Slartibartfast

Can't wait to see.

I know what you mean... my locks are bad enough in the cold that I've considered just gutting the wiring and re-rigging it without the timers and whatnot. Sounds like you've pretty much got it nailed down, though. The fuse box is off, but power's getting to the relay. So pull the dash, trace the wire, there's got to be something amiss.

Time to start unplugging everything?

94 has a point, that's kinda like getting halfway through an episode of House before finding out the patient is a crystal meth tweaker. If it's running like crap, I'd expect it to stall out. Even if it's not related, it seems like something to fix. Check the ECU codes. I'm not sure what would cause 30 sec of shuddering. Fuel delivery issue, maybe? The shuddering might be one or the other injector rail not getting fuel... my dad found a leak in the pipe going between them on mine, if that was somehow draining the fuel from one side, it would run like crap until it got fuel back to that bank. I'm just blowing smoke here, though. (Fuel filter?) Also, how cold are we talking about? When mine gets really cold (sitting outside all night at eight degrees F) I have to let it warm up a little before putting it in gear or the RPM dips and surges.

I'm surprised it runs at all at that temp. Is it getting to operating temperature? You might try the computer, see if it's throwing any codes. I've heard the coolant temperature sensor can make the engine die, so maybe check that out. The only other thing I can think of is that the air going in is sufficiently colder/denser to confuse the ECU. You could try disconnecting the battery for a few minutes, then hooking it back up; this will make the ECU relearn how to operate the engine in your atmospheric conditions. (It'll also clear codes, so check those first.) If all else fails, maybe try some kind of intake heater? The signals not working isn't too surprising. Mine (and others I've heard about) get louder when they're cold. The flasher unit relies on heat to cycle the bulbs on and off (like the flashing bulb for xmas tree lights), so in the vat of liquid nitrogen you seem to be living in, they may just not be heating enough to cycle. If this is the case, they're just turning the light on solid. IIRC, heavy duty flashers/flashers for LED turn signals are set up differently, so you could swap one of those in and get your flashers back.

I'll try to spell it out more clearly. Here's what you said: The first part of this is true. You have added potential energy by lifting the truck. What you are missing, however, is how potential energy works. Drive to the top of a steep driveway, and you're exerting force to fight gravity. You gain altitude, and thus potential energy. When you coast back down the hill, you trade potential energy for kinetic energy. Basically, you get that energy back. Potential energy does not add mass. This means the truck does not weigh more, or take more force to move. I think the root of your misunderstanding is thinking that the energy is somehow stored. It's not. It's spent to change the physical or chemical states of matter. Lift the brick, you'd added potential energy, but only because you changed the distance it'll fall. A tree uses sunlight to combine carbon dioxide and dirt, producing cellulose and oxygen. Burn the wood, and you recombine the cellulose and the oxygen. The chemical bonds change and spit out energy. This is storage in an abstract sense, because you can put it in and take it out, but it's nothing like how you'd store gasoline in a tank. What you're storing is not matter. It's energy. It has no mass. So, let's say the OP lifts his truck two inches all around. He's added a little potential energy. The truck's mass is unchanged. The only difference is that, if his springs magically disappeared, the truck would hit the ground a little harder than a truck at stock height. On snorkels: your hands make lousy pipes. Try blowing through an actual tube. Additional tubing and turns will offer increased resistance to flow, but a ram-air type snorkel should provide more than enough force to counteract this. Keep in mind also that the snorkel is, in theory at least, sucking colder and thus denser air. Payload: Fill a stock Pathy with a ton of heavy stuff, and it'll bottom out. A lifted car has more travel before bottoming out, so it's got more room to sag before bottoming out. OP: Sorry about the thread jack.

Assuming Adamzan's right, and it was run without enough oil at some point, that's probably when the wear happened. Now that it's properly oiled, it'll take a while to get worse. Keep in mind, oil circulates, so whatever wears off gets caught (hopefully) in your oil filter. And I don't know rockers, but that's a lot of play.

I actually pulled my idler out just the other day. The bearing looked like it tapped out, but I couldn't get it out with a hammer and a screwdriver, so I left it alone. Maybe try a bench vise with a socket rather than tapping? I pried off the shields, degreased the bearing internals, washed the grit out, shot the last of it out with WD-40 and compressed air, repacked it with grease, put it back together, and put it back on... it was quiet at first, but now it seems to be chirping a little at 2-2.5k RPM. Oh well, it's an improvement at least LOL. But yeah, the circlip comes out pretty easily, I just used pliers and a screwdriver to help ease it out. Last time my dad bought belts for mine, the parts place gave him totally wrong-sized belts. Maybe the PO of yours had a similar experience and made it work.

Engine swap, you say? Also I love what you did with the rear seats. Do you have a pic of what you modified? I'd kinda like to try it on mine.

I think you've very much misunderstood the theory. Pick up a brick, you've added energy. Drop it, and you release the energy. But the mass of the brick does not change. It is no more difficult to move in the air than it was on the ground, no heavier, no change in physical properties. Lift a truck six inches, and unless you drop it again, the potential energy you added doesn't matter. The weight load of the truck (parked) is exactly the same (except the added weight of the body spacers, which I suspect is pretty much jack). The difficulty of course is when the truck is moving. It's not that it has more to carry, it's just that the center of gravity has changed. It's like running with a heavy backpack vs running with it on your head. It'll be a little top heavy, and thus less stable. You'll have more suspension travel (assuming you've done a suspension lift) and probably different spring rates, which will alter handling in their own way, as will disconnecting the sway bars for flex. None of this makes the truck more difficult to move; it just makes it more unwieldy, and generates a little more air resistance. The additional stress on components comes from the angles at which the shafts and CVs are made to work. The sharper the angle, the more the joints have to work, the more they'll have to handle, and the easier they'll be to break. The steering is also a factor. At stock height, it works okay, but when lifted, the tie rods put enough vertical force on the idler arm to require a brace or dummy box (a gutted steering box that's much stronger than the stock idler). From what I've heard, the centerlink doesn't cope well either. You also need to upgrade the upper control arms if you're going over an inch or two, or you'll never get the alignment right. So, the car's less stable, the driveline is under more stress, and the steering, unless you brace it like crazy, gets iffy. You COULD load just as much stuff into it, and pull just as much with it, but it would be kinda hard on it, and not terribly safe. The lift spacers would be fine, though, I imagine you'd have to get stepped on by Godzilla to take those out. Also, I'm pretty sure blocks are for lowering leaf-sprung trucks. Like this. I agree with bmcgawain. Take it out, beat it around, see what you think. If it's lacking for clearance, read up on suspension lifts, and go from there. If the tires are too small, get some spare rims with mudders, and swap them out with your street tires when you go wheeling. If the tires rub on the wheel wells, look into a body lift. If the bumpers aren't holding up well, or you plan to run into stuff, build tube or plate bumpers, and so on. There are a few good general mods for whatever you're doing, but most of what you're talking about will depend entirely on where you drive it. (And none of it will help your mileage any.) Snorkels are a deep water thing. Depending on the design, though, they could offer a little 'ram air' effect, which could make the engine breathe a little easier. A few guys here have installed turbochargers, which improve power and (in theory at least) mileage. And from what I've read of carbs, don't bother. It would be a fair amount of work to integrate, the ECU would be pretty confused, and IIRC someone on here said that if you roll it with a carb setup, it can spill fuel onto the exhaust manifolds. Also, if you're after more power, consider a VG33 swap. It's explained better elsewhere, but basically you replace the stock 3.0L with a 3.3L from a later Pathy or Xterra within a certain range of years.

Try unhooking the battery for a bit, to force the computers to reset? Doesn't sound like limp home mode, but can't hurt to rule it out.

How's the battery at this point? If it's still discharging itself, that would explain the hazards/signals. Still sounds like an ignition switch issue to me. Maybe there's a (stuck) relay for that?

Mine had one of these when I got it. I patched it with a little two-part epoxy, left it for a while, and eventually swapped it for an intact light from a hardbody at the junkyard... IIRC it was around $30 and I got a working bulb with it. Never had a bulb explode, though. Halogen?

Finally fixed my idler pully. Yes, FIXED, I'm too cheap/broke to actually replace something. It wasn't so much worn out as dirty and out of lube, so I pulled it apart, cleaned/repacked the bearing, and put it back in. The grinding/scraping sound is gone! Now I've just got to deal with the rattling driver's heat shield... and I can just ditch that, correct? And even with a procedure this simple... I managed to skin a knuckle. THE PATHY REQUIRES BLOOD SACRIFICE.

I'm not sold on this. The relay's still clicking, right? If it's still clicking then it's what's triggering it that's the problem. Also I've never opened an automotive relay, but all the others I've torn into (random electronics) were assembled entirely dry. I'm also not sold on the battery damage. It's not good for it, sure, but it's not like you'll kill it by draining it once or twice. I drained my battery to the point where the dash lights barely even came on, and after a recharge (and a little fiddling with some confused sensors) it fires up without issue. (It was a little slow this morning, but then, it was 18F last night.) Gotta figure out why they're getting power. Maybe something's sticking in the ignition? Pull out the voltmeter and check for voltage at the fuse block, then at the relays... something's stuck on.

Yeah, on second thought, do the springs too. Hopefully the new panhard will fix the alignment. Good luck!

Or you could use the air like a mechanic my dad knows... he put a tank in the back of his wife's car, and hooked it to a train horn. He says if she drives a little car, it had better have a big horn. It's crazy loud. My only concern would be what a pressurized cage (or bumper!) would do in an accident. That, and the PITA you'd have trying to find that one crack/pin hole.

Check the plugs for your MAF and Throttle Position Sensor. Seems like the MAF plugs/wires go bad more than the MAF sensors do. Also check the vacuum lines, if they're disconnected/split/dry rotted it'll run badly. There's a computer under your driver's seat, and you can pull the codes from it without a code reader. There's a writeup. The pics are gone but the info's still good. Print it out and take it to the truck with you, it'll help loads. And don't let the rice boil over.

The RPM range is interesting... vac line maybe? Any codes?

For what it is, a 4WD minivan, it could be very nice. The confusing bit is why it's called a Pathfinder. The other confusing bit is that I'll bet it still gets something like 18 MPG. Actually, looking on Motor Trend, the 2010's are worse (13/18?!?) than the earlier models.

^That's what I was thinking of. Thanks.

Drove it through the yard rather than down the driveway... that's the most off-roading I've done in about a year. Nice trick with the Pam, I'll have to remember that.

I remember someone on here welded chain between the top and bottom plate of a motor mount. There's apparently a lot of stress on the mounts when you're in 4LO, and the chain steps in where the rubber would fail.

One guy on here had loads of belt problems after running with a loose cover, but only because he went mudding and, well, filled it with mud. IIRC it skipped a few teeth. Maybe you got a stick or a bit of gravel or something up in there? The door, yikes, there's a PITA. Hopefully it's just the hinge that's buggered, I'd replace that first. There's also the chance that it's bent up where the hinge mounts to the door and the body, which could mean hammer work. But hopefully it's just the hinge, or it's a small enough bend that you can just shim the hinges until the door shuts. I'd use the body lines to help line up the door. (You might also try shimming the latch piece on the door frame.)

Replace the bushings and, at least from what I've read, that'll fix the problem. Unless the previous owner really beat it into the ground, the springs aren't the problem, and you shouldn't need to replace them to make the truck safe. I'd wait and do the lift all at once, once you have all the bits.