JohnnyHaywire

Thanks for the input, Steve. I will look up your thread to see how you went about it. New speakers are definitely forthcoming. PIcs would be great, I'd love to see how you positioned/mounted them. And couldn't agree more, the speaker boxes and the interior-mounted spare are ridiculous. Was mounting the speakers in the roof easier (or better sound) than mounting them in the side panel behind the rear speaker boxes? The side panel was my gut instinct, but I'm not dead-set on that approach, and I suppose the spare tire will kill the driver's side sound if side-mounted behind it. Your idea of the speakers in the roof panel gave me another idea - put the speakers in the roof panel and turn those goofy speaker boxes into removable stealth storage bins? One issue I'm having with the Pathfinder, and similar to my old '86 4Runner, is no secure storage for tools, etc. Okay, here are a few photos for posterity's sake. The OEM Sony single disc CD player, pretty swanky for 1991 to be honest. Worked okay, but a CD (or something) was jammed in the drive, so radio only with this one... Some pics of the harnesses... The only harnesses I used on this were the 10-pin on the right for the front speakers and power/illumination and the 2-pin diversity antenna plug below it. Not sure what that blue 2-pin is for. The 6-pin white plug right above the blue one is a redundant rear speaker harness for non "premium" stereo models. I wonder where those wires go... They certainly did not match my rear speaker wire colors. You can see the 5-pin plug for the amp I removed here and also the 16-pin amp "out" harness in the background with its speaker wires twisted together. This is what I spliced into straight from my JVC's rear speaker wires. The grey and the green bundles are your girls here. The rest of 'em...NFI. And the new JVC in action (no USB for $60, but I ain't complainin'). Previous owner must've quit smoking. Cig lighter and ashtray were gone when I got it.

I hear what you're saying, SpecialWarr, and thanks for chiming in! Sounds like a horror show in there, but glad you were able to straighten things out. Was is the Sony set-up? The one thing I had going for me was that the center stack appeared to never have been opened on mine. The tangle of wires still left me scratching my head for a day or so. But...I have the new stereo wired in and it sounds great! Everything on the dash is still working, as well. I was worried I might lose the cig lighter power or HVAC control lighting after reading the "garage" post on stereo upgrades, but they are good. For future readers, my truck is a 1991 with the OEM Sony single CD player stereo and Sony amp (right behind it) for the rear speakers only. Rear speakers are housed in ridiculously large factory boxes above the rear wheel wells. Short version of aftermarket stereo install: Ditch the amp, use the standard harness for the front speakers and tap into the amp's output speaker wires for your rear speakers. Get the "diversity" antenna adapter. Long version: The only thing that took a little time was pulling apart the speaker boxes that ride on the wheel wells in the back of the truck (nice [ab]use of space, Nissan!). Once I had those apart, I could see which colored wires were powering the speakers (green for the left channel, grey for the right). I then disconnected the amp and removed it, but found the speaker wires from the amp's "out" harness and just connected straight to those. The speaker wires in the amp's "out" harness are twisted together in pairs, which makes them easier to identify. I used the stock harness for the front speakers and all the power/illumination wires. And, of course, all my connections were soldered. Nissan does not use a ground in their harness from the stereo, so make sure you ground it to a screw/bolt on the metal center stack frame. The rear speakers were surprisingly Clarion 6x9, 3-way in the rear. I figured they would have been Sony, but no. The "extra" two-pin plug is still...unplugged. I suppose it's for some option my truck didn't have. The "diversity" antenna adapter is a necessity, so keep that in mind when ordering your parts for a stereo swap. The harness was $10 from Crutchfield and the antenna adapter was $10, too. Free shipping on both. Expect to pay double from Best Buy. I was contemplating trying to use the Sony amp, but I'm glad I didn't. My call to Crutchfield was pretty helpful in a few ways. The tech told me my new receiver was putting out more power than the stock Sony amp, so that was a no-brainer. He was also the one who suggested verifying the wire color of the rear speaker wires at the speakers themselves and then just tapping into those at the amp's "out" harness. He was able to pull up a detailed diagram for the 1991 truck and gave me a few tips that made the whole job pretty simple. Taking the speaker boxes apart was also a good opportunity to clean things up around that area. Also led me to pull out the spare and air it up and to put some rubber pads at each end of the bottle jack frame (which may have solved some of the rattling I had back there). And, as a bonus, I found the PATHFINDER badge that was missing from my hatch. It was hiding behind the driver's rear speaker box and is in great shape. So...I've got that going for me...which is nice. For what it's worth, the stereo is a JVC KD-R300 (only about $60) and it sounds really nice and, for once, I sat down with the manual and figured out how to adjust the EQ and all that.

Hey guys, I'm installing a new aftermarket head unit (nothing fancy, JVC KD-R330) in my '91 SE and got started this evening. I've got the proper wiring harness adapter from Crutchfield and just realized that I need the "diversity" antenna cable adapter (just ordered). I'm a little confused at this point, though. I pulled the OEM premium Sony CD player and there was a 6-pin round plug for the amp wired in to the factory stereo harness. I've installed several stereos over the years, but this is like alien-cockpit stuff to me. It kind of looks like a factory afterthought to offer this option and they kind of threw together a solution, resulting in some strange factory wiring (I don't believe this area has ever been opened up before on the truck). I'm planning to bypass the factory amp and also install new speakers front and rear, but what I noticed in there, and what is confusing me, is that there seem to be two harnesses for the rear speakers going into the main wiring harness. There is the one that was attached to the OEM Sony CD player, which had the 6-pin amp cable wired in, and that runs up and into the main harness and disappears, and there is also pretty much the same harness coming out of the back of the amp, which also runs up and into the main harness. There is also a 2-pin plug that was not connected, though both male and female ends are present and one end is wired into the OEM stereo harness (I think these control cig lighter light and heater control lights?). I will try to take some pics tomorrow to illustrate better, but I'm thinking that I need to connect the harness adapter to the rear speaker plug that comes out of the back of the amp? Or should I use the one that was originally plugged into the OEM stereo? I read through every post I could find here and also the how-to in the "garage" section, but most of them seem to pertain to dual-amp Clarion units in later (1995) models. If anyone has any 1991-specific experience, I'd be super grateful.

I was surprisingly pleased with the quality of the parts from the eBay kit I received (you can see description and also the link above). All the parts were Japanese except the belt (US made) and fit well except for the WP gasket, but the hole that was off was not near the pump seal area and was resolved with an exacto knife. Of course, I'd always prefer to have all Nissan parts, but I got in touch with Alkorahil (super awesome guy!) too late and couldn't get them in time for the weekend I had alotted to do the belt and other stuff in there. Thanks for the tip and link on the radiator, Rebelord!! That price is quite nice! I will definitely give them a ring and see about the thicker radiator. I've only put around 25 miles on the Pathfinder since the belt change, but am going to do around 80-100 miles tomorrow, so that'll be more of a test. It's been hot and humid, though, and things seem to be holding up well so far.

I just noticed that my previous post has blocked out the word used for a male chicken, or in my case the drain c-o-c-k. Ha!

Ha-ha, yep, same deal here. I must have spent an extra half hour tensioning and re-tensioning that belt trying to figure out what was best.

Got her done. Took twice the time and beer anticipated, but she runs again! I went with a mix of OEM Nissan parts and the eBay kit. I did not end up changing that elbow hose behind the rear timing cover for the cams (kind of wish I did, but the cam seals seemed okay and so I did not pull them or the rear cover, which allows access to said hose) and also did not change the stud for the t-belt tensioner (seemed fine). All the ordered parts seemed to work well and fit well, except the WP gasket, see below. Some notable pains in the arse were: Upon removal, the spark plug wires left most of the metal contacts on the end of the plugs, ripping them off the wire itself, despite visible evidence of dielectric grease being used. Probably lost 30-40 minutes rebuilding them. 4 of 6 came out like that. Throw on new plug wires if they are old during this job (I did plugs, cap and rotor, but not wires). I am ordering some new ones soon. Having the plugs out makes turning the crankshaft by hand during re-assembly a whole lot easier. I will add a pic of my #6 plug removal rig tomorrow. NOTE: Removal of #6 plug was simple. Use a spark plug socket for the NGK plugs (smaller one, test on plug to guarantee fit), one 6" extension, an articulating joint with 2" of electrical tape wrapped around the joint to keep it from flopping (all this stuff is 3/8"), and two 3" extensions and your 3/8" ratchet. Came out with no effort at all, and I never even saw the plug or area. # 2 and # 4 were tougher to grab, but still not too bad compared to back plugs on GM V8s from the '80s. A step stool to stand on helps a good bit for the reach for this. The cam seals were fine, or at least not leaking, which = fine in my book. The crank seal was leaking on my truck, though, and getting off the crank gear took a while. Lots of penetrating oil, taps with a rubber mallet, and gentle prying. Still damaged the rear washer (between gear and seal) from prying and had to pound it flat best I could. Order this washer behind the crank gear from Nissan if you plan on changing this seal as you'll probably bend it a bit while prying off the gear. If you can tell your crank seal is leaking by a oily lower cover, order this washer. It is, however, almost impossible to tell until you get the timing covers off, which will set you back days, so order the washer (I'd guess $2-$4 washer in advance if you do this job). It is keyed, so you need OEM. I would have replaced mine if I knew removal would damage it. Crank bolt (at least on my truck) needed pneumatic force to remove. I was moving the truck back and forth in 3rd gear with the parking brake on when using a breaker bar. Pneumatic gun made short work of the crank bolt, but I'm sure penetrating oil helped a bit. Added some blue Locktite to the crank bolt threads when re-assembling. The timing belt I got had one mark that was kind of between teeth. This threw me off and freaked me out a bit, even though the cam and crank marks were lining up after every revolution. The timing marks on the belt are only accurate for installation, they will not line up after 2 rotations, or 4, or 7, or 18, etc. I have no idea how many spins it takes to have them match up again with the cam and crank marks, but I think a lot, due to obvious factors if you think about it. Finding the torque specs for certain items was a total pain, despite having two Chiltons and one Haynes manual. I found most, but it was a time drain. Make notes from Dr. Bill's write up, he did a lot of the hard work for this task. Timing belt tension. I had no specialized tools and ended up going with the "it should twist to 90 degrees between the cam gears with two fingers" rule. I think this should be more like 85 degrees. My belt whines a bit now. Maybe it'll break in, or maybe it'll only last 62K, I don't know, but I'm not going back in there to loosen it. And the rule of the Allen wrench tensioner hole being at 5 O'clock, hmm. Mine was at around 5:30 and still seems a bit tight. With my combo of parts, I'd say best is around 5:45. Your mileage may vary with different combinations of parts (aftermarket belt and tensioner w/ OEM spring in my case). The WP gasket didn't line up on one of the holes toward the passenger (non-pump area side) and I had to trim it, it was about 1/2 of the hole off. Not impressed with the manufacturing specs there. The drain **** on my radiator was stuck and I decided not to force it and just loosen the lower hose to drain as a preventive measure for longevity (why break it if it's not leaking?). My radiator cooling fins are steel (OEM?), though, and are rotting away, so that will need to be replaced in the future. As I gently hosed it off, some of them were crumbling away. Heavy water pressure can bend fins, but if they are rusty, low water pressure will massage them away gently I used the Permatex water pump and t-stat housing sealant (gray) stuff and the Permatex specs for tightening the housing vs. manual specs were way off (some lb. ft. measurement in the manual vs. 1 and a half turn per the Permatex specs) so I split the difference. Okay, I'm lying, I snugged those ba**ards up till they were good and snug. I ended up using most of my factory Nissan hose clamps for the rad hoses, but used a stainless steel worm drive clamp for one of the hoses and realized I should have updated them all. The worm drive clamps are like butter, the Nissan 2-wire clamps are like...not butter. I'll post some pics up tomorrow. Still tired and dehydrated but happy she's running and hopefully more efficient.

Howdy amigos, Just a quick question about spark plugs for a '91 SE with the VG30E. All three of my manuals say to use NGK BKR6EY. That appears to be a v-groove electrode plug, while the NGK site also recommends the BKR6ES, which is a flat electrode plug. Was the v-groove plug OEM spec on these engines? http://www.ngk.com/category.aspx?zcid=304 Anyone have any preference between the two of these? I'm kind of traditional and tend to use flat electrode plugs on older cars but I'm open to trying something new (for me ; ). Thanks in advance for any input.

Thanks for the input, ebayfish. I have read good things about Gates products and I believe I've used their belts before.

Looking forward to your progress, Harbinger. Very cool swap!

Thanks for the reply, adamzan. I'll drop him a line now. I'd definitely prefer Nissan parts, but I'm trying to stay on a budget if possible. She's got 276K on the clock And thanks also for the Rock Auto tip, their price for the Gates kit even with shipping is $7 less. I've had good luck with Rock Auto in the past. Here's a couple of pics of the truck:

Howdy amigos, New to the forum here. I've had my '91 Pathfinder SE for about 2 weeks and after going through the service records, I see that she is about 30K overdue for her timing belt service (read: ticking time bomb!). I'm about to order the parts and was wondering if anyone had any input about parts preference, OEM vs. aftermarket. I see Courtesy Nissan has a kit for $274 (before shipping, and they list the WG30E as a '94-'95 for some reason, as I don't believe I have the WG30i engine): http://www.courtesyparts.com/bundle-timing-belt-kit-pathfinder-wd21-p-568787.html This is the kit I was thinking of going with on eBay (seems pretty complete except for no t-stat) for $154 shipped: http://www.ebay.com/itm/380771602513?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT And then there is this Gates kit and I would put the rest of the parts together on my own (it only comes with the pump/gasket, T-belt, tensioner and w/p studs) for $80 shipped: http://www.ebay.com/itm/87-93-Nissan-Pathfinder-3-0L-V6-Engine-Timing-Belt-Water-Pump-Kit-TCKWP-OE-oy-/301226053940?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1991|Make%3ANissan|Model%3APathfinder&hash=item462278d134&vxp=mtr I'm going to do the radiator hoses and spark plugs at the same time. Thanks in advance for any input.

Hey guys, Just wanted to make a quick post to introduce myself. I picked up the truck last week and am very excited to get to work on it (needs a few odds and ends). It is the SEV6 trim level with a 5-speed manual trans. My last Nissan was a '78 280Z, so I'm not sure much will carry over, but the gear box feels oddly familiar. The car is from the southwest, so rust is pretty minimal, but the horizontal paint surfaces have paid their dues. Clear coat is basically gone and the dash and horizontal interior surfaces have also suffered a bit. It currently has just over 276K on the odometer but has had good maintenance throughout her life and runs and drives well. I've had one 4X4 in the past, an '86 Toyota 4Runner, for about 8 years, and the comparison has been interesting. I do appreciate not having to get out and lock the hubs in the Nissan, but I've only put on about 150 miles so far, so I'm still getting to know her. At any rate, I'm pretty handy with a wrench, but I'm by no means an expert mechanic, and have already been finding great stuff on this site (timing belt replacement how-to articles, etc). Going to tackle the door lock clips and holders tomorrow (already replaced the broken driver's door handle) and am putting together a parts list for the timing belt/water pump/tensioner/tune-up that will be ordered in the next couple of days. But enough about me, here are a few pics of the truck. She needs to be gone over before any real offroading, but I couldn't resist a quick run through some easy trails last weekend.