Towncivilian

Heavy Duty Engine Oils like Shell Rotella, Mobil Delvac, etc have high ZDDP content. Just make sure they are API rated and you can run them in a gasoline engine without issue. They are also very high in detergents and will clean things up quickly. See a virgin oil analysis of some Rotella T 15W-40 - 1190ppm of zinc.

Cats have a federally mandated 8yr/80k mile warranty. Do you have more than 80k miles? If so, you're out of luck. If you have fewer than 80k, go to your Nissan dealer and show them the warranty booklet and ask for the cats to be replaced (you may need to pay for a diagnostic first however; don't know if that fee would be reimbursed if your cats end up getting replaced).

I'm having trouble routing my hoses in a way that I can put the stock undercover back on. I don't have any pictures of my current setup but I moved the in-line trans filter into the front bumper cover so it's out of the way of everything and now just have hoses to deal with. I installed the cooler on the passenger side in front of the radiator and ran them under the washer fluid reservoir and can't seem to get the hoses to not be in the way of the "mountain" part on the side of the undercover. Any hints?

What's the OEM rating for CCA? More is not always better - read this entire thread. Change the in-cabin air filter behind the glove box or install one if none is present, it's an oft-forgotten item. Also brake fluid of course, and don't forget to grease your driveshaft.

Check the vacuum hose for the swirl valve actuator, it may clogged with carbon or something.

If you need a MAF, use this part. Identical to VQ35DE on Pathfinder's MAF and way cheaper.

Every Mobil 1 variant is synthetic. Looking at oil color is a rather lousy way of determining oil's health/condition. If it's dark, it's probably cleaning a bunch of crud out of the engine, and it doesn't mean its additives are used up just yet. Basically, if in doubt, change it out. Even if you waste a little money by changing it early, it's much better than changing it too late.

D'oh, by turning the hose 180 degrees I realized I made the flow backwards for the in-line Magnefine trans filter, so I had to swap that 180 degrees as well. Pain in the ass. And the engine undercover still doesn't fit because the hoses are in the way, need to find a better way to route them... and I got all the other @!*% done I mentioned in the previous post.

The grease fitting rotates with the driveshaft so you may need to move the vehicle a few feet to get it pointing at an angle where you can grease it. I've only had one instance where it was facing upwards and was ungreaseable in that position so far, I guess I'm lucky.

I just swapped the transmission cooler return hose 180 degrees to reposition the in-line Magnefine transmission into the front bumper cover so it doesn't interfere with the stock engine undercover. But it still doesn't fit, the stock cooler outlet hose is in the way now. I'll fix that tomorrow. I also sanded and sprayed my rear bumper... hopefully the paint will come out more even this time. Why did I start this at 2 am? Because I can't &^%*ing sleep. Oh, I also smashed a giant bug in my garage: I think the paint fumes and brake cleaner are getting to me... heh, this is my post #420. Tomorrow I need to get the stock undercover to fit, top up the ATF since I leaked some swapping the hose, replace a clamp on the intake tube, recycle a bunch of oil/other fluid, recycle a laptop battery, ship out a rear wiper motor and some lights... sounds like fun. Problem is I won't be able to get up (or at least wouldn't want to get up) until like 1 pm since I can't sleep until 5 anymore.

I would get a used oil analysis at your typical change interval (5-6k) and if wear and TBN (active additive left) still look OK, you can extend your interval. Of course, a UOA is around $25, so it may not be worth it for you since you can almost buy 5qt of M1 with that $25. I don't know how easy the VG33 is on oil, but I've read the VQ35DE shears oil out of grade rather quickly, which is why I choose a thicker oil (M1 HM 10W-40). If you're going to use M1, use M1 HM 5W-30 since it's the same price and has a somewhat more robust additive pack (likely has more detergents since it's deemed "high mileage"). I change my fuel filter yearly as well, but I'm thinking that's a waste. I'll go 2 years this time. I'm currently using a NAPA Gold 3023 (which is a Wix 33023); next fuel filter will be Nissan OEM, and I'll cut open both and compare amount of filtering media. Although maybe 2 years is too long for my intentions, could just swap it at 1 year again just to compare them earlier.

We've got a lengthy discussion thread about it here already.

My parents leased my 2001.5 new, no idea how much monthly but we ended up buying it, I think we paid $17k after the lease was up... I'll confirm that number soon as well as list the factory options.

Be aware that Dexron II (anything below VI, really) is no longer licensed and thus you don't really know what you're getting in that Dexron II bottle. Dexron VI, while thin, is compatible with most transmissions that spec any of the previous Dexrons. Dexron VI must be a full synthetic if I remember correctly, and it starts out at a lower viscosity; do not be alarmed, since most earlier mineral-based fluids would shear quickly to Dex VI's starting viscosity anyway. If you would like some more reading material about Dexron VI, see here. I don't think it's a necessity to replace the in-pan filter, especially if you've kept up with drain & fills since the vehicle was new, but if you have any doubt of the transmission's history, then a pan drop to change the filter and clean the pan and magnet of any ferrous build-up (maybe add some more donut magnets if you can find some) never hurts. Like I said the filter is more of a screen, and it probably filters up to 100µ at best. I also suggest using a DOT4 brake fluid - it has somewhat higher wet & dry boiling points than DOT3 and is completely compatible with all DOT3 systems. Any brand will work fine. I'm not sure if your Terrano has an in-cabin air filter. It would be behind the glove box if there is one, so maybe check first. If it indeed the original it's almost guaranteed to be disgusting by now, and making your blower motor less efficient. Perhaps your local dealership will service your differential for $25 if you supply your own fluid - mine did. Call and ask.

Sprayed even more paint on the rear bumper... still has dark spots in places. More paint?? This is getting annoying!

ramdala, you really should replace your coolant, brake, and power steering fluids. The coolant's anti-corrosive inhibitors wear out after a certain amount of time. Brake fluid is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs water from the atmosphere and that can also cause corrosion in the brake lines, and wet fluid has a lower boiling point than "dry" fluid, making brake fade more prone to occuring. Power steering fluid is possibly one of the most neglected fluids in a vehicle, and power steering systems can run quite hot. Heat oxidizes and degrades the fluid. Using a turkey baster or other device to siphon out the reservoir and replace with a synthetic ATF will be extremely beneficial and lower operating temperature by quite a bit. Do this a few times a day apart and then once every engine oil change and you will be set.

Yeah, the trans probably isn't the end of the world, but the steel oil pan must be removed IIRC. ahardb0dy has a mechanic friend who would do it for $400 + parts but I don't have that kind of money right now, but I'll probably take that route once I do. That seems a hell of a lot more reasonable than Nissan's $1800 (and that's after a 10% discount for misquoting the price; the service adviser thought I had a 3.3L).

Thanks for the recommendation, but Lucas Stop Leak is just 140wt gear oil as far as I know (or was that Lucas Oil Stabilizer?). Either way it's mostly just junk that thickens up the oil to mask problems. My oil is already thick enough. I'd rather try something that claims to help like AT-205.

Yeah, I couldn't sleep until 5 am. Why exactly do you use 5w50 in the summer? The FSM says you can go up to 20W50 if temperature is above 10C for all seasons, but 5w50 would still take longer to get to operating temperature in the summer. I guess you could ask the same question to me as to why I run 10w40 (better additive pack since 10w40 is not as strict as thinner grades for zinc/phosphorus ppm limits I think, and to hopefully slow an RMS leak). 5w30 will protect sufficiently well - after all, think of all the police cars running 5w20 down here in Florida, Texas etc with ridiculous heat and think of the amount of abuse they get. They're perfectly fine.

Huh, strange. I figured they were a national chain. Sorry for insisting on AAP, but their online discount codes are simply irresistible sometimes. Pretty much any name-brand gear lube will do you well as long as it says it's LSD compatible on the bottle, and most are nowadays, especially if they're synthetic. Good luck!

Try using some PB Blaster, spray it on every day for a few days. If that doesn't help, applying heat with a propane torch or something would. Or just see if your local Nissan dealer will do it for the price of an oil change ($25 + disposal fees, tax, etc; ultimately costed $29.29 for me) if you supply your own fluid. Like I said, 3 quarts of Mobil 1 75W-90 online from Advance Auto Parts with code P20 comes out to about $22 after tax if you pick up your order. FWIW I couldn't get either plug loose with a lot of PB Blaster and a 22" breaker bar... I wasn't comfortable with applying heat, and other shops wanted $90 for a diff service until I asked Nissan what they would charge if I brought my own fluid, and $25 was a pleasant surprise!

Here's a new one. What fluids, filters, grease, and change intervals do you run in your Pathfinder? Fluids Engine Oil - Mobil 1 0W-40 API SN Coolant - Genuine Nissan + distilled water ATF - Castrol Import Multi-Vehicle MTF - N/A (automatic) Brake Fluid - Valvoline DOT 3 and 4 Synthetic Brake Fluid (why do they print "Synthetic" on the bottle? all brake fluid is synthetic! Ha, marketing) Power Steering Fluid - Mostly Genuine Nissan PSF, some Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF in there (slowly changing it out with a suction gun of the reservoir every oil change) Front Diff - N/A (2WD) Rear Diff - Valvoline High-Performance 80W-90 Gear Oil (will likely switch to Mobil 1 75W-90 once I hit 150k - $22 for 3qt of quality, easily obtained synthetic gear oil sounds great to me!) Transfer Case - N/A (2WD) [*]Filters Oil Filter - Mobil 1 Extended Performance M1-110 Air Filter - Wix 46116 - cheaper than OEM and double the pleats! See here. In-Cabin Air Filter - Nissan OEM part 999M1-VP003 (but use B7200-00004 if you really want OEM, as the former part # comes with instructions, a new clip, a replacement sticker, and a caution label - all useless, IMO) - read my NAPA Gold vs. OEM filter comparison. I'd say get the NAPA Gold 4863 or others to minimize cost. Fuel Filter - NAPA Gold 3023 (which is a Wix 33023), about $14 (Nissan OEM is also $14 - will switch to OEM in 1-2 years and cut open both filters to compare amount of filtering media) ATF Filter - Beck/Arnley in-pan "filter" and Magnefine in-line filter, and B&M 70268 auxiliary transmission cooler (rated at 13,000 BTU); OEM pan filter next [*]Change intervals Fluids Engine Oil - 3,750 with conventional, 5-6k with synthetic Coolant - every 2 years ATF - drain & fill every 15k MTF - N/A (automatic) Brake Fluid - every 2 years Power Steering Fluid - one siphon & fill of the reservoir every oil change Front Diff - N/A (2WD) Rear Diff - every 2 years Transfer Case - N/A (2WD) [*]Filters Oil Filter - every oil change, of course! Air Filter - don't know, only changed once and that was essentially a random change to the aforementioned Wix filter due to higher pleat count In-Cabin Air Filter - every 1-2 years Fuel Filter - every 1-2 years ATF Filter - whenever I do a pan drop. this filter isn't really a filter, it's more like a rock catcher; even the best in-pan filters don't filter any lower than 80 microns. The Magnefine will be changed every 30k. And I use SuperTech Moly-Lithum Grease for greasing the main driveshaft with 4-5 pumps every oil change or whenever I get bored. Will switch to Valvoline DuraBlend when this tube runs out. My Pathfinder currently has 129k miles on it. Copy & paste this to use the same format list I have:

Your transmission fluid should not be at the full line with the engine off and cold, you need to check it on a flat surface with parking brake engaged after driving for 5 minutes around town once the engine is warmed up, and after selecting every gear starting from P and returning to P. The differential should have a drain and fill plug. The drain plug should be magnetic and will probably have some ferrous material collected on it. I don't know what size the WD21 diff plugs are, but my R50's seemed to be 1/2" drive. Mine were so difficult to get off that I had the local dealer perform the service with my own supplied fluid and new drain & fill plugs for $25 (of course, factoring in the cost of gear oil and new plugs, it totals to around $80). To fill the diff, fill it to the bottom of the fill plug (basically stop once it starts overflowing). 3 quarts of Mobil 1 75w-90 synthetic gear oil is $22ish after discount codes if ordered online from Advance Auto Parts and is a very good fluid. Instructions taken from a '94 FSM, but it should be identical.

I sanded and painted some small rust spots on the "real" steel bumper underneath the rear bumper cover today. Still got a ton more rust behind the driver's side taillight and under the tailgate door to deal with before putting the bumper back on. I got some Krylon Fusion paint, over 9000 times better than the Duplicolor Trim garbage I was using. Sprayed more coats on the bumper, not really even anymore but a few more light coats should fix it right up. With all this paint I don't think it'll be fading any time soon. Bought a couple new 7443 bulbs for the front parking lights too, haven't installed yet.

What does the driver's side window switchpack look like? Do they look like http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa36/Towncivilian/led%20conversion/IMG_0549.jpg (minus white LEDs)? If so, I'll take it.