

You're quite welcome. If you don't know the last time the fuel filter was changed, replace it. A partially restricted or clogged fuel filter can impact the ability to reach higher RPMs and potentially cause more strain on the fuel pump. Use a NAPA Gold 3023 (it's a Wix rebrand), it's about $14 (but there might be a sale, 40% off NAPA Gold filters starting March 4th, so maybe wait). See page MA-16 of the factory service manual for instructions. If you haven't yet, download the entire factory service manual - it's an invaluable resource. To save a copy of the FSM, right click -> Save As on every PDF, save them into a single folder, then use fwd.pdf to navigate.

I don't believe I have a picture of the hose itself currently. This is the best I can provide right now:

Well, I guess I'm biased since I moderate the Pathfinder / QX4 section on NICO, but I pretty much stay out of the general chat and try to help in other subforums when I can, too. I took a look at the thread you posted. I think the reasoning for not needing a mobile app is sound - browsing that forum on say, an iPhone or even my ancient T-Mobile G1 Android phone from 2008 is quite tolerable, and I don't think their replies were out of line in terms of harshness, but I digress at this point. I'd still suggest you take a look at the thread I linked even if you plan on never visiting NICO again, it really has a lot of information about R50 Pathfinders specifically that you'll likely find useful.

You've indeed posted on NICO, but you didn't post anything about this specific subject (general maintenance/upgrades etc) yet. Perhaps your connection burped while you were trying to submit the topic? Welcome to NPORA, by the way.

Make sure you get it checked out by the dealer for the recent rust recall if you haven't yet - read here. You should change out all of the fluids, preferably with synthetic all around. Read this thread on NICOclub forums for a lot of general information - it'll be quicker than me attempting to paraphrase it all.

And you can pinch the lines to have even less fluid leak out. Synthetic fluid in the diffs will probably provide a small gain in MPG, maybe noticeable (but this is difficult due to all the variables). I'd still recommend it either way. The spark plugs aren't due per the FSM at 80k, but replace them anyway. No harm in doing so, and it might help your MPG situation. Don't forget to grease your driveshafts occasionally, too. Your 2004 wants plain NLGI #2 grease, it doesn't necessarily need to contain moly (strangely grease w/ moly was recommended up until 2003, when the recommendation changed for some reason). That probably won't help MPG any, but it's a good idea anyway.

I replaced my driver's side front brake pads, rotors, and regreased the outer and inner wheel bearings. I only did the driver's side because my buddy and I had to run a bunch of damned errands and get some extra things we were missing (grease, sil-glyde, ... some other crap I forgot), so we ended up starting at like 2PM. We ran into a stuck caliper bracket bolt which was removed with a cheater bar extension, then had trouble removing the inner bearing grease seal so we had to run out to some shop to have them spend 2 minutes to pull the damn seal for us, then we had difficulty torquing the bolts that secure the hub to the rotor (the rotor kept, well, rotating - we were torquing them with the rotor on the ground; any hints to make this easier?) but eventually got them to 40 ft/lbs each which is within spec... I'm probably missing some intermediate stupidity that caused more delays, but I'm tired as hell. Thankfully nothing seems wrong and my wheel didn't fall off on the way home. We'll do the passenger side on Wednesday and I'm sure it'll go much more smoothly. I'll probably have a shop check the driver's side out just to ensure we didn't miss anything obvious in the morning - you can never be too sure!

http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=999

I washed mine too. Tomorrow I'll be replacing the front brake pads and rotors, and maybe the rear shoes and hardware (springs, etc) if there's time.