Slartibartfast

I usually use either solder or uninsulated crimps (with a proper crimper), then apply marine-grade heat shrink (the kind with the hot snot inside) to keep them dry. If you're used to making connections that survive in a marine environment, you should be golden. If you're not sure where a wire goes/what it does, download the EL section of the '95 manual from Nicoclub. Harness routing and wire colors should help you track down what's what. The colors are pretty simple, except that Nissan labels blue as L.

No worries! Good to see you got it in the end. It is nice to have the option to turn the offending component into sparks. How's the pedal feel with the damper removed?

That is weird. Have you tried rotating the tires? Bearings and brakes OK? I'd check the driveshaft U joints while I was at it. I'm also remembering a thread I saw ages ago--think it was JamesRich? Can't find it now. Rear ratchet locker, slightly different tire sizes, rear end wobble at highway speed as his ratchet locker coped with the mismatched wheel speeds. Don't imagine you've got one of those. The LSD can bind up and chatter if it's got the wrong oil in it, though. Does it change with steering angle, load/coast, or just speed?

Stuck nuts make everything harder. Looks like it'll do!

Did you replace all that stuff and then have this issue, or did you replace all that stuff while chasing this issue? The pedal does normally get softer when the engine is running (that's the booster at work), but obviously the pumping up and bleeding down ain't right. Bad seals in the master could cause the bleeding down, but unless it's leaking externally (or into the booster), draining the reservoir, I wouldn't expect that to set the BRAKE light. I would start by checking the two switches that control the BRAKE light. There's a low fluid switch in the brake fluid reservoir (float with a magnet, reed switch underneath), and there's a switch on the side of the parking brake lever (might have to remove the console to check on that one). Make sure the switches are good, the parking brake is off, and the res is up to the full mark on the side. If you're not sure, unplug them one at a time, see which one makes the light turn off. The BRAKE light can also come on with a couple of other lights (battery and "AT oil temp" if it's automatic) if the alternator goes out, but if it's just the BRAKE light that's on, then it ain't that. From your other posts, it looks like you've got a diesel. I don't know how the power brakes work in the diesel trucks, but I would not be shocked if the vacuum system for the booster had a pressure switch controlling a warning light--possibly that same BRAKE light. I don't have the right service manual to check that. If your parking brake and reservoir switches check out, let me know and I'll dig out my '87 manual. It covers a couple of diesel engines, maybe it covers what's different with their brakes. How did you adjust the rear brakes after installing them? My understanding is that you want to back off the parking brake adjustment, adjust the shoes with the star wheels, and then adjust the tension on the parking brake cables. If the shoes are held by the parking brake cables instead of the star wheels, I'd expect a bunch of free play between the wheel cylinders and the shoes, resulting in excessive pedal travel--maybe enough to require pumping? Again, though, I wouldn't expect this to give you an idiot light. I don't think it would explain the bleeding down, either.

I don't see why not. I've used the manual 1 and 2 in high range on steep switchback roads where I would've been riding the brakes the whole way down otherwise. Never had a problem, apart from wondering why it's not grabbing third when I get back to a paved road and forget to shift back to D. That said, think about how fast you're going before you gear down. I don't know that the computer would allow you to do a money shift, but I don't know that it wouldn't. If you slam it in first at highway speed, and it does it, you're gonna put the first connecting rod on the moon.

Given it's already borked, it won't hurt anything to break it down and see what let go. If it's built like the 720 damper in the thread you linked to, I would expect to find the piston cup either cracked or chewed up by corrosion in the bore. I'd be surprised if that seal was available specifically for this, though you might get lucky with a rebuild kit for a master cylinder with the same size of bore. But yeah, I'd probably just bypass it. That Nissan connector looks like an easy way to go, assuming the hard lines come out of the damper intact. The listing says it's M10x1 invert flare, so if you don't want to wait for shipping, you may be able to find a similar union/joiner locally. Just make sure the union is invert flare, not bubble like old VWs.

Intermittent issues are always a PITA to track down! And then when you fix it, you're left wondering if you actually fixed it, or if it's just off the fritz for now.

That'll be why it's not fitting up, then. You could swap in the whole diff from the D21, if the ratio is right, but that would be a lot of work for a weaker diff. Better to find the V6 diff/axle and do it right. I have a 4.6 ratio V6 front diff sitting in the corner, but I can only imagine what it would cost to ship that chungus over the border.

I would think the loud click is the starter engaging but not starting, which would point to the starter itself--but, yeah, starting right up when you wiggle the shifter sounds like a neutral safety switch issue. I would check whether you get the same click if you try to start it in gear, and see if the same wiggle trick works the next time it acts up. I had an intermittent no start/weak start issue with mine for a while that turned out to be wiring between the switch and the starter (old alarm system). I never would've expected a bad connection there to cause slow starts, but none of the other stuff I replaced fixed it, and it hasn't acted up once since I got the old alarm out of there.

Was the donor four cylinder or six? The four-pot trucks got smaller front diffs, R180 vs R200. I don't know what does/doesn't swap between them, but I wouldn't be surprised if one or both of the shafts were different.

Huh, I'll be damned. Rockauto shows the 27 spline axles with the six-bolt pattern, 28 with the five-bolt. Could've sworn I read they were interchangeable. Guess they're not! Good to know. Ignore the bit about the W/D22 or R50 axle parts, then, OP--sounds like you've just got a 2-door axle on one side, with the flange swapped to match.

Yeah, that ain't right. Should be the same axle, hub, and bolt pattern on both sides. Someone's done something impressively weird. '87-'89 (two-door) WD21s have a five-bolt flange and 27 splines. '90-'95 WD21s have the same five-bolt flange and 28 splines. The axles can be interchanged, though of course you have to change the hubs to match. I am not aware of two diameters of 27 spline axles. Count the big one again, I'll bet it's actually the 28-spline. The six bolt flange (arranged in three sets of two) was used on the R50 and W/D22 (second-gen Pathy, first-gen Xterra and Frontier). These are also 28 spline axles, and take the same hubs as '90+ WD21 (though the R50 axle lacks the second snap ring groove needed for the auto hubs), but obviously they won't bolt to the five-bolt flange of the WD21 diff. It sounds like you've got a two-door WD21 axle and hub on one side, and an X/Fronty axle on the other side, with the matching diff flange swapped over as well to make it bolt up. Either that, or you've got one correct axle, and one axle made from a 2-door outer and an X/Fronty/R50 inner, and I don't know if that's even possible. To put it right, you'll need a set of 28-spline hubs, a set of 28-spline five-bolt axles, and either just the five-bolt drive flange for the front diff, or a whole front diff that hasn't been messed with. The diff is a heavy SOB, and I don't think you can get it out without removing the torsion bars, so I would try and swap just the flange if possible. Make sure the donor's engine size (the four-pot trucks got smaller diffs) and gear ratio (HG43 or HG46 on the data plate on the passenger's inner fender, by the hood hinge) matches yours. Or if the axles aren't binding, and the boots are okay, and you don't want to mess with it right now, just get one 27 spline hub and one 28 spline hub and send it. Related, but likely irrelevant--there are two variations of the 28-spline five-bolt CV axles. The four-pot trucks got Rzeppa-style (the kind with the balls) outer joints with tripod inners, and the V6 trucks got Rzeppas at both ends. I assume the V6 style is meant to be stronger. Either style will bolt up. My '93 currently has one of each.

I would expect the computer to get upset if the power valves weren't present. Loctite the screws while it's apart, should be fine after that. Manual swap might be tough to find parts for. A guy on here a while back had a hell of a time trying to find a new flywheel for his VQ R50. I had a look at the MT section of the service manual, looks like they want you to remove the crank position sensor from the bellhousing before pulling the trans. Maybe that's hanging up? It also shows a snap pin on the withdrawal shaft (guessing that's the pin you pulled). The manual's a free download from Nicoclub if you haven't picked that up yet.

I imagine the same rust that ate the body has gotten in around any dowel pins it might have, and/or between the input shaft and the pilot bearing. I would soak those with penetrating oil, try a little heat, give it another go. Is it locked up tight like the bolts are still in, or is it wiggling but catching somewhere? IIRC the intake is different auto/manual (one has power valves and one doesn't), so don't throw out the dead engine until you're sure you've got everything you need off it!

I would start with spark. Fire on the other three says it's not the timing, coil, transistor, or rotor. Could be a damaged cap, wire, or spark plug. I'd be surprised to find one dry cylinder in a TBI engine. Run it for a minute, pull the plug, see if it's got fuel on it. If it's dry, I would suspect either a forgotten shop towel in the intake manifold that's blocked off the #4 port, or a valve that's not opening. If you're sure it hasn't eaten a rag, pull the valve cover, turn the engine by hand, and see if the rockers for #4 move as much as the rockers on the cylinders that are firing. If it's got fuel and spark, check the compression. If it's low in #4, do a leakdown test to see where it's going. I doubt the computer knows what's wrong. It likely has no idea that anything is wrong--these old systems are much less perceptive than modern stuff. It's easy enough to check, though, apart from the computer being under the seat for some reason. I've got an '89 service manual up on Dropbox. Should be the same as '88 AFAIK.* Start on EF&EC-71. *The real early US-spec trucks, likely 7/'86 to 8/'87, had a slightly different list of codes. Your '88 is outside of that range, but I don't know if that range is correct for the Swedish market. On the off chance you have the earlier computer, 42 is TPS (43 in the '89 manual), 43 is injector circuit (51 in the manual), and 44 is no malfunction indicated (55 in the manual). Again, this is likely irrelevant, both to your '88 and to its current issue--but I imagine a few people have gone mad chasing the wrong code on the early ones.

I haven't dug into one myself, but the PD section of the manual (free download from Nicoclub) shows the seals in the front end. PD-18.

I'm surprised they actually had a set! Too bad they're clapped.

Bouncing does tend to break things, but I would not have expected the driveshaft to fail first. Would make sense if it had a dent from prior abuse.

Spark and fuel but no fire makes me think timing. The timing will eat the valves if it goes too far, so I would check that before continuing to crank it. Also possible it's flooded with fuel, but it would have a tough time flooding all six at the same time.

See if you can track down the compressed and extended lengths for the stock-length shocks and the Bilsteins you're looking at. If the lift shocks don't have a longer compressed length, then they shouldn't bottom out on bumps. If the extended length is way bigger, I would check that the springs don't get loose when it's at full droop, but otherwise it should be fine. Mr. 510 put much longer air shocks on his for massive rear suspension flex and ended up lashing the springs in place with metal zip ties. He said 26.5" is as long as you can go on shocks before the driveshaft hits the crossmember on full droop.

Those are the real early steelies. AFAIK they were only used on the D21 and WD21, but I don't know that for sure. Nissanpartsdeal shows 40300-31G10, '86-'90, in chrome, 6JJX15 (whatever that means--not sure if 6 is width or backspacing) or 40300-36G00, '86-'93 (though I don't think I've even seen a four-door wearing this style), in silver, 5.5-KX15. The pictures are line drawings that look nothing like them, and of course they're long since discontinued--but the part numbers make them easier to dig up elsewhere. These folks have a picture of the chrome ones, which looks right, but they want you to call for a price, so they may or may not have them. Amayama says they have the chrome ones in stock (didn't check the silver ones), but they're not cheap, or cheap to ship. Later trucks got smoother-faced steelies, which I think are 40300-88G15. The later spares also had a different rim, in silver, different stamping, but I'm not immediately seeing a PN for those on their own (without the tire). Given the short run of the rims you're after, how long ago that was, and how little demand there probably was even then for base-model steelies, you may have a rough time tracking down a good used set. Maybe someone here, on the Facebook page, or on Infamous Nissan might have a set squirreled away. If you're not dead set on OE, you may find an OE or aftermarket chrome steelie with the same bolt pattern in a similar style. I think Chevy and Toyota have both used the same 6 on 5.5 bolt pattern, so there should be some options out there. Check the backspacing and the hub size, though--I remember someone having to bore out a set of Chevy alloys to make them fit, even though the bolt pattern was correct. Good luck!

Nissan's usually pretty good about making it hard to cross up connections in my experience. If you have the old engine/harness/etc laying around, I'd try swapping over the coil. I relo'd the sensor to the back of the driver's side head on mine. There was a drilled/tapped hole there that wasn't being used for anything. I think I used the same bolt. The harness reached. I don't know that it would detect issues as well, but it was much easier to swap out when it failed recently.

Mine was clean too! I think the pins were just wallered out.

Mine did something similar. Kinda fell on its face just off idle, otherwise fine. The plug for the MAF was worn out. Hasn't done that (or the stalling at idle that it also sometimes did, which usually went away for a while when I messed around with the plug) since I replaced the pigtail.