WxChaser

I'm planning on cleaning my MAF in a month or so, but have never done it. Any good tips? Thanks

Thanks, I'll get some lube in a couple weeks when I go home, and I'll see if that'll work. Sometimes I pull the switch and then go pull the hood open, and it'll pop up.. Other times, I stick a little wedge between the grille and hood and it'll pop right up once I pull the handle.

Wow, lots of help! Thanks! The trans issue is no longer an issue.. It was the fan clutch. Yesterday when I started hearing the sound, I took it out of gear (into neutral) which no longer made the humming noise. I then revved the engine up to about 3k and held it there and could hear it just as it normally was (still in neutral) so I know for sure that I was just hearing the fan. Stupid me! The scraping sound according to my dad when he drove it, was just the bushings, but the caps you were talking about were likely it. Not a big deal, apparently. I may try and get an OEM factory key fob and see if it'll work. The hood release... I MAY try to look into that tomorrow or Tuesday. If not, at least I'll have something to do next weekend at school. I don't believe I have a hatch light on the dash, but it also could have burned out too! I removed the chime so I'll just have to remember to turn my lights off.. Not a big deal considering they're only on usually at night anyway. I'm guessing the grounding issue is the main issue for that light. What I may end up doing is running the new lights from the relay to the lights themselves instead of using the wiring that's already there. That way I know it'll work just fine. Seems that I'll just have to adjust the hood latch, maybe the rear hatch, and take a look at the actuator in the back. Guess we'll see! Trogdor, the 4 key one you have is the EXACT one I bought. Once I clean up the truck tomorrow, I'll be sure to look into doing some stuff with it!

Wow, looks like some serious cleaning! I seafoamed last night.. Produced a decent smoke show. I let it sit for about 25 minutes because I was doing my buddies as well. His Ford didn't smoke at all.. Found that interesting.. I noticed a bit more power but I'm not going to be sure about gas mileage until later on.

Hey, I have a 1993 Nissan Pathfinder SE, 4x4, 138k miles. Been a great running rig so far, but there's a few issues that I want to fix before something really breaks. Below I'm going to compile a list of things that are either broken or sound like they could be going down. Bear with me as it'll be a lot. 1. When driving home from school (2.5 hour drive) I noticed the hum (sounds more like a fan) coming from the trans. It's not loud, but if you turn down everything and just listen, you'll hear it. I drive a 5-speed, manual trans. I know it's the tranny because I took it out of gear on the highway and the sound stopped. I've read that I could just put some Redline MT-90 through the shifter boot. Might do that. What are the chances that I may need a trans rebuild (It had one done 39k miles ago with a different owner)? Also want to add that the clutch grinds going from 5th to 4th or when I'm running high RPMs from 3rd to 4th. 2. Whenever I make hard turns (wheel all the way over, making a uturn kind of thing) and it makes a sound like the undercarriage is scraping or something. I know it could be the CV axle, but when one was going out on my previous vehicle, it was a lot louder and made the well known clicking sound. I don't think I'm too concerned about this. 3. Door locks. I bought the truck and it didn't work, but I went to the junkyard and bought another door switch (the one that has the unlock, windows down switches for the driver door). Replaced it and the locks worked for about a week, then stopped working. Every time I push the lock down manually I hear two clicks in the rear tailgate. That's it. Any idea what I'd need to replace? 4. I purchased a keyfob, one with 4 buttons (Unlock, Lock, Glass pop, and Alarm). I followed the instructions thoroughly and it will not program. The security light is blinking (blinks every 2 or 3 seconds). 5. Hood. The hood release isn't working well. I pull the handle and the hood doesnt pop up.. I just have to pull the handle, and go pull the hood up a little for it to pop. 6. Door chime. The door chime consistently goes off, especially if I make a turn. All doors are shut properly. I removed the ground switch in the passenger door front frame because I thought it was only that door.. But now it does it for the rear hatch too. Finally I just went and unplugged the door chime so I don't have to hear it anymore. 7. Flood lights. These I'm not too worried about as I'll be pulling them out anyways. One of the lights has a burned out bulb, and is missing the little clip to hold the light to the housing. The other one is connected and works, but you have to hit the housing with your hand to turn the light on. Hit a bump, and it turns off. Not sure why. Again, these lights will be taken off in a month or so for the new brush guard. I'll be asking for some cool flood lights for Christmas to mount to the brush guard anyways. Thanks for the help... I know this is a lot of stuff but I feel that some of the things are related (door locks, security, etc).

Will be seafoaming with a friend this weekend when I go home. It'll be perfect as I'll be able to record my mileage (I have a ~150 mile trip home, then the same back on Tuesday night). I'll make a little video of my truck and my bud's truck smoking out his yard (he lives out in the country whereas I live in a crowded neighborhood... and while he and I are both firefighters, we don't want to confuse my neighbors!). I'll see if there's any power difference, and if there's any MPG increase. I'll be sure to note that the MPG estimates will be rough (considering I don't want to keep going to the gas station all weekend getting fuel.. I've got enough to get home Friday, and will likely fill up once I get there). Currently I get anywhere from 15-16 MPG, never above 16. I do some city driving here at school, but I'm on the road for 2.5 hours, with 2.25 hours of pure highway, 65+MPH driving.

Awesome tips, thanks for all of that! I'm extremely picky about maintenance on my vehicles, and this Pathy is no exception. I've been really meticulous due to the fact that I bought this off another college kid who seemed to care more about other things in life than his vehicle (Cosmetic issues, mainly). Precise, my 2 friends who have used it love it. 1 drives a Saturn and does it every oil change and claims he has more power. The other drives a Jeep and says it helps his occasional rough idle (though on the last Seafoaming we did on his Jeep, I discovered his rough idle was due to the distributor). I've never done a Nissan engine so I just wanted to make sure that the VG 30's can handle something like this. Looks like in the coming weeks I'll be going to a service station back home, and getting the BG fuel/air induction cleaning (per KRMiller's awesome advice!) then seafoaming whenever I wish (or just during oil changes, whenever). Might add some techron to the system every once in awhile, but I don't want to go overkill or else it defeats the purpose of saving money on fuel! Also have read that cleaning the MAF sensor does wonders too. Haven't looked to see if it's even dirty (I've got no experience with that.. yet). Looks like my Fall Break from school may become Pathfinder repair/maintenance time!

So, KRMiller, If I was to buy a qt of Mystery oil, a can of SeaFoam, and a bottle of BG 44K, in what order (and timing) would you do this sort of process? I'm thinking SeaFoam, then after letting that run through, add a bottle of BG 44K to the gas tank and then once I go get fuel again, add half or all of the 1 qt of Marvel Mystery Oil? I'm only asking because I just want to make sure this is done right. Would like to see the best fuel economy improvement. Then, once you do this major flushout, I'm guessing you'd recommend doing a dose of BG 44K and MMO at the next oil change (roughly 4,000-5,000 miles as I'm running synthetic). Thanks for your help, by the way.

How do you go about using the BG product? Same way as Seafoam (brake booster line, gas tank) or another way? Really just want to see improvement from 15/16 MPG mixed use.. I believe I get about 17 on the highway, maybe 18 when I'm coming down the mountain to go home. I know that's not terrible compared to other Pathys, but I came from driving a Mazda 626 5-Speed, which gave me 32 mpg and 400+ miles per tank on a 14 gallon tank. Still scratching my head over why I let such a great car go.. but anyways, anyone knowing how to do the BG product without having to buy all of their equipment surely would be appreciated! Also, can I get an idea as to what I should buy from BG should I choose to use them?

Thanks all, will take on TownCivillian's notice to avoid putting in the crankcase. I've never done this to my own engine, and while I wouldn't want to harm anyone else's engine, I certainly don't want to damage mine (considering it's 2 decades old!)

So I've got a 93 Pathfinder, with 137k miles. I've been using Mobil 1 full Synthetic oil, a K&N oil filter (I try to get a Mobil 1 extended or Bosch extended). I'm thinking about seafoaming the engine the next time I do an oil change. I've done some seafoaming on other engines in friends vehicles, but I'm always just a little testy when it comes to putting it in my engine. Reason why I'm wanting to do it is to see if there is any improvement in MPG, power, etc.. as well as being able to clean out the engine. I know how to do the process... I just need to know if there are any negatives for this... as well as if there are any better products. Plan is to suck in 1/3 through the vac line, then 1/3 in the crankcase, and the rest in the gas tank. Once I let it sit for awhile I'll go beat the crap outta it to get all the stuff out. So, let me know if you think it's okay to do, or if you know of any BETTER products. I'm just looking for more engine power and more MPG's.

Took a screwdriver to my valve covers. The cover on the passenger side was leaking (very little) and I was told that either the gasket needed to be replaced, or that the screws were a little loose. Went and gave it a look, and got 1 full easy turn out of the screws, plus about another 1/2 to 3/4 turn on them. Cleaned most of the leaking spots to see if it'll leak again next time I make a long trip.

Yeah unfortunately that's all that O'Reilly had at the time.. Won't waste my time going back there again as my dad's insurance adjuster discount did nothing for me. Plus I didn't get much help. Would anyone recommend just draining the trans fluid now and refilling it with Redline MT-90? I just did the fluid change about a month or two ago so obviously it hasn't been in there a while. I'm also reviewing my Chilton manual to see how many bottles of fluid I bought (receipt is out in the truck) and I know I bought at least 4 quarts, and I used almost all of it to get it filled til it spilled. I know I'll have some spare time in early October to do the job, so would anyone recommend changing it out? I don't have any humming or whining, but it sometimes grinds going from 5th to 4th. Otherwise that's it. Thanks for the heads up.. Really want to keep this thing running for a few more years!

Just need an idea here... I've got a 93 Pathy with 137k miles. Replaced the trans fluid a month or so ago, but can't remember now what I put in (errgh!). I know it was a Lucas product, and I just filled it to the point it spilled out of the filler (on level driveway). Haven't really noticed a whine, more of a hum but it seems more of the engine humming than the trans, I may be wrong. I listen to my music too loudly to pay attention, so on my next trip home I'll be able to get a good idea on it. Before and after changing the trans fluid, I still get a grind going from 5th down to 4th, and rarely going from 3rd to 4th. Trans was either replaced or rebuilt at 100k. I'm guessing I need to just tilt the truck on a steep hill and pump that case full of fluid? Thinking about just re-doing the trans fluid with MT90. I can't really add through the shifter because I've got some angle iron mounted next to it (I've got a laptop stand in the truck) so I can't pull that carpet up. I'm guessing that to end the grinding, I'll just add more trans oil.