Chriskaw440

Thanks guys. Yeah since I replaced those two stupid lines when I did my knock sensor, you cant find factory-pre-molded hoses anymore (of course) so I had to use regular hoses and try to get them to bend just right without kinking and use band-clamps instead of the useless original equipment clamps (that you remove or install with pliers) cause they couldnt clamp strong enough without leaking.....and we all know that unless you have itsy bitsy sized hands, there is very little room to work with back there......but, I did learn to go buy two kinds of needle nose pliers to make the job a bit easier.....LONG handled and LONG nose style pliers, one with the 90 deg angle on the nose, and one with a 45 deg angle.....GREAT for reaching into those hard to get to areas for things like clamps or hoses. guess I will have to suck it up, have a few drinks to calm my nerves, and just take the whole plenum off again and then get my buddy back over to help reinstall it and connect those friggin stupid coolant lines... I still curse Nissan engineers for putting the IAC valve in such a dumbass place. I still love my pathy

I wish I had just replaced it when I did my knock sensor.....since I had the plenum removed. Now its acting up worse so I just want to replace the Idle air control valve but I am hoping I dont have to completely remove the plenum...again. Mostly because of the two coolant lines at the very back of the plenum that are such a pain in the a** to reconnect. can the plenum just be unbolted / lifted for enough space to work with to replace the IAC? since it is located on the underside of the plenum. (1990 SE) Since its the original IAC (far as I have ever known) I don't want to bother trying to clean it....just replace it with a new one and be good to go. My idle keeps getting stuck at almost 2,000 rpm most all the time now instead of only on occasion.....everything else checks out ok and its fully tuned. thanks, Chris

Here is a shot of my instruments......my 1990 going 90+ mph with no problem...... I'd would have done 100 but my luck I would have passed a state trooper at that moment. I love my Pathfinder....solid as a rock. (eat me Chevrolet!) -Chris ps....thats 246,680 on the odometer.....original engine.

I recently changed all my shocks on my 1990, and while it was sitting there with no shocks at all ... I just gave it a shove on the bumper up and down and it was hysterical to see how much the whole vehicle bounced up and down like crazy. I thought it would be lots of fun just to drive it around the neighborhood like that but then common sense hit me and I just went ahead and installed all the new shocks, turned out the garage lights and went to watch some TV before calling it a night. still, would have been fun though.

for me on my 1990, its.."get the f*ck on there you little m*ther f*cker sonofab*tch gdamnit ......oh....ah....there ....got it...."

why that sneaky little mechanic...I bet HE dumped a little cup full of antifreeze there and then said "see that, you have a coolant leak!" lol hopefully that would not be the case of course. Since its a '98 (still pretty new in my book!) my guess would lean more towards one of the small hoses under or around the plenum rather than an engine/intake manifold gasket.

Ouch $95.00 per hour..... probably took them what..about 15 minutes to pop them out?

Typically ANY kind of coolant leak is not good....especially when it comes to the engine gaskets such as intake manifold or head gaskets. Coolant and oil are not friends when they are forced to share the same space at the same time lol. is it actually the intake manifold gasket leaking?? or are you just seeing coolant ontop of the engine coming from somewhere under the plenum? because on the underside of the plenum there are a few coolant hoses (rubber) that may be cracked/dryrotted. If thats the case, pretty non invasive repair. If it is the intake manifold gaskets, then its a little bit more of a task but its not rocket science. Fortunatly if you are a somewhat experienced mechanic, it's not that hard of a job to replace the gaskets in your own garage, just takes some patience (lots and lots of things to move out of the way or disconnect)....and the gaskets themselves are pretty much dirt cheap. If you HAVE to have a shop do the repair(s) you may be looking at close to a grand in cost due to the cost of labor + parts and miscellaneous parts that may need to be replaced once the plenum and manifold are removed. There are LOTS of hoses under the plenum and its always a good idea to go ahead and replace them while its apart due to age of the vehicle. The rubber seats for the injectors should always be replaced too (if it is MPFI) even if they look ok. The ONLY real pain in the ass thing I ran into when I did my knock sensor replacement, were the two coolant lines at the very back of the plenum that have to be reconnected. If the hoses are the pre-formed type, good luck finding any from Nissan....I had to fabricate my own when necessary or just use longer lengths to avoid them getting kinked up from having to bend much to fit. It's also a good idea to replace the valve cover gaskets at the same time, since they too are inexpensive and the drivers side valve cover is not accessable otherwise since it sits under the plenum (again, this is if its MPFI set up like my 1990 SE is) always always always mark everything as to where it goes, especially the distributor. Of course these are just suggestions for if you decide to do the work yourself.

Hi, well, each arm is held in place by one bolt at each end, one end to the frame, and one to the axle. Takes two wrenches to remove the bolt(s).... once the arm is off (I suggest doing one side at a time)... I just used the ol' pound away at it method to knock as much of the bushing out of the collar with a big screwdriver and hammer. The bushings are held in the arm by a metal sleeve (which will NOT be removed by pounding on it...they are siezed in there....) which I used my sawz-all to cut the sleeve (careful not to cut into the arm itsself!)....once you cut through the sleeve, it will simple fall out or just tap it out with the screwdriver....the cut will break the bond it has on the arm. Remember my mentioning the NEW bushing will not just fit into the arm as it is slightly larger in diameter, and since I had no multi-ton press in my garage, I just used a drum sander on my drill (available at any hardware store or walmart...fits on just like a regular drill bit would...) I just sanded/ground out the inner surface of the hole in the arm until the new bushing would fit snugly into place, just by tapping it in with a mallet (or regular hammer with a block of wood so you dont damage the bushing)... Once both bushings were in place, you just simply bolt it back on and then move on to the other side. Its really nothing difficult, just some patience and common sense. Like I said, its just a solid metal art with a hole on each end that a bushing goes in, then two bolts and thats it. You also CANNOT get a any kind of alignment job done until they are replaced since there is no guarantee the axles are square and can move around thus throwing off the alignment equipment. You shouldnt need to jack up the vehicle to remove and reinstall the arms...since they sit high enough off the ground anyway...but I did use a floor jack just to lift mine a few inches for a little extra space, but not even enough to lift the wheels off the ground. I have photos to show but for some reason this site wont upload them (just JPGS...geezz..) but I can email them to you if you like as they help to show what I talked about above. -Chris

I just did rubber for mine.....not a high performance driver so why bother with poly.... I only changed my lower arm bushings......tools I used were a sawz all with small blade for metal .....big screwdriver and hammer (to pound out the old rubber and bolt sleeve....some people burn them out with a torch but to me that would stink to high hell!) and a small grinder wheel on my drill to grind out the inner sleeve of the arms to allow for the new bushings to fit in, since I dont have a big press and the bushings are and will be slightly larger in diameter than the holes on each end of the arm with the old bushings and sleeves removed. I just ground them out enough until the new bushings could be tapped in good and snug...then back on the vehicle. Oh and throw in some cuss words too when I was figuring it all out for the first time....once I got to the other arm, it was cake work since I figured out a system. straight and solid after that! -Chris

My driveway is so steep, that if I park on it with the vehicle facing downhill, with full emergency brake applied (mine works fine by the way it doesn't help, because most of the vehicles weight is shifted mostly towards the nose, and since ebrake is rear wheels only, even with new semi agressive off road tires (bigger and wider than what the specs call for), my pathy will just start skidding down the driveway LOL. we're talking about a nearly 45 deg slope..... If I park facing up hill and soforth, it holds just fine, but I still use a wheel chock just for safety (cause when i am stading behind it while washing it....I dont want to get run over if the brake gives out!) so yes, I have a damn useless driveway, but at least there is a side pad that goes level around the garage. ...and yes, always turn the front wheels one way or the other when parked on a steep hill.

unlike some people out there.....I DID pay off my student loan..... a year and a half early in fact. Did I feel any smarter once I paid off my edumakation? Nope..... (just kidding of course...attending college was the smartest decision I ever made in my life. Just don't tell my wife that....

Hooray for Canada! Canada is A.O.K in my book and they don't piss off other countries of the world! When my Pathfinder finally dies someday.....I'm gonna ride it over the edge of Niagra Falls. I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures on the way down.

yeah what Grimgreg said!!!! I'm gonna go waste some toilet paper now.........after I finishe my bowl of Honeycombs cereal with regular milk, not organic.

To be honest, I would never trust any (manual tranny) vehicle to stay put on a hill simply by putting it in gear. Way to easy to pop out of gear and then you will find it in someones living room at the bottom of the street. Don't trust the engine, even if in perfect condition, to hold it firmly in place. If another vehicle TAPS it accidently....POP! out of gear and away she will go. A cat could fart on it and knock it out gear....(ok, a big fat cat...) This is why on manual drive vehicles, the emergency brake is UBER IMPORTANT! Fix that before doing anything else. That's what it's made for. The engine is not meant to be a parking brake....on any grade hill. PS... if you cant afford to fix the brake anytime soon...invest in, or make your own....wheel chocks to use in the mean time just to be safe when you park it.

what did I see at the grocery store yesterday in the parking lot.....no joke...a big fat housewife, driving a FULL SIZE HUMMER.....she could barely park it....and what does she use it for? grocery shopping. I guess it's the only thing with enough horsepower to haul her big butt around town to go shopping in. I felt like leaving a note on the drivers door window (if I could reach that high!) that just simply said. "Hey lady...you're an idiot. Join a gym and get a more practical and energy efficient vehicle." thats all people do with their HUMMERS here in Columbia SC, where the terrain is FLAT, and no places to put such a vehicle based on a military truck, to full use, other than to show up at the mall or grocery store in.....and if you're a guy in this city that owns a Hummer, it just shows how small your balls really are. I'll take my 1990 pathfinder (even with no AC working!) over a Hummer, H2, or H3 anyday. ps....some like to make them look really silly too by slapping huge bling-bling rims and razor blade sidewall height tires on them, and God forbid it ever gets a speck of dirt on it. Hummers are neat, but pretty much a huge waste of money. Should have stayed in the military.

hey look there's the thermostat the other guy was looking for! personally I wish Nissan used timing CHAINS instead of flimsy belts.....since they play a VITAL with keeping the engine in proper time.

Mine is a 90 also.... you have to take a lot of stuff off the front of the engine to get to the thermostat....I have never done a t'stat replacement but when I did my knock sensor job I had to take nearly everything off the front and top of the engine and thus saw where the thermostat is located. It's not really hard to do if you typically like to work on cars/engines...just not as easy as on some cars since its 'behind' other stuff. while you're at it....its a good idea to go ahead and change that bypass hose too!! you can't get to that any other time and it's helpful to take the distributor out (don't forget to mark its location!!) so you have more room to work with.... oh and if I remember right...the drain for the radiator is on the bottom, drivers side of the radiator.....there is a small diameter hose on it too. you cant see it while the skid plate is still in place but you will want to take that off too anyway.

gear oil (I assume yours is a 5 spd?) has a pretty unique smell. Could be leaking from tranny and thats why the engine oil always seems to be at normal fill. If your rig is a 4x4....maybe leaking from the front differential or transfer case.

mine made a nice improvement in throttle response, and it even sounds better since you get some of the engine 'growl' when you get on the gas it certainly helped my engine to breathe better. I always thought it felt like it was struggling for air with that stock airbox and little panel filter...even when I put a K&N stock fit replacement filter in it. I wasnt happy with it so I found the cone filter and yanked all that stock junk out. I would like to fashion a plate that will seperate from the rest of the engine compartment (so it wont be sucking in all the hot air in the engine compartment...eventhough that is mostly the case when sitting still idling since Im sure theres plenty of fresh outside air flowing through the grill at highway speeds) .....someday but its way down on my list of things to do. (heres my 'before' photo that should have been included with my earlier post above.....)

I have a hot wife.....no need for drugs. maybe you didnt see the post on the site regarding the miracles of WD-40

if I'm not mistaken thats the hole to allow for water to drain from after 4 wheeling in deep water areas......so now my guess would be a seal going bad.....its not gear oil right? that typically is much thicker and smells pretty bad. Thought maybe the gearbox was leaking a bit thats all. maybe try just putting in a heavier weight oil next oil change....I've heard others having good results with small leaks just doing that.....just as a temporary fix anyway. I would avoid those gimmick stuff additaves you can buy off the shelf ..... they never work and just gunk up the engine.

would some WD40 fix it? I hear it will at least keep birds out of that little hole... I would be asking myself ...is it OIL thats leaking, or clutch fluid (brake fluid) as it should be easy to tell from the smell of it (unless you are a bird of course) oil = rear main seal, or pressure sending unit, or valve cover gaskets. brake fluid = clutch slave ok time for bed.

well as best as I can explain it....its because SEAFOOD smells SOOOO BAD that they can at least pick of that kind of stinkin' scent I guess I should have stated it as ...."MOST birds dont have good sense of smell" (and that is a true fact....they rely mostly on their eyesight and hearing.....they just have poor sense of smell) I have had a seagull crap on my windshield once though while at the beach......it was so bad I just went to the nearest car wash instead of turning on my windshield wipers. Looked like someone dumped a can of yogurt from a hundred feet onto my glass.

good to hear. Well mine would mostly klunk when starting out from a dead stop....(putting a load on them....causing the axle to 'pop' forward) and just bouncing the rear end (the pathfinders...not my wifes) up and down would not be enough to make anything move out of place. once you get started...I would take each arm off (one at a time) and inspect the bushings...if you see any signs of cracks / dry rot in the rubber....then the bushing is shot. This is a pretty common issue with the older pathfinders and luckily, with some common tools and patience....a pretty cheap and easy fix. Has to be done anyway as like I mentioned before...no competent shop could do a proper alignment with the rear end loose like that. -Chris