Mr. Pickles

I am fully aware this has been beat to death. I have a 94 WD21, + a couple little kids, 3 vehicles and house that eat any "free" time. Anybody know which Ford coils fit? I am actually trying to lose an inch of lift or so (also have a 3" body lift, the old "3+3" lift). I seem to remember late 70's F150 front coils. I have been running JGC coils for 10 years now, but want something stiffer for towing and such. I got a hall pass from the wife to hit the junkyard in the am, so time is of the essence.

Thanks guys. I'll see if I can figure out a long enough driver but with big enough head to get that last screw. There isn't a straight shot to be had on my rig, and this is one of a few steps either left out of the FSM and Haynes manual, if not totally contradicted. I think I might have a Frankenpathy.

Tell me I'm crazy, but do you really have to remove the distributor to get at the last forward screw to pull the cover on the driver's side of a VG30 (94 Pathfinder)? This is getting ridiculous, I'm wrapping up a water pump and timing belt, and figured I'd better replace these leaking gaskets, but the design of this thing is a joke.

Nunya, do you have info on GrandpaX's panhard bracket? About 2 to 2 1/2" suspension here since I cranked it down, formerly cranked to 3," along with 3" body. I did quick search attempt, and didn't see anything. I wonder if this would finally cure my rig. Nobody suggested something like that after the lift years ago, then I put in a rear locker and have run the setup for 6-7 years or so. I went back and replaced the upper rear links from the junk yard a year ago or so, after the bushings where toast and I had a TON of slop in general in the rear. The lower links and bushing still feel tight, as does the panhard link, but I've always had a kinda harsh side-too-side torque pull upon shifting or hitting the go pedal, which I've been battling for a bit. I put in new shocks last summer, along with sway bar links and bushings, which helped a bit. I could imagine the geometry change could twist things up a bit easily for the panhard after lift and lock, now that I think about it. LOL the learning curve. I've only rolled this thing 10 years now.

Anybody that's also has an aftermarket alarm on theirs, what brand do you have? I'm just curious, I want to say mine is 90% Viper, though possibly Clifford, but I've had a mix on different vehicles.. It definitely doesn't have ignition lock/kill, as I had an issue years ago and ended up driving through the neighborhood at 6am with the alarm blaring. Sorry for no actual feedback so far, my brother has been borrowing the rig this week along our utility trailer, but soon. Thanks for the feedback.

I don't really care about the alarm at this point if i can figure it out cheap/free. it's an almost 20 year old rig with old stereo equipment I that I really crank and can't listen to with the wife and kid along, only when I'm driving it alone once a month or so. It's just the lights issue that makes it a deal breaker. I hope to have some time to spare over the next week/month or 2 to figure it out before the baby comes.

Yes to being an aftermarket alarm, but once a door is opened, the clicking/lights will start up and continue, independent of if a door is open, except for the driver's side rear door. That one seems to reset the clicking cycle when it's opened/closed, so that might be a sign. The clicking is quite loud and a regular cycle - click on, off, in rythym,, and you can hear it inside and out easily, which it's never done before except for when arming or disarming the alarm, which brings me back to the "brain.". I've owned this thing going on 10 years, so I know what is "normal," or at least normal from my old beast. A couple of the door switches are in rough shape, though I don't recall if that one is too, so I might try swapping some/all. The driver's door switch has been iffy for years, and the hinge pins are toast so it sags a bit, but closes firmly. Also, the exterior lights stopped flashing for the alarm years ago, I'd bet 5 years at least, and it's been dead almost entirely for the most part for a few years. It's my play rig, so it spends a lot of time parked these days, and of course new issues seem to show up each time I pull it out and start it up. Maybe I'll just disable the alarm at first, and see if taking that out of the equation solves things. Fun.

I've got a weird one, again, an electrical gremlin... again.. Is there a relay or something in the center of the dash/firewall area related to the doors and interior lighting on a '94? My after-market alarm stopped working a couple years ago, no biggie, there's nothing important to steal, but that was my first clue (thought it randomly worked a couple times since then). The front door light "switches/buttons" on the body have been in rough shape for a while, not sure if that is a factor. Suddenly there is now a clicking sound, almost like a turn signal continually clickinging on and off, but pretty loud, coming from the center of the dash and/or the firewall under the hood. I happens once I open the door, regardless of key in or out of the ignition or turning it to different positions. You can hear it fairly loudly both from the interior, and from outside/under the hood, but I haven't been able to pinpoint it. The interior lights will click on and off to it, over and over. It will happen randomly for a few minutes, several minutes, stop, start up again, etc.. One time, the alarm started acting up and turning on while refusing to turn off. In the end, it eventually shuts off, but it's irritating as hell. I've got a 2 year old, another on the way, and a few other projects, so finding time to track this down is a problem. Just wondering if this ring any bells. Initially, I'd be thinking the alarm is junk, but the door and lighting issues point me toward the Pathy itself.

Agreed, I had similar issues and found the upper link bushing were toast. While still bolted in, the lowers had a slight flex if you tried to twist them by hand (I'll probably change them out soon enough too), while the upper short ones moved visibly many, many degrees of twist just by hand, and the driver's side was much worse than the passenger side. The rig would really pull/twist to the side when accelerating on the highway, and at speed going downhill, the rear end was even worse and would sway and be SUPER sloppy. I swapped them out probably 2 months ago (there's a post on here) with some new-to-me arms from a gently used wrecked Pathy at the junkyard rather than replacing the bushings, problem solved quick and cheap for $20. I also swapped out the swaybar bushings and rods with a new kit for like $20 from eBay. I have a rear Lock Right locker, so the problem was even more pronounced on mine, kinda scary really. Anyways, good luck!

My 94 has a weird gremlin. The AC and cig lighter will randomly work, say 80% of the time. The last few days, however, they didn't work at all. Not good with temps in the 40's and 50's and pouring rain (need AC to clear the foggy windows). This has been on-going, and usually a hard smack to the dash right where it sticks out between the gauge cluster and middle air vents does the trick. I pulled the center dash trim around the HVAC and stereo again tonight, but didn't do much other than pull out and move some wires, and it started working again. I know they apparently are on the same fuse, which checks out fine, and I've searched other threads but its usually an issue of them not working at all, not just intermittently like mine. Does anybody know if they are wired in series or something, or where there may be a common wire/plug/ground in the area? I've got the service manual in pdf, but it isn't too clear. I say it must be a loose connection in the vicinity, though I've checked out the plugs to the cig lighter and such, and cleaned and used dielectric grease. I'm thinking something farther inside the dash, but who knows. I haven't spent much time with the AC switch and such, that might happen again tomorrow. Anyways, thoughts?

What's the conversion for "2-f-ing-much for a 3.0 V6" in this pissing match???

I'm not sure about the job of replacing the bushings, as I just put in the new-to-me (used) arms with existing bushings. I've heard replacing them could be rough. Some people swear by drilling out the old rubber, other say to burn them/press/etc. It doesn't sound easy which ever way you choose, just do it. I checked bushing prices online, usually around $40-50 per bushing, to $50 per arm, depending on the source. Then you have to think about price to press/remove, if you can't do so on your own. Nissan quoted in the $40's per bushing, 2 per arm/link, but well over $200/arm with bushings installed. Sorry, but for that, I'll go with the stop-gap junkyard solution for now, and hope to move up to the RuggedRocks arms if time and price permit.

yeah it was pretty sloppy but drivable. I rebuilt much of the much front suspension last year so the thing drives like a new rig. I am glad the rear is swapped out now. Just got the swaybar kit today so that will wrap the project for now.

I swapped in the replacement ones direct and saved the ones for rebuild in case I don't get around to the rugged rocks ones. Waiting now for the swaybar kit in the mail. Fun

BTW, sorry for the grainy vid and no sound, forgot the good cam at a friend's place... well, like 3 months ago, this in on the almost 10 year old dinosaur.

So I spent Sat. morning at the junkyard. Budget in Auburn, WA, good guys from what I've seen, this was my first time. They only had 2 WD21's, both though pretty clean and nice, it looked like they both arrived due to croaked engines. I was after rear suspension links, as my locker has killed mine over the last 4 years or so. Driving was getting pretty ridiculous, super sloppy, nobody wanted to drive the thing other than me, which is probably a good thing. I went for all 4 - 2 upper, 2 lower, but the lower's just wouldn't budge, no leverage. Plus, I was laying in a puddle in a pull-it yard in January, then it started raining again. So be it. $25 for the 2 plus some random bushings and such, then I pulled the trigger on a random 32" Maxis Bighorn for a spare, mounted for $45. Not exactly a golden pot under the rainbow, but I'll call it a day. I've been driving/wheeling with a *bald* 31" spare for almost 2 years while running 32x11.5/15's, and really needed it, and the rig REALLY need the new links, especially the upper 2, as the vid's will show. After working on some other stuff, then up till 3am with this crap, I must say a good Sat. indeed. :coffee!:

I'd suggest temporarily jumping to the starter or solenoid direct from the battery, with a fuse inline of course. You'll be sure as to where the click is coming from, and you will also either exclude your stock wiring as a problem, or go on to find the problem in the wiring.

Sorry for the delay, its been sitting a bit while I've been dealing with issues with our own vehicles, sick, kid, yada yada. YOU ARE THE MAN 5523!!! Thanks a ton, the cam turned fine when turning over the engine. No toasted timing belt, awesome. Didn't get much beyond that last night as the battery died, so I charged it full overnight, then put the gas the the floor and just cranked and cranked for at least a minute. It started to slow a bit like the battery was winding down again, then *sputter* turn turn turn *sputter... sputter* turn turn turn VROOOM! It's aliiiive! Drove it around the neighborhood, and it runs great. I forgot how snappy the little 3.0 can be in that sedan. Now to go put the computer back into the kick panel, and devise a way to explain the trim piece I broke... Thanks again, man!

Thanks for the info. so far, I'll give it another looksie and try stuff out. On a fun note, I've moved on from a slight driver's side valve cover leak to ones that's running down onto the exhaust and smoking. It looks nice when you park it. At least the Acura is on the last 1000 miles till it's 180K service, timing belt, etc. and tires on top of that. Our 4 month old baby doesn't seem to understand or care though... hahaha

Exactly, its about the only show in town unless you build your own. I have about 6 - 7 years on mine, no problems so far and it makes oil changes much easier, its just the obvious increased center of gravity to think about.

I'll vouch for these sliders. *Sorry for the 3-month delay since the run.* His rig did great. I have a '94 WD21 running 32" tires, 2" suspension lift and 3" body lift, and locked with a Lock Right in the rear. We all went over some stuff, and he came right along with the group, maybe with a bit of rubbing and grinding here and there, but the sliders got the job done. I want some for my rig.

Hey all, I'm trying to figure out my mother-in-law's Infiniti J30. Under the skin, different intake, etc., its a VG30, similar computer, same error codes, etc. to WD21 We borrowed it while they're out of town, but after a week or so of driving, I went to start it in the driveway and it just turned over. It has around 165K miles. It spun pretty fast from what I'm used to in the Pathy, and the few times I drove the car, so I immediately though dead timing belt and/or no compression, and it didn't have any signs of anything weird when I parked it. I found the ECU in the passenger kick panel and pulled the codes, and I'm getting a code 51, which points to the fuel injection circuit. I've never messed with that stuff, so I wanted to post up and get feedback. I figured if it was really something with the fuel injection, like a bad injector or seal, it would just run really rough, but this thing won't even make an attempt to cough, sputter, or start. It just turns pretty quickly (at least I think so), and that spooked me from a J30/Maxima forum I was searching, where some spoke of similar things after changing a timing belt, and it jumped a tooth, or possibly the belt broke. Anyways, any thoughts? I don't have my camera with sound at the moment to post a vid, and I don't think my old one can record sound, but I'll see. I need to avoid the son-in-law walk of shame with a dead car. Any thoughts on how to test the injectors, or things to check out?

Agreed With any luck, the AC and lighting issues might just be a bulb or fuse involved in pulling the trim panel around the middle dash and stereo. Good luck!