V8path

Thanks. The manual will come in handy.

I don't have to keep the 88's fenders, but I know they are easily bolted onto the wheel well sub frame. So from what I'm gathering, the wheel well is welded to the main cab, and can or should be swapped as a unit. It looks like a pretty big job, but basically unplug or disconnect the wires/hoses/cables that are attached between the cab and engine/frame (which is the real time consuming part - plus the reattaching after the new cab is back on the 88 frame), and then unbolt the bolts holding the cab to the frame, and lift off? btw I looked at cc pathfinder profile and he's got a 98, and no mention of a body sway???

I didn;t se this thread and just posted a question re this on your other thread - . http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/40601-pathfinderado I'm thinking about putting a 90-95 body on my 88 frame. How much work, and do you have any other pics etc of the swap process? Thanks

Was hoping to see another LT1 Pathy, but this thread seems to have gone silent?

Though I love my 88 Pathfinder, not having 4 doors can be more than a bit inconvenient at times. I was wondering how much work, and what the problem or big issue areas would be, to putting a later 4 door body on 88 frame. With the 4 cornered coilover, SAS, and engine swap already in/on the 88 frame, which btw is in pretty good shape, the logical way to keep that is to swap a 90-95 body onto the frame. Most of the issues I've seen on Pathy's been sent to the wrecker, or that become driveway "part out" projects, have to do with the frame rusting out. Most of the body's on the "cared for" Pathy's are in pretty good same for a 20 plus year old vehicle. The problem areas are rust in the rocker panel areas, and around the rear wheel wells, but once the body if off the frame, that is easily cut out and repaired, especially of the final coat of paint will be truck bed liner on the lower panels. I'm also planning (when the 88 body if off the frame) to go over and make any repairs on the frame, and then coat the inside and outside of the frame with a good quality rust protection costing. The area I don't have a lot of experience is in and around the firewall stuff, and how difficult this will be to separate front fender (which would be retained from the 88). I'm assuming everything from the firewall back (as a unit) is swapped over. Any feedback or experienced advise with this is appreciated.

There are a few major issue to consider before making the decision to do this type of a swap. Is this your 1st ever swap, or have you done a less extensive swap, such as a Chev to Chev swap before (ie V6 to V8, or LS into a older SBC)? The first 2 major questions are budget and knowledge/expertise (and/or the willingness to do a lot research and be able to understand the research). You will also need to be able to do custom work, so this is not a "basic" driveway or bolt on type exercise. What is the plan for the rest drive train? Are you looking to retain the Nissan transfer case? Is this part of a SAS or will you be retaining the existing front drive line? The answers to this will determine what other parts you will need, and the level of modification to things such as oil pan, exhaust, etc. etc. The secondary detail (but no less important) will be routing of hoses, wiring and fuel delivery considerations, etc etc. Its a lot of work (and most will not feel it's worth it), but if you're up to a challenge, the reward at the end of it is a thrilling unmatched Pathy ride. Be happy to answer any questions.

I've swapped a 94 Lt1 into a 88 Pathfinder. http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/33315-small-block-chevy-swap-worth-it/page-3

Have you checked the coil? That might be going and a weak spark will be more prevalent at higher rpm's

What is the park switch, and where is it located? In the motor or in the on/off lever in the cab? Is this also the reason the intermittent function doesn't work?

When I first found out the fuse was blown, I replaced it and when it blew again I did hear the "zap". That's when I then disconnected the backup lights and turned the key to the "run" position, and instead of the fuse blowing, it melted in the fuse block socket. I did manage to get it out and able to replace/install a new fuse. Not sure if I should start a new thread, but given we're into the electrical discussion, I have a few issues with my wipers. The difference between the regular wiper speed and the "fast" wiper speed is barely noticeable, and I'm guessing that's attributed to the fact that the wiper motor (being original) is now approaching 27-28 years old? The 2nd issue is that I no longer have intermittent wiper function, and when shutting off the wipers, they stop wherever in "mid wipe" at the exact time I turn the wiper switch off. Normally they will/should finish the wipe cycle and stop at the bottom of the windshield. Anyone know what I have to test/replace/fix (besides the reality that the 27 year old wiper motor should be replaced) to get get ALL the proper wiper functions working again?

Problem solved. It looks like the burnt wire in the harness that runs to the transfer case was a hot 12v wire, and had come apart from the main harness must have been lodge/stuck against bare metal causing the short. I disconnected the harness and test the correlating pin of the burnt wire and it was "12V hot" with the key in the "run" position. It looks to be a loose end that should have been cleaned up and tie up better when I finished the V8 swap. Everything is fine with the turn signals and the gauges now, but I'm still a bit baffled as to why the fuse melted in the fuse block, which lead to the circuit remaining closed and frying the wire that badly. At least the odor of the burnt wire lead to quickly finding the source of the short. Anyways, this is another lesson in how careful and diligent one needs to be when doing wiring. Thanks to Startibartfast for the diagrams.

Was able to find more evidence of a short in the back up light circuit but have not narrowed it down to exactly where yet. When I popped the hood, I could smell a faint odor of burnt wires. After a bit of unwrapping electrical tape, this is what I found with a harness with one end of the connector going to the transfer case, which also included the wire for the original Nissan 5 speed trans backup light switch (that was in the Nissan trans, before the 4L60E was swapped in). There are 4 wires, a yellow and black that goes to the transfer case (think it is the 4WD indicator switch), a bare wire (that's the fried wire) that I think went to the original plug for the back up light switch, and the red/black wire that goes (thru the firewall and into the cab and runs along the floor) to the backup lights. Some where in this mess is the short. Here's pic of the switches on the transfer case. The 2 wires with connectors are where the yellow and black wires plug into. And as far as I can remember, the burnt wire was for the backup light. Does anyone know what the other connector on the transfer case is for (don't think it is for the back up light???)? The badly fried wire was not connected to anything and might be the cause of the short, and knowing what it was for would help in understanding this mess. At least I look further into the circuit between the shifter for the 4L60E and the trigger/relay I installed. I'm still surprised as to how badly the fuse was melted in the fuse block, and how badly the wire is burnt in the pics. The rubber/plastic cover is completely melted off. If anyone sees anything that I might be missing in my thought process, feedback is appreciated.

What does the inhibitor switch do? The circuit for the back up lights runs through the "inhibitor switch" (there's a inhibit relay on the passenger fender wheel well - is that the switch?). What is the function of the switch?

Thanks for the diagram. This is what I’ve done so far since finding the blown fuse, disconnecting the wire to the backup lights (disconnected after the relay), and melting the replacement fuse. After frying the replacement fuse, I started the process of elimination, and just for curiosity, I ran a lead from the battery (for just a few seconds) to the disconnected back-up light wire to see if the backup light would light up, and it started to fry the wire (which I now need to replace). So now I’m really confused. When the backup light was disconnected, the replacement fuse was fried in the fuse socket, so at that point logic would eliminate the backup light circuit as the culprit (at least up to after the point where the wire was disconnected). But then the side test to light up the backup lights directly, resulted in frying the backup light wire. All I know is I have a short (or a number of shorts???), but it looks like “where” is now more complicated. Any ideas…???

See update at http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/41107-voltmeter-and-water-temp-gauge-cut-out-and-turn-signal-problem/?do=findComment&comment=768091

I started by checking a few simple things, and noticed the fuse for the meter/back up lights had blown. Here's a pic of the fuse location - its the one in the top right (10A). I was really surprised the back up lights, and meters were on the same circuit. When I did the V8 swap, I had changed the transmission and the new backup light switch located in the transmission shifter, and I used that to trigger a relay to turn the back up lights on/off. So I thought maybe I have a short somewhere in that circuit and disconnected the back up light relay, and replaced the fuse. That worked as the voltmeter came to life, as well as the turn signals. Not sure about the water temp as the engine was still cold. I left the key on the run position, and after about 20 secs I started to smell something like it was burning, and sure enough, for some reason there was smoke starting to come from the new fuse. I quickly tuned the key to the off position and the fuse had melted in the fuse socket (which means I'll have to replace that particular socket or cut the wires off the back of the fuse block for that circuit and run a remote fuse holder. So good news is that the problem is identified as a "short", the bad news is not knowing where (or the cause of) the short is, and whether I had a faulty fuse that almost fried the fuse block. I don't have a schematic of what runs off that particular circuit, and was wondering if anyone could post a diagram if they have it, or where I might be able to find it online. I'm not a novice with electronics, but am not a expert either, so any additional feedback on how best to trace a short would be greatly appreciated.

I have a thread (http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/41107-voltmeter-and-water-temp-gauge-cut-out-and-turn-signal-problem/) re a similar problem and was directed to this thread. I haven't used my fuel gauge for years (after market sender in custom tank) but just recently the voltmeter and temp gauge gave out at the same time. I'm assuming the VR failing would also result in the Voltmeter going down, but there's no mention of the voltmeter in this thread? Can anyone confirm if the faulty VR will also take down the voltmeter? Also, in my other thread, I lost the turn signals at the same time (the hazards still work, but no individual left or right turn signals) and wondering if that is related to this, or the the turn signals going bad is just me having a really bad day electrically? Thanks in advance for any help. I figured before I start taking things apart, is to try and be as informed about the cause of the problem before tearing into things.

I found this on a youtube reply. Wondering if anyone knows if the wiring for the turn signals can also affect the voltmeter and temp gauge? 1994 Nissan Pathfinder. The problem was the turn signals at times didn't work; until it just completely gave out and didn't work anymore. Instead of the turn signals working and turning on the little green arrows on the dash; the 'A/T temp' and 'Brake' lights would instead lit up along with a buzzing sound. Looking at the wiring diagrams I saw that junction connector c is something both the turn signal and 'a/t temp' and 'brake' light have in common. So I took the dash out which is very time consuming; looked for burnt wires or corrosion. Everything seemed fine. The hazard switch worked fine. I bypassed the turn signal switch{if the turn signals began to work that would have meant that the turn signal switch was the cause of the blinkers not working.}

and yes, the front indicators are working

I'm not familiar with that area of electronics. I'm guessing your reply is re the turn signals, and that problem might be in the headlight switch lever which also operates the left/right turn signal? If yes, are the contacts near the pivot of the lever, and getting to it would require taking the cover off the column?

I've got a somewhat similar problem with my (88 Pathfinder) blinkers (turn signal) where the blinkers work when the hazard switch is engaged, but not the individual left or right signals engaged. I've a thread in the 86.5-89 section ( http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/41107-voltmeter-and-water-temp-gauge-cut-out-and-turn-signal-problem/#entry768019 )before I saw this. Any help is appreciated.

Thought I'd report back on how the bushing is holding up (after about 3 months). Not shown in the earlier pics, but I drilled a hole on each DOM sleeve, and am able to thread a grease nipple into it. The way it is set up up is that there is a very short hex set screw that sits flush in the DOM, and when its time to grease it, take out the set screw, screw in the grease nipple and give it a shot of grease, and then remove the nipple and put the set screw back in. The set screw is there to keep water and dirt out of the sleeve. So far it works like a charm. Silent no rattle and no sagging when the carrier is open. Simple operation to close by slamming lightly - no alignment issues. So, so far, so good.

Anyone with experience with gauges for an 88 Pathfinder. Water temp and voltmeter gauge cut out. (Note - due to V8 swap and new custom gas tank, tach and fuel gauge were already not working, so am running after market gauges for that). The lights still work on the cluster though. And I think at the same time, the turn signal also cut out. The turn signal lights work when the hazard switch is engaged, but not when using the individual left or right turn signals. When the hazards are on, I can still hear the turn signal flasher clicking, but no sound when the left or right turn signal is engaged. I can't see how the 2 gauges, and turn signal are interrelated, or are they somehow on a fuse or ? Look for some help as to where to start to look for the problem(s).

Assembling the parts for the doubler

Can't dispute the ingenuity and engineering effort. But at $1,600, that's a big ticket item of staying true to NISSAN...