Slartibartfast

Does sound like it might be a tooth out. I also wonder what's making the computer suspect the MAF. I would check the MAF wiring harness in case it got squished somewhere during the engine swap, then have another check around the intake for any possible leaks. It sounds like you did a few mods to the intake, and I've read that the TBI intakes can be kind of finicky buggers in general. Probably good to check your work there and make sure you didn't leave something uncapped. Do you have a TBI FSM? I've got an '89 HB FSM on my hard drive (can't remember where I got it) that might have something relevant as far as troubleshooting. Let me know if you need screenshots.

Sounds like you accidentally timed it to top dead exhaust. Top dead compression and top dead exhaust look exactly the same at the balancer because the crank's in the exact same position. The crank turns twice to turn the cams once, so at top dead exhaust, your cams are 180° out from where they are at top dead compression. With the dizzy out, you can't tell the two apart visually without pulling the upper timing cover and checking the location of the dimples on the cam sprockets. You could also work out position by putting a compression gauge on cylinder #1, or do what I did on a friend's van once and stick your finger in the spark plug hole while turning the motor over and just feel for when it stops pushing air out. As I remember we ended up a tooth out one way or the other, but at least it got us close enough to guess our way back to right.

I guess the easiest way would be to look at it as though you were trying to steal it, figure out how you'd do that, and then try to make that more difficult. You've got to think like a tweaker.

Should be the same as far as I know. After breaking two handles on my old rig I just bought a set of the chrome metal handles off ebay.

Unless it's arcing all the time, it does seem like it should at least kick. Are you sure the harmonic balancer's on correctly? It can go on six ways, and if it's not on right, the timing marks on it won't match the crank position.

Yep, sounds like the idler pulley for the aircon. The idler's easy to remove and check to see if it's dried out and crunchy (or seized, which would explain the smell). If the idler looks alright, pull the other belts try turning the compressor, alternator, and steering pump by hand to see which one is the problem. Or just look at the belts and see if one of them looks chewed up.

I got lucky when I went looking, found an aftermarket one installed in a Pathfinder! I walked past the Chevy ones, they all had those funky hard line connections and ain't nobody got time for that. There are a few threads on sizing and installation. I did a writeup ages ago when I put mine in. Before you mount the cooler, make sure you have room to route the hoses, I wasn't as careful as I could've been with that when I moved the cooler to my current rig and had to get creative with the hose routing.

A small update after re-mounting the cooler to my 93: 5/16" hose can be forced on if you have to, but it's really smaller than it needs to be. I plumbed in a magnefine on my latest install and didn't want to put too much force on its plastic hose barbs, so I used 3/8" hose, which worked fine but did seem slightly loose on the cooler in the rad until I got the clamps tightened down. The 11/32" line I've seen recommended wasn't available locally but might've fit better.

Here's a diagram from an '89 HB manual (can't remember where I got it, downloaded ages ago). It's very similar to the '95 manual, but different enough that the right one is probably more helpful. The interesting thing is that the fuse melted instead of blowing. If you manage to get the remains of it out, you might have a look at the contacts it slides into. If they're dirty/corroded, they'll act as a resistor, which can generate a lot of heat under load. I have melted a couple of those plastic in-line holders without blowing any fuses, but those were under a fair amount of load and had been for a while. One was running my headlights when it decided it, or rather I, had seen enough. (I don't use that type of fuse holder anymore.) I would be kind of surprised if that little 10A circuit could pass enough current on its own to melt a fuse in under a minute, especially with the backup lights off... that and the blown fuse from before does suggest a short. It sounds like you're already doing the first thing I'd suggest, checking your work from before. If you can figure out what else is connected to that circuit, and how to disconnect it, you can start disconnecting things to try and isolate the problem circuit. You could pull the fuse and test across the socket with an ammeter, but if it's a proper short circuit, I'd expect a blown fuse from the tester. Testing the disconnected circuit itself for a short by checking ohms to ground is also iffy (it's sometimes hard to tell normal grounding through whatever light/gauge/etc the wire goes to from a short). I would be inclined to test across the socket with a light bulb instead. The other stuff on that circuit should have more resistance than the bulb, limiting the current so that the bulb can't light up. If something fairly high-powered like a headlight bulb lights, you've got a short somewhere... and whichever disconnection makes the bulb go out is the circuit you need to look into. I'm sure there's a better way of doing this, though... this is coming from the guy who tore apart a headlight harness for what looked like a short on the meter but turned out to be the little bulb in the cluster for the high beams.

Does sound like something in the brakes didn't go back together right.

Whatever the year range, they're not exactly common. I did see one at a wrecking yard around here a while back but it was a while ago.

This may be relevant: Doesn't explain the turn signals, though. I know the hazard switch has to be connected for the signals to work, sounds like it is though. Bypassing the switch with a test lead wouldn't be a bad start. If that doesn't make them go I would check for voltage/ground at those connections. It could be the connections in the stalk (the headlight contacts commonly have issues) but given that both sides quit at once I'm not so sure.

Sensor 2 would be the downstream O2, pretty sure all that one does is monitor catalyst function so I doubt it's that. Is it idling too high, dying at idle, what are we working with here?

It is amazing how much noise a single leaf caught in that squirrel cage fan will make. It is also amazing how much of a mess you can make if you run the fan with the resistor pack out before vacuuming out the leaves. Cleaning it out should deal with the air flow and the noise, but I'm not as sure about it coming out the bottom vents only. That sounds more like the vent doors not working properly. Do you have the pushbutton climate control or the levers?

Alright, sounds like the switch is working. No idea if Nissan changed the trans wiring, I don't know why they would've, but then they did change some other stuff they didn't need to over the years. There's a bit in the AT section where you can read transmission computer faults through the light on the power mode switch (I'm assuming yours is set up with this). Basically it flashes some Morse Code looking sequence that decodes to whatever the computer's unhappy about. It can only tell you so much of course but it should be able to tell if a solenoid is disconnected or shorted.

The EL section has most of the wiring IIRC, with the rest covered by the Foldout file. Those are in the '95 folder, I think '94 is the same, not sure why but the older years seem to be full of TSBs and dealer training manuals and other odd stuff. Any luck trying the switch?

You say the lowest pulley had a bit of wobble? That's the harmonic balancer, and there's a rubber layer in there that's supposed to dampen vibrations or something. When it lets go, the pulley can get misaligned or shift around. This would cause misalignment and belt noise, and if the outer part manages to walk forward, it could make friends with your radiator.

Interesting. I wonder how they mated the Chevy engine to it and kept the 4x4. I'd definitely take a miss on those rims, though.

+1 on wiring being a PITA. Sounds like a bad connection or bad ground to me. New plugs aren't a bad idea, just make sure the ground lead you hook them into is solid.

I'm not familiar with that particular switch, but it does seem plausible that, if it's the neutral position switch (as opposed to the one for the 4x4 light on the dash), it might be blocking the trans computer from shifting. It's not difficult to miss low range and accidentally stay in neutral, and with the trans in drive, I imagine it could otherwise work its way through a couple of gears before you figured out why the truck didn't move. If you then attempted to stuff the transfer into gear (without putting the transmission back in neutral and giving it a minute to spool down), I imagine you'd get a hell of a noise and possible damage to the engagement bits in the transfer case from having one side spinning like crazy and the other not at all. You can make it grind by doing that in first, but probably not as bad as it would in second or third. This is of course pure speculation; I haven't had occasion to screw around with the trans controls on mine and I haven't done much research into them either. To test the switch, hook a multimeter set on ohms to the two switch leads and see if you get continuity. Then press the button and see if you get continuity then. Some switches are normally open (circuit completes when pushed) and some are normally closed (circuit is broken when pressed) and I'm not sure which that one is--should be a clear difference on the meter though. You could also use a battery and a test light for this. Soldering should be fine generally, but I have melted plastic bits and knackered components by putting too much heat into a small lead, especially when fighting to make solder stick to a lead that doesn't want to tin properly. I can't imagine the TCM needing a reset besides turning the truck on/off, but if checking the switch doesn't show a fault, you might try unhooking the battery and then plugging it back in to see if that does anything. If you want to trace wires and look for diagnostic procedures, the AT and TF sections of the service manual are a good place to start. If you run out of ideas, you might go back to the harness you shook and look for loose connections there. Might've been the one at the switch letting go, might be other wires/connections in that harness have issues. I think you're on the right track wanting to test the switch, though.

Antifreeze is supposed to raise the boiling point as well, so it might just be time to flush the cooling system. A new radiator cap is also a good idea. New rad/thermostat couldn't hurt I guess but if the engine's not overheating, I doubt either is the source of the issue.

If the motor works fine on 12v direct, it's not the motor. I'm not familiar with the linkage for the R50 wipers, but my WD has a little pushbutton switch that makes it run until it finds its "park" position (off the window). That would be another thing to check. I would expect it to be normally closed (meter shows continuity until you push the button). If those are good, check for voltage where the motor plugs in to see if power's getting to it in the first place.

Always fun when you're so close and something is fighting you. It does sound like the distributor's gone off. Probably easiest to check for spark (either the old-school way or with a timing light). If the spark's not strong and consistent, the dizzy's most likely the problem. You might also check for codes at the ECU, but IIRC it only codes if it doesn't report TDC within a few seconds of cranking, and I don't think you'd have fire at all if that was the problem. If it is strong and consistent, then you're back to fiddling with the distributor position. Pull #1 to make sure you're actually at TDC, make sure the balancer's on properly (it can be bolted up the wrong way around), verify firing order and wiring, point it somewhere close to #1 and try again... sounds like you've been down that road pretty far already.

Question's been beat to death, but the quick version: two ways to find out. One, floor it on gravel, if it makes two ruts you have LSD, one wheel peel, no LSD. Two, put it in park or gear with the engine off, chock the front wheels, jack up both rear wheels, spin one. If the other rear wheel spins the other way, no LSD. If you can't turn the wheel by hand without putting the trans in neutral, LSD. The LSD rear axles also came with an orange sticker on the back.