Towncivilian

Back in 2003 or 2004, the driver door of my Pathfinder was hit by some red pickup truck. Of course, I was only like... 11 or 12 or something at that point, so I don't remember the specifics. The insurance company covered it and replaced the driver door with a supposed new one. However, there is a dent at the lower corner where it strikes the door switch: There was a rubber bumper there, but I removed it along with the door switch. The misaligned rubber bumper caused damage to the door switch cover and eventually obliterated the door switch, leading to much annoyance. I'm guessing my only option is to use some Bondo to get this thing smooth, and glue the rubber bumper back on and hope it's good enough for the door switch? Of course I'm probably not going to bother painting it or anything, I just want the f'in door switch to work. I've never used Bondo but I'm sure I can find a friend who has. Another thing: my driver door has become misaligned. It's a noticeable drop and when I close the door, I can see and feel the door shifting upwards to close properly. I'm assuming the door hinges are failing or something. Would this guide apply to my R50?

Looking through the 2004 owner's manual quickly, I see nothing about a rear glass hatch switch for opening it from inside the cabin. I did notice that there's a coinbox and ashtray that fill the hole where the 4WD switch would be, and the useless rectangular hole under the stereo (respectively). I found them, but at $55 for an ashtray for a 2001... ehh... I'll pass. The coinbox probably wouldn't fit unless I got a 2004 cluster trim piece. It's also $30. But I digress. EDIT: Found it: And to open the glass hatch using the key, you turn the key 90 degrees toward the passenger side, not driver side as I said earlier.

My R50 doesn't have any stinkin' button to open the glass hatch. I've heard of such a thing but never seen it. Anybody got a pic?

Turn it all the way towards the driver's side, 90 degrees. If that doesn't work, the lock rod inside the door is probably not connected or missing.

Eh, personally I would avoid long-term use of Lucas Oil Stabilizer. It's basically some thick gear oil, and just thickens your oil up a grade. It usually masks problems, not fixes them. If you do benefit from a thicker oil, use a thicker oil instead of using Lucas. And what a terrible name they picked. Stabilize definition: to make or hold stable, firm, or steadfast. I certainly don't want my oil to be "stable", I want it flowing.

I don't recall seeing one of these threads, and since we've got "What did you do to your Pathfinder today?", a "what's on your to-do list" seems like a nice companion. Anyway, I've got: Install auxiliary transmission cooler and an in-line Magnefine filter Paint new bumper and driver side quarter panel (see pic) Fix rust on new tailgate door, and move it down a bit so it's more flush Put threadlocker on power valve screws Fix this dent on my driver door somehow so it stops obliterating the door switch I could probably get all that done in one weekend, it's not a whole lot... but I still need to get the paint & clear coat for the bumper and panel, and get some replacement bolts/nuts for my upper intake manifold since they are stripped before I can those done. I'm also probably missing a few minor things for the list since I don't write these things down, it's just a mental list. What's on your list?

If the vehicle is specified to run on regular (87 octane) fuel, using any higher octane will not result any benefit (the engine can't advance timing any further) and may even cause some issues as the higher octanes are harder to burn. It'll only waste money.

Nah, mine had nothing in it but a bunch of nasty dust caked on the fins. I was hoping there would be some sort of debris in the cage causing some ticking.

See BT-5 and 6 for a rough idea.

I don't know. I read on BITOG that some use it twice a year and it seems to work well for them, but like I said, get some dielectric grease or something so the smell isn't bad. The interior doesn't smell at all, until someone opens a door then it smells for a little bit. For the trunk weather stripping I sprayed through the various holes, but ehh... not sure yet whether it'll do anything useful. This is probably the first time the weather stripping has ever been sprayed with some sort of protectant. I also got lazy and didn't spray all of the weather stripping, and I also thought spraying everything would cause the smell to be worse. Be careful of your choice of spray silicone as some can eat through plastic, etc. CRC Heavy Duty Silicone Spray seems to be ok. If you're unsure, spray some in a Styrofoam cup; if it eats through it, don't use it. I also need to lube my window tracks. I'll probably use the rest of the silicone spray can for that soon, and then switch to something else for the weather stripping.

Vacuumed the interior. Also sprayed some silicone on the weather stripping since it was starting to stick when left in the sun for hours. I'll be using some dielectric grease instead next time, and rubbing it in lightly. Better than having a bunch of nasty smelling silicone spray everywhere.

I went to the dealer and asked the service adviser what he thought about my pedal travel. He drove it around the block with myself as passenger. He said the pedal seemed fine, and so did the parking brake. He said that I shouldn't need to adjust the rear drums and that Pathfinders never really had a high brake pedal, even when new. He also commented that it's running great for 123.6k miles and also commended me on the cleanliness. What do you guys think about my brake pedal situation? Should I still try to adjust them or get them adjusted at some shop (I can't imagine it'd cost a ton)?

Well, okay. I knew they were self-adjusting (with every pedal press, claims the owner's manual). I just adjusted the parking brake, instructions were quite vague, so I just raised the lever a few notches to access the adjusting nut, loosened it a bunch, lowered then raised the lever 5 notches, and tightened the nut until I got 8 notches out of the lever with a lot of force applied (both my hands, in this case). Parking brake still holds the vehicle and is disengaged properly, and the "BRAKE" indicator lamp turns on with less than one notch and turns off correctly. Brake pedal still has some travel, but I wasn't expecting any change. I did find this thread which has a bunch of other Pathfinder owners saying that their R50 pedals are also rather soft. Maybe it's meant to be this way? I'll ask the service adviser at the local dealer what he thinks about my pedal travel.

I'm still not seeing it - BR-32 is for the ABS system. I must be blind or something. But I'll go take a look to see if I can find an adjuster on the vehicle now.

So just look for some slot in the drums to adjust the shoes?

No, with the engine off the pedal is rock hard (after remaining vacuum is depleted after a few pedal presses of course). How do I adjust the rear drums? Do I follow BR-31? That's what the FSM suggests to do on BR-28.

A few hours ago I flushed the brake fluid with the help of a couple friends. Old fluid was really dark, looked like apple juice. Was probably the factory fill, in use for 123,546 miles. Brake pedal is not as squishy, but still has quite a bit of travel (have to push it till about half way before I get any significant braking), is that normal? I'll probably be needing new brake pads by the end of the year.

Picked it up from Nissan (new seatbelts FTW), and cleaned the blower motor and quieted its ticking.

Several weeks ago I came across this TSB which states that if light ticking is heard at lower fan settings (1 and 2) for 1996-2001 Pathfinders, a blower motor cover is available to dampen this ticking to acceptable level, or reduce it completely. I acquired this cover for $11.42 after tax at my local dealership (wholesale price; dealer marked-up price was $20something). Tonight I cleaned the blower motor, its housing, and installed the cover. Here are some pictures of the process: Blower motor cover: Blower motor housing, before: Clean housing: The red stuff looks and feels like rust. I guess that's from 10 years worth of Florida's humidity and moisture. Next was to clean the blower motor: Since there are so many fins, cleaning each and every one thoroughly would be an extremely time consuming process. I decided to run the fins under the sink, spinning the cage with my fingers quickly to remove most of the crud. I then used Q-tips to get most of the remaining crud off: I also detached the small tube, rinsed it under water and ran a paper towel through it to grab more crud and dry it: After drying the cage thoroughly and reattaching the tube, I cleaned the blower motor's bracket per the TSB's instructions to ensure proper adhesion of the new blower motor cover. I then screwed it back into its cage and installed the cover. The fit of the external plastic isn't perfect, but this cover applies to several different Nissan vehicles. The actual sound-deadening foam inside of the cover adhered well. I reconnected the blower motor's wiring harness and turned it on to test. The ticking was still audible when my ear was right next to the motor in the footwell, and is completely inaudible when sitting in the passenger seat and driver seat in a silent garage with no other noise. Here's a brief video comparison of before and after: Before: I kept the camera close to the motor just to ensure the ticking was heard as an example. Be assured that the ticking was definitely audible when in the driver's seat as well. After: Like I said, if your feet have ears, you'll hear the ticking, but if you're in the driver or passenger seat, it's inaudible. For a total cost of $11.42, it's quite an effective fix. The ticking always annoyed me, but if you don't mind it you probably shouldn't bother wasting your money. I do, however, suggest cleaning the blower motor and its housing as mine was filthy. I don't know about you, but I sure don't want to be breathing in that crap that drained down my sink... I had to remove a few pics due to forum limitations, but they were just some additional pictures of the dirty wet wipe I used to wipe down the blower motor housing with for emphasis, and a couple additional shots of the clean blower motor cage. If you'd like to see them anyway, you can read this same thread I cross-posted on NICOclub.

Damn right, the service adviser even said that the D-ring kit never helped *any* seatbelt they've used it on. I did not notice one iota of improvement after cleaning. They only had to do it to get the warranty claim. Luckily they did it for free this time around. Previously one of the service advisers said it'd cost $90 to do the cleaning. Dunno why he changed his mind, I guess since I'm a frequent customer. Forgot to mention that both of my new front seatbelts were manufactured in 2010 by the same company that manufactured the originals. Rear seats are still functioning fine, mfg. date for those is 2000.

Great to hear! Just make sure you properly ground it using a ring terminal and a screw instead of relying on some electrical tape.

Got seatbelt assemblies replaced today. They retract perfectly now, and even pulling them out to buckle is smooth as silk. The dealer had to try the D-ring cleaning kit first, but the charge for that was waived. It didn't help at all, so the service adviser ordered the seatbelt assemblies. One arrived on Monday, the other today. It took them two hours to replace both seatbelts. I noticed that on the invoice I signed the total charge would be something like $652, but luckily warranty kicked in.

The viscocity of a 15w-40 dino and synthetic will be close at 100C. If syn was significantly thinner vs. the same grade dino, it would be rated differently, wouldn't you think? Thinner oil is always preferable during cold starts.

Why?