Slartibartfast

Someone posted pictures of a unistrut (?) rack they'd made for an R50 a while back. Looked hell for stout.

The question is whether your Polish Pathy has the same specs/wiring as the US models. Hopefully it does! Otherwise this may be entertaining to track down, unless you can find a service manual for your local variant. I would start by downloading the 2000 US-spec service manual from Nicoclub. It should have schematics in the EL section for the radio options. It shows a base system and a Bose system. See if you can match up the wire colors and plugs to what you have to confirm which system you're working with. If it doesn't match, try the '97 manual--it shows a base system without an amp, a base system with an amp, and a Bose system with an amp, so you've got one more variant to check against. Also, given you have a '97 head unit, you can check it against the '00 to see if it's got the same connections. It sounds like you may have a factory amplifier wired to the speaker output of an aftermarket head unit, so you're hearing a signal that's been amplified twice--once by the head unit, and then again by an amp that wasn't expecting an already-amplified signal. There are two ways of dealing with this. One is to connect the wires going to the amp to the line-out RCAs on the back of the head unit (or a line-level converter if the headunit doesn't have those), so the amp gets the signal it expects. (I would expect a plug-in harness to do this already, if it's built right--if that's how the aftermarket HU was hooked up, then you might have a bad amp.) The other option is to bypass the amp, either by running new wires to the speakers or by cutting the wires to the amp plug and joining the inputs to the outputs. I didn't know better when I put a head unit in my '95, so I wired it as described above. The sound quality wasn't as bad as you describe, but the beeps the head unit made were deafening. I did notice a little better bass and clarity when I found out about the amps and bypassed them. It's also entirely possible that your 24-year old speakers are in a bad way. You might try looking in through the grilles with a flashlight or something to see if the foam around the cones is still there.

The EF&EC section of the service manual (free download from Nicoclub) is your friend for this stuff. Should have troubleshooting for each code, including circuit diagrams and sensor tests.

That makes sense. Good to know the Lares is an option if you don't mind taking it apart.

I wouldn't be surprised/concerned about a little misalignment, but the Lares was enough off from mine that I was concerned I'd damage something trying to make it work. It's a little exaggerated in the picture due to the parts not being lined up straight, but even straight on it was off by enough that I didn't like it. I measured 65mm center to center on the Lares, but that was from the bolts, and I don't remember checking whether they had wiggle room or not. The Z car parts looked different to me, but I only looked at pictures online.

I used a similar socket to the top one you linked. It's a bit fiddly to keep engaged (only grabs in two places), and IIRC I had to do a little grinding to make the pegs fit right. But unless it's made of Jolly Ranchers, you're overtorquing the bejeezus out of the bearing, or you try to take it apart without taking the screws out first, I think you'd have to try pretty hard to break it. The plate you're seeing might be the lock nut, which is the component that the socket turns, or the lock washer, which goes over the nut and has holes for the screws that lock it in place. I don't think the second tool you linked would fit anything on an R50.

Well, it sure wasn't the right part for the truck! The packing sheet (and the box IIRC) said it was the 210, but I don't remember the part itself being labelled. Guess it might've been the wrong part in the right box. Did you measure the bolt spacing on your splined yoke piece? Mine's 60mm between centers. I'm wondering if Nissan made different widths for some reason. This reminds me that I need to get around to installing mine.

Nissan was still running the VG33 in 2000, so if you're looking for an engine, that's not a match. The R50 LSDs were nerfed hard from what they were in the WD21. Hawairish has an excellent writeup for repacking the R50 LSD to be worth a damn. The early (first couple years IIRC) Xterra LSD is supposed to be a drop-in upgrade if you don't want to tear the diff all apart, but you do need to check the gear ratio and make sure it matches the front end. @Camperdan, thanks for the correction! Shows what I know about the VQ35.

That's a good question. A used engine/trans would be easier (and probably cheaper as well!), but might have its own issues--like I mentioned, some of the early VQs had oil consumption issues. (I've heard various theories about what actually goes wrong--PCV design, cylinder taper, catalytic converter bits getting sucked back--but I don't remember reading about someone with the oil consumption actually fixing it. My dad's '03 burned a quart/1k miles before 100k, and it acted like the valve stem seals were bad, but we never tore it down to see what was wrong with it.) Rebuilding yours (or a donor engine) may get you a better product, assuming you don't mind the added cost and time, and of course assuming you have the skills to pull it off. Also consider compatibility. Nissan changed a few things across the four years the VQ was used in the R50. '01 and '02 were both cable-throttle ('03-'04 were drive-by-wire), but IIRC the '01 had different valve covers and coil packs? I would expect '03/'04 engine to work if you used your old intake, but I don't know that. Do some research on this to make sure you get the right stuff. It'd be great if a more modern VQ (with the early bugs ironed out?) would work, but that sounds like a science project waiting to happen--who knows what else they've changed in the last twenty years. Unless you've got the five-speed (rare with the VQ, but they do exist), I think all the VQ R50s got the same four-speed auto. That one should be simpler to track down.

Good work! Those smoke machines are nice. At 300k, I think longevity is going to depend more on how well the last owners looked after it than anything else. I would loctite the power valve screws while it's open, they have a reputation for working loose and falling in. Keep an eye on the oil level once it's back together! Some of the VQs are oil burners. The cable-throttle VQ R50s also have an idle air valve that can leak coolant into itself and blow up the computer. I don't remember if it's just the gasket or the valve itself that goes bad. Something to look into.

It's been a few years since I researched tires, so I'm not familiar with either option. That said, "better" will depend on how you intend to use them. I'm running Toyo AT2s on mine. Soft compound, good traction in snow, good traction on dry roads, but faster tread wear than some options. I don't put a lot of miles on my truck, so the tradeoff was worth it for me--I figured the dry rot would kill them before treadwear did. Six-ish years later, they're showing a little wear, but no dry rot yet, despite starting to get a little long in the date codes. (Check the date codes--mine were two years old on delivery, which probably explains why they were cheaper through that particular retailer.)

I don't know about the poly, but I would climb under and have a look at the bushings while someone pushed the back of the truck side to side. Should show you pretty quick how the panhard bushings are holding up.

The trouble I've had with cheap worm clamps is mostly due to soft metal deforming. Bands stripping, worm housings opening up and letting the worm skip on the band instead of tightening it, worms coming out of the housing when I try to loosen them. I have yet to find a clamp that doesn't leave some impression on the hose, though obviously the fuel-injection-style clamps are easier on them than the standard worm-drive. I'd say the one in the picture was on there pretty tight, but I don't see any cracks or tearing, so I would not assume that the hose was compromised. I don't see a second impression from an earlier clamp. At the 13 lbs the rad cap limits the cooling system to, I would expect a properly spec'd spring clamp and a properly tightened worm or wire clamp to be functionally identical. I would not expect the steering return to be much higher, as all it's doing is lifting fluid a couple of feet and dumping it back into the reservoir. (The steering pressure line runs over 1k psi at idle, so it's not assembled with hose clamps.) I'm not sure what pressure the trans cooler runs. IIRC it feeds a lube passage in the trans, rather than just dumping right back into the pan, so I imagine it's got a little pressure behind it. I ran a plastic external trans filter on mine for a while, and it didn't explode, so clearly it's not too awful high. I understand the advantage of spring clamps for thermal expansion. Personally, I have an easier time trusting a clamp that I remember tightening than one that I just sorta let go of and hoped for the best. Looks like there's a hybrid of the two clamp types out there, too. Looks like a standard worm clamp with a stack of Belleville springs between the worm drive and the housing.

Yeah, that doesn't sound good. Not sure why it would have a layer of clean oil at the bottom, though, that's bizarre. Are you sure it was oil and not water? Not that water in the pan is better news.

The wire ends overlap each other, so as you spin the bolt through the plate, it pushes the washer and the plate apart. Because the ends of the wire are overlapped, pushing them apart pulls the clamp tighter. It's a neat design, and they seem to hold tension just fine, but the wire is the only thing preventing the plate from twisting, so they're tough to free up when the threads seize. Brute-forcing them just bends the wire all to hell. Holding the plate with vise grips or a Crescent wrench may help, if you have access. I am not fond of the spring clamps. Sometimes they're just a little bit too small with the tabs clamped together, so you can't get the hose over the nipple. Sometimes one tab slips out of the pliers, and the clamp spins itself around so the tabs are behind something, so you can't get the pliers back on it. Sometimes they slip out of the pliers and ping across the shop. I imagine they're a little less of a drag if you've got the special pliers, which I don't. (Probably should, now that I think about it.) IIRC some of the wire clamps on mine did not come apart in one piece, and I was annoyed enough about it that I switched everything over to worm clamps. They're a lot easier to work with, they work on a wider range of sizes, and they don't tend to seize up. That said, they can tear stuff up if overtightened, and I have worked with some cheap ones that were inexcusable junk.

I would be surprised if R51 hinges worked. Wrecking yard is probably your best bet. I'd try JB weld in the meantime, if there's enough left to try and glue back together.

Does anything else turn off with the key? Radio, blinkers? I'm wondering if the ignition switch is buggered. You could remove the clamshell and unplug the switch, see if that shuts it off. If it does, then you know the switch is roached. Ignition relay's a good check too.

If you disconnect the shaft at the rear end, and strap it up, then it should be OK. If you take it out of the transfer, then, yeah, it'll puke everywhere.

EL doesn't show the circuit, but it does show (roughly) where every electrical plug in the truck is located, down in the harness layout section. The '90 manual shows 211M below the fusebox, A pillar/driver's kick panel area as level9 described. The '95 manual shows it on the passenger's side. Probably a round-dash thing. I would expect yours to match the '90 manual. This is what the breaker looks like, if that helps.

The VG33 is pretty reliable. Timing belt should be done if you don't know when it was done last. There's a writeup here, and you can get the service manual from Nicoclub, which will also explain how to chase that P0115 code. P0300, might need a general tuneup. Maybe clean the MAF and throttle body while you're in there. Standard fluids/filters. I don't see rust in the picture, but I'd have a poke around the front strut towers to be sure that they're solid.

Go through your fuse box, see if you've got one blown. A blown fuse is likely a symptom, rather than the cause of the problem (they don't tend to fail on their own), but it's a place to start.

They do look quite similar. Part numbers are similar, too. The '99 pump is 49110-0W000, '05 Fronty is either 49110-EA000 or 49110-EA200, depending on engine option. Should be different flavors of the same part. I don't know that they have the same pressure relief valves or fittings, but you may be able to swap bits over from your old pump to make the new one work if it's not completely roached.

Shame about the Tundra! My dad's got an '01. Solid rig. I don't know the R51 Pathfinders all that well. Some had a bad trans cooler in the radiator that would leak internally and cause the Strawberry Milkshake of Death (SMOD), but I think that was more in the earlier years. I would still read up on that and check that there's no milkshake/mayonnaise in the radiator or the coolant overflow.

I want to test the spare amp vs the one that's in mine to make sure it's good before I box it up. But, yeah, it's not doing me any good gathering dust on the bench. PM me and we'll sort it out. Might be worth checking the diodes on yours, if your meter has a test mode for that. They can fail open or closed (or fail closed and then burn open), and I imagine either condition would play hell on whatever logic circuit they were part of.

I had a look on nissanpartsdeal. 55130-4W000 is listed for '00-'04, 4WD/AWD. 55130-2W100 is listed for '98-'04, 2WD and P/4WD (which I assume means part-time 4WD, not the AWD/all-mode). I suspect someone screwed up the data entry, and the 2Wxxx part number is for 2WD, and the 4Wxxx part number is for 4x, because why the hell would the panhard bar care which transfer case you have? Then again, why would it care if if it's got a transfer case at all, unless they did some weight savings on the 2WD variant, assuming it wouldn't be beat on as hard. I found one other part number, 55130-0W000, for the VG33 trucks and some VQs. The site says it's incompatible with yours, assuming you've got the AWD/all-mode transfer. Pictures of the three variants show different whatsits along the bar (which I assume are vibration dampers). I don't know that this is the only difference between them, but I also don't know that it isn't. Listed weights and dimensions vary a little, but there's no indication of what exactly they were measuring, so I'm not sure how far to trust those numbers. Could be one guy measured between centers, another measured overall, and the third measured the box the part came in. Could be they're all slightly different lengths and widths, just to be that way, but then they'd also have three different axle housings and/or three different panhard brackets, and I have no idea what slight changes to the dimensions of the panhard would've accomplished anyway. That said, Nissan does do stupid things sometimes. I'd be hesitant to put $200+ on my hunch that it's all the same part but with different unimportant dangly bits tacked on. +1 for checking the wreckers. Even if you don't find the right one, the wrong one from a wrecker should be a much cheaper experiment than the wrong one brand new from Nissan.