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drewp29

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Everything posted by drewp29

  1. Ahoy Hoy everyone! So my 2002 Pathy has been pretty reliable, and recently rolled over to the 210,000 mile mark. The only real issue with the engine has been the oil consumption, but I can deal with that, it takes about 1-1.5 quarts per month. However, I noticed last week that the rattle that usually becomes louder when I need to add some oil was getting quite annoyingly loud. I checked the oil and added about a half quart to bring it up to the middle of the hatch marks, and the noise persisted. Yesterday it was freakin loud. So I thought I'd try doing a quick oil change to see if i could quiet it. No bueno. So I did some research and determined it was either the timing chain or rod knock. Took it to a shop this morning and they diagnosed it as the timing chain. Since the cost to replace the chains etc. was quite ridiculous, I started looking into doing an engine/transmission swap with a lower mileage motorset. The labor cost for the swap is only 4 more hours so quite worth it if I can find a good lower mileage engine and tranny. My Pathy is a Manual Tranny 4x4, so I looked for engine transmission combos, but none were to be had. I found a decently low mileage transmission for a good price, and it comes with the transfer case, so should just be a bolt on affair. I had been planning on replacing the clutch anyway, so no big deal if buying motor and transmission separately does not include one. Then I found a gold mine, an engine with 34,000 miles, practically brand new. HOWEVER, it is from an automatic. So my question is: I know the intake plenum on the autos has the power valve crap, but, I have a perfectly good intake plenum on my current engine. Can I swap the intake plenums and use the auto motor as is? I have read through all the threads on motor swaps, and it seems like this is the case, but no one actually confirms that the only real difference in the auto vs manual motors is the intake plenum. Whaddya think?
  2. I knew what you meant, lol, though you could twin turbo the RB20, that would be awesome too! 240s are incredibly fun in any configuration since they are light and nimble and easy to throw around curves. Mine is fun with the base KA, so I am salivating at the chance to drive it with the RB25. I'm sure I'll need to change my underpants the first time I really get on the throttle :-) . Bummer about the '96, that really sucks. So many are being drifted these days and being sent to the car graveyard that it is a shame, and difficult to find a good condition, unmolested example of any model. My build is putting emphasis on quality and building a reliable, good looking S chassis that will hopefully remain in my possession for the next 40 years or more. Thank you for the direction on the dial gauge. I won't be able to get to it this weekend since we have a family b-day get together tonight, the local brew fest tomorrow (I also enjoy a quality beer!), and the football game with a little poker tourney on Sunday, but I may be able to check it next week or the following weekend. By end links do you mean sway bar links? or steering rack outer tie rods? I had changed my sway bar end links, but the ones I bought were cheap as I found out, and they are shot already. The bottom spherical joint is clunky. I did change back to the stock link on the passenger side as it is still in good condition, but forgot to change the driver side when I swapped brake pads last weekend. I realized after I had the truck back on the ground and the lug nuts torqued. I'm running Treadwright Warden tires now, which are BFG AT KO clones, with the kedge grip compound. They'll wear faster than the standard rubber, but I hopefully will be splitting time between the Pathy in the winter and 240sx in the summer, so I'm guessing they'll last about the same amount of time as the previous set. I got 40k miles out of the TW Sentinels I had before these, and my Pathy sits at almost 200k miles now. Starts every time, and other than a fair amount of oil consumption the VQ engine is notorious for, it still runs great. I suspect by the time I need tires again I'll be looking at a low mileage VQ replacement or a rebuild to stop the blow by. I tend to drive cars until I am unable to repair them myself, unless it gets smashed up somehow.
  3. I suspect that as well, though it is odd that it does not seem to follow one particular rim. The initial speed dependent vibration could have been wheel bearing or balance on the previous set of rims/tires, and the issue now may be the new set of rims since the bearing issue has been taken care of. Or it could be the hubs are out of round, forcing the bearings to be out of round when pressing the races in. I did notice this morning on the way to work that it is MUCH less pronounced than before the bearing replacement. I am also thinking that my issue with what I thought was the CV binding after the lift may not have been that at all, but may have been this same issue all along, and was just louder or more pronounced when driving the front axles. Love the RBs in any flavor, 20, 25, 26, they sing so sweetly! The KA that is coming out of my Zenki is most likely going to get a rebuild and turbo and then placed into my parent's '95 240sx in the next couple years. It should be a fun project. 1. No wheel spacers. 2. Not yet. If I am checking the hub runout, what surface do I place the dial gauge against? 3. I had the driveshaft inspected a couple years ago, and the shop said it was straight, though I'm pretty sure they didn't break out the dial gauge. Can the runout tolerance be found in the FSM? If I am going to setup the dial gauge I might as well check both the hubs and driveshaft. 4. I'm not totally sure, I've never had it checked. I think I would need to take it to a driveshaft shop to check, correct? The one I may be having build the new shaft for the 240sx is out of town. We used to have a very good shop in town, but they closed a few years ago after the owner passed away and no one wanted to take over the business.
  4. Hey, what's up dudes and dudettes. It's been awhile since I have been on the forums. My time has been consumed with my '95 240sx build which is about to receive the RB25det Neo treatment. So here's my predicament. I bought my Pathy in 2011. Shortly after purchasing I installed the AC lift with 1" spacer up front and threw on some 32s. There has been a front end vibration present since before I installed the lift, and the new components didn't change that. It started as a speed dependent wha wha wha wha sound between 50-65 mph. It didn't change with the new rims and tires, if anything it got worse, and was now present through the entire speed range I determined it was most likely a wheel bearing. I had some slight play top and bottom with the truck in the air, so I repacked both sides, inner and outer. The wobble was perhaps a little better, but still present. I drove it like this for the next few years, almost 40k miles without any change really. Tire rotations, balancing, etc did not change it. So about a week or so ago I decided it was time for new tires. So I had new shoes put on. Thinking this might change the wobble, I was disappointed as it is still there. Less than it was, but the heavier tires might damp it a little. I had bought new inner/outer bearings for the front a couple years back and decided it was time to at least replace the passenger side since that seems to be where the wobble is originating. I replaced both the inner and outer bearings and races last night. I drove it after replacement and it appears to be better, but not entirely gone. I also replaced my brake pads yesterday - the truck stops so much better it is insane, and the previous pads had at least a 3rd life left. They must have been super crappy brake pads. The odd aspect of the wobble is it feels like it is something out of round. When driving on super smooth pavement at very low speed, like 5mph, I can actually feel the passenger side of the truck lift up and down. It is subtle, and not noticeable at speeds greater the 10mph, but is definitely there. Things I have done to try to eliminate said wobble or just as maintenance: Had beginnings of death wobble: replaced Upper/Lower trailing arms - no more death wobble Replaced wheel bearings in passenger side, driver side is still tight from earlier repack Sway bar bushings New tires, balanced, rotated Things I have waiting to be put on: Steering Rack Bushings and Rebuilt Steering Rack with new outer tie rod ends - The rack definitely needs replaced, but I doubt it would cause this. Has anyone had an issue like this before? The up and down travel is what is so odd, considering I have eliminated the tires, rims, bearings from the equation. I have manual hubs, so I run in 2WD almost all the time. It's not the worst thing in the world, and obviously tolerable, but it is baffling since I thought for sure I'd get rid of it with the new bearings and races. But alas, still present.
  5. Treadwrights are good tires. I've made some comments about them here and there in the forums. I've put around 14k miles on my Sentinels and they haven't lost much tread at all. The Guard Dogs are widely regarded and a buddy of mine runs them on his 4Runner and swears by them. If you are mainly pavement pounding they are quite loud, but any M/T tread is. Their A/T tire is called the Watchman now I think, but it's the same tread as the Sentinel that I run. I don't have a lot of experience off-road with them, but they hook up quite nicely on snow an ice. Looks like a good plan! Edit: I would add some manual hubs into the mix, for the CV relief as well as the improved gas mileage. I went with the 265/75/R16s and with the manual hubs I think I broke even on the gas mileage. The car also feels MUCH lighter and accelerates better with the hubs unlocked. The Treadwrights will measure out at pretty much 32" diameter, even though the 265/75/R16 would say they are under that. Be prepared to trim and mod the wheel well/front bumper. It won't take an extreme amount, but it will take a bit to get things out of the way and prevent rubbing, especially turning at full lock.
  6. Glad to hear she is back on her feet!
  7. If I remember correctly from when I put the LED lights in my dash, there are two loops in series, one for the speedo side, and one for the tach. That means if there is a short in the line then the whole side won't light up. I replaced the filament bulbs with LEDs because my tach side was intermittent and finally stopped working altogether. I found out that one of the connections for a bulb had been worn down and had a short. The bulbs twist into place and the perimeter of the bulb housing connects to the the line that runs between the bulbs on the circuit board. I think over time with all the shaking, the bulbs actually wear down the connection and cause a short. I took a graphite pencil and filled in the entire circular area under the housing. After I did this the tach side started working. Just something to try if you feel like taking the dash out and getting after it.
  8. Quick question without trying to thread jack. Is that normal for the Pathfinder hitch? My hitch seems to be quite loose and clunks a lot while towing. I've considered wrapping the hitch with electrical tape to take up the extra room between the hitch and the sleeve, but don't know if it would just wear out quickly and go back to clunking.
  9. Those look nice, but 900 bones for the set! Plus I would still need to figure out the rear differential situation - that gets pricey pretty quick. I was hoping to figure out a way to increase the breakaway torque and regear without killing the budget too much. Nice find though, I hadn't seen that option before!
  10. Or would it be better to just purchase a third member and front diff from a 3.636 geared Pathy and just replace half the friction discs with friction plates as in this thread: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/28801-97-lsd-rebuild-to-94-specs/?hl=differential Basically Laxman's rebuild but not with the Desert Runner differential, since those are stupid hard to find. edit: Oh, and the Xterra breakaway torque is 138-180ft-lbs, which is still miles better than the one I have
  11. There is a knob on the left hand side of the steering wheel that dims the back light. Or at least on mine there is. Make sure they are turned up first before investigating further. Mine were off one day and I started pulling fuses before I realized SOMEHOW the knob had been turned all the way down. Made me feel stupid...
  12. Alright, I think it is time to seriously start looking at options for my slowly failing rear differential. When I bought the truck it had a weird groaning noise coming from the rear diff, so I drained the fluid and there was A LOT of metal in the old fluid. So I started looking at purchasing a used 3rd member and swapping it out. I have the LSD diff, and wanted to stay with the LSD. After reading Laxman's thread on building the rear LSD so the break away torque is much higher I thought I would go that route. Then I lifted and put 32s on... Well, I have the 3.363 gearing and I noticed that low end torque suffered a bit from the heavier tires. So now I am thinking about regearing to the 3.636 gear ratio. In my research I came across this OLD thread discussing swapping out for an Xterra front and rear differential: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/17476-lsd-diff-wanted/ So, my question is: Are the Xterra front and rear diff really just a bolt on application? And if they are, do you HAVE to use 2002-2004 Xterra parts, or can the 2000-2001 parts be used? The reason for wanting the 2000-2001 differentials is the LSD in those models had a MUCH higher break away torque of I think 168-184 ft-lbs. The 02-04 had roughly the equivalent of what I currently have, which might as well not even be called a LSD. Any help on this is much appreciated. Thanks!
  13. I have had my AC springs in for over a year and the passenger side still has issues. Albeit, not nearly the issues it had before the springs settled, but the cv binding is still there. If I add 180 pounds to the passenger side to even out the weight of the driver, then the truck is drive-able with the hubs locked, but will still bind in 4wd when the gas is pressed fairly hard. It works in a pinch, but I will not wheel it this way...
  14. If the strut spacers are top mount (and they should be), then you don't have to take the strut apart. You just have to disconnect it from the steering knuckle and the strut tower/engine bay, drop the strut out, press out the old studs from the strut mount, and put the strut back in with longer bolts and the spacer. It should only take about 2-3 hours since you don't have to screw around with spring compressors.
  15. I slotted my upper strut holes and haven't seen them shift yet. If you torque the bolts to spec they shouldn't shift ever. I have had it aligned twice, and the camber remained exactly where it was initially set. A lot of racing dampers come with a slotted upper hole, and I would assume given the side loads on track racing that if they ever shifted then that idea would have been phased out long ago.
  16. I would also recommend the SFD considering the amount of lift you want. I have 1" strut spacers from NX4 and the 2" AC coils and my extreme CV angle on the passenger side is causing issues. Another .5" in the spacer and I would think you would have pretty major CV angles.
  17. A note on the steering rack. I just purchased one from Dearborn/Detroit Axle off eBay to replace mine. I get a click every once in awhile while driving, but mostly the click is present when parked with the vehicle off. I can turn the steering wheel and get a nasty click when turning to the right every time. I thought it may be inner tie rod, but the truck is wandering all over the place when at highway speeds and road is bumpy. There is a YouTube video of a guy with a Mazda 6 that replaces his inner tie rod due to wandering and clicking, and the issue was still there until he replaced the rack. So I bit the bullet and purchased a rebuilt rack. The rack is sitting in my garage. Overall it feels VERY solid, so I would not hesitate buying one from the same place. They were cheaper than anywhere else I looked. I'll post an update once I git 'er done and let you know how it feels.
  18. I have had good luck with the Treadwrights, but, they ARE hard to balance. They have to be static balanced, NOT dynamic. They guarantee 8oz or less to balance or they'll replace the tire, so there are some assurances. The A/T pattern I have is pretty grippy on slippery surfaces. I do not have much off-road experience with them since I still need to do the subframe drop to bring the CVs back to stock angle, but I have read that they hook up well in a variety of conditions. My buddy has the Guard Dogs on his 4Runner and they have proven to go places other tires have issues with. He was wheeling with a friend that has the Hankook Dynapro All Terrains on his 4Runner and was consistently able to clean hills the Hankooks could not. Some cons to the Treadwrights - they are heavy! They tend to have a deeper tread depth and are a bit heavier than the equivalent size from other manufacturers. However, given the tread depth, my 265/75/R16s are a FULL 32" on the diameter! The Guard Dogs have a pretty good whine on the highway, but most M/T tires are loud anyway. My Sentinels (Watchman now) are not very loud, but are noticeable. I don't mind, but you might. That's my opinion in a nutshell.
  19. Nice! That Skyline is awesome. I wish we could import them to the states, but Motorex kinda screwed the pooch on that one. Two things that make me consider moving to Canadia ;-) - Whistler Bike Park, and Skylines... Oh, the videos work - the link takes you to photobucket, but they play fine there.
  20. Nice pics man! My parents are giving me one of their '95 240's, the 5spd hehe, so I'll probably end up doing a RB25det swap. I also considered a 1JZ swap, but I think I want to keep it pure Nissan... Rock on!!!
  21. Interesting, I might have to try Pennzoil Ultra at the next interval. I still need to change the PCV though. It's interesting, my garage floor has 0 spots of oil from the Pathy, so I know if it is leaking any it isn't much at all, and there isn't a crazy amount of soot on the tailpipe or noticeable exhaust coloration, so it is almost like the oil just 'disappears'.
  22. I am going to throw my 2 cents in here. I switched my oil at the last oil change ~2000 miles ago, from M1 5w30 HM Full Synthetic to Valvoline 5w30 HM Synthetic Blend. This was based on advice given here that the blend vs full syn might help out my oil consumption. Well, it was an experiment, but it did NOT help the oil consumption. It made it worse. Instead of approximately 1qt every 1000 miles, I now put about 1.5 - 1.75 qts per 1000 miles. Looks like I'll be going back to the M1 Full Synthetic. I have yet to get to the PCV valve change, but hopefully it will reduce it enough that I feel it is worth the time spent changing it out.
  23. I had a coolant leak almost exactly as you describe. There is a coolant pipe on the passenger side of the engine, about mid-block and kinda tucked under the intake manifold. It was accessible with tools, so it didn't need anything other than tightening of the clamps. Once I did that the problem went away. I would notice coolant on the garage floor, but only after it had been driven, and it didn't get larger if I let the Pathy sit in the garage. I would try tightening all clamps accessible on any coolant lines and see if that solves it.
  24. Wow, that thing is wicked man! Nice work!
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