feyded

'Special conditioners' to help keep your seals from drying out or failing prematurely. I ran High Mileage once in my F-150, didnt notice it do anything special so I went back to regular Amsoil. Results may vary though, I certainly dont have the testing to verify its snake oil by any means.

I thought I did, but after reading how to do it in the 'How To' section here, its different than my haynes was saying. Ill try what NPORA says and see where that goes.

Well I found my problem, it was quite simple, yet I didnt realize it till I started chasing the harness back to where it connects near the AB valve and the dizzy. The harness connecting to the sensor had exposed wires connecting into the plug that connects to the truck harness. They were touching, and one was not even attached. I fixed it with rewiring it and bypassing the plug all together cause it eventually just fell off. Truck runs great now, I drove it around, but now the oil light sometimes comes on, I have plenty of power, but Im not too sure if the plug is staying connected down at the sensor(what a crap tastic design, not sure what to look for on courtesyparts.com to find that harness though so I can find a name to order it when I call factorynissanparts.com). It idles fine, and temperature is good as well, I was driving it though not having a single problem and I pulled in to a driveway to turn around(the owner was standing outside) and I go to reverse and the light pops on, so I killed it(the owner walked up to me and was telling me how much he loves these trucks and wishes he never got rid of his, but his daughters son drives it now with over 400k miles all original. Then he went on to say how reliable they are as I was having issues with mine ). So now Im wondering if the sensor is popping in and out while Im driving because of the vibration of the engine, as Im still getting the code 13 from the ECU. To be honest though, Im so incredibly impressed by how simple these things are designed, yet runs like a tank. Thanks again everyone for pointing me the right direction.

Yeh thats before I cleaned em, but Ill have to test em tomorrow and make sure everything is still good, Im still getting code 13, so Im REALLY hoping this is my problem, cause she runs great at startup, then after a few minutes, she starts actin up. Fingers crossed for tomorrow! Also my temp gauge is now reading further than the first line, so something was working properly(probably the thermostat I almost gave up on installing).

Well I worked on it some today, and swapped the thermostat out(which was SOOO ANNOYING!), as well as checked that sensor. The plug is broken on the wire, like the little thing that clips onto the sensor. I figured that was the problem since it was pretty much hanging off of the sensor, well I fixed it best I could, and then put it all back together, and the same thing happened, and Im still throwing the code. Tomorrow Im going to swap the sensor out after I ohm em out, as well as the wires. Heat shrinked the plug and sensor(didnt have my multimeter until after it was all put together ) as well as coated them in dieletric grease.

Well I was looking on courtesyparts.com and I managed to find a water temperature sensor for the truck, it is like you said, it has a plug. My problem is, the haynes manual does not list where that goes.. unless its down by the thermostat.. That has me wondering, I need to see if I can make the ECU throw the code again if I didnt replace the right thing, the truck would sound like it had trouble going back to idle(sounded like it almost would die) after I gave it some gas though, then it recovered.

Hmm, I just changed the one with the spade, I guess that wouldnt be what the code was calling out was it? Guess Ill need to look at this more when I get home.

Im not sure what ya mean by the temp sensor for the gauge, Im looking through my book and not seeing anything extra, unless Im skimming over it.

Yeh I had to come in and get ready for work and update my progress and see if nayone else had any input(LOVE how helpful this place is). Ill be swapping it tomorrow morning and see where that gets me. I'm getting antsy, It feels like Im getting closer to being able to drive her again! Once again everyone, thanks thanks thanks.

I let the truck idle for a good 15-20 mins, and I could touch the top radiator hose(for a few seconds), AND there wasnt any pressure I could feel from it. Also I had the radiator cap off, the fluid never started to stream through the radiator, it just sat. The white smoke isnt there at all Ive noticed, its just on start up like 5523Pathfinder was saying, I'd apparently notice the billowing white smoke if it was a head gasket blown that way.

So I changed the temp sensor(since I had already bought it) and most of my problems went away, except for one. The engine never warms up.. the needle moves from the C and sits on literally the first line(there are only 3 lines for the gauge). My next guess now is the thermostat is shot now.. I just hope that I didnt blow a gasket or make it worse since it seems like it just overheated. The coolant in the radiator never started running like a stream, as a matter of fact it rose at random times, without me touching the accelerator. My next guess is to swap the thermostat and then fill it with water and see where it goes from there.. I called around, and does anyone think the 'Fail safe' thermostat's are worth the extra money? 5523Pathfinder, I cant get the vehicle anywhere to test for that, unless there is another way.. I live 30ish miles out of town. Thanks again everyone for all the help.

What you listed is kind of what I was figuring, Ill probably check the plugs when I tear it apart to make sure they are good. Someone also told me another way to see if there is back pressure in the cooling system from the exhaust without taking off the radiator cap; if you check your overflow apparently if it is bubbling then there is back pressure. Ive checked my fluids and neither of which are discolored, also the smoke is just during startup, so Im guessing my gasket leak is leaking exhaust into the cooling system. Also, 'cylinder head temp sensor' is the engine temp sensor correct?

Awesome, you guys are great at troubleshooting things that arent in front of ya, Im going to replace the sensor tomorrow and see how it goes.. Any input on IF the head gasket might be shot(based on what I said), guess it makes sense to start small first(found that out on my F-150), I just figured everything was pointing toward that being the problem.

I wonder if that is it, if it was wouldnt the ECU have thrown that code though?