FeelthePathos95

Might be turning to the Pacific Northwest or the West in general for the next used vehicle. They tend to be in much better shape than anything you find in the Midwest.

Oh, gawd! So much salt on the roads where I live in winter. Just a car body killer.

Don't have the time or confidence in my abilities to do it myself. And yes, it would be great to spend the $1,000 and have it fire up OK and that be the end of it. But probably more likely I'd be out the $1K with nothing to show for it but an engine that is an oversized paperweight. Leaning against doing it for that reason and because with advancing rust and other smaller things going wrong, feels like I should move on, offer the car on Craigslist for someone who might want to part it or take the chance on repair themselves if they are handy with a wrench. Might look to upgrade to a used Armada that has more cargo capacity, bells, whistles and (gasp!) airbags. Will keep lurking on the forum and maybe someday pick up a used Pathfinder again. I've driven one for 30 years now, having bought one new in 1995 and only gotten rid of it in 2014 due to advacing frame rust. This current one I bought over this board at that time from (former?) member ahardbody. Been a great truck - lasting 11 years for a $2,500 purchase.

So the '94 had been operating fine tho with rust and various minor things going wrong, but now engine may be goner. Drove it the other day on errands and it seemed fine, no warning lights, nothing unusual. Got out to start it again after making my second stop and crank but no start. Had it towed and shop says timing belt not moving, appears damaged. So that raises the obvious question of pistons/valve damage, seized engine. They said they could put a new belt on and see what happens, but that would be the $1,000 gamble that doesn't pay off. Because this happened on a start and not while driving, I do wonder if the valves and pistons never got the chance to slam together? Curious what others think.

Been getting water in the interior after rainstorms. Seems to come in somewhere above the sun shade on the driver's side and traveling toward passenger side before dripping to the floor. No obvious entry point seen on roof or windshield. Anybody have a recommendation for a silicone sealant or some other type of sealant I can apply as a cheap stopgap fix? The old girl is nearing 300K and showing her age. Probably going to replace her this summer, so not looking to spend anything more than I have to.

Leaks diagnosed coming from oil pan and timing cover. Thinking I should replace timing belt at same time, water pump and other belts. Anything else I’m missing? Meanwhile, mechanism for securing rear spare tire carrier has failed. It makes contact but won’t lock into place so hitting a pothole or whatever will knock it loose and in worst-case scenario the whole arm will swing free. Currently have it secured with bungee cords. Anyone have experience with this issue? Wondering whether easiest fix is to have someone just remove the tire carrier rather than mess with trying to find a part or parts to replace it on this vintage rig? Although I might miss having that tire on the back as it has functioned as something of a poor man’s airbag one or two times when someone rear-ended me. They came away with a messed up hood and hardly a mark on me thanks to that tire waiting for them at impact.

Update on that whole ordeal: So I had to do some calling around to find a guy who knew his way around these old rigs and was willing to put in the time to figure things out while my dead Path sat in one of his garage bays like a large paperweight. Good guy who put more time in it than he charged me for. Basically had to do a lot of rewiring using the factory diagrams. He said some of the fusible links were in place and some gone, and that one of the burnt wires he pulled looked like it was meant for a stereo system. So there was some definite DIY-ing at some point in the vehicle's past that worked for a long time and then one day really didn't. Bottom line is that the truck is firing right up again every time and all gauges and power windows, locks, etc., functional. I'm watching and hoping about the tranny, since when the cooler lines failed it dumped a lot of fluid quickly while on the road and I worry that the trans was damaged. So far, I've had two issues - lost 2nd gear very briefly while trying to pull into a steep driveway and I've noted that in the last two cold starts on cold mornings it has been reluctant to shift from 1st to 2nd, going up to 3,000 rpms first and once giving me a pretty hard shift. Once it's been on the road for a bit with everything warmed up it's shifted smoothly. So we'll see. The trans is not flashing any codes at me but I'm bracing myself for the possibility that it could just fail on me one day. I've had the vehicle for 9 years and have been hoping to get to 10 or more.

The mechanic said there were no fusible links in place when he first looked at it. Which begs the question how the gauges were being powered without them. All very weird and he might be lying and incompetent but I can’t prove it. Next step is to take it back to my old shop where the guy there is already saying no promises after I told him what is going on. I assume someone who knows what they are doing could retrofit this with new fusible links? Tell me if that’s naive.

Yellow wire plugs into a panel along the side there that’s not visible in this pix. Several others connect there too. I had pulled it out to spark the battery. Plug it back in after ignition. Such is life at the moment. On the plus side, when I drove it on the highway the other day the engine felt good, good power, tranny shifting fine. It was just that I had no working gauges in the cabin, no ability to turn on heat or AC, no turn signals.

Had the adjustable shocks removed not long ago since they felt pretty spent after all these years. I moved not long and so wasn’t close to the shop I previously used. Took it to this latest guy because he was close to my new location and had solid reviews online. Plus I thought how complicated can this be? I knew I needed tranny cooler lines replaced and that the battery seemed dead. Not anything you’d expect a mechanic to struggle with. So it’s been weird to get this can of worms.

H Battery and cables as they are now. Loose yellow wire at left is out at moment for sparking battery to get car to turn over since key in ignition producing no response. https://Imgur.com/a/KIHGYmQ

Thanks for your reply. My first question to mechanic about this was have you checked all the fuses and he swore that he had. But this gives me an idea where I need to start again in trying to figure it out. My main fear was that this would require ripping up the dash to look at wiring, etc., there.

OK, guys. Back to play stump the band. My tranny cooler lines are replaced and, knock on wood, hoping tranny escaped any major damage from recent failure that dumped out fluid. It's shifting smoothly but showing slight hesitancy when accelerating from a stop. Willing to drive it for awhile to see if that resolves or worsens. The bad news is something weird happened to the electrical system while it sat for a week. Had it towed to shop because of dead battery and the guy there said wires from battery were fried and after he replaced them and recharged battery all gauges in dash were dead. Also no power locks/power windows, no response from blower for AC or heat, no turn signals but headlights still working. Ignition not working with key so have to start car by pulling wire and sparking engine directly. Can still turn off car with key. Oddly, stereo still works but shuts off if you turn on headlights or the wipers. Shop guy said he fears ECU got fried. Have seen some mentions of this happening to these rigs related to battery issues, so hoping this can be dealt with and not involve a stupid amount of time and expense. Wondering if anyone can suggest where to start?

OK, guys. Back to play more stump the band. The tranny cooler lines are replaced and, knock on wood, hoping tranny escaped any major damage. It’s shifting smoothly but showing momentary hesitancy to engage in first gear when going from a stop. Willing to drive it for awhile to see if that resolves or worsens. The bad news is that something weird happened to the electrical system while it sat for a week. Had it towed to shop because of dead battery and my guy said wires from battery were fried and after he replaced them and recharged battery all gauges in dash are dead, no power locks/windows, no AC or heat. Key won’t start ignition, has to be done by touching wire to battery though key will shut car off. Headlights work, oddly so does stereo though it shuts off if you turn on headlights or wipers. Shop guy fears PCU fried. I’m just trying to figure out where to begin in assessing where I start in trying to tackle this.

Thanks, guys! Once again the few and the proud on this board come through! Will update later.