RCWD21

I have pics of most everything I'm dealing with with this thing that I'll be putting up in my other thread. Here's a link: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/41227-looking-at-buying-an-87-2-door-saturday-and-have-a-few-questions/?do=findComment&comment=769266 All my pics so far will be there. I was going to take more but got rained out shortly after taking those

Well mainly I'm just looking for a harness in decent shape that hasn't been cut by an idiot lol I'm analysis about wiring and if it's not perfect then it bugs me to no end

Well my 90 is OK now (got away with scraping and cleaning connections) but the 87 I have now has been cut and ruined (cut wires right up close to plugs) I may just resolder and heat shrink the connections until I can source a new or good condition harness. Do you think one out of an 86.5 to 89 harbody would be the same? I would assume so seeing as its basically the same.

Anyone? I've been searching every combo of words I can think of on here and good and I can't find anything. I know these things exist but I just can't find them

I don't get it either but I guess this is one of those "stupid fixes that just work" ya know? Lol this is the pickiest vehicle I've ever owned but it's never let me down so I'm happy now I just have to redo my lower CA bushings as I see to have messed one up when I got stuck. But the alignment is fine and it doesn't pull but I can go over bumps and stuff and through each bump the steering wheel will "center" itself at different spots like I'm turning to the right but going straight. The right front makes a clunk noise now considering that's the side that took the brunt off the force when I slid into that run going through a corner. Some days it will drive with the wheel centered and level and then I can turn a corner and it'll be off to the right a little. This happened probably 1000 miles ago now? I'm going to go to rubber bushings instead of poly in hopes of this not happening again lol although I rarely get stuck. Only been stuck 2 times in a year lol the first was me somehow getting back behind my dad's shop after it rained and it was so soft that when I got out I started to sink and I only weigh 125 lbs the other time was the rut..

So what you're saying is that you either have the valve cover off or you've removed your upper timing belt cover and then discovered this? If it's not actually turning the cam then you either have a sheared cam pulley pin or a broken cam before the first set of lobes on that cam. Can you possibly take a video of it doing this? I've never heard of a v* engine being able to run "normal" with only one bank producing power. I'd assume if it did run at all that it would struggle and run at a very inconsistent and very low rpm. Being very familiar with engines I have never heard of anything like this. I have managed to get a vg30e to idle as low as 250 rpm out of sheer curiosity but that was a flawless engine that had everything maintenance wise done to it all at once.

Tomorrow being my birthday I'm getting the day off from work, so I will take pics of EVERYTHING I've found in there and maybe a couple of vids showing the cams and what I suspect to be at least 10 bent or damaged valves. Could anyone link me to the wiring diagrams for the factory alarm system? I unknowingly removed a few of the wires when I was unraveling all of the previous owners screw ups! Also could anyone post pics of what a stock TBI engine bay looks like? I need to take an inventory of what's missing and hit up the junkyard if the previous owner doesn't contact me about bringing me the rest of the "lost" parts.

Sorry about not getting any pics up today guys. I've been in a bad mood since this morning after discovering the rats nest under the dash.. The dash refuses to cut off after you remove the key from the ignition. I'll take pics of the damage on that too. Does anyone know where to get a dash harness from? I'd really like a new one seeing as there's a lot of messed up stuff under there... As for engine damage 10 of 12 valves are slightly depressed. When he redid the tensioner and belt (somehow he got a belt past the harmonic balancer and the tensioner was rotated the wrong direction) he was off 5 teeth on the passenger side cam and 4 teeth off on the drivers side. Plus with the belt removed I could turn the driver side cam sprocket about 1/8 of a full turn back and forth with no resistance. So basically he made it worse by doing the work himself. Everything under the valve covers is black as coal but when I'm done it won't be! I'm planning on pulling the engine and redoing all the gaskets and seals as well as flushing the transmission. Its almost a dark brown color and smells slightly burnt. I really like that its TBI as theres not much in the way of gettingbthe valve covers off

I need the engine sub-harness and dash wiring harness. The previous owner did one hell of a job ruining both! The stereo connection is hacked up, the end near the fuse panel is ruined. Under the hood is just really stiff and brittle. Would a newer model harness work for the interior? At this point I'm livid with this guy. And I'm still waiting for the rest of the parts that were "supposed" to be in the back when I got it. I'm missing almost $400 worth of parts just off the engine... This thing needs a lot of work but I'm up for it as long as I can source some inexpensive harnesses or even some alternatives.

I ran my 95 king cab to 7k rpm one day when a lady passed me going down an bridge and slammed on brakes. I downshifted one gear too far and I have never heard a v6 sound so mad. I know the vg30 engines can take a lot of abuse but honestly I'm more worried about the transmission and transfer case. Although I'm sure they're fine (hopefully!) If not I'm gonna be ripping him a new one. As of right now I'm almost broke so another parts pathy is out of the question. Plus I have no room to store another vehicle. I feel bad for this monster honestly. But it's in good hands now and will have a forever home unless something horrible happens to it my 90 4 door hade half of 4 teeth missing from the timing belt when I changed it. I have no idea how it made it back home 250 miles away. But I have some questions about the 3 speed. I have no experience with it only the re4r01a. That was a fun rebuild and I should have made a write up on it... anyways where would the most common places for a leak to be? Ya know what? I just thought of something... the cross over pipe is covered in oil as well as the transmission so maybe the rear main seal is bad? If so then I'll also need to order a seal with the gasket kit if it doesn't come with it. I'm not in over my head as I've been through this once before but it's a big bite to take

Well there is a difference in the intake port angle and I've had some weird experiences with little changes like that. But if I have to then I will. BUT IN OTHER NEWS!!! It's safely home and has a fairly bad rust issue under the rear seats and at the back left rear fender well area. Other than that only the door hinge pins, both damn door locks (drivers side probably has a broken plastic retainer clip and the passenger side has a key broke off in it. If not fixable I'll be finding a "new" set at the junkyard or something. I'll post pics tomorrow after I clean it out and do a parts inventory. The guy was a bit of an ass and really dropped the ball. I got there and he wasn't even home. When I called he was like "ohhhh alright I'll be there in a minute" only to have to wait about 30 minutes! Ugh I hate people that do that. It's an SE with the lumbar support, sunroof, power shocks, alarm (Gonna check into that tomorrow too), power windows and locks, cruise control, and intermittent adjustable wipers, also the rear wiper. No roof rack or rear wing/ spoiler. It's the dark blue interior and the seats are in fair shape. No holes or rips surprisingly. All in all it needs a lot of work. The transmission is COVERED in fluid. I have no idea where the leak is or could be. The engine is torn down and nasty. It has 200 thousand miles and he says everything was original. He's pretty damn rough on what he drives so it's not a big surprise the fragile timing belt broke. I'll also need to inspect the transfer case for any damage once it's underway again seeing as he said he ran it on the pavement in 4 lo and hi!!! Don't you just love stupid people? Oh the joys of repairing a vehicle. It's no wonder his Toyota is in the shop getting fixed. But sorry for the long post and rant. Just wanted to give everyone that'd looking an update and pics will follow tomorrow!

Thanks! Today is the day and I didn't get much sleep last night from being so excited! Alot of people don't understand why I get excited over a large chuck of steel but I grew up in an 86.5 4x4 silver hardbody with the old z24. We went almost anywhere. Even a few places we shouldn't have ( water over the hood or halfway floating through a flooded trail) since then I've had a love for nissan and I haven't liked anything else that I've driven lol. That old truck rotted out and still ran and moved.

Good point. I didn't think about the neighbors cat! It likes to spray my front bumper and it pisses me off! But now that you said something I think a plate that covered the area a little further back after the pan would be all I would need. I usually have branches get up in near my neutral safety switch and transfer case switches. That and I've had a few tug on my shifter cable and rear brake cables and fuel lines. I'll have to mock something up with some thick cardboard and take pics.

It's not so much a bolt in option but mainly a clearance issue. If it will fit you can make some brakes out of aluminum stock or something similar to find points to attach it on the pathfinder. I'm not familiar with anything past 95 but if there's room I'm sure you could fit something. If I remember correctly you can get the cooler from a Ford explorer I believe as it has a very high rating and is a plate and fin style. I hope this helps if not I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will chime in.

I was thinking about it and well with me going through the woods a lot in my pathy how hard could it be to make a giant skid plate for the underbody? It would most likely bolt to the frame and extend to all the places that don't stick down past the frame rails. This wouldn't be so much for resting the weight of these tanks on it but more so to keep tree branches and other bad things from ripping out hoses and wires and possibly crippling me in the middle of the woods where no one that I know could reach. I see plates for up front and the rear differential and what I do see for the mid body area is super expensive and to me the price doesn't justify itself. I was thinking something like a big piece of aluminum or even diamond plate. Probably 1/4 inch thick? My only problem would be cutting it to fit. For fastening it to the frame I was thinking about welding on some captive nuts. Well sort of, Basically drill a hole to fit the head head of a shoulder nut and weld around the shoulder securing it in place and leaving only a minimal gap. Not sure how practical this would be especially if it had to be removed considering it's probably going to be pretty heavy... Anyone have any other ideas? If and when I decide to do this I plan on documenting the whole process and all the equipment needed to do it as I'm sure someone else on here has wondered this very thing.

Well for me right now just redoing the heads would be the easiest solution. If I ever pull the engine out I'll be swapping in a 5 speed as well. And $400 is the lowest this gut will go but I'm a till going to offer him $350 just to see if he'll bite. From what I've seen it's in pretty good shape. Not sure of any rust under the rear seats because he's busy with work. If it's a little bit then I'll be fine with that. If it's a lot then I can try to use that to my advantage to lower the price a little more.

Finding older heads may be an issue because even the old rusted out 300's are considered to be almost like gold there's a couple of 87 trucks (one hardbody and one pathy) in the yards near by but in the chance that I can't find heads I'm probably going to clean these heads up real well and install new seals and valves. For around here if I can get this one I'll have the oldest pathy for quite a few miles. Everything else I've seen is an 89.

It's been a while since I ground a bushing down to the little mold line on the bottom of the pic but I've been through the woods and all over everywhere and the modified bushing is holding up. I still can't find a difference in the frame. I've measured everything probably 12 times now and I can't find anything our of whack on that side. It's strange but everything is holding up. When these bushings wear out I will be going to rubber though to see if there's a difference.

I'm looking at an 87 2 door. I assume it's and SE as I've never seen an XE with a sun roof. I'm getting it for $400 and it's in really good shape minus the rear bumper (backed into a stump) and the timing belt broke and probably bent more than a few valves. It's power everything and the dash I doesn't have one single crack anywhere I can see. Even has the hard to find Lego wheels! I know it's TBI and in the chance that I replace the heads would any vg30 heads work? And how reliable is the 3 speed? He says it shifted fine. It was recently running before the belt broke. Now I hope to go get it this Saturday and was just wondering about those couple issues. I'm 99% sure the heads from another vg30 will work but I want to make 100% certain. I may just order some valves and obviously a gasket set with new belt and tensioner with water pump and front oil seal. I'm excited to be hopefully getting a 2 door and then I'll have one of each I also really like the orange cluster even though I see a lot of people hate it. Are the dual gas guages anywhere near accurate? It's got the dual trip meters, volt, oil temp, and water temp guages. Any problems I should watch for besides the rust issues and and the bent valves from poor/lax maintenance?

I'd like new so my sway bar bushing holes are perfectly round. And why are they so hard to find? I mean they were made for a really long time, why stop making such a critical part? And I've got a warranty on all my steering stuff so if I have to I'll just have that replaced too. And I just had an alignment a few months ago but the shop doesn't seem to notice the play in my steering box so I fuss and they do it again for free. Once this hurricane makes up its mind I'll stop by and see if they can check it for me

I've looked all over a bunch of Nissan parts sites and even eBay and rockauto and partsgeek. All I can find is the 2wd arms it doesn't pull or ride like anything is bent but my steering wheel is turned slightly to the right but it rides fine now that I resettled the torsion bars from having it off the ground. And I'm assuming the lower arms are bent because there's a slight curve to them and the driver side is the side that took the brunt of the hit

They're Moog brand. The set with the sleeves and bushings only. My washers are perfectly fine. Its always splitting at the seam. I've shortened a bushing to keep if from being deformed when everything is tightened up. And I'm not overtightening the nuts as far as I can tell, if I am its not by much. I started another thread dealing with the lower control arms, could you help me with that? I think once I replace the lower arms all my problems will be gone. I'd like to find a set as cheap as possible as funds are extremely low.