Mr_Reverse

Haven't needed anti-sieze on spark plugs in many years. Back before they started nickel plating the plug bases, they were just plain mild steel. When the plain steel plugs were screwed into the aluminum heads, over time the metal mis match would cause the plugs be very difficult to remove. A light coat of anti-sieze prevented the problem. Modern plugs have the nickel plating that does the same thing so anti-sieze is not needed or recommended any more. With the lugs, the practice seems to have started in rust regions. Problem is, the use of it on lugs tends to cause over torquing that deforms the threads, and the finer threads are damaged easier and less tolerant of damage. Add the fact that people tend to over apply just makes it worse.

I have a bottle of that too. Seemed to work ok. It seems to work pretty well on my Sig Sauer pistol slides when mixed with a little oil to thin it out a bit, but I still didn't trust it enough to use on the caliper slides. Kinda pricey too.

The anti-sieze does work, but doesn't work well as a lubrication. The silicone works well as a lube, but doesn't handle the pressures as well as the moly. I do very light applications of grease since with the brakes, less is more. With the slip on rotors and drums, I do use a light coating of anti-sieze on the hub between the rotor/drum and hub flange. It helps prevent rust and squeels, and makes it easier to separate in the future for servicing. On this subject, I also don't put anti-sieze on the lugs, or any lube really. I have had more problems lugs that had it applied than with the ones that are simply kept clean and properly torqued. If I pull a lug that is a little stiff, I will take an extra couple of minutes and dress the threads with thread chasers. Nissan's use a fine thread that is easier to damage and the anti-sieze will cause galling due to clogging the threads and causing over torque when tightening the lugs.

I had my Pathfinder for exactly 1 month when a deer hit me. Smashed my right front fender and door in. Tow truck driver that was behind me said it was the most bizzare thing he had seen. I know that deer ran off, since the guy at the gas station I stopped at to contact the sheriff department went out to check came back saying the the deer was gone. Found smashed glass and the sideways skid marks, but no deer. Called my insurance agent and told her that I got hit by a deer and she had a hard time believing it until she saw the report. Had the tow driver as a witness that I was the victim of a hit and run, but the state refused to take responsibility for the damage caused by their deer. It is weird paying the insurance deductible before making the first car payment. Wound up getting the fender, door, window, and mirror replaced, all with genuine Nissan parts.

Both the EBC and Powerstop are good. I don't really think there is a "better" between the two of them. Never tried getting loaded calipers online, they are offered at local auto parts stores since there is a core on the calipers.

When my 93 does that, it has always been a broken rear swaybar link. My truck didn't change much when I disconnected the front one, so I removed it and tossed it. The rear on the other hand, has a huge effect. Mine gets very squirrelly and downright terrifying above 40 mph when the rear bar is disconnected or a link breaks.

Alldata offers what is essentially the FSM in electronic form. Nice thing is that it lets you print the diagrams so you can mark them up and toss them when done.

Book calls for about 5 1/2 hours for timing belt on the VG in a truck. I do it in about 3, due to experience and having the tools. Easy way to break the crankshaft pulley bolt loose, is to use a 1/2" breaker bar on the bolt and wedged onto the floor or the frame. Unplug the distributor or pull the EFI fuse and bump the starter. You will need a pulled to get the harmonic balancer off. It will need to be a 2 bolt style with a pair of very long M6 x 1.0 bolts, about 80mm long. A steering wheel puller works well. Removing the radiator and putting a piece of cardboard in its place to protect the AC condenser gives you more room to do the work. While in there, I recommend getting a timing belt kit, water pump, thermostat, front main oil seal, both cam seals, and a new woodruff key for the crankshaft sprocket. Plus replacing the coolant hoses. The parts really don't cost much, most of the cost in the timing belt replacement is time. If you don't replace those parts while in there, you will be back in a few months when what you don't replace fails.

With both front wheels off the ground, the front wheels should turn smoothly and easily. What you are describing sounds like dragging brakes and or bearing issues. If you have the pads off and the wheel still has trouble spinning, it is likely in the bearings if the CVs look ok. The dust cap is looking like that because someone used pliers to remove the cap. I generally use a flat blade screwdriver or cold chisel to pop them off by putting the blade between the cap and hub and tapping lightly with a hammer to pop the cap off. From your statement about the pulsation and the pictures, I suggest replacing the rotors. While you have the hubs off, clean them out and clean and inspect the bearings for wear or damage. If questionable at all, replace the bearings and races, they are relatively inexpensive. Replace the grease seal with a new one regardless. When I repack the bearings, I also fill the void in the hub with new grease, level with the inner bearing races. Grease is cheap and having the hub full like that helps keep the bearings happy. The uneven wear on the pads is the result of several problems. One, the rotor surfaces are not flat and smooth. Second, you have worn abutment shims that go between the pads and the caliper torque member. Third, the caliper slides are not letting the caliper move smoothly. Pull them out, clean out the bores and clean and inspect the pins for wear and putting. If worn or have putting, good idea to replace them. It is also a good idea to replace the rubber hardware at this time. When pushing the caliper pistons back into the caliper, I like to open the bleeder valve a bit with a 1/4(6mm) hose on the end going into a bottle to catch the fluid pushed out. 2 reasons for this. First, it makes pushing the pistons home much easier. Second, when you see what comes out, you will understand why it is recommended to flush the brake hydraulics every couple of years. When lubing the caliper slides, us a good silicone based grease, petroleum grease will damage the rubber parts causing problems. For the metal on metal lube for the pads themselves, I use a molybdenum brake grease. A small amount on the pads where they contact the torque member and a thin layer between the back and the shims unless the shims have adhesive, then a thin coat between the pad and the caliper helps a lot with noise control. I also wire brush and was the caliper and torque member before lube and assembly. The cleaner it is, the easier it is to reassemble and the better the brakes work. I do this stuff professionally, and have noticed that I spend more time on the brake job than most because of the detail I put into it. However, my bosses and I have noticed that I have fewer comebacks with complaints and more satisfied customers as well. I make a bit less on the job, but I tend to get more repeat customers requesting me to work on their cars. One option you might want to look into is getting a pair of loaded calipers for your truck. That saves you a lot of work cleaning, inspecting, repairing, and lubing. Plus most come with a lifetime warranty on the caliper so if anything happens, can simply swap out. Long and involved, hope this helps. Hit me up if you need any help. Couple of tips for the wheel bearings, use an impact driver on the small lock screws for the axle nut. They are very soft and the phillip head strips easily. The impact driver will pop them loose without damage. Axle nut socket for an Isuzu Trooper or Rodeo will fit the nut. Might need to file the edges of the pins a little, but should fit. Another option I have seen is a piece of flat bar with 2, 1/4" bolts that are long enough to reach into the holes of the nut run through the bar spaced the same distance as the holes in the nut.

If you have the 3.5, you will want to stick with 5W-30 or a 0W-30 full synthetic. 10W-30 is a bit too heavy for the tight tolerances and the VVT systems. It will also make it harder for the timing chain tensioners (there are 3 of them) to keep proper tension on the chains. During the summer heat, with my old primitive 3.3, I run 10w-30, but now moving into cooler temps, 5W-30 will be the preferred with that engine.

I personally don't understand the diesel desire I keep seeing, but then again, they are not a practical engine for my uses. Where I live, the fuel costs more than gasoline so MPG savings are offset by fuel cost. Maintenance costs are higher as well. About a year ago, I borrowed one of the rental trucks the dealership I was working at to move my daughter back home from Phoenix Arizona. We covered a bit over 1000 miles in 24 hours in a 2018 Titan XD 4x4 with a 4" lift and aggressive ATs. It was the one with the 5.0 Cummins and it even convinced my daughter that it was not something that she would like to have. Originally it was going to be a Platinum with the 5.6, but it didn't get returned in time, so stuck with the diesel we were, beggars can't be choosers and all that. Driving from Ogden Utah to Phoenix Arizona and back, we averaged about 15.6 MPG. Then had the low DEF warning come on at 3AM in the middle of nowhere was an additional $28. I have driven a lot of Titan XDs in my time working at the Nissan dealership and for me and my driving style, the gasser just works better. Power and fuel economy are similar, but the gas engine is more responsive. In my years as a mechanic in independent shops, have found that to remain true with all the brands. With similar chassis and similar engine sizes, light trucks really don't benefit from diesel power without a lot of modern enhancements.

Try using the high pressure wash at a car wash to clean out the fins of the a/c condenser, it could be dirty and restricting airflow. With the fan, it shouldn't really spin at all by hand with the engine hot. It should have a pretty heavy drag and stop moving the moment you let go. With the engine cold, it should turn pretty easily, but still have a light drag.

Yep, you can be pretty sure the left one will fall apart once the engine gets lifted up.

I believe it is a 14x1.5, but cannot confirm that right now.

You only need to change the pulley if you change the VG33 to a V-belt configuration. The Quest/Villager uses a serpentine belt. If you stick with the 33 balancer and multi rib belts, the Quest pulley is fine. It has an extra rib, but that won't affect anything.

Safest thing is to replace seals and gaskets while the trans is out, that "filter" is not really a filter in the conventional sense, it is actually a fine mesh screen that self flushes when the engine is shut off. The fluid flowing back out of the valve body washes it out and lets the debris collect in the pan. It doesn't hurt to replace it when the pan is off though. Standard practice of maintenance service on the trans is a periodic drain of the trans to allow worn fluid and debris out, then refill with fresh fluid. I recommend it at 15k mile intervals. Doing that will keep it healthy. With an install of a used trans, if you don't have a shop go through it, drain as much as you can, install trans, fill with fluid and drive for a few hundred miles. Then take it to a shop and have a flush performed. The 2 bucket method is sketchy at best and can lead to issues. Otherwise, do a drain and fill 2 or 3 times with a couple hundred miles between. My professional opinion here. I do the drain and fill method with my own even though I have the use of flushing machines at work.

They are supposed to be hard. If not, then you have a pressure leak that will cause both a loss of coolant and the engine running hotter.

Try your local dealership. Or you can measure them and check with a local nut and bolt store.

No, I put the 3.0 distributor in. My ECU is the stock unit my 93 had from the factory and it was easier to use the distributor the ECU was set up for. The 3.0 dropped into the 3.3 just fine. I simply used the best parts of both wiring harnesses to build one that worked for me. I don't know if the older style connectors would fit the injectors in the 3.3 or not, just that in my case the injector harness was in rough shape in my original 93 3.0. I left the 3.3 lower manifold and injector rails in the engine and swapped the upper. I did replace all the hoses while I had the engines out and swapping parts around.

When I was at the dealership, we replaced the bolts with the rear links because we could rely on at least one being siezed in the bushing and requiring cutting out, do new bolts were just part of the cost of replacing the links.

Not really. You can try the screws you can get to and see if they are loose, but to get them all, the intake plenum needs to come off. When you do that, then you might as well just replace the gaskets and hoses. When the oil cooler starts to leak, that at least is an easy fix. Just take the oil filter off, unscrew the threaded nipple( I think it is a 24mm deep socket I use) pull out the old o-ring from between the block and cooler and install the new one. Screw the nipple back in tight and replace filter. I liked doing those when I was at the dealership, hot paid an hour for a 15 min job. Valve covers were a pita though because of the hassle of pulling the intake plenum. Though I think the 3.5 was easier than the 3.0 and 3.3.

I have had thermostats go bad in a week and even had one bad out of the box. I would start with the coolant test kit like has been suggested. If it passes that, you don't need to be distracted by the head gasket, it will be fine. If it fails, then you have a starting point. It is possible that the water pump is going bad on you, or possibly the fan clutch. When the engine is hot, turn off the engine and try turning the fan by hand. It should be hard to turn. If you can turn it easily, that tells you the clutch is bad and letting the fan slip too much, so it isn't pulling enough air.

Possible yes. Not very difficult, but the devil is in the details. To swap to a manual transmission will require getting the clutch pedal, master cylinder, piping, and trans wiring harness for the Pathfinder. Also will have to change part of the center console and the floor plate where the shifters are. You will have to do some rewiring for the starter and to connect the Pathfinder to the 3.3 engine as well as some parts swaps. Not hard, but there are a bunch of little fiddly bits. Not certain, but the Xterra shifter might be a little long, not something I have considered doing since I prefer the automatic transmission. Just recall the fiddly things when I was young and went from 5 speed to auto and then back to manual in my 1980 200SX I had.

As for the accessories, there isn't a lot of difference. The power steering pump is any of the Frontier/Xterras that has the 3.3. for all I know, the 3.0 might even work with just a pulley swap. I originally had a Quest alternator on my 3.0, but I had to swap the pulley and shim it if I recall correctly and fab a new tensioner bracket to make it fit the 3.0. I wound up using the original pulley and the Frontier brackets when I changed to the 3.3. the alternator from an early to mid 90's Quest is what I used. Mercury Villager is the same critter, just picked from what I found in my local salvage yard. With the cams, hard to say. Only reason to swap the is the 3.3 cams are slightly milder. They won't make a huge difference, the 3.3 I have is running the stock ones. Nissan upgraded the injector plugs with the 3.3, and got rid of the annoying Bosch style clips. I think I just unwrapped the sub harnesses of my old engine and new one. Then I pulled the pins from the plugs that connect to the main and swapped the plugs. Then I rewrapped the harness. I believe I switched out the distributor and coil wires and plugs since the distributors are different. The 3.3 has the coil internal to the distributor while the 3.0 is external. If I could figure out how to post photos, I can take some pictures of my setup and share. When the hood is open, only an old Nissan guy can tell that the engine is different. The right valve cover has the extended filler neck, the belts are flat, and the oil filter is moved from the right side to the front. Other than that, it looks like any other VG30. Even says so on the intake plenum. I think the hardest part is to physically remove and install the engine in the truck. The space is tight and I believe you have to drop the front diff if you don't have a 3" body lift like I do. I have no regrets for that lift, it has made so many other things easier to do. #6 spark plug is not too bad anymore.

I forgot that I swapped the oil pan, but that was a minor operation while I had the engine out. Oddly, the stock exhaust manifolds were direct bolt on the mounting holes are already large enough for the 10mm studs the 3.3 uses, makes it strange that the 3.0 used 8mm. The nice thing about using the Frontier/Xterra accessories and brackets is that the Quest/Villager alternator is a bolt-in swap. Well worth the $20 spent at the salvage yard. Upgraded from the stock 60 amp alt to a 110 amp alternator. Just upgraded the charging cable between the alternator and battery a couple years later when I noticed it was struggling to supply power when I was jump-starting a diesel pickup. As I said, power steering pump was leaking and needed replacement anyway. The a/c compressor had died a couple years before the engine and I still haven't replaced it due to having other things to spend money on. I did look into it and it was going to cost me about $60 to have a couple of custom hoses made. I prefer the flat multi rib belts since they have better grip with less tension, that leads to better life. And having the oil filter out front makes it so much easier and cleaner to do oil changes. I hated the filter location on the 3.0 so much I had a remote filter system on my truck.