Slartibartfast

It's been done. Probably easiest to get the whole donor truck if you can so that you don't have to keep running back for brackets and things. Otherwise, just look for stuff that's different... one less-obvious thing I'd take a close look at is the center console and the plate below it that goes over the trans tunnel, I think those are different. There are two weak spots for the five speed. One is that Nissan put the oil fill hole a little too low to keep some of the bearings happy. There's a TSB on overfilling them that's supposed to solve the issue. If this hasn't been done, and it's got a lot of miles on it, it might need a rebuild. (If you can test-drive the donor, listen for a whining noise.) The other issue is that the synchros can't handle modern GL-5 oils, so you have to be careful what you fill it with or you'll shred the synchros. Other than that, from what I've read, they sound like pretty good boxes.

That looks like it got warm. No idea on the connector, checked at the parts store when I was there today and they didn't have one (if it's not a Chevy connector they don't have it pretty much). You might be able to dig the spade connectors out and re-use the plastic bit with new connectors. Could get it the whole plug from a part out or a wrecking yard. Looks about the same as the connectors for the washer pumps actually. You might also want to test the fan directly off 12v to make sure it's good, and check its connectors where the plug goes to make sure they're not the problem. The plug end doesn't look too corroded inside, but the connection between the wire and the spade could be bad. These fan motors are actually pretty easy to take apart, and not too bad to put back if you're careful with the brushes. I took mine apart and blew out a bunch of brush dust the last time I cleaned the heater box. Easy to oil up the bushings while you're at it. Don't do it over a surface you care about, though, that dust gets everywhere.

Take a good look at the whole front end while you're under there, given the truck's age and usage, but my money's still on the strut rods. I've read about a few people having similar issues when theirs went out. Huh... sounds like the failed clutch probably didn't have much to do with the trans failure. I found a similar failure in a tablesaw recently, the pinion was completely stripped and the spur gear it meshed with looked new. All I could figure was that one was made of harder steel than the other, or maybe the larger gear had more teeth to spread the wear over. Sucks it went out right after a clutch job!

Good lord those are expensive! Check eBay, looks like they've got various kits for way less money. If you're too cheap even for that (and I know I am), go to a dump or salvage yard or whatever and look for a piece of metal with louvers in it. An old furnace panel, a locker door, the side of an old arc welder, whatever. Then all you have to do is cut it to size. Or you can do what the PO of a Dodge pickup I found at the wrecking yard did... mount rows of those little chrome drawer pulls.

The first thing I'd check is the strut rod (also called compression rod or tension rod) that connects the back of the lower A-arm to the frame. It should have two bushings sandwiching a frame bracket (what I think you're calling the C-arm holder thing) in between. The bushings wear, the cups that hold them in place fail, the rod wears through, and you end up with hellacious steering play thanks to the fact that the LCA is only attached at the front anymore. I can see clean metal and what might even be daylight through yours... that's where I'd start. It'll probably need new cups welded up (most people use bearing races) and with that much play, I would bet on the rods themselves being shot as well. The holes in the brackets may be hogged out as well. That tranny looks expensive. Funny that the little teeth for the engagement sleeve are fine, but the gear itself is completely ground out... and the gear it would've meshed with looks fine too. Just shock loading I guess. I like that head unit! It's kind of a pain to find a commercial one that doesn't look like something out of Tron and beep for no good reason.

If you have power locks, I do not recommend graphite. The locks on my '95 went nuts when I did that. They would actually run the lock motor inside against the key sometimes. To be fair, I did blow a ton of graphite into them, and there could've been some other issue that unseizing the driver's lock exposed, (and those locks were never quite right to begin with,) but given that there's an electrical switch at the back of the cylinder, something non-conductive is probably best. WD40 isn't terrible but it does tend to attract dirt. From what I've read, something silicone or teflon based tends to do better.

First off, better to make your own thread. Second, yeah, that's not good, and making it go "sort of" is probably just slipping the clutches and wrecking them. I'd start looking for a replacement.

Likely just the bulb. Looks like you just strip the dash down like that picture (obviously not the cluster, just the center bit) and the seven screws around it hold it in. Everything just plugs into it apparently. Be careful if you have to remove the top vents to get at the plugs, those mount tabs are crazy brittle. Looks like HA-97 of the '95 manual has a good exploded view of the unit that tells you where the bulbs are. Edit: looks like you don't even have to take the box apart! The two bulbs appear to mount into the top of the unit, in the little depression between the waffle-pattern areas.

I don't know if the sensors themselves are different (I didn't even know they were different units), but I just checked the temp sensor check procedure from the '89 FSM against the '95: '89 (EF&EC 99): 68°F = 2.3-2.7kΩ 122° = 0.77-0.87kΩ 176° = 0.30-0.33kΩ '95 (EF&EC 133): 68°F = 2.1-2.9kΩ 122° = 0.68-1.0kΩ 176° = 0.30-0.33kΩ Honestly it looks like it's the same sensor and Nissan just widened the acceptable tolerances in the later manual. Maybe manufacturing tolerances weren't what they were expected to be and they realized they'd replace fewer sensors under warranty if they expanded the "good" range a little. If the external dimensions are the same, I would expect them to swap back and forth with no issues.

I just went out and tried shifting mine slowly, and sure enough, it ground a little going in. I forgot they did that! Just got used to the quick shift I guess. Must be something about the fluid between the clutch packs moving just enough power to spin the tailshaft when it's not hooked to anything.

Given the age of these rigs, it's probably better to just replace the lines. Vac line is cheap by the foot at auto parts stores. Do them one at a time so you don't cross anything and don't forget the fuel pressure regulator behind the motor on the passenger's side, easy to miss and a little harder to get to. Stalling could be a lot of things. Any idea when it last had a tuneup? If it persists, see if you can come up with a pattern... only happens when it's warm, or stopped but with the trans in drive, that kind of thing. That'll make diagnosis much easier.

Make sure you know when the timing belt was done last... and do it if you don't know. These motors are interference and the square-tooth belt in your '91 is rated for 60k miles. There are ratcheting lockers available for both ends, though still not what I would call cheap. There's a thread for another front locker group buy. Some of these also have factory LSD in the back, which can be repacked for better performance.

If I could afford it, I'd be all over it! Not in the cards for quite a while though unfortunately.

Making noise, losing fluid... yeah, that system had a short life. Hopefully warranty doesn't jerk you around too bad.

+1 on doing the belt. I would be surprised if the factory belt lasted 160k and 17 years but who knows if it's been done or if it was done properly. I did the belt on my '93 when I got it and it looked fine, probably had another 10k left on it, but I've got a lot more peace of mind knowing that it's all new under the timing cover. These motors are interference, so if the belt goes out, it'll usually take valves with it. Sway does sounds like rear link bushings. Coil springs shouldn't squeak. Could be bushings, could be ball joints, probably something you should take a look at in case it's something important. I don't know if the steering stop design changed for the R50 but the WD21 stops tend to creak and groan if you cycle the suspension at full steering lock. If you haven't yet, download the service manual for your year and have a look around. It's probably got a testing procedure for your high idle.

Sway could be a few things but I'd start by checking the rear suspension link bushings. When they go out, the rear axle can wiggle around a bit and eventually you get into what's known as death wobble. As for lifts, there are a few options, but I'll leave that for somebody who knows the R50 better than I do to explain. To go between high and low range, stop the truck, put the transmission in neutral, then shift the transfer case. If you're stopped but in gear, the only thing holding the output of the trans from spinning is your foot on the brake. Put the transfer in neutral and the transmission is no longer connected to the wheels, so the trans and part of the transfer will spin up on you. Trying to engage high or low after that is asking the transfer to couple a spinning shaft to a stopped one. That's what makes it grind. If the truck is stopped and the transmission is in neutral when you move the transfer case lever, you should be able to go from high to low and back without drama. 2H to 4H and back isn't as picky, but will grind if you try it with the rear end already slipping. IIRC the little card in the driver's sun visor goes over all this and says something about not going between 2x and 4x at speeds over 50, but I suspect that restriction is more of a stability concern (don't go 50+ if the road's bad enough that you need 4x) than any issue with the case.

Crankshaft repair sleeve. $33 on Rockauto.

I'm not terribly familiar with R50 exhaust, but when the exhaust on my '93 was hitting/rattling against the tow bar (I think I pushed the pipe around too much trying to remove the front driveshaft), I just undid the rearmost exhaust hanger, pushed the tip down with my foot a few times to bend the pipe, then bolted the hanger back up. No more rattle.

It's about the same on the Mile Markers. I think some of the cheaper hubs I looked at only had to go a quarter turn or so to lock up, but I imagine they do this with steeper threads inside that would bind up more easily. Yeah, chrome on a non-chrome truck looks a little funny. You could try taking it all apart, roughing it up, and painting it, but I would expect the paint to chip off or rub away where the dial meets the trim ring.

I got my Mile Markers from eBay from McBay Performance for $125. That was the best deal I could find on hubs that didn't have plastic parts. They went on easily enough and have worked without a hitch. My only complaints are mostly aesthetic. The chrome plating is peeling a little here and there and the bolts they send rust up quite easily. PATJ, sounds like your hubs are staying locked properly. My trouble was that the hubs would disengage, meaning that the front drivetrain (CVs, diff, prop shaft) wasn't spinning at all while the truck was moving. Attempting to couple a spinning shaft to a stationary one did not agree with the engagement sleeve in the transfer case.

Electric power steering... there's a thing. Does it only make the noise when you steer? How's the fluid look (assuming it still uses fluid)?

Some Hardbodies had the factory manual hubs. They're supposed to be great if you can find them in the right spline count. I never found my autos convenient, even when they worked. I shift on the fly a lot in the winter (some roads cleared, some not) and I got tired of trying to work out if the hubs were locked before going for 4x, and grinding the transfer case when I guessed wrong. Now I turn two dials in the fall, turn them back in the spring, and don't worry about it in between. Another nice thing about manuals is that you don't have to drive forwards for them to lock up. That may not sound too important, but it bailed me out when I misjudged my turning radius and found myself facing downhill with grass under the rear wheels and a fence blocking my way forwards. Not having to explain to my friend's dad how I'd gotten a 4x4 on 31" tires stuck in his graded driveway in the middle of summer (and then ask if he could pull me out with his Miata) was well worth the cost of the hubs!

The service manual shows a washer there, and I'm pretty sure my '93 had one there. Sounds like whoever did it last had parts left over. It could be that the crank's not tapped down far enough for the bolt to go in without a washer, so it ran into the untapped bit and knackered the end when the last guy ran it down. Hopefully it didn't damage the threads too badly on the way out.

It's on the top of the intake, back by the idle air controls. Look for a little 10mm bolt with a sticker by it that says do not remove when hot. Remove that bolt (with the engine cold of course), gently squeeze the upper rad hose until coolant starts coming out of that hole, then keep holding the hose to keep from sucking air back in until you have the bolt snugged down.

Glad you liked it! Hopefully yours does the job.