TahoeRunner

Mine is coming from the engine bay when cold because the fuel smell is immediately noticeable from the heater if its on and drawing outside air and the pathy is sitting in place. I see you are in Nevada, where at?

Yeah I'll have to look into the intake maybe down the road. The motor runs great and pulls strong so not sure if I need to reset the ECU but maybe I'll try it to see if it does anything. I think its more of an issue of 153 hp and 180 lb ft of torque can only move a couple of tons so fast but thats okay. Here in Reno people aren't in a hurry most of the time and neither am I. If I lived in Sac or LA however, I would get run over daily I'm sure. I was busy all weekend making room for it in the garage so next weekend I think I'm going to find that fuel leak. I tightened the typical culprits stated on this board but I think its the hose going into the fuel filter thats leaking. I need to change the fuel filter anyways as it looks real old. And I think i'm going to tackle whatever door sensor is whackin out. Guess I'll start with the hatch like some of you suggested.

Well lets just say its no sports car and I won't ever challenge my wife to a race in her swagger wagon as it would completely blow the doors off sarge. Even in Reno we are between 4600 and 5000 feet depending on where you are at and so speed is definitely not the truck's strong suit.

Yeah, I'll take it off-road some but I think i'm just going to leave it pretty much stock because its so clean. Maybe down the road I'll start to have some fun with it if I ever pick up an inexpensive daily driver, but for now its meant to be reliable, get the fam over the hill and get me to and from work in the snow car because my wifes mini-van doesn't cut it. But don't worry its going to get some dirt on it heading up into the hills for shooting, hiking, chrismas tree hunting, etc. Its nevada after all!

Oh and I forgot to say something on that temp gauge. My temp gauge is the same way too, but its been pretty cold here. The other day when it was warm it creeped a little higher than that but I thought maybe these just run a little cooler? should that be closer to the half mark when all warmed up? what's typical for the temp gauge?

Hey so I haven't had a chance to clean the thing up from the weather this past week and yesterday but here are some teaser pics. Some of these are the pics the seller sent me and then I just took one on my cell from out in the parking lot at work. Hoping to get it cleaned up this weekend and take some good pics. I started smelling gas when I start it up first thing and cold the other day. Did a and found out that those fuel hoses can back out so I gotta check the clamps on all the fuel hoses. I can't believe how much info is on this forum! Other than the fuel smell its been great and I'm loving the manual tranny. Haven't burned through a tank yet but we'll see what the first tank holds mileage wise.

Wow. great find! I just picked mine up on Friday and had to wait almost a week for it! Yeah even if it drives fine and this guys never done front end work for it, those old tires are telling the story that something is not right. One thing I noticed is that the auto and your 94 has a digital A/B trip gauge. Mine is a 95 XE and still has an analog trip meter under the odometer?!? was that the difference between an Auto/Manual or is that an extra option the SE has. You mind sharing how much you got it for? looks clean!

I'm curious on the question of using the same gear oil in the manual tranny and transfer case. Just bought a manual tranny with 4x4, 95 year model. Can I just use the same GL4 75w90 in the transfer case also. One less fluid to buy the better. What is the redline synthetic replacement for the GL4 75w90?

Yeah sorry for all the probably repetitive questions. I'll do some digging around on some of the previous posts. Your guys help and knowledge is really appreciated.

Yeah, I wasn't sure as I've never done front axles on a 4x4 before so I wasn't sure if it was like a front wheel drive car where you end up draining a good chunk of the tranny fluid when you swap them out.

Cool thanks for the tips! So I think I'll do all the fluids in the upcoming few weeks. I did notice this morning when it was pretty cold out that the shifter was a little reluctant to go into gears so I'm betting that tranny fluid needs to be changed bad. What fluids do you guys all recommend for the diffs, transfer case and manual transmission? are they all pretty easy to drain or does a fluid extractor help? Also I wanted to ask, what is the proper way to "wash out" the frame rails? do you just stick a hose in the end of it by the bumper?

Yeah so let me clarify... It has the stock 235/75/15's on it. They are almost new Michelin X Radial LT's which when I had them on my previous truck they weren't the quietest tire either. Mainly it was just wind roar and some road noise from the tires and the engine is pretty "growly" when its doing a constant 3k on the tach. That was probably half of the noise. When I was looking through the reciepts in detail, he took it to the Nissan dealer for the clutch replacement fairly recently (which cost him $1300 bucks!) and they put a comment that the front wheel bearings starting to have some play in them. So I might be hearing some grumbling on the bearings too which I can replace those here soon. I'll have to lift the truck and check those front bearings for myself. I don't think the timing belt broke. It says on the reciept that the customer was complaining of exhaust noise and they had to pull the head because they noticed one of the heads was cracked from a previous exhaust stud replacement (which he had done a couple years prior) and so they just pulled everything and probably recommended that they do the t-belt as they were taking it all apart. They did do the water pump and thermostat also. He spent $2900 on that rebuild! But they replaced all the studs for the exhaust so hopefully I won't have to deal with those again. I'll check the rear hatch on that light. I already have the interior light switched off so it doesn't drain the battery. He doesn't have a reciept for changing the rear diff or the manual tranny fluid. But he doesn't have all his oil change receipts. He said he couldn't find most of the older receipts prior to 08 and thinks that they got packed up somewhere. He had the front axle on the right side replaced a year or so ago, so I'm assuming they would have replaced the fluid in the front diff, but I think I need to do a fluid swap on the tranny, transfer case and the rear diff just to be safe. Do you think it would normal for the dealer to replace the tranny or transfer case fluid when they do a new clutch? they didn't list it specifically on the invoice so they probably didn't. Do you guys use a chilton or haynes manual or something else when you work on these? or just trial and error and then post it on the forum for everyone else?

Well, we drove up yesterday afternoon and I gave the truck a thorough flogging. I checked for rust in the frame and it seemed pretty clean. If there is any rust it is very slight. I looked in the frame rail holes and saw what looked like maybe a hint of rust in a couple of spots (less than a dime size) and I tapped up and down the frame with a hammer. The pitch changed just a slight bit in a couple of spots but I never heard a "thud." There was some dirt in the frame rails so I don't know if that caused the faint change in the pitch of the "ping". The rest of the truck was so clean I just couldn't pass it up. There are a couple of small things. One of the door close/open sensors is shorting out or loose or something because the door ajar light comes on and off. Also the speedometer I found out on the way home is 5-6mph slow on the freeway after my wife kept calling me to slow down! haha The tires are factory size so not sure why it would be off. Any thoughts? I had to drive it home about 60 miles, and I will say its a pretty noisy ride! But not a big deal. It still drove fine and was stable. The seats leave something to be desired though! One thing I did find out. The guy didn't only replace the t-belt 3 years ago (20k miles ago) but looking through the reciepts they pretty much did a top end rebuild on the motor. Replaced all his exhaust studs, new head gaskets, checked the heads and pressure checked the block, new injectors, and replaced all the exhaust gaskets including the "Y" gasket. So this thing should be good to go for a while. I'll post some pictures after I clean it up from driving through all the melted snow up in Tahoe!

oh... makes sense! haha

@precise1: So I'm confused... what is the red pathfinder in your sig that's not near as nice? is that the before photo or another pathfinder?

Well just a quick update... So the weather here has been draggin this thing out and I haven't been able to see the pathfinder yet. Monday my wife, my son and I were all deathly ill, so we were scheduled to drive up there yesterday afternoon which got pushed back to today but this storm just won't go away!! So It looks like its going to be Saturday. I'm pretty sure i'm going to buy it as long as their is no rust (which I'm thinking is a slim chance). In all this time going back and forth, the guy has been feeding me more info and pictures on it as he has time. yesterday he sent me a scan of the original window sticker from when he bought it. Its an XE V6 in Champagne Pearl with the XE Convenience Package, the XE Sport Package (which includes the LSD rear end), Air Conditioning and California Emissions for a grand total of $26,785. That's actually more than I thought it would be back then! If I buy it Saturday Morning I'll post pics for you guys. You'll be shocked how clean this thing is... The guy said he's not aware of any rust and his mechanic has never mentioned it to him but I'm pretty sure he hasn't been tapping around or sticking his fingers inside the frame rail, So i'm praying it comes out clean.

Wow, thanks for all the tips. I will definitely scour it for rust. Its an XE but with most power stuff. Has the rear tire carrier but not sure about the heated mirrors. I'm meeting the guy tomorrow afternoon. He sent me a lot of pictures of it and I'm not kidding you it looks better than our 4 year old mini-van. From the pictures I can tell there is no rust on the rear door corners or the door jams. I will look over that rear frame and above the exhaust real well. How do the holes get pluggged usually? from off roading? This pathfinder was driven by his 60-something year old wife to drive down into sacramento a couple of times a week to pick up their grand daughter or run errands and they have never taken it off-road. It has 129k miles and he sent me a list of the recent work done to it. Had the t-belt, water pump and thermostat done at 113k. New bypass Heater hose and tune-up at 115k. New Michelin tires at 118k. Had one of the front axles replaced at 124k and the clutch replaced with a resurfaced flywheel about 2k miles ago. They are selling it because he said after 17 years he figured it was about time to buy his wife a new car. They bought a 2012 CRV and he said its their first automatic they've ever bought! Is the rear frame boxed or a c-channel? I guess if its boxed that makes it harder to inspect from under the car. I'll check the holes. Does it help to take a flash light? can you look into the frame rail from behind the bumper easily? Lastly, what is the difference in sound it should make between rust and no rust if I tap it with a hammer?

Is there a way to prevent the rust from happening if it hasn't already started? I'll inspect it for rust for sure. Heloflyboy. I see you are in SLT. Thats where we are meeting to purchase it. I got him to come down below 3500 so if its not rusted out I think I'll buy it. He lives just above Placerville.

Up here around tahoe and the surrounding cities they aren't allowed to use salt. So Rust isn't usually an issue around here and its dry? Do people in the south away from the rust belt usually have problems with these still rusting? Blue book is $2700 so I was thinking it is still worth $500 over that. It is one owner, always been in the garage, it has new tires too, he has every other record of everything he's done to it.

Hi everyone. Complete newbie here but I'd thought I'd check with you guys on a possible purchase. I've generally have loved nissans. I've had two frontiers in the past and have wanted to get a newer xterra or pathfinder. Anyways, in this economic climate and newer nissan is out of the question. My 14 year old Z71 with 180k finally crapped its motor out and I sold it because I was tired of putting money into it. From what i've heard the older pathfinders are pretty reliable and I need something with 4x4, 4 doors (have kids) and in good shape. So my first question is that I found a 1995 Nissan Pathfinder XEv6 with all the basics (power windows and locks mainly.) only 129k miles and the guy is the original owner. Older guy and he has all the records and has recently put new tires on it, clutch and done the timing belt. The thing is just cherry and been garaged. Best of all its a manual tranny too! Anyways he's asking 4k which is a little hi I think. The thing books for only $2700 but I know with something very clean you can almost throw the book out the window. Also, I want to confirm that something like this should be generally reliable. did the 95's have common issues to worrry about, look for. I need something that's not going to drain my account, and with the shape this one is in, I'm thinking it should be good to go! Thanks guys, and if I buy it, you'll probaby see me around here more often!