Slartibartfast

The prophet has spoken. Though from what I've heard, most vehicles will tolerate a dot3/dot4 mix.

Riding on bump stops would explain the issue but I'm not entirely sure that's what's happening here. I'd expect to see it in a lifted or lowered truck. Yours (judging by the wheel well gaps) is at the same height as mine, and mine doesn't ride that bad. Maybe your shocks are so blasted out that the suspension is traveling farther and hitting the stops? Those don't look like OEM shocks, but depending on how hard the PO beat them they could be wiped out. If you can't tell if the stops are hitting, grease one side, take it for a drive, see if the other side gets grease on it. (I hear toothpaste works well too.)

I jacked it up from the UCA, stuck a crowbar under it, and couldn't really make the wheel rock. I visually inspected the bushings and the rubber looks good, no cracks, but there might be a little shrinkage. Thanks for the link, I'll look at that with my dad later. I know he tried it once but maybe we'll do better with instructions. Seems like all the junked Pathfinders out here have more miles on them than mine. I'll check them for looseness next time I'm at the yard, though. IIRC I'd need a 94 or 95 only box too, since the size of the hole at the end of the pitman changed (I think this came up in Tungsten's 2wd swap thread).

You can pull out the screen, it's got little notches around the outer edge, hook one of those and the whole thing slides out. Figure out the cap because brake fluid absorbs water from the air... keeping air away from it is therefore a good thing. You might grab a cap from a junkyard just in case your new one is defective.

If you're still fighting this I'd take a look at the wires in the body panel over the left rear wheel... just in case there's a loose ground or something getting jostled around.

Trim, dash, speed sensor (cable vs electronic), whether the EGR has a BPT valve, there are differences. For most of what you need though it'll be a good resource.

"You'd have to ask the boss, he makes the decisions... no, he's not here."

Plus that light's supposed to kick on when the brake fluid level drops. I wouldn't have known I had fluid squirting out the side of the master cylinder if that light hadn't come on. I suspect that the lights are triggered by multiple sources so pulling the sensor from the MC probably won't do jack unless the float is stuck. (Couldn't hurt to check the float, it's the bluish foam thing beneath the screen. If it's stuck down it's your problem, not sure how it'd do that though.) Now that I think of it I was messing with the reed switch (sensor) from my old MC the other day and I noticed that it could lock closed if I swiped a magnet over it wrong. You might just pull it out (the whole sensor slides out of the res) and check it with an ohmmeter. It should be closed when there's a magnet directly above it and open when there isn't.

93 and earlier flares WILL NOT FIT a 94-95. At least the rears won't fit. I picked up a rear flare from a 93 (assuming they were all the same because why wouldn't they be) and the mount points are different.

I think I'll leave the 'mystery of life' to the intentions of elderly drivers and the ingredients of deli food. I haven't had a chance to try the other wheels yet, but I jacked it up and checked for mechanical issues today. I didn't see any slack in the UCA bushings when I jacked it up but then I'm not really sure the best way to check them short of tearing the suspension apart. I did notice a sort of knocking sound when I turned the wheel back and forth (with the engine off), and tracked this sound to the box with a redneck stethoscope. It doesn't seem like a huge amount of slack, but I imagine it becomes more significant at speed. I'm fairly sure it's not supposed to make a knocking sound, anyway. To those of you who've done a box swap: how much of a PITA is it? The main bolts/banjo fittings look easy enough but I'll need a puller for the Pitman arm, correct? I considered grabbing a box from the junkyard, but I can't imagine it'd be in better shape than mine. And just in case the alignment place missed the UCA bushings, any tips for checking those? I'm considering strapping a camcorder to the wheel well where it can see where the arm attaches and then driving with it in place, but if there's a non-Red Green way of doing this please let me know.

I'd be concerned about the weight as well, but if you had to put it up there, couldn't you stretch a tarp or something over it and tie it down at the corners? That should cut down on drag a bit.

Does sound like the LSD then. Hopefully the additive clears it up. The fluid specs are a little odd on that, seems like the manual-transmission trucks call for gear oil and the auto-trans trucks call for ATF, presumably in case a seal failed and one gearbox leaked into the other. It's the same transfer case. Just put in whatever's in your transmission and you should be good to go. Make sure you can get the fill plug out before you drain the fluid!

We all ramble about Pathfinder problems, you're in good company.

An LSD with non-LSD oil (or without an LSD additive) will act funny as well, so if you do have the sticker, try adding some additive and see if that sorts it out. I have no idea on the temp thing, mine goes up to halfway and stays there, OD engagement as soon as required. You might check on your fan clutch and make sure it's not seized. Has it only done this since you put the new thermostat in? It may just be a lower-temp unit than your old one.

I pay very little attention to the 4x4 light. I'm not sure exactly what it's hooked to but I don't trust it. If you think the front end is spinning, cinch a zip tie to the front driveshaft so it'll hit the floor as it goes around. If you hear whap whap whap whap then the shaft is turning, either because the hubs are on or because the transfer case is engaged. (If you drive backwards a short distance in 2h, the hubs should disengage.) Auto hubs are common in salvage yards, and manual hubs are way less than the dealer quoted you for autos. Unless the hub is busted to hell inside you can probably just pop it open and grease it. I've been meaning to do mine but dreading fighting the frozen bolts. Just for giggles, put your transfer case stick through its full range of motion, from 2h to 4lo. Make sure it's moving right and that it goes all the way forward when you're done.

The hubs may very well be stuck, but unless the diff has been welded this shouldn't cause any kind of crabbing unless the transfer case is stuck in 4x.

You might check here: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/35026-1995-nissan-pathfinder-part-out/ The dimmer in it should be exactly the same as yours.

When I pulled a taillight for mine I took out all the bulb holders first. This made getting to the bolts a whole lot easier.

It's not unlikely that the solder behind the meter needs attention (reheating). This is fairly common with tachometers. I haven't heard of a digital trip going out but then I don't think they were that common... I doubt it's implying anything about the electrical system.

Thanks guys, I've checked the rag joint already and it seemed sound, but I'll check it again with regard to the box. The wheel bearings are good and tight. I'll check the box and the UCA bushings tonight, thanks for the heads up on replacements. I'm not sure exactly how it was aligned but I'll keep the caster in mind. I'll take a closer look at the box, I filmed it a while back (bolted a flip cam to the frame) and didn't see slack in it but then it wasn't showing it in relation to the input shaft. Adamzan, is this the bit on ST-4 about measuring from the wheel? Before we hack into it we're going to try sticking two of my dad's R50 rims on the front of mine and see if it changes the handling for the better. He just got new tires put on his and he says the steering feels better, so who knows.

I did the casting resin a little thick, so the bubbles didn't all get out. I may come back in later and coat the surface with a translucent paint/better label than the Sharpie I used. Anyway... Not the prettiest thing ever, but it lights up with everything else and I like it loads better than the collection of mismatched and poorly placed switches I was working with before. The 93 hazard switch on the console works great and blends in pretty well. I've got a spreadsheet with the pinout/color codes for the round and square dash switches for anyone interested in doing something with them.

My Pathy has always had a bit of a wander to it. At speed I can steer a few inches back and forth with no change in the truck's direction. It's stable when I'm turning, but going straight isn't something it's good at. We've had the upper and lower ball joints, TREs, idler, and centerlink replaced, and it's got new strut rod bushings/cups and a recent alignment. The handling feels about the same as it did before, and seems to have gotten a little worse in the past month or so. The tires are 31x10.5 Radar RLT-8s with less than 3k on them. Wear appears to be normal, no cupping/feathering/missing bits, but there's a fair amount of cracking going on between the tread blocks. They're well within their weight range. I did have them up to their max rated pressure (50 psi) for a couple weeks a year or two ago because I was an idiot, but now I keep them at 30psi, 35 today to see if it would help (it didn't). My dad suspects the tires are the problem, either because they've got crappy sidewalls or because they're too wide. There's no way it was this wobbly from the factory (and I know a lot of you run bigger tires without issue) so I don't think the size is the problem, except if it's exacerbating something else that's flogged. We've had the TREs, ball joints, centerlink and idler replaced, and did the strut rod bushings a few months ago. I'm a little suspicious of the steering box, but it's tight when the truck's not moving. We did try adjusting something or another on it a while back, which made it feel like something was binding a bit but didn't change handling at all. I've read that a failing PS pump can make the box act up but I've had no other indication of pump issues (and the fluid looks fine, no idea when it was last changed though). The rear end doesn't step out one way or the other when I get on/off the gas, so I don't think the rear link bushings are the issue. I guess the A-arm bushings could be the problem, but I'm not quite sure how to check them or even if this is the sort of thing they'd do. Does all this point to a screaming issue that I'm missing, or is a different set of wheels/tires a good place to start? (Sorry for the wall of text btw.)

Join the cult!

When my dad and I swapped out the belts in mine, one of them (p/s IIRC) was the wrong length. The guys at the parts store said it'd work but nope. Seems like a fairly common problem... best to bring in the old belt and make sure the new one is comparable.

Holy crap! Good to hear you came out the other side.