Slartibartfast

I'd check the belt first, just to rule it out. I imagine you could get good compression numbers even if it was off a tooth, it just won't run too well.

I suspect there's a story there.

Auto or stick? Maybe the torque converter is locking and unlocking. No idea what would cause that, but IIRC the FSM has a troubleshooting section.

420k? Dayum these things last a long time. If compression is good and it's not burning coolant, IMO you can rule out the head gasket. I would take a look at that timing belt sooner rather than later in case it's walking wounded.

Thanks all. Yeah, I think this has been covered, but the only other writeup I can find is Dr. Bill's (linked below) and he took the whole front end apart. Mine is about 6" x 11" x 3/4," excluding brackets. I have no idea what it's rated at. B, I remember seeing those threads, but I can't find them now. Anyone with good search-fu want to find those? I did find these however: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/23280-replacing-the-timing-belt-adding-an-at-cooler/ http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/33650-dont-know-if-this-has-been-covered-tranny-coolers-tube-and-fin-vs-plate-style/ http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/30565-more-automatic-transmission-cooler-questions/ http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/32541-is-adding-a-tranny-filter-really-a-good-idea/ Also, can a mod correct my statement on the Ford cooler? I didn't know they were plate type.

Is this a common problem? I googled it but didn't see anything. A skid or something might help but I dunno, depending on how the body's supposed to crumple in a collision it might to more harm than good.

I installed the cooler with the little zip-post things. The posts are absurdly long, so I trimmed them to clear the radiator. The kit also came with foam vibration pads, which I applied to the cooler before slipping it in. I could only get my hand behind the condenser to put the clips on the top two posts. (You can't see the clips too well, they're in the top holes of the mounting flanges on either side.) I pulled the turn signal/fog lamp out to try and attach it from underneath, but I couldn't get my hand in under there either. It did feel quite secure however so I left it alone. Next I connected the hoses underneath. If there's excess hose, trim it off with garden pruners (unless you've got something better lying around). I stuck one to the return line from the trans and the other to the factory cooler (with the 1/4" wrench and a lot of swearing). If you aren't using the stock cooler just hook the new one to the two trans lines. Make sure those hose clamps are tight! I swapped a proper hose clamp I took off the donor Pathy for the weird wire one just so I wouldn't need two different drivers to put it all back together. If your cooler is meant to flow one way or the other, make sure you aren't plumbing it backwards! Some are apparently directional. Mine wasn't. If the hoses seem like they're going to flop around while you drive, consider zip tying them to something. Button the front end back up. To get the upper grille clips back in, unclip them from the sheet metal, hold the sheet metal end with vise grips, and put them in the grille like you removed them (twisting the head with a screwdriver). Then clip the grille back on. Replace the missing/busted ones with new zip ties, and don't forget the two screws under the grille. One last thing to do, and that's topping up the ATF. The new hoses and the cooler add space that fluid has to fill, and in my case, I'd spewed some of the fluid out onto the floor. Start the truck and let it warm up. It's probably best to just let it idle since the fluid's low, but I drove mine slowly up and down the street with no apparent ill effects. I'm sure you can at least back it out of the garage so you don't carbon monoxide poison yourself. Once it's warm, park it, cycle through the gears, and (with the engine running) check the fluid level. The dipstick's behind the passenger's valve cover, kind of buried down in there. Wipe it off very well with a clean paper towel, stuff it back in, pull it out, and yeah, mine wasn't showing fluid at all. I didn't want to pour ATF all over everything so I improvised a funnel with the top half of a plastic bottle and the left-over chunk of new hose. This plugged right into the dipstick hole and worked quite well. Pour some ATF in, idle the engine/cycle through the gears, check it again, repeat until the fluid level's somewhere in the crosshatched bit on the 'hot' side. By blind luck I got right into the middle of it after dumping about half a quart of ATF in there. Repeat the reading a few times to make sure you're reading it right, then put the dipstick back in. Make sure it's holding its fluid. Take it for a test drive, make sure it's still not leaking. I drove to the car wash and hosed off the ATF I'd spilled so that I'd be able to see any new leaks. It wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on the fluid for a few days to make sure it's not getting out anywhere. And that's about it! Let me know if this is helpful or if there's anything I can do to make it better.

The next thing you need to figure out is where exactly you'll mount your cooler. I put mine on the passenger's side of the condenser, in front, with the fluid ports coming out the side, mainly because this was the only place it would fit. (It would've fit the driver's side but then I would've needed longer hoses.) Trial fit it (don't mount it up yet) to make sure it'll fit how you want it to without fouling on wires/hoses/radiator support/etc. Once you know where you want it, identify where you'll route your hoses. The donor car I pulled the cooler from had both hoses routed through the headlight hole. I decided to put one line through the sheet metal beside one of the lines from the A/C tank (the cylinder bit on the passenger's side of the condenser), and push the other through the foam under the radiator. Routing is up to you, this just looked good to me. I've read that you should have the output be at the top to help the cooler purge air. I did it the other way and it seems to work fine (I can't imagine the fluid coursing through there would leave a lot of air bubbles hanging around either way). I can't think of a reason not to have the high side be the output; I just wasn't thinking when I hooked up the lines. I may swap them before I put the skid plate back on. Hook the hose to one of the cooler's ends (doesn't matter too much which, but I'd go with the harder one to get to just to get it out of the way). I had some trouble installing the lines on the cooler due to some sharp ends on the cooler tubes. I rounded off the sharp bits with a file and smoothed them with sandpaper (being careful to keep the aluminum shavings out of the pipes) and then greased up the pipe ends. Installing the hose clamps and pushing them down with vise grips finally got the hoses fully seated. Yours may be better built and put up less of a fight, but still, don't mount that cooler until you've got the pipes fit to it or your knuckles and your A/C condenser are gonna have a bad time together. Once the hose was on I threaded it through the front end and trimmed it to size. Then I pulled the hose and cooler back out and attached the piece of hose I'd just cut off to the other pipe on the cooler. My hoses ended up being about 20" on the top and 39" on the bottom, but these measurements will of course vary with hose routing and cooler size/location. Speaking of hose routing, an easy way to get the hose past the foam under the rad is to stick a big Phillips driver through from the back, wherever you want the hose to come out, sleeve the hose onto the driver, and then pull it out the back. This is from the back (the pipe end is the passenger's side of the factory cooler and the thing above it is the fan shroud): And here it is from the front after pulling it through:

I installed my trans cooler the other day, and didn't remember seeing a write-up on it, so I made this. Hopefully this'll help someone else with theirs. Installing a Trans Cooler Let's start with the reason to bother with all this. Automatic transmissions change a fair amount of power into heat, especially if you're pushing them hard. Heat degrades transmission fluid, and degraded transmission fluid kills clutch packs. There's a stock cooler in the radiator which is mostly adequate, but a larger transmission cooler reduces fluid temps further, which helps the trans live longer, which is nice, because these things are awfully hard to push. I used: 1x Transmission Cooler. I found a no-name aftermarket stacked-plate cooler in a WD21 at the junkyard. I think I paid $10 for it. A trans cooler from a wrecking yard might be full of crud if the trans it was hooked to failed, but the truck this one was in had a blown out bottom end, and someone had actually bothered to pull the trans, so a lunched trans was clearly not what sent it to the wreckers. What little fluid was left in the lines looked good and red. I washed the cooler out with alcohol and let it dry fully before installation. If you're going the junkyard route and don't see any aftermarket ones, Ford Explorers apparently have easily accessible tube-and-fin coolers that aren't bad. The GMs I scoped out had weird connectors on theirs, so I wouldn't bother looking in them. If you're buying a new one, look for a high vehicle weight rating. (There's a thread about sizes/ratings somewhere on here.) 3x Hose Clamps. You really only need two, but I had a handful from the junkyard trip, and I didn't like the look of one of the stock clamps. 5' or more of 5/16 Oil Hose. Hose is cheap and it doesn't stretch. Get more than you think you'll need. (Yes, I left the old hoses in the junker... I'm not that cheap.) 1x Transmission Cooler Mounting Kit. These are zip-tie like things that stick the cooler to the A/C condenser. If you want to screw it to something or build custom mounts, go for it. I used Carquest #77008 but the clips said Hayden on them, so it's probably the same stuff you'd get with a new Hayden cooler. One quart of ATF (I used generic Carquest Dex/Merc). This wouldn't be a bad time to do a full flush if it's due for new fluid. Paper towels... and a trashcan to put them in. Preferably one that doesn't leak. (Mine did.) If you want to install a trans temp gauge and/or trans fluid filter, now would be a good time to do those too. To start things off, I crawled underneath and located my trans lines. The lower line is the return (the same line you can use for flushing the trans fluid) and on mine it was held in by an odd wire clamp that came off easily enough. If the hose gives you trouble, shoot a little WD40 around the end, it should slide right off once that wicks in. My radiator is fairly new so I left the factory cooler in line with the new one. This meant I only had to pull the lower line. There's some dispute as to whether the stock coolers clog up over time and kill transmissions or whether dying transmissions spit up clutch material and clog the coolers, or whether cooler clogging is even a thing that happens at all, but if you don't know how long your stock radiator's been in there it's probably best to pull both lines and bypass it. Incidentally, that top line (which connects to the driver's side of the factory cooler) is the supply line (ATF pumping out of the trans into the stock cooler). If you disconnect that line and bump the starter to see if you've got the right one, you'll spray fluid all over everything and the front crossmember will drip on you for the rest of the night. (Video may be nsfw if your coworkers are nuns or faint at the sight of transmission fluid.) The other end of the lower hose is kind of a bugger to get to from behind. I ended up using a miniature open-ended wrench (1/4" should do it, and a ratchet screwdriver with the bit removed should fit) to loosen the hose clamp to the point where I could turn it around with vise grips and get a nut driver on it. If you lay under the car and rest your head on the centerlink you can see what you're doing, and your neck doesn't get sore. You can put your elbow up by the alternator if needed. Anyway, get that clip loose enough that you can pull the lower line out. Keep track of the clamps, as you'll be needing them later. Here's the return line that we're retiring. I kept mine just in case. Now the new cooler needs to go in, but the grille's in the way. Remove the corner lights, undo the clips along the top (or cut the zip ties, depending on how many times the grille's been off), undo the grille screws below the headlights, and pull it back. My driving lights and bumper got in the way and prevented me from removing it completely, but no worries, you just have to be able to get your arm back there. If you have big arms, or a thick cooler, or if you need to do other stuff back there anyway, removing the grille and bumper completely would make this next bit a whole lot easier.

No stupid questions, just inquisitive idiots. I say that as a chronic asker of stupid questions. My understanding is that it's supposed to have a little rake (back slightly higher than the front). There's a how-to for reindexing them, but you may be able to get away with just messing with the adjuster bolts. I haven't done mine yet but I need to get around to them sooner or later... probably just before an alignment, since raising/lowering the front end will change your angles. The PO of mine tried to adjust them and didn't get them quite even. And yeah, I haven't figured out the forum search engine. I just google "NPORA [whatever I'm looking for]" and it usually turns up.

Gutting that beeper was one of the first mods I did so I'm no help at determining what it does. Couldn't hurt to take a look in the FSM but I don't think it codes for anything.

Lots of that here: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/31418-building-a-vg34-and-installing-it-in-my-88-pathy/ Might be a ways in though, he did a lot of stuff to that engine. Nefarious, can't wait to see how yours turns out.

How high did it rev? Unless it's blowing smoke I wouldn't imagine the rings are bad. Valves maybe but unless you really revved the everloving piss out of it I doubt valve float would be an issue. From what I've heard these run into oil flow issues long before the valves would float, and that's bottom end, which doesn't seem to be the problem (and would likely throw a knock code if it was). Maybe one of the lifters collapsed? Timing is set by the computer but I could swear I've read about people setting it manually. I doubt the timing is the issue, and if it is, try resetting the computer (disconnect power for a few minutes) to clear any codes that could be making it retard the timing. You might also check the timing belt just in case it jumped a tooth or two, but I suspect if it had you'd have a lot more than a ticking noise.

The engine in the pic looks like a normal VG30E to me. The copper color is probably just deposits from the oil. So long as it's not black sludge it shouldn't be an issue. From what I've read, the Pathfinder intake is actually pretty good, or at least adequate. Nissan did put offer a supercharger for the VG33, and in theory it'll fit a VG30. The crank pulley might be a bastard though. I don't know if I've ever seen copper colored valve covers. Mine are black, I just sort of figured they all were. Also I didn't know SOHC vs DOHC was determined by cylinder bank, thanks for clearing that up.

Holy crap that lasted a long time!

Missed that bit, sorry.

Finally installed my tranny cooler! Now to figure out how much fluid to add... I hear the trans dipstick is a PITA to read, any tips? Will running it to warm it up with low fluid damage anything? It didn't lose much (maybe a third of a cup) during the install but I imagine the lines and the cooler will take up a fair amount of fluid.

Also you can check some of the top of the tank just by pulling the access hatch under the rear carpet. If it's just a loose line from the pump it could be a very easy fix.

Looks like it's already responded to a few zombies! Get a new light on there, straighten the fogs, and it won't look too bad IMO.

Finally installed a voltmeter! Didn't really need one but it fills the hole in the dash. If you're considering putting a gauge there, put it down a ways. I had to put this one here because of other holes I'd drilled, but I had to do some trimming under the dash to clear it.

These already have a cold air intake, the stock ignition is very powerful, and tuning the ECU isn't really a thing that happens yet. (Nefarious is working on it.) Apparently you can put an Infiniti M30 ECU in there or do a variety of other things, but IIRC they require some supporting mods (MAF, wiring, etc). Sounds like the truck has some other issues though judging by your other threads. Once you get those sorted you may find that it gets a lot of power back.

Probably a loose connection on something. Check the distributor, plug wires, coil, all that. Make sure they're in good condition and tightly secured. Could be that the vibration of highway speed is wiggling something that's loose.

I've found 4LO useful in situations with lousy traction (trying to drive uphill through a foot of fresh snow on street tires for example). In 4HI, I had to really goose it to get the tires moving, and then they broke traction and spun out. In 4LO it got enough traction to get out of the driveway. I suspect it's also easier on the torque converter, meaning the fluid heats up less. I've also heard that it's good for steep descents. And yeah, if you try to get in 4LO with it in gear, you're gonna have a bad time.

The mirror itself can be disassembled (not terribly easy but probably easier that re-engineering the mount), and I imagine you could reinforce the replacement from the inside around where yours broke with some epoxy and fiberglass or whatever you've got laying around to firm up the plastic bit. I was actually surprised at how solidly built my old one was when I took it apart, apart from the busted-off adjuster anyway.

Tune up? I've seen a few people with surging issues but I can't really remember what ended up being the problem. You might check your vac lines and the accordion-looking intake pipe for cracks.