andrewcconti

I already got my Pathfinder 1988, in case someone is shopping for one I thought I would share this one i found on CL http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/cto/2768585469.html

Yes. My garage (nissan independent) replaced my starter with a factory nissan starter. $350. installed. The truck is running 100% now.

I just heard back from the garage (a reputable Independent Nissan Garage) He checked all connections and the starter solenoid and deemed my Starter Motor DEAD. He suggested replacing it with a Beck and Arnley or a Factory Nissan Starter (the difference in price between the two installed was $50.) so I asked him to go with the factory one and if he can not find a factory part to go with the Beck and Arnley. I hope this spells the end of my starting and running issues with this Truck! With tires I am into it for $3500! It is going to be a $4000. Pathy before I know it. It better last me 4 winters....

I just heard back from the garage (a reputable Independent Nissan Garage) He checked all connections and the starter solenoid and deemed my Starter Motor DEAD. He suggested replacing it with a Beck and Arnley or a Factory Nissan Starter (the difference in price between the two installed was $50.) so I asked him to go with the factory one and if he can not find a factory part to go with the Beck and Arnley. I hope this spells the end of my starting and running issues with this Truck! With tires I am into it for $3500! It is going to be a $4000. Pathy before I know it. It better last me 4 winters....

I just heard back from the garage (a reputable Independent Nissan Garage) He checked all connections and the starter solenoid and deemed my Starter Motor DEAD. He suggested replacing it with a Beck and Arnley or a Factory Nissan Starter (the difference in price between the two installed was $50.) so I asked him to go with the factory one and if he can not find a factory part to go with the Beck and Arnley. I hope this spells the end of my starting and running issues with this Truck! With tires I am into it for $3500! It is going to be a $4000. Pathy before I know it. It better last me 4 winters....

I just heard back from the garage (a reputable Independent Nissan Garage) He checked all connections and the starter solenoid and deemed my Starter Motor DEAD. He suggested replacing it with a Beck and Arnley or a Factory Nissan Starter (the difference in price between the two installed was $50.) so I asked him to go with the factory one and if he can not find a factory part to go with the Beck and Arnley. I hope this spells the end of my starting and running issues with this Truck! With tires I am into it for $3500! It is going to be a $4000. Pathy before I know it. It better last me 4 winters....

I just heard back from the garage (a reputable Independent Nissan Garage) He checked all connections and the starter solenoid and deemed my Starter Motor DEAD. He suggested replacing it with a Beck and Arnley or a Factory Nissan Starter (the difference in price between the two installed was $50.) so I asked him to go with the factory one and if he can not find a factory part to go with the Beck and Arnley. I hope this spells the end of my starting and running issues with this Truck! With tires I am into it for $3500! It is going to be a $4000. Pathy before I know it. It better last me 4 winters....

I just heard back from the garage (a reputable Independent Nissan Garage) He checked all connections and the starter solenoid and deemed my Starter Motor DEAD. He suggested replacing it with a Beck and Arnley or a Factory Nissan Starter (the difference in price between the two installed was $50.) so I asked him to go with the factory one and if he can not find a factory part to go with the Beck and Arnley. I hope this spells the end of my starting and running issues with this Truck! With tires I am into it for $3500! It is going to be a $4000. Pathy before I know it. It better last me 4 winters....

I just heard back from my garage. (Very good reputable Independent Nissan garage) My front end is "fine" he told me the only possible issue might be one of the tierod ends can not be loosened to adjust when I bring it in for an alignment. I asked him to go thru and "break" and retighten all of the adjustment points in the front end. If he comes across one that he can not "break loose" then I will have him replace that particular component.

I should have added... When I bought the pathfinder 4 months ago the seller told me the alternator was "going". I brought it to Meineke and they replaced the alternator with a rebuilt one and replaced the battery with a new Interstate battery. The alternator Meinke put in crapped out after a week and I gave up on Meineke and had the truck towed to a independent. He replaced the alternator with a Beck&Arnley (sp?) one and the truck had been fine until this starter issue began.

Ok MORE on my starting issues. This morning the truck started "funky" turning over slowly at first and then finally "catching" and running. I drove home shut it off. About 30 minutes later go back out to start it and NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, NO click, nothing dash lights come on but seriously nothing... Has my starter finally bit the bullet? UGH!!!!!

Well as usual thanks to everyone who replied. I am having the truck towed to a indepent nissan garage tomorrow. I am hoping it only needs one or two ball joints to remove the slight play and then I can get it aligned and call it a day. I will keep you all posted on how the front end issues get resolved once I hear back from the garage. thanks again! Andrew

I am begining to think I will have a Gold Plated Pathfinder by the time I get my New to me 1988 road/winter ready!? I woke up to make a 7:30am appoint today (saturday) at a local reputable tire shop. I bought Kumho Road Venture M/T's 235/75/15 to replace the well worn Michelin LTX's that where on the Pathfinder when I bought it a few months ago. I bought 5 tires (rear mounted spare was original 1988) to replace all 5 at once from www.treaddepot.com I have purchased tires online from them for years and they always are ALOT cheaper than any other internet source I have come in contact with. That said the tire shop calls me into their office to let me know the bad new$$$ my Pathfinder needs $959. worth of front end work..UGH The truck has 170k miles on it and I am not really shocked it has some front end needs but OUCH! I did not have them do the work. The told me the truck is unsafe to drive because of a small amount of play when the tire/wheel are moved pushing at the 12 O'clock position on the front drivers side tire I do hear a slight clunk sound. The want to replace pitman arm, ball joints, tie rods... honestly I do not have the sheet in front of me so this list is from memory. Questions - can just the balljoints be replaced? and is it worth it to just replace on side balljoint if need be? All I want is for the truck to be safe and road ready to last 1 winter and then I would like to be able to decide at that point if I want to dump more money into it or punt it. Thanks in advance! Andrew

So I go out, turn key and while it seems to be taking a little bit longer to "ignite" it started just fine. I tried it two times, no real problem. My neighbor was out with me and he told me "you might have had a flat spot in your starter?" what? I was hoping to have come up with a definite fix it solution as I would hate to have the Pathfinder leave me stranded 400 miles from home. Hmmmm I wonder what the problem could be?

I will try it this afternoon and report back. THANKS FOR THE INSIGHT!

I purchased a pretty clean 1988 Pathfinder with 170k miles this summer for $1100. Having spent most all of its life in CO the truck is very very solid. I had read these are reliable as a clock so I felt ok with putting another $1500. into the truck to get it running well. I have changed jobs and my new job requires I drive to Williamsport, PA from Attleboro, MA (400 miles one way) once a month. Williamsport has a bit of a small mountain range surrounding the city and they are known to get alot of snow, I figured the Pathfinder would be the perfect winter transport. I had a few wet starting issues that a nissan independent was able to track down to a 15 yr old distributor cap that was cracked and arching. (thank's for missing that Meineke). Now to my latest problem... This morning I drove my girl to school and noticed when I went to start the truck a slight hesitation. I drove her to school, stopped to get coffee and went to start it again and it seemed to pause, rumble and then start up like it was struggling to start. I drove it home, shut it off and tried to start it again and it stumbled, stumbled and then eventually started, once running it runs fine. Is this something simple I can check myself? or am I due for a new starter at 170k? If I am in for a new starter any idea what a garage would charge to put one in? I am sooo broke right now. Thanks in advance! Andrew

I purchased a pretty clean 1988 Pathfinder with 170k miles this summer for $1100. Having spent most all of its life in CO the truck is very very solid. I had read these are reliable as a clock so I felt ok with putting another $1500. into the truck to get it running well. I have changed jobs and my new job requires I drive to Williamsport, PA from Attleboro, MA (400 miles one way) once a month. Williamsport has a bit of a small mountain range surrounding the city and they are known to get alot of snow, I figured the Pathfinder would be the perfect winter transport. I had a few wet starting issues that a nissan independent was able to track down to a 15 yr old distributor cap that was cracked and arching. (thank's for missing that Meineke). Now to my latest problem... This morning I drove my girl to school and noticed when I went to start the truck a slight hesitation. I drove her to school, stopped to get coffee and went to start it again and it seemed to pause, rumble and then start up like it was struggling to start. I drove it home, shut it off and tried to start it again and it stumbled, stumbled and then eventually started, once running it runs fine. Is this something simple I can check myself? or am I due for a new starter at 170k? If I am in for a new starter any idea what a garage would charge to put one in? I am sooo broke right now. Thanks in advance! Andrew

OK so new alternator Beck and Arnley (the only brand my "new" Nissan Independent Mechanic will use) has been perfect. We have had tons of rain here in New England and the Pathfinder has been perfect, starting right up first try. I guess having a 15+ year old cracked distributor cap and replacing the rotor made a difference. I can not believe Meineke did not check the cap and rotor... Oh well live and learn My shifting is a slight bit notchy. I asked my new mechanic to add 1.5 more quarts to the tranny. He only had GL-5 so he added it to the GL-4 in the tranny. In the meantime I bought 6 quarts of Redline MTL-50 and at the next oil change I will have him swap out the gearoil to the redline. Thanks again to all for sharing their wisdom and input. I really really love the Pathfinder. Next stop is to drop it off to have the drivers seat rebuilt.

Problem Solved! After lots of money and frustration spent with Meineke. I had AAA tow my Pathfinder to Car Services Inc (Nissan Independent Factory Trained Mechanic) in Norwell, Charlie Russell. He found the new/rebuilt alternator Meineke put in was bad...he installed a Beck and Hardley (sp?) Alternator and when giving the truck a through inspection he discovered the distributor cap was a "S" code - not produced for over 15 yrs!!!! With the truck running using a spray bottle of water he sprayed the distributor and the car died. He told me the distributor was "arching"? So now with a new alternator, new distributor and new rotor my Pathfinder is running 100% Thanks for all of the help and advice! I hope this will be a reliable winter beater for me, as I will be using it for a 800 mile commute once a month from Mass to Williamsport, PA. Thanks again, Andrew

So after the Pathfinder died on me in the breakdown lane and I had to have it towed home via AAA. I took a new job in PA and left the Pathfinder in my driveway. I am moving back to Mass and will need to get the Pathfinder serviceable and useful for my once a month commute to PA over this winter. Any ideas what the problem could be? As I mentioned the battery light, brake light came on at the same time while I was driving at about 70 mph in the passing lane, when these lights came on the engine died at the same time and would not restart... Meineke replaced my alternator with a rebuilt one less then 80 miles before the breakdown....

The battery light and brake light came on at the same time and the engine died in the passing lane, I rolled to the breakdown lane and called AAA. I tried to restart the car and nothing, no click nothing.

UPDATE....So I stopped by the garage (Meneike) who has done all of the work to date on my new to me Pathfinder. They replaced the alternator about 3.5 weeks ago. After about 2.5 wks the brake light on the dash along with the battery light on the dash would glow dimly when the truck was running and both would eventually go out a higher RPM's. Last week on my way home from work the truck completely died on the highway. I had it towed back to Menekie and they told me they could not get it to turn over, push start, nothing... they told me they do not think it is the alternator. So back to today... I stop by the garage to pick up the set of car keys I left in the ashtray. The owner of the shop tells me it is time for me to call AAA and have the truck brought to his "electronics expert"... I am at my wits end at this point with the truck. So I call his "expert" and he tells me he can not accept the truck at his garage for at least 1 week maybe 2. UGHHHHHH! Alright I ask the shop owner and he tells me the truck can stay on his lot for a week or two more. I tell him I need to get a set of keys out of the ashtray. He hands me the keys to the truck and I get my keys out of the ashtray. I figure what the hell I will see if I can get it to start. SURE ENOUGH it starts RIGHT UP! I call him over to hear the truck running and he says wow "how did you do that?" Uhhhh I turned the key clockwise while it was the ignition, clutch pushed in.... So I drive the truck home and the battery light is still dimly light when the truck is running. ANy thoughts? I am very paranoid to take the Pathfinder any distance for fear of being stranded again. I need to get this worked out before the winter. Thanks in advance! andrew

I agree... I am wondering why this is so difficult for them?

Update from the garage who did the initial alternator replacement. He tells me he can not be sure the alternator is bad because he can not start the car... He fully charged the battery, turned the key, nothing no turn over, no click no nothing....He tried to push start it and it would not roll start. He is telling me their is a bigger electrical problem and he highly doubts it is the alternator... UGH!!!!!!!!!!

100% correct! My newly replaced (rebuilt) alternator crapped out in the high speed lane on my way home from work... 45 mins later the AAA flatbed brought the pathy to the garage who replaced the alternator. I guess I got a poorly rebuilt alternator... DAMN