ryan88pathy

Hello All, Srarting out I have been a member for a short time but a reader for a long time, Thank you to all for helping with your addvice and expertise for all of us newbies. I have been a proud owner of a 88 pathy for a few years now and have enjoyed every minute of it through the good and bad times. Just ths past year my family was blessed with baby girl bringing us to family of four. With all new things something must be put by the wayside and it just so happened to be the pathy. Not to make this a long post if you want to read more into the last year dealing with the 88 feel free to read the new members post (HELLO FROM TEXAS). The wife had made a comment when trying to get the kids in the back seat with a few choise words that im not going to repeat but the bottom line was it was just to hard to get the kids in and out. With her advice and consent I started looking for a new pathfinder that would take the place of our once loved 88 pathy. After looking for two months I came across the right r50 that a young man recieved as a hand me down from his grandparents who bought it new in 96. When it was perchaced the pathy spent most of it's life behind the back of a RV being towed across the country for an easy put put car to get around in. She had spent 12 years being towed befor the couple decided to hang up the rv keys and retire for at home. It wasn't till 2005 when young man received it from his grandparent as a high school graduation present and was in his care till I perchaced it from him. Now to the good stuff. I found the car on craigslist for $1200 obo with 190,000 miles and said it needed some work. After a hour trip to look at it I knew it was the right car for our growing family. spec. 1996 pathfinder 5 speed, 4x4, electric windowes, locks, sunroof, spare tire swing, clean interior, and new radio. The bad, both front cv axles are bad, swaybar links, old tires, sun faded paint, a few minnor rust spots on the body, rusty bumpers, rotted nurf bars, and broken antena. So far over the past week I have started to replace both axles, new swaybar links not installed just yet for front and back, and I just scored 2" spacers off craigslist for $100. I'm also looking at black rock crawler rims 15x8 with 31,10.5 wranglers on craigslist for $400. Does anybody have any extra things that I should be looking for out side the norm that yall have come across that a newbie might not know about and any after market things that i should get to extend it's life ? I will try and load pictures in the next few days.

The 4.8ls and the 5.3 ls are the same size engine. In fact they are the same engine just different stroke sizes. And on the plus side of the 5.3ls I have one that's parked in a 4x4 tahoe that I never drive. Now if only there was a bell house adapter I would be set!

Well the ka24et I think will be out of the question for me And the big thing i think will cause the problem is the size of the transmission on the r50. I picked up the r50 96, and as he stated that the right cv axle is a total goner and i just so happen to pop the tire when I loaded it on the trailer. After looking it over for about a hour there are only one or two things that need to be fixed such as axle and door handle but every thing from power windows, sunroof, power mirrors, a/c heat ,lights, and radio. The paint looks like utter @!*% but other than that i cant find anything wrong with it, but im sure in time there will be a gremlin or two pop up. Looks like i need to start a r50 page.

Wow. Glad i came across this. I Just went out and bought my first r50 96 model for $900 due to my 88 being not family friendly as my wife said. I to am reluctant on the rancho and are really excited to know what you think of them. I'm like you R3DN1CK and have to have the same kind on all four corners.

YA thats a good (?) I think the ls swap wont work in the 96 due to it not having a frame for the added space needed from the body lift. As for the 33 swap my wife tells me I only need one pathy and she voted for the 4door version. With a 4 year old and 10 month old the 4 door is more (fam friendly).Car seats can be a real b*tch but I do like the 1st gen, looks better. Looks like I'm about to sell the 88. Sad day But for $900 I cant pass up the deal. THanks for the advice on the strut mounts.

SO this thang just gots to get nutts thrown in the mix. I started this morning off with a cup of coffee and did some work on the computer and had a little time left over so craigslist browsing was needed. On my search for all things i dont need so i ran accross a 96 pathy with 190k, 5 speed, and 4x4. The ad. said $1200 and looks clean on the inside but outside is strait with faided paint. For fun I sent the guy a txt wanting more info and just now heard back, HE said it has a bad shack in the front and has something to do with the cv axle and bearing. I know the KID doesnt know much about cars just from the way he talked and had little to no knowledge about the car having owned it for 2 years. After 20 questions he said the lowest he would go is $900 for it and what i think is a good deal. I know for $900 its still a good buy but does anybody have any extra things i should look at with these models?

Wow! So i took some leads from yall and started poking around and found the v8pathy and what a rig it is. It does look super tight but doable. If anyone has ever worked on a v8 ford exploder then this cant be to much worse when is comes to room under the hood, the only up side to this is its a chevy. A few things im thinking of that might be headaches, deal breakers and things i just dont know about. The 4l60e is a rugged transmission and has been built to handle 600 + hp from monster is about 2 years old now. All though its in great shape i worry about it being computer controlled and how easy it would be make the viable connections to the spedo, aftermarket shifters for the trans forward and revers, and also if i keep the transfer case it to is electronically controlled. The question, would it be better or easier to stay with the 4l60e or swap to the 700r thats not computer controlled and i will have to buy it, rebuild it, and find and buy a manual transfercase?

So i did some generic measurements of length,width and height. The length only shows a slight problem but can made to fit with stub bolt ons such as electric water pump, electric fans, and some other odd and ends As for the width and height since both are effected at the same time and present a lot of the same problems A 3'' body lift will be needed for clearance of master cylinder transmission and for the added size of the intake. Another limiting factor for width are the inner fenders and will need to be cut or removed for header clearance. When measuring the oil pan I noticed similar design features for being a rear and shallow sump with an added benefit of oil filter location on the rear driverside of the pan. I can understand the concern for more hp putting more strain on the existing drive train but I don't intend on rock crawling or drag racing it but simply making the rig travel with less effort for the weight provided. ON a high note there are plenty of people on this forum who have done sas that don't seem to touch the sky so one might be in order down the road. Precis1- Yes the v6 will fit but it only pulls the 200hp range, i could get that with the vg and there for the swap wouldn't be a notable or well deserved swap for the pathy. I know I can get more out chebby v6 than 200hp but there is always one thing you can count on and thats displacement. Thats where I'm at now. More to come and keep the comment coming.

As for the trans, it was replaced with a moster transmission and is a beef in the tahoe. It pulls like a beast! Thanks kingman, I'll start looking for it. I just told my wife what I want to do and I think she said somthing about cold day in hell or something along those lines. I really wasn't listning! My big thing is trying not to do a sas.

Starting off I know some are going to be mad and some are going to kill over from a busted gutt. Now most of us all seffer from lack of power and that could be an understatment, we all try to find an easy fix but most of the time we still wont get what we want with the amount of effort we put into it. I was reading a thread about LS engines and ran across a few jeeps that had done the swap with good improvment to performance and dependability. So knowing what we all know, (that pathfinders are better than jeeps) why not do the swap. I have a donner 2002 chevy tahoe 4x4, 5.3, 4l60e, and I think a np tranfer not yet comfirmed. SO with 320hp with a lot more hp prospects with bolt on's, bullet proof auto trans in a light weight pathy im thinking this could be everything anyone could want in pathfinder, everyday driver, tow rig, prob a mpg buster and what we all want a great trail rig. IS THIS CRAZY? Now for the research! And your thoughts!

So i have some more good news and some not so great news. The good. This past weekend I got out and replaced the center link, sway bar links, and decided to go ahead and install the vinyl floor and take out the pee and vomit soaked carpet. Some of the guys at work wanted to run some tests on a few spots to see if it was human or animal bio. I don't think I really want to know! They said it looked like a few crime scenes they have been to. The Bad. When i had the tires in the air i just so happened to lean on the driver side tire and found a lot of play due to what i think is a bearing going out. This will be fun to replace. 1-The new ball joints i installed when i had it the first time are now shot. 2-I am now down to an average of three lug nuts per tire. I think they all might be stripped. 3-I heard a ticking and think a cracked exhaust manifold or broken stud. Might be time for headers. 4- I just so happened to drive it to work and what seems like the worst rain storm in years just so happens piss down on me and what do you know, only one wiper works. So as I'm sitting hear thinking of everything that"s been done and whats left to do I have decided that an all out build is going to be in progress soon. Now only to get the wife on board, and ask for a raise in my allowance. I;m thinking of doing the vg33 engine swap of course,3" body lift, all new suspension and try to keep it as close to stock but beef it up with new torsion bars and spings, hd shocks, try and get as close to 33" tires as possible with some trimming of the fenders, light weight rims,larger gears, 12,000 lb warn winch thats sitting in my garage, lights, snorkel, new seats, dual battery's, larger alternator, ARB fridge, and a roof top tent. I think that's all to build my back country safari rig. Just something dependable, capable to pull a small trailer, get 15mpg or greater, drive 500 miles to the boarder spend another 100 miles off road back country and still make it back home. o ya. rear bumper build with tire and fuel carrier. Any body and every body share your thought and ideas. Thank Ryan.

Hi 88scratchfinder, From everything i have read about the vg series motors, You can missmatch alot of components such as heads, cams, most externals as long as you stay with in a couple of years from each other. I have vg33 swap that im looking in to doing myself on my 88 pathy but want to change out ecu to get away from tbi. It will help increace the mpgs by 4-5miles. If memory serves me wright I think the heads didn't chang till the vg33 came out and it was only changed a little bit. look up motoiq.com, he has a very good build sheet and tells what years and changes where made to the heads. Hope this helps. Ryan

Thanks for the welcome. I think it has to do with how the younger generation has a lot given to them and not having earned it, and then you add in a know it all attitude and there you have it. I just spent $40 and had it running like new again, oil change, hoses, and a sparkpluge wire I had sitting on the shelf. But I think its not done yet on things that have been tore up, I drove it to work last night and noticed that every time i hit the brake it started pulling to the right. First thought is always the breaks but after further inspection the centerlink is worn the hell out. I've seen people wheel these things hard and know they have front steering issues but dang it has play at every joint.

Nice man! I'm a newbie also, check out my sob story (hello from texas), it might make you feal better about yours being towed off.

http://s1065.photobucket.com/user/rylpr1029/libr I'm dumb and it wont let me load photos. I hope this works, there are some before and after shots mixed all in there. On a sad note I just found a water leak on the backside of the engine, well found on the ground, haven't determined where it is yet.

Thanks GV280Z, Yes I have been beat with a patience stick, I work for a collage police department and have seen everything under the sun from theise mature adults. The 15w-30 was just a percaution I took not knowing if the engine was trashed. I had an oldtimer show this trick on a farmal B tractor that had bad bearings. Funny how somethings just stick with you over the years. It also worked on a 88 ford ranger for about a year till the head cracked, blew a lower hose in rush hour traffic. Now that l think the engine is ok I will chang it back to a 10w-40 since it gets so dang hot around here and throw some ATF down one of the vacume tubes to clear out any carbon from the burning oil. Also thanks for the invite, I grew up down around BRENHAM when I was younger and still have family down there. So not to far off from there but the truth is that its going to alot of $$$$ to get this pathy back on its feet. It was put through hell but still holding together. If I can only get that damb door panel back i will be set. LOL!

Hello everyone, I'm Ryan from Texas, I'm glad to apart of this great forum and look forward to getting great advice from yall. Staring off what might be a long story but a good one started about a year ago when I got my first nissan. I refer to her as THE PATHY wich was a 88, in stock form with 230,000 miles and had been in the hands of young man strait out of high school. I aquired it on a trade and it had been well taken care of from previose owners untill the young man had got a hold of it. With in the first month and $1200 in parts i had replaces all shock, swaybar links, the whole power steering system, headlight, tail light, fuel hoses, ball joints, fixed a/c and heating, the spedo cable, techomiter. I also added some extras to the outside like Rino liner to the bottom of rockers and fenders, 4x8 foot roofrack custom front bumper with hi lift atached to it. At this point I had owned it for about 5 months when my wife desided that a 2 door would not soot our growing family and as most men do we listen and anything that might be projected as fun has to go. We (she) desided that since it was a strong vehicle and dependable it should be given to her younger sister and boyfriend who are just staring out and where needing some help. (Sure), I thought to myself at least it is staying in family and i can keep an eye on it and i would have first dibs on buying it back if they wanted o get rid of it. Well to make this story even longer Just this pass Friday I found out that the pathy was sitting at a burger joint 2 hours from the house and had been there for 2 days and my sister inlaw had desided she didnt want it anymore due to it being a money pit. After retreiving the pathy and mulling for the weekend I desided to investigate why it had broke down. After jumping it off and hearing the worst noise of ticking comming from every corner of the engine I thought it was a gonner. Things that cause this and some other problems that i found where, 1- no oil, only 2 quarts when i changed it 2- broken sparkplug wires 3- vacume hoses not atached or missing 4- no water in radiator 5- no powersteering fluid and found a leek in one of the hoses Some other things i noticed that were missing, door handles, door panels, speekers, radio, some carpet in a few places, and couple of lugnutts. In other words it was trashed. After deconstruction and reconstruction, I went ahead and replaced the oil with 15w-30 desiel oil ( i've found that when there has been abuse the thicker oil helps fill in any bearings wear), new filter, wires, water, and pulling the pws belt so it wouldnt fry anymore than what it has already, I sat in the seat of the pathy and said a prayer to the motor gods and turned the key. There was thirty seconds of all kinds of racket and then like Mosses parting the Red Sea it all went away. I couldn't beleive it had worked, It was like a golden beem of shunshine just lighting up my face. I still cant beleive how tuff theise engines are. After comming in and cleaning up my wife had to ask allthough she already knew the answer, (so are we keeping it) I looked at her and said, " Yes and guess whos car is getting sold this time". I think in most relationships this would be a dumb thing to say but my wife being a trooper and knowing when not to fight with me on things just told me " I thought you would say that....OK..", and just walked away. Anyone want to by a Tahoe....HA HA. I just want to say thanks again and I hope you find my story interesting, I wish I had Joined the first go around when I had her. Will post pics soon. RYAN. P.S. Yall is a word in Texas.

Hello everyone, I'm Ryan from Texas, I'm glad to apart of this great forum and look forward to getting great advice from yall. Staring off what might be a long story but a good one started about a year ago when I got my first nissan. I refer to her as THE PATHY wich was a 88, in stock form with 230,000 miles and had been in the hands of young man strait out of high school. I aquired it on a trade and it had been well taken care of from previose owners untill the young man had got a hold of it. With in the first month and $1200 in parts i had replaces all shock, swaybar links, the whole power steering system, headlight, tail light, fuel hoses, ball joints, fixed a/c and heating, the spedo cable, techomiter. I also added some extras to the outside like Rino liner to the bottom of rockers and fenders, 4x8 foot roofrack custom front bumper with hi lift atached to it. At this point I had owned it for about 5 months when my wife desided that a 2 door would not soot our growing family and as most men do we listen and anything that might be projected as fun has to go. We (she) desided that since it was a strong vehicle and dependable it should be given to her younger sister and boyfriend who are just staring out and where needing some help. (Sure), I thought to myself at least it is staying in family and i can keep an eye on it and i would have first dibs on buying it back if they wanted o get rid of it. Well to make this story even longer Just this pass Friday I found out that the pathy was sitting at a burger joint 2 hours from the house and had been there for 2 days and my sister inlaw had desided she didnt want it anymore due to it being a money pit. After retreiving the pathy and mulling for the weekend I desided to investigate why it had broke down. After jumping it off and hearing the worst noise of ticking comming from every corner of the engine I thought it was a gonner. Things that cause this and some other problems that i found where, 1- no oil, only 2 quarts when i changed it 2- broken sparkplug wires 3- vacume hoses not atached or missing 4- no water in radiator 5- no powersteering fluid and found a leek in one of the hoses Some other things i noticed that were missing, door handles, door panels, speekers, radio, some carpet in a few places, and couple of lugnutts. In other words it was trashed. After deconstruction and reconstruction, I went ahead and replaced the oil with 15w-30 desiel oil ( i've found that when there has been abuse the thicker oil helps fill in any bearings wear), new filter, wires, water, and pulling the pws belt so it wouldnt fry anymore than what it has already, I sat in the seat of the pathy and said a prayer to the motor gods and turned the key. There was thirty seconds of all kinds of racket and then like Mosses parting the Red Sea it all went away. I couldn't beleive it had worked, It was like a golden beem of shunshine just lighting up my face. I still cant beleive how tuff theise engines are. After comming in and cleaning up my wife had to ask allthough she already knew the answer, (so are we keeping it) I looked at her and said, " Yes and guess whos car is getting sold this time". I think in most relationships this would be a dumb thing to say but my wife being a trooper and knowing when not to fight with me on things just told me " I thought you would say that....OK..", and just walked away. Anyone want to by a Tahoe....HA HA. I just want to say thanks again and I hope you find my story interesting, I wish I had Joined the first go around when I had her. Will post pics soon. RYAN. P.S. Yall is a word in Texas.

Yes, IM wanting the same info. Please help!

Hi Dennis, im new to the forum, Slartibartfast showed a wiring diagramThe w/r wire that shows starting form the battery, next goes to a fuse, then to a safety swith/relay, then to the injectors, and terminates at the e.c.c.s. . I would start by testing voltage from the beginig at both sides of the fuse working yourway to the safty swith. test the safty switch for both a positve curent and also for a ground by using an ohm meter. Chances are if there is no voltage after the safty swith then its bad. By the diagram everything else gets voltage before your e.c.c.s does, so changing it out wont fix it. If you have voltage to the safety switch and not after try making a temperary jumper wire to bypass it. Remember the word temperary!!! I hope this help explain it a little more.