Slartibartfast

I think I see what you mean. I assume that if there's a way to get it wrong, the service manual's procedure for setting it up would tell you how to avoid it (or at least give you a procedure to follow). Do you have the service manual?

If there was a good way to add subs for $50, there'd be a lot more people with subs! If your plan is to piggyback the subs onto the existing speakers, that's gonna be way more current than the factory amp was built to take. If you disconnect the stock speakers and run those wires to the subs, that might work, if the resistance of the subs is the same as the resistance of the stock speakers. If the resistance is lower, again, that's more power you're trying to push through a system that was not built for this. Maybe you could get away with one sub if you bridged the two rear speaker channels (connect inputs and outputs so the two channels share the load), but I still wouldn't expect much from it, and of course it would mean losing your rear speakers. If you get a proper amp to go with your subs, it'll want a line-level (not amplifed for speakers) input. On a proper install this would go to the RCAs on the back of the head unit. This is where the converter Colin linked comes in. Tee off the stock wiring, the converter drops that speaker-level signal back to line-level, to the amp, Bob's yer auntie. I'll bet you could tap into the line-level from the head unit to the amp instead, so you don't need the converter, but that would mean digging deeper and hacking up a part of the harness that would be more complex to put right if you wanted to go back to stock later.

The later Quest alternators are good for 145A, and Nissan Nut did a writeup on how to swap them into a WD21. Looks like they take a little screwing around to get mounted up, but Rockauto's got them for less than half the cost of the billet one. I've heard of people having belt issues with the Quest alt, but I'm not sure if that's because they didn't get the pulley alignment right or if that's just what happens when you ask too much of a V belt. I don't think I've seen a review of the RR alt. I remember someone complaining that the Mean Green had a stock regulator in it (presumably undersized for the rated output), but that was a while ago. I may upgrade mine to the 90A Maxima alt if/when it craps out. For now it seems to be keeping up just fine. If anything on mine is going to eat a stimulus check, it's probably the steering box.

I don't know the TD27 but the manual shows marks on the gear teeth for lining up the pump, so I'd expect 360° out to be exactly the same as what you started with unless there's a gear reduction inside the pump. No idea about the gear compatibility, sorry.

I remember having a "fun" time with those lines too. I usually use a little WD40 or silicone or something when hooking up hoses, but that's less helpful when there's nowhere to put your hands. Since then I got a pair of hose pliers (like needle-nose but with curved tips for hoses), sees like that'll make round two easier if/when I end up in there again. At least Nissan didn't use spring clamps that pop around backwards when the pliers slip.

Wikipedia says the R20 and R50 got the same generation of engine, with the same power output, so I'd expect the R20 manual to be pretty close. I have a manual for the non-turbo version used in a van (no idea why I have that) but I don't think I'd trust the NA specs in a turbo application.

+1 for doing a leakdown test first, and for considering a VG33 swap if the 30 has to come out anyway. 416k is a very respectable final score!

Yeah, do everything you can while you're in there. Cam and crank seals, water pump, thermostat, bypass hose, belt, and tensioner, and have a good look at your rad hoses. The timing belts last long enough that the chain conversion would be more trouble than it's worth. If you want a longer-lived belt, get a set of sprockets off a later (mid-'93+) VG to run the round-tooth belt. Square-tooth is good for 60k miles, round is good for 100k IIRC.

I did a little poking around in the service manual and I think I found it. Looks like the ABS runs a self-test after you start the truck, but it waits until you hit 4mph. "A mechanical noise may be heard as the ABS performs this self-test. This is a normal part of the self-test feature" (BR-30, 1997). Naturally it doesn't doesn't elaborate on what this "mechanical noise" is supposed to sound like. The buzz is probably normal. The bang kind of makes sense too--you're pushing fluid through the ABS when it's cycling its solenoids, figures it would make some kind of noise if it held and then dumped that pressure. That said, I have no idea if it's supposed to do that, and an unexplained banging noise under the hood seems like something they would've tried to avoid. You could check this theory by jacking up the back of the truck, resting your hand on the ABS block, and having someone start it and spin the wheels up to 4 mph to trigger the self-test. If it's vibrating enough to hear in the cab, I bet you'll feel it. Should feel the bang as well if your assistant makes it do that. Or you could just unplug the electrical connector for the ABS block and test-drive it, which should stop the noises entirely, though it looks like you'd have to do a code reset afterwards (instructions for that on BR-47). If the ABS light isn't on already, the computer thinks everything's fine, so, that's something. How's your brake fluid look? You could try flushing it on the off chance you flush some schmoo out of the ABS and quiet it down. I'd give it a couple panic stops too, see if you can make the ABS cycle properly. Maybe it just needs a little exercise.

I would check the U joints in your rear driveshaft first.

Your '97 doesn't have automatic locking hubs, unless someone went to a lot of bother to fit them. The R50s all had drive flanges from factory (basically a permalocked hub). I'm not sure what would cause this that would only do it once at the start of each drive cycle. Loose heat shields can rattle, but not generally one-and-done like that. Banging if you hit the brakes makes me suspect something in the brakes or suspension is acting up--maybe trying to seize when it's sitting, then chattering or popping free when you set off? I would check the brakes first, then have a look at the suspension joints. See if you can make the noise appear under any other conditions. I doubt the steering pump has anything to do with it.

I've got an '89 manual, should be the same. I'll send you a link.

Have someone push the body sideways while you watch the panhard rod bushings. The upper and lower links locate the axle front to back, the panhard controls side to side. If those bushings are roached (and they're the same age and presumably the same type of rubber as the link bushings that were roached), I would expect some side to side action. I would also inspect the panhard bracket, not that I've ever heard of one of those failing. The R50 is unibody, so the body can't really fall off, but they are known for rotting out in the front strut towers. There was a whole recall about that where Nissan glued crap over the rust holes and told people they'd fixed it. Worth taking a look at.

Impacts are great for taking things apart, but also great for screwing things up when putting them back together. The service manual specs 58-65 lb-f on the cam sprocket bolts. I welded up a tool to hold the cam sprocket while I tightened the bolt with the torque wrench, but I've read that you can hold it well enough with the old belt and vise grips. If the threads are okay, then yeah, I imagine it'll back out pretty easily once there's no tension on it. I ran into that recently replacing the water filter in the house. Turns out it's a lot easier to unthread the housing when it doesn't have 50-60 psi jamming the threads together!

It was a while ago that I did mine, so I don't remember, but I probably separated them just in case the pulley caused a clearance issue on the way out, or in case I dropped it, or to inspect the rubber part of the balancer. I don't remember bothering to separate them again when I took it all back apart to replace the crank seal I skipped the first time. (Don't skip the crank seal.) If you don't remove the pulley from the balancer, then yeah, the keyway means the crank and balancer only go back together one way and your timing marks will be in the same place when you're done as when you started. If you do remove the pulley from the balancer, those two aren't keyed to each other, so you can install the pulley the wrong way around on the balancer if you're not careful.

Oh, that sucks. Did you run the bolt in with the impact? Loctite? Or just an unlucky slip with the socket that rounded the head? Welding a nut or something to it would've been my go-to. Without a welder, cover anything you don't want abrasives in (plan to wipe stuff down afterwards) and go after it with the angle grinder. Just be careful not to mess up the sprocket. You might get away with cutting a slot in the bolt head and using a slotted screwdriver bit in the impact, if you have something like that. Otherwise just grind the head off the bolt until it's not holding the sprocket anymore. Once the pressure's off, remove the sprocket, slot what's left of the bolt with the grinder, and back it out with a screwdriver (using the sprocket to hold the cam). Go slow so you don't cook the cam seal, and/or pack a wet shop towel in behind the sprocket if you can. (Given the thermal mass of the sprocket, bolt, and cam, I'd be surprised if you changed much with the torch.) Then remove the bolt from the other side, work out the diameter/thread/length, and order two.

Looks factory! Nicely done.

The bolt in the middle is the only one holding the balancer to the crank. The little bolts hold the crank pulley to the balancer. Mark the orientation of the crank pulley to the balancer before removing it so you don't put it back together in a different orientation and lose your ignition timing marks! It's been a while but I think I removed all the bolts, got the pulley out of the way, and then bolted the duck's foot puller to the balancer.

^I think those fender extensions were part of the under-bumper trim strip bollocks I took off of mine. Clipped to the bottoms of the fenders and probably to the flares as well, I vaguely remember trimming the flares afterwards. I'll have to check my parts pile, I may have a set of fog light brackets. I don't remember if I sold them with the housings or not.

Nice rig! I haven't done the bumper swap myself (both of mine came with the later style) but I know it's been done. From having mine apart, I know there's a steel mounting bracket behind the fog light that's not pictured. The fog light bracket goes behind the plastic insert (which look like you'll have to trim them to install fog lights), two fiddly plastic trim pieces go over the outside of the insert to hide the gap between the fog light and the insert, and machine-thread screws go through the holes in the trims and the insert into the fog light bracket to hold it all together. Probably sandwiches two of the bracket tabs on the bumper as well, looking at the picture (been a while since I had mine apart). You may need a couple plastic clips for the coarse-thread screws that hold the turn signal housing and insert to the bumper. Looks like the bumper brackets have the same part number, so your old ones should work with the new bumper if they're not messed up. Mine had a stamped sheet metal fascia piece that went under the bumper, some kind of narrow gap filler kinda deal. It got bent up and I couldn't be arsed to straighten it, so in the bin it went. It would probably conflict with your existing fascia anyway. Worth noting, the later bumpers aren't any more durable than what you had. Both times I've hit something (both low speed, one ditch and one deer), the bumper collapsed into the fender and bent it back far enough to push the flare against the tire. One of these days I'm going to get rid of the stock bumper and a better one, but as usual this is not that day.

I know your pain! I hate working on brakes. The rear hydraulic circuit on mine gave me a runaround for months and I'm still not sure what was wrong with it, and the local shops were about as useful as yours. Vibration and grabbing makes me think the drums aren't concentric to the axles. Check that the drums fit snugly on the hubs (no slop between the drum and hub that would let the drum sit off-center--I'd check this with the drum backwards to take the pads out of the equation) and that the end of the axle where the drum mates up is clean and flat (no chunk of dirt or rust or something making a drum sit cockeyed). If you really wanted to rule out the drums, you could remove the pads and backing plates, mount the drums and wheels, and check the contact surface of the drums for runout with a dial indicator. This seems excessive, but so does most of what I tried when my brakes weren't working. I can't think of what else would be making the brakes vibrate, unless there's something very wrong with the ABS. I've heard of brakes grabbing if the leading and trailing shoes are mixed up, but not as a vibration, more as a "touch the brakes and they lock up" sort of deal.

You can get backup cameras with a bracket that goes behind the license plate, so the camera is right above it (or right below it, depending on how you set it up). You'd still need a hole for the wiring, but you might be able to hide that behind the plate or something. When I added aux reverse lights to mine, and needed a trigger for the relay, I checked the EL section of the service manual and found where the harness from the trans position sensor comes up through the engine bay, and tapped into one of the wires there.

I got passed by a Winnebago once. He didn't honk, though, so that was nice.

Sounds like something was telling the computer to lock the torque converter when it was in reverse. It's supposed to unlock when you press the brakes, which would explain why it was fine when the brake lights were on. Good that it wasn't the computer, '87 has a different trans vs other years and that might've been a tricky unit to find a replacement for. Good to hear you got it in the end, though, and thanks for closing the loop!

I doubt the mechanic would've disabled it elsewhere. Could be that the refrigerant charge has leaked down enough over time that the low-pressure switch won't let the compressor kick on. I don't know why that would stop the light in the button from coming on, though. Could be that's on the circuit controlled by the pressure switch, or you could be correct about an electrical fault elsewhere that just isn't telling the aircon to engage in the first place. I wouldn't expect a faulty relay to explain the light not coming on, but I don't know how Nissan wired it up. The service manual should have the wiring diagram (probably in HA, if not try EL), and some troubleshooting ideas as well. My first check would be shorting out the low pressure switch. If the compressor starts with that bypassed, that's a pretty good sign that the gas is low and needs to be refilled (and the leak fixed, if you can find it). If you've got no voltage across the low pressure switch, you've got an electrical fault elsewhere.