Slartibartfast

Yeah, sometimes the parts listings are weird. I accidentally bought VG33 intake gaskets (stamped steel) for my VG30 (which needed thicker gaskets with steel and rubber), because Rockauto listed them and I didn't know any better. That was a fun job to re-do. Quite the long-term project you have there! Good luck with the swap and let us know how it goes. The 3.4 build thread Precise1 mentioned is here, and it's worth a read even you're not planning to bore yours out.

The service manual calls for sealant in between each section. Rule out a leaking drain plug, switch, sensor, something simple to fix before assuming it's more than that. Unless it's leaking enough to drip, I'd probably ignore it.

You might be able to get 6x9s in there if you don't mind building new brackets and doing a little trimming. I guess it comes down to how much better would it sound with the bigger speakers versus how much screwing around will it take to get them mounted up. 5x7 was enough screwing around for me!

Sounds like a hell of a forklift! Understressed is good. I guess now you just need to grab a tape measure and compare the knock-to-knock distance on the ram and the D44. I get wanting to do it once and be done with it! Good luck and let us know how it goes.

The VG had square-tooth sprockets and belts up to mid '93. Later than that used round-tooth. Your '94 VG30 should have the same round-tooth sprockets as your VG33. If not, you should be able to just swap the sprockets from the 3.3 cams to the 3.0 cams.

Nice, you got it already. Sounds like the last guy used the resistors to drop the speaker-level output from the head unit to the line-level the amps expect. When I first installed the head unit in my '95, I didn't do that, and two stages of amplification meant it got loud quick and didn't sound very good. It also meant that the stupid beeping noises from the Sony head unit were painfully loud. I've got stock-size oval mids in mine, with the tweeters and high-pass filter caps built in. They were already (poorly) installed when I got the truck, and they were in good shape, but they didn't fit right and the last hack just sorta stuck them mostly in the hole and used longer screws. I guess the factory Clarions were a little slimmer than modern aftermarket mids. I'd run into the same problem on my '95 when I put Boss speakers in it, so I'd already trimmed a set of the plastic mount adapters, and I just swapped those in. I've got nothing against rounds, I just used what I had. Most any aftermarket speakers should sound better than what's left of your factory ones at this point. While I had my doors open, I stuck some sound deadener to the sheet metal and made blockoff plates to screw over the holes in the inner door. Sealing up the door cavity like a speaker cabinet is supposed to improve the bass. It doesn't make it sound like it's got a subwoofer, but I think it helped.

Those are tweeters, so it makes sense that you won't hear much coming out of them. If they're not doing anything at all, could be an issue with the factory amps, if you're still running those. The Memphis door speakers I've got in my '93 came with tweeters built in, and four tweeters up front sounded harsh, so I disconnected the factory tweeters.

The grinding sound was likely because the drivetrain started to spin up when the engine took off. Even if it was in neutral, there's a little drag in the trans that can get the drivetrain spinning, and then the parking pawl has a bad time when you throw it in park with the cog it engages still spinning. If park still holds the truck from rolling, you didn't kill it. I've barked mine a few times without issue. I doubt the trans has anything to do with it. I doubt the TPS could do it, either, though if your scanner does live data, it wouldn't hurt press/release the pedal slowly (key on, engine off) and make sure the throttle % isn't bouncing all over the place. The worst the oxygen sensors or MAF could do is throw the mixture off, and that shouldn't make it rev to five grand. There's not much an engine can do to run away like that if the throttle is shut unless it's getting air from somewhere else. Could be the idle control valve stuck wide open (or held wide open by the computer for some reason), though I'd be surprised if the idle control could pass enough air to rev it that high. (If it was an earlier rig, I'd ask whether you'd taken the EGR valve off, but it doesn't look like the VQ has one.) Recheck anything you messed with that wasn't the exhaust, see if it's got any codes. You say the tach shoots up if you shift into park or neutral--does that mean it runs normally in gear? (I'm asking if you've tried it, not saying you should--I don't advise neutral-dropping it from five grand to see if it launches itself through the neighbor's shed). Did you weld the exhaust with the battery connected? I've never had welding cause an electrical problem on a vehicle I've worked on, but I've heard that computers don't like high-frequency TIG.

I suspect there's more info for mounting hydro steer to a D44 on forums for vehicles that came with D44s, or more commonly get D44s swapped into them. If you're thinking of using the stock steering pump, and have a spec for the forklift pump (or a pressure limit on valves or hoses) to compare it against, the service manual says the WD21 steering pump is supposed to make 1109-1194 PSI at idle. (The R50 pump is rated for 1251-1337 PSI, though it specs this as "maximum pressure" rather than "at idle," so it could be the same pump for all I know.) I have no idea how big orbital valves are, but there's not much room to work with where the steering box is now. I guess you could put it just about anywhere you can run lines to, though, and with the IFS out of the way, you may have a lot more room for activities. The best way to do pictures here is to host elsewhere and link them in, unfortunately.

Nice space! Good thing you got a picture with it all clean and empty, it's never gonna look like that again.

If you haven't already, do the trans cooler bypass to prevent the strawberry milkshake of death. IIRC the 4.0 had some timing chain guide issues as well, so have a look at those while it's torn down.

The '89 manual shows power mirrors, so they've been around at least that long. The '95 manual shows power mirrors with heat, but it looks like the heater plug is separate, so a heated mirror assembly may still plug into an early harness (just wouldn't have heat). Many things are pre-wired, but I don't know about the door harness. I'd say remove a mirror and see if there's a wiring harness stuffed in behind it.

Who doesn't love a good rabbit hole?

i relo'd mine to the back of the driver's side head when I had my intake off (the sensor was fine, just didn't want to tear it all down again if it went later). There was a tapped hole back there all ready to go, and the harness reached. Probably not the best place for it, but it hasn't been an issue.

Ah, that sucks. The pictures I've seen of earlier transfer cases suggest that the switch locations changed at some point as well. If all else fails, buzz it out with a continuity tester to see which switch does what and go from there.

I don't have his contact info, but he's active on the NPORA Facebook page.

Engine RPM will change with load as the transmission shifts up and down and the torque converter locks and unlocks. When you want more engine braking, turn off overdrive (button on the shifter). This locks out fourth gear. I think it alters the converter lockup behavior as well, but I'd have to look that up again to be sure. I turn off the overdrive when I'm climbing or descending mountain passes. This gives me better engine braking and stops the trans from going for overdrive at stupid times on the way up.

The '95 service manual should have the system all laid out somewhere. Not sure if it'd be in EL or TF, but that's where I'd start. I haven't had a reason to look into this, but Mr. Reverse's idea of one switch for high and one for low makes sense to me--my 4x4 light goes out with the transfer in neutral.

Most EFI intakes are a little weird looking. I haven't seen an aftermarket manifold for one of these that wasn't for a carburetor swap. I prefer a weird manifold to the acres of plastic crap you get under the hood of newer stuff. The manual trans is pretty robust, except that until '96, Nissan put the fill hole too low, which starves the countershaft bearings. An early trans that isn't already damaged can be kept alive by overfilling it through the shifter hole. Same donor list as for the slushbox. Make sure you get the flywheel bolts from the donor as well--the bolts on your flexplate are shorter. Harbinger did a fairly involved thread when he swapped his auto to manual, so have a look around for that. Also make sure you put the correct oil in it. There's a thread on that too, but the short version is that GL-5 rated oil will eat the synchros, so you'll need to track down some GL-4.

Some early (and overseas) WD21s and a lot of D21 trucks came with the KA. You'd need the wiring harness and computer to go with one, and it would be a lot of work to get a smaller, less powerful engine. Not once has my VG30 made me wish it made less power!

Hmm. Sounds like either the computer is right proper borked, or it's got a wiring fault that means the computer isn't getting power. Two computers having the same issue makes me think wiring. Hopefully the dealer can figure it out. If not, I'd unplug the computer, figure out which pins are supposed to be power and ground, and see if one (or more) of them isn't giving the computer what it needs. If you don't mind doing a little digging in the service manual, you should be able to work out where those wires go, where ground points are, and which connectors to check.

Best case scenario, the fluid level is low, so the pump's sucking air and not making enough line pressure to engage the clutches. I would check the fluid level (on a level surface, with the engine warm, after going through each gear), and if it's low, top it up with the cheapest dex/merc ATF you can find and see if that makes it work again. If so, great! It's bought you some time to find a replacement. If it works really well, then consider doing a proper flush. If there's so much metal in the oil that it's showing up on the dipstick, though, I wouldn't expect great things from it. The trans from an Xterra, Frontier, or R50 Pathfinder (with the 3.3) should bolt up. You'll need the flexplate to go with the torque converter it if the donor was supercharged, and I remember reading something about getting as much of the wiring harness as possible--something about the stock harness being too short. Replace the radiator (the transmission cooler is built into the lower tank) and blow out the trans cooler lines before hooking up the replacement trans. You don't want the roached fluid and bits of metal from the old trans ending up in the fresh one. Also, if you're going to wheel the truck, you'll want an additional trans cooler. Some people run a big aftermarket cooler in place of the stock one, and cap off the stock one, which could save you the trouble and expense of replacing the rad. I've got both hooked up on mine, along with a Magnefine filter (external filter with a magnet inside).

Yeah, the FSM makes everything easier. Good luck!

I used the same type of clamp Strato's talking about, though they weren't painted (I used whatever the local hardware store had). I'm sure there are better options, but they've worked fine for me. The fuse link assembly on my '93 bolted onto it with only a little screwing around. I assume it would be similar on an R50. If you're doing just one terminal, make sure you get the right one. I used to have everything on separate feeds from the + terminal, with a stack of ring terminals and separate in-line fuse holders for each thing I'd added on. It was a mess, so I redid it with a cheap blade fuse block with one wire going to the battery terminal. Much easier to work with. Rugged Rocks has these if you want more places for ring terminals.

My understanding is that the security system on the R50 is built in to the point where you're pretty much stuck working with it, but I've never messed with one. If the no-start started when the computer came back, the problem might be there--either something wasn't repaired right, or the rebuilder sent the wrong one back. Have you tried checking for codes? I doubt the average scanner would tell you why the security system is pissed, or let you fix it, but I'd be curious to compare what the computer thinks the VIN is to what the dashboard says it is. It may need to spend some time with someone who's got the right scanner to get into the security system. Or a locksmith might be able to do something with it? I dunno, we're well outside of my experience here.