level9

You can put UV dye in the oil, drive it for a bit then check with a blacklight if you must know definitively. If the gasket is bad and you are planning on keeping the car a good long while, you may as well replace both gaskets; however you'd probably want to go ahead and refresh the coolant, vacuum hoses and intake gaskets while you have the intake off if you have not done so already. Probably do the fuel pressure regulator as well.

I'm looking to get some new OEM seat belts for my '90 Pathfinder. Due to an interior color change, I'm looking to get the gray version (color code: K). My understanding is the earlier years (90-92?) the gray is more of a gray-brown whereas the later years (93+?) have more of a pure-gray. I'm looking to get the pure-gray version but does anyone know if the later years (94-95) seat belts would interchange with a '90 ? From the few pictures I can find online, the design appears different but it's hard to tell...

Pretty much what Citron said. EVAP you might want to delete if you want to free up engine bay space. Where the charcoal canister is located may be a good spot for a dual battery setup; however you still need to vent the tank fumes. If I were going to do this, I would probably unplug the EVAP line from the gas tank end and plug it with a small hose connected to a small filter and tuck it up under the chassis somewhere. Note, you might smell gas, especially on hot days as you approach your car. Probably wouldn't recommend this if you garage your car. Personally, I would keep the PCV system but would modify with a catch can between the PCV valve and rear pass. side valve cover breather. This keeps the junk out of the intake, but does require you to empty them on occasion. If you just want to delete it, you could cap the PCV side on the intake manifold, then cap the front breather port (the front of both valve covers are connected to a Y-pipe which connects to the intake boot), then route the rear pass side valve cover using 5/8" PCV/EEC rated hose to a small breather filter. Ideally, locate the filter somewhere you don't mind getting dirty as blowby (oil + gas) will be spewing out of it. Alternatively you can attach breathers to both ends instead of capping, but likely not necessary on our cars.

You might try one of the head gasket sealant products. If you are ready to toss the car, seems like you've got nothing to lose. Unfortunately (operational) WD21s are getting harder to find these days . Perhaps consider just doing the head gasket job or buying a JDM engine and swapping out? Low mileage JDMs are reasonably cheap and probably a better bet than buying another high mileage WD21. GL

According to the FSM (where you can find this info), just the EGR Temp Sensor was CA specific; however I also thought the EGRC-BPT valve was as well although the FSM does not read that way (maybe it was CA only in < 94 models and then became Fed standard). I am not sure if your CA ECU will CEL if you remove/disable temp sensor - something to keep in mind. In any case, if it is for off-road use only, why not just strip both CA and Fed equipment? AFAIK, only the cat converter is required both on and off road, but IANAL..

I had another thought since we were on the topic. You may want to start off checking/replacing the PCV valve first and see if that solves your issue. If it is severely plugged up this can contribute to oil leaks. Reason being, the crankcase pressurizes due to blowby and this can push oil out the older/weakened gaskets. The blowby will exit the wrong way - on the breather side (hoses connecting valve covers to intake boot). Evidence of a plugged PCV would be a lot of carbon buildup on the throttle body. GL

Yeah, I cleaned my PCV valve originally, shook it back and forth and it seemed fine. I saw how cheap the OEM one was and said what the hell and bought it anyway. I then compared the new OEM to the clean one and there was a quite noticeable difference in spring tension. So I just recommend replace now.. they will still mostly work once cleaned up but the after moving back and forth a zillion times over 10+ years, the spring just starts to wear out. This can sometimes contribute to increased oil consumption as you might not get quite the same/consistent level of crankcase vacuum which can hurt with ring sealing (increasing blowby, hurting fuel economy, etc.). Some cars are more sensitive than others. The use of low tension piston rings in later model years causes more problems with malfunctioning PCV systems.

Intake: Personally I don't like to use RTV here; although I'm sure plenty of people do it without issue. Reason being, the RTV will squeeze out into the intake runners and there's not much you can do about it. If you go this route, make sure you use O2 sensor safe RTV as bits and pieces will brake off over time and could foul sensors. With the intake off, it's a good opportunity to clean off the carbon buildup. I use a can of Seafoam with a flexible bottle brush like OXO Good Grips Bottle Brush to clean the intake runners. Then clean the idle control valve, EGR, throttle body and idle air bypass with CRC Throttle Body & Air Intake Cleaner. You might consider replacing your PCV valve while you are at it. Personally, I will only buy an OEM PCV valve and they are pretty cheap. Make sure to seal the threads on reinstallation with thread sealant (or O2 safe RTV would probably be fine here). Valve Covers: Be careful with removing the hoses from the tops of the valve covers unless you intend to replace them. This is part of the crankcase ventilation system and it is a special fuel/oil resistant rubber and at least the front, pass side valve cover hose would likely need to be replaced with OEM only version due to it being premolded with a very tight radius bend. Also the hose connected to the PCV on the intake is the same - premolded and I'm not sure you can bend an aftermarket hose into that radius. Before removing the distributor, mark the rotor position relative to the body with a marker. Then align it back on reinstallation. This should avoid the need to check timing as Citron mentioned; although it's never a bad idea to confirm. EDIT: Almost forgot.. you need to mark the timing adjustment bolt as well. I did not have to do this on mine as it left a very nice clean spot when I removed the bolt so it was obvious! During reinstallation, make sure to clean the surfaces and bolt the covers back down using the proper pattern as noted in the FSM. It is also recommended to torque to spec. As I recall, there is actually 2 different torque specs combined with the bolt pattern to effect a 'proper' installation; although plenty of people don't do this and have no issues, so it's up to you. Some people also use High Tack Gasket Sealant on the heads to lock the gasket in place and help prevent future leaks as added insurance. If you want to implement some performance mods while you are there I can also make some recommendations as well, but it's extra time and $$. Good luck!

If you want to boost efficiency, have already done all of the other mods/upgrades, want a fun project and happen to have money burning a hole in your pocket, then cover the roof with solar panels and wire it into the electrical system. This will reduce load on the alternator and thus mechanical drag and give you 'free' power. After generating ~750W from the solar, should be good for a solid one whole HP gain

I actually looked into this recently. Neat technology and might be a fun project. Do not expect any efficiency gains (actually you will likely lose some MPG) if you are generating HHO on the car. The power gains cannot be offset by the poor electrical conversion efficiency of the alternator (as I recall, 60% at best is typical).

Do you still read 14.4v with the car running and headlights, audio, etc. equipment turned on? A couple of grounds to check.. The main ground that runs from the battery to the passenger side fender to the block. I've found the fender ground connection to become corroded over time. Unbolt the ground from the fender, de-rust, scuff paint, bolt it back on and cover with Liquid Electrical Tape. The alternator ground: I believe it grounds at the upper radiator core support (black wire, driver side, near the hood prop).

Agreed, fronts should have gone out first. Just got the report and the fronts are 7mm and rears down to 4mm, so that can't be right... We hadn't noticed any braking issues other than the squeal from the rears just started up this week. Nissan had a TSB about ABS bugs we had patched a few months ago, so I guess I'm just going to chalk it up to that and replace the rears. On a positive note, the air filter is the same as the one in my WD21 so I was able to swap that out with an old K&N I had to save a few bucks

2013 Pathy w/ 25k miles. Up to date on all TSBs. Wife just took it in for an oil change so haven't had a chance to look yet. Dealer says the rear brakes are worn and already need the rotor machined!? For starters, it seems a little early to already need a brake job? Also, Dealer says front brakes are fine. Why did the rears go bad so fast? He blamed electronic braking control but sounds fishy to me...

Let's see.. paper thin sheet metal which will rust to dust in no time, heavy use of biodegradable plastics, extensive use of increasingly complex electronic everything whose capacitors and other parts will be dead as well as the programmers - who programmed it all with proprietary code. Honestly, I'd be surprised if most of today's cars survive long enough to become classics.

For $200 to fix the rust issue, I would probably let them deal with it, but more than that I would DIY. The window can be cut out and removed yourself. It's super easy with the right tool. I used ATD Tools 8562 18" Professional Urethane Cut-Out Knife when I did mine. Once the window is out, wire wheel/sand out the old urethane sealant and any rust. Apply 3 coats of a moisture cured urethane like POR-15, Chassis Saver, Zerorust, etc. to prime/seal the area. Let cure, then SCUFF sand with 80 grit. Next, apply a GOOD quality body filler (not bondo). I use Fibreglass Evercoat 889 Metal-2-Metal Aluminum Reinforced Filler. If there are rust holes, place masking tape on the bottom side to hold the filler in place while it cures. Once cured, remove tape and use a block/flat sander to work the filler down until the area is level. If not enough filler to level, just apply another layer and sand again. Once straight and level (or perhaps I should say - correctly contoured), top coat with 2 more coats of urethane paint to seal the body filler. Don't forget to seal both sides of any rust holes. Then scuff sand that with 150-320 grit. At this point you can either replace the window yourself (make sure to use the correct urethane sealant and primer which it sounds like the OP may have been missing). Alternatively, throw on some quick, cheap silicone, place window back and immediately drive to the glass shop and have them replace. It's a lot of work..probably a good days worth. You could do it faster if you use a different paint/primer like a 2k epoxy (shorter cure times).

I would recommend Monstaliner for a DIY/roll-on bedliner. It's an aliphatic polyurethane, which means it's some extremely tough and UV resistant stuff. http://www.monstaliner.com/ Here's an 800+ page thread on the jeep forums that makes a good read: http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f43/introducing-monstaliner-uv-permanent-diy-roll-bed-liner-875162/

Use an impact wrench. The way an impact works tends to unfreeze stubborn bolts (it's not just the torque). If you are going to be doing a lot of DIY on your car it's worth the investment IMO. If you don't want to buy, you may be able to rent/borrow..

What are you looking to paint? If you are talking about engine bay/components, frame, suspension and other non visible areas, that should not be a problem as you don't care too much about how it looks (some bubbling, visible brush strokes, etc. is fine). Just paint on a reasonably non-humid day. If you are talking about the body, then any surface defects will show up through a topcoat and you really want a more controlled environment. I usually paint in my garage with the door closed using a brush, respirator and a dehumidifier running on full blast.

Minimal prep work is kind of relative. Minimal compared to a normal body shop job which almost always involves removing ALL rust by media blasting, sanding, etc. to bring everything down to bare metal? If you are a DIY home guy and don't have the large job tools, space or time, sure.. but the marketing droids make it sound like it's almost as easy as clean and paint and that's definitely not true either.. The only reasonably high durability paint coating that requires minimal prep that I'm aware of is 2k Epoxy, but I've never seen anyone recommend it over rust; so this applies only to new metal or overpainting. As far as MCUs like RB are concerned.. If you check around the various forums on the interwebs you will see people have paint failures with nearly any MCU based product. Personally, I've never had an MCU failure (exception for testing).. the thing to keep in mind is.. MCUs like surfaces with tooth. Rough surfaces are best and generally the rougher the better. If you are going to paint something that's completely covered in rust - this is the best surface for a MCU. Wire wheel any loose rust first. Then degrease and DRY - not 'it looks and feels dry to me' or 'i left it for a couple of days in the sun' - I mean HEAT GUN 212+ degrees BONE DRY. Then paint. The MCU will never come off and your understanding of PERMANENT paint will be forever altered If you are painting something that perhaps is partly rusted but has areas of original paint and/or metal, then you really need to knock off the loose rust and also rough up the painted and/or metal surfaces as well - which means sanding with a low grit (60-150 typically) or media blasting (sand, alum oxide or another media that etches). Then degrease, DRY and paint. Adhesion in this case is less than an all rusted surface but still excellent. RB and other MCU brands will recommend a metal prep for bare metal. This is to etch the metal to provide tooth and/or to neutralize the rust. Nothing wrong with this but I consider it insufficient (failures in testing). I sand or media blast the surface anyway, then also use a metal prep product. Some other MCU painting tips: - 2 coats minimum. THIN coats. - Silver is preferable for the first coat (aluminum flake/powder moisture barrier) - Top coat with a (preferably polyurethane) based paint (with UV inhibitors if exposed to sun). Some people leave off a top coat without issue, but industrial grade scenarios always require a top coat - Apply in the lowest humidity possible (less than 50% but I prefer 25-35% max) - you want a LONG cure time; otherwise you may have adhesion failures and/or surface bubbling/blemishes. Don't rely on your local weather station for humidity readings either - get a hygrometer. - don't get any on you or anything else you don't want permanently painted - wear a NIOSH approved respirator* when painting - if you spray it, wear a full paint suit and most recommend a forced-air breathing system* * NOTE: RB says their isocyanates (toxic) are 'safe' but color me skeptical on that claim. It's also worth noting that no MCU vendor recommends painting over existing paint. If the existing paint fails, the MCU will go with it, naturally, but that's not the MCU's fault.. Personally, for my Pathy, I have painted MCUs over the existing paint. I actually DON'T want to remove the old paint, at least on the body (unless it's failing or rust bubbles underneath). The reason being: the Pathy body is zinc electroplated steel and also has a phosphate coating and electrodeposition primer (at least for 1990+, not sure about earlier). Great stuff for anti-corrosion and realistically not easily replaceable.

I picked up a 2013 Pathy Platinum last year. Wife loves it. My only complaints are a weak 2nd gear when I have my foot it in. Also, deactivating the Nav and Video controls while the car is in motion is extremely annoying.. I've heard there is a hack for this (send an e-brake engaged signal), so that's on my to-do list.

Are you wanting a comparison of Rust Bullet vs. other MCUs (moisture cured urethanes) or just curious about MCUs like POR-15, Master Series, Rust Bullet, etc. in general vs other types of rust prohibitive products? I haven't used RB specifically, but can say that MCUs in general are great. They are typically used for high wear and abuse public infrastructure like bridges, subways, etc. Tough, chemical resistant, scratch resistant, chip resistant, elastic, compatible with any top coat and the silver versions are non porous and contain aluminum flake/powder. Basically, pretty much everything one could ever want in a paint when it comes to durability. The only catch is they must be applied under the proper conditions and with good prep work; these kinds of paints are absolutely unforgiving in that regard.

I'll detail my experience as I put together an air tool setup about a year ago for rebuilding my Pathfinder. The first thing I looked at was NOISE. I wanted something "quiet". 2 reasons: #1) I didn't want to piss off my neighbors #2) Many/most? air tools and compressors operate in the hearing loss range > 85dB with long term exposure and my compressor was going to be in my work area (garage) Second thing I looked at was what tools I was going to use. Once you know what tools you want, then you can get the CFM requirements for your compressor. In my case, I determined I could get most tools I wanted operating at <= 5 CFM @ 90 PSI. Third thing was POWER. A ~5 CFM compressor will pretty much suck all the power on a 15 AMP circuit. So nothing else could be on that circuit. Lastly, I looked at convenience. I wanted an oilless compressor as I didn't want to have to deal with removing oil from the lines when using the compressor for painting, etc. Dealing with moisture is enough for me. Having oil blown all over the place would be a disaster and those cheap oil/water separators found online are just that - cheap crap. What I ended up buying was mostly Aircat brand air tools - they are all whisper quiet compared to the rest (< 85dB) and while not cheap - they are I believe reasonably priced. For a compressor, I ended up with a Dewalt D55168 (5 CFM @ 90 PSI and 78dB noise) also reasonably priced for what you get. I've been happy with the setup - never had any issues and it's been used nearly every day. That being said, I eventually ended up ALSO buying a Dewalt cordless impact wrench. why!? The pick and pull! It weights less than carrying around the equivalent in breaker bars and wrenches and I can strip a car in no time (important when it's 100+ degrees outside!)

You might consider just plasti dipping the truck for cases where you want it to be somewhat presentable but know you are going to get more scratches and paint chips while trying to save time/money at the same time. pdip is easy to DIY in your garage. You can peel a panel that gets jacked up and just respray it. You can also do touchups with cheap pdip rattle cans in some cases (it's a solvent based product and so re-liquefies when you spray over it). There are kits available that include an Earlex spray gun (electric HVLP) which is also useful to have for other painting projects around the house.

If you are OCD like me ... Clean throttle body with CRC Throttle Body & Air-Intake Cleaner Clean MAF with CRC Mass Air Flow Sensor Cleaner Clean any electrical connectors with CRC Electronic Cleaner Put Permatex 22058 Dielectric Tune-Up Grease around electrical connectors to prevent future corrosion & moisture/oil/dirty entry

I picked up a 2013 Pathfinder last year for the wife. Mainly because it was the only SUV that would actually fit her family and out of all of the new fugly car designs I thought it looked the least fugly. I would NEVER take it off road. When I was talking to the dealer about the 4WD option they laughed. So we have the 2WD. This thing would need like a 1 FOOT lift before I would consider going offroad and that would look pretty ridiculous on this body style, but I suppose that's true of all of today's "SUVs". I will say this: it does drive nice. Much more of a car than truck. MPG is pretty decent. I get about 18.5 city and I abuse the hell out of it.. I like to drive fast and go WOT all the time. It's pretty peppy; although 2nd gear is a little weak for my tastes. If I'm on a backroad doing 75 and need to pass someone, I can easily gun it to 100+ in no time. Suspension is better than the review gives credit for (at least on-road). Driving at 120 still feels like I'm going 60 and body roll is generally tolerable in the turns. All in all it's not too bad.