Hi all,
I bought a Terrano 90 WD21 a few months a ago and really love it.
Despite its age, I find it in pretty good condition (~ 165000kms when I bought it) and I don't think it has been off-road much (yet!). I got it in an auction and unfortunately I have no record of what has been done on the truck by the previous owner.
I'm stocked with this car, the engine (TD27) is very good and is not too thirsty, I don't think the transmission (auto) has been abused. I only use this car to go camping and off road and we mainly do tracks and beach driving.
So it's relatively 'soft' off-roading, but we sometimes go to very remote area and I want it to be reliable. It's my first 4WD and I 'd like to keep it in good shape as long as possible, I have no mechanical background but thanks to this awesome forum (been lurking for a while now!), a few youtube clips and an eager willing to learn new stuff, I've managed to maintain/replace a few things myself.
Here is what I think have been changed on the car by the previous owner (or at least look newer than the rest):
- New radiator + turbo timer (or whatever it's called... it keeps the engine running for a couple of minutes after I turn the ignition off)
- Master cylinder
- CV boot / axle
And here is what I've done so far (basic stuff):
- Engine oil/filter
- Replace coolant
- Fuel filter
- Rear diff oil (couldn't unscrew the front diff refill plug, I'll have to get back to it later...)
- replace alternator (it just died a couple of weeks after I got the car)
- rear brake pads/rotors (they were trashed)
- roof rack
- Sway bar - mount bushing (both were missing !) + end link
- Compression rod/strut bushing (I had to order them in the US, the price here, was ridiculous : >160$!)
- Replace 4 shock absorbers (they have never been replaced, so I think it won't hurt. I found a pretty cheap set : http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Nissan-Pathfinder-4WD-WD21-Heavy-Duty-Shock-Absorbers-/280788633368 probably not the best out there, but they should be fine)
I 'll do the shocks this weekend, but from I've read it should relatively strait-forward.
I found the car to handle very well off-road but it shakes a lot (even on simple dirt road), I hope replacing the compression strut bushings and suspensions will improve this. I will check for any play in the front when replacing the suspensions, see if there is anything else that would need to be replaced.
In the meantime, I'd just have a couple of questions:
- The factory suspensions have a switch to adjust the stiffness (2 cables/shock absorber). I can't see the difference between 'sport/touring' mode but anyway, the new shock absorbers are not adjustable so I can't connect the wires.
What would you do with them ?
- From this list, is there any major servicing I forgot ?
Any idea or suggestion for others (relatively easy/cheap) improvements ?
I was thinking of a steering dampener but I'm not sure if it would be useful.
( I live in Australia, so parts are not readily available here and when they are they are certainly not cheap)
- Finally, while I was replacing the rear brakes I notice a lot of grease/oil on one side (see picture). It's not leaking, it's rather dry but it has to come from somewhere.
I thought the wheel bearing was damaged, but there wasn't any play. Any idea ?
Left side (clean)
Right side (dirty)
Many thanks,
Mike