Chriskaw440

I found a place here in the club where one could order window decals ....so I did! but after two weeks now, nothing has showed up. Now I cant find this "individual" or his business..... "firerescuegfx" (@gmail.com or .com) I believe located in NY. I paid via paypal so I guess I will be going to put it in dispute so I can recoup my few bucks. I have seen were this particular item offered has been nothing but a big cluster F... in the past with rip offs and soforth.... anyone else dealt with this decal issue? -Chris.

the 1990 year was an excellent model for the pathfinders. Mine is a 1990 5-spd.....and with some work over the years it is like new again....and reliable beyond belief! only the typical mechanical issues had happened with parts just plain "wearing out". If tuned properly and soforth they are actually pretty decent on gas....I get about 400 miles to a tank (now that I have replaced all the bad sensors on the engine) Mine still has the original engine and tranny. Dont know much about wheel and tire sizing so I cant offer much help there. If it was me I probably would have bought that pathy too for a 100 bucks as a project vehicle! -Chris

Yeppers....typical for these early years....the voltage regulator on the backside of the instrument cluster tends to go bad, but fortunatly enough...pretty cheap and easy to fix. on mine the gauges did just the opposite....they both just went dead...wouldnt move at all.

if its BLACK SMOKE, it could be the coolant temperature sensor....(located on the neck that connects the upper rad hose to the thermostat housing. Mine was sometimes blowing black smoke out the tailpipe because I had a bad electrical connection on the sensor so it would sometimes not work thus making the engine run too rich. A little dielectric grease and a tighter fit on the connection and its been fine ever since. I thought I had serious problems but my mechanic at the time showed me what the deal was. Again, this is on a 1990 year pathy.....not sure where the sensor is on other years.

yeah last I heard, water and electricity (especially generators) dont really mix too well....and if you want to keep submerging the rig that deep in water, might as well build up a stock pile of extra alternators Personally I would prefer to stick to good ol' fashion mud fun and leave the deep stuff to the swamp buggies. but to each their own right! gotta have fun!

I had a roommate that had a high flow cat .....oh wait, that was his PET cat that crapped on everything.... Yeah go with a HIGH FLOW CATALYTIC definitly since they are cheap nowadays. When I had 3 RX-7's I yanked all the stock cat crap off and put headers and new high flow cats and racing muffler and it was niiiiiiice! and guess what...legal too! since I lived in NC at the time and they did the sniffer inspections....having the high flow cats on it allowed me to pass everytime, not to mention that the exhaust would have been waaaaaay too loud with out the minor muffeling that the cats provide. some vehicles have O2 sensors AFTER the cat and to get around that can be a bit of a pain so again, just do the smart thing and replace the old with a new higher flowing (and lighter in weight) cat.

it might be a cat in there....tapping on the metal with his claw and saying...."let me outta here!" my second thought was exhaust parts cooling off too.......

Check vaccume lines.... many times all it takes is a cracked/dry rotted hose to cause an engine to run like crap.... sometimes folks just accidently knock one loose when working around the engine with their hands...I know I have before.

not sure about the 98 year models, but on mine (1990) the Idle Air Control Valve is located on the underside of the Plenum....towards the back. And I have mentioned in another post about it being one boneheaded place for Nissan to put it since you cannot access it unless you remove the plenum. All other vehicles I have ever seen or worked on, its located up beside the throttle body or thereabouts, where you can access it!

Mine, and some others I know of also, have a tapping upon first cold start up of the day that goes away soon as the oil circulates fully though the heads/valvetrain and I am told this is pretty normal for these engines, especially high mileage ones. Mine has over 239,000 on it and purrs like a kitten....still drives like new. Im told there is nothing one can do about the cold start tapping and it is harmless. Sometimes it does it, sometimes it doesn't, and it only lasts for a few seconds if even that long at times. I dont bother with the "snake oil" additives and all that bull crap...that say they will quiet noisy lifters/valves (hello these are hydraulic!). just run top of the line oil. IF it sounds more like a sewing machine rapping that dissipates once the engine is FULLY warmed up, then it is most likely the famous exhaust manifold leak thing and I have already been through that ....to replace broken studs years ago. Been fine ever since. -Chris

on my 1990 se the stock fog light switch is on the lower RIGHT of the steering column, a small red knob that you pull out to turn the lights on (and it illuminates red when ON) and push in to turn off. Let me be honest here though, for all I know, they are stock on my rig, since they were on it when I bought it and I just assume they are stock as I dont see any other places on my dash where a fog light switch would be. To visualize, when sitting in the drivers seat...my switch is located just above where my right knee would be, on that lower part of the dash. Mine are the rectangular fog lights that are mounted right under the front bumper..... maybe they aren't stock?? doesn't matter to me really but hey they work!

I discovered on my 1990 SE pathfinder, that the stock fog lights are wired to the passenger side headlight also, thus causing them to turn-off when you use high beams (this is for legal reasons...) and back on when you switch the headlights back to normal mode....and when my fog lights would just not work at all, I discovered it was a loose connection at the headlight, and just adjusting the wiring a little with my fingers would make them work again....and rather than go into rewiring them, I just leave them as is and they've been fine for over 2 years now and I burn them all the time when driving at night as they light up the road better than the standard high beams do. I replaced the bulbs once with 50 watt bulbs....or maybe it was 100 watt...I cant remember. I also installed HELLA fog lights on my brush guard for when I really want to light up the road ahead.....I wired them direct to the battery so when high beams are cut on, the HELLAS will stay on too....

DEFINITLY get the flywheel resurfaced. There are no shortcuts to that. I'd go stock too since you aren't building a dragster or race car.

I change all my own fluids too on my '90 and mine has never had a "crush washer" on it, just kept it tight and its never leaked. The bolt on mine kinda has a "built-in" washer on it.....not just a nut-head on it. Dont over tighten the bolt though...its not one you want to strip the threads out of! -Chris

thanks. It really was my biggest engine repair undertaking I have ever done. Just took my time and replaced all the common sense items too while the top half was all out....be silly on a vehicle that old to do JUST the sensor and not all the hoses and vacuum lines, and clean out the valve covers and replace their gaskets too. Funny thing I found during this job, I think its called the "oil breather tube system" that runs from one valve cover to the other along the front rail, just above the AC belt tensioner assembly.....when I was putting it back on and decided I should replace the short hoses on each end too, I noticed there was something inside the tube! so with needle nose pliers I reached in and extracted a section of a WIRE BOTTLE BRUSH, that apparantly had broken off and was left inside the tube, I assume by the previous owner at some point (I'm the second owner) so its been in there for over 5 years if not more. I didn't think it was a true NISSAN part LOL. Hopefully now the valve cover breathing system will work more efficiently. The local NISSAN/IMPORTS shop here, the best in town too, wanted about $1000.00 to do the job and since it was still running good even with the bad sensor, they suggested just leaving it be until things get worse. I hear some trucks just go to running like crap when the knock sensor goes out but some, the ECU goes into a baseline mode just to keep it running and then flashes the code "34" Next project, Shock Absorbers...at least those are easy

Yes thankfully this year (1990) only has one O2 sensor before the cat. Mine was probably the original one too..... My model does not have Check Engine Light on the instrument panel, its the old school "red light and green light" on the ECU flashing codes. "34 - knock sensor" been like that for years too. For me, it caused knocking if you used any gas less than 93 octane, since it couldnt adjust the timing when knocking/pinging would occur. Now it seems to be running at a much more efficient peak....and a lot smoother.

I finally dove in and did the ol' headache of replacing my faulty knock sensor on my 1990 se. Let me tell ya, for the average wrench turner, it was quite a project at times. While I had the manifold and plenum off, I also replaced the valve cover gaskets and ALL hoses, both coolant and vacuume since some are impossible to get to unless you remove the plenum. Hardest part was putting all the electrical wiring back in the same place and the TWO LITTLE DAMN COOLANT LINES that run under the plenum where they connect at the very back. Pain in the butt and I wanted to slap Nissan around for that design and for putting the AAC valve UNDER the plenum instead of to the side or thereabouts, like on most other cars. If it goes bad, you have to remove the plenum to get to it. Lame on nissans part again. Over all though not too bad for a first timer going that indepth into engine repairs. Also replaced the O2 sensor (thank you nissan for NOT putting a connector down by the sensor so you dont have to reroute all three or four feet of wiring again over the transmission...again like most other vehicles have) Codes are all clear and she purrs like a kitten now, not bad for 239,000 plus miles. Overall cost, about $320.00 as opposed to over a grand that most any shop wanted for the labor and thats not including new O2 sensors and hoses and soforth. (knock sensor was $139.00....LOCAL NISSAN WANTED OVER $240.00 for the same one I ordered online for 139!) PS....upon removing the valve covers and seeing all the GUNK/CRUSTY oil build up on the inside of the covers and on some of the rocker arms.....Im going all synthetic....even the best conventional oil didnt impress me in that department.

well maybe it's just me and how I am but I would prefer to keep the gear lube of all the same brand and weight instead of just adding some other brand in with the Redline MTL. I was always taught that its best to no mix lubes. (and not synthetic with standard lube) I get my MTL from a local dealer for only 9 bucks a quart....and since its not that often that one has to change their manual tranny lube....the cost is fine with me

I filled mine with dirt so I never have to put air in them. Makes the pathy kind of heavy though.

No doubt! hey can you come over and fix my air conditioning system???? Mines gotta be completely sucked dry and then recharged and see where the problem lays.....and summer heat is fast approaching here in SC. -Chris

Redline is good stuff. MTL in my gearbox and in all the RX-7's I have ever owned.

yeah I always stuff a rag or wads of paper towels under the oil filter when I change my oil otherwise some spills out covering whatever is below the filter....which is of course, the starter. One NISSAN mechanic insisted my rear seal was going bad because there was oil on the backside of the oil pan. He didn't believe me when I said "I just changed my oil....thats where it ran down from changing the filter." He was just trying to sucker me for repairs I didnt need when I was only there to have the backup light switch replaced.

any noise? pilot bearing maybe.... broken engine or tranny mount(s) maybe... burnt flywheel surface maybe (if clutch 'ridden' too much...) just things I have encountered in the past (other than the burnt flywheel surface....but a dumbass nissan mechanic was too slack to take mine off to have it machined when I got a new clutch and it shuddered like crazy for a good while after that.)

The fog lights on the older models draw their current from the RH headlight, as mine sometimes go out and I found that by reaching down to the wiring behind the headlight and move things around, POOF! they come back on.....so obviously I have semi-loose connection but oh well, they have stayed on for over a year now (whenever I turn the headlights on) so I just leave it be.

loose ground wire connection somewhere..... had a first generation RX-7 that had those symptoms after getting a new transmission installed..... mechanic forgot to tighten the ground strap bolt (to the engine block)