jjonez

Usually I hear the click noise when I set it, not turn it on. In any case check the brake pedal (and clutch pedal if applicable). In my 87 there was a plastic piece on the clutch pedal that's supposed to depress a switch that allows cruise control to work. (With clutch pressed cruise control turns off). It's the same idea with brake lights turning on when hitting the brake pedal. Anyways, that plastic piece fell apart so there was nothing to depress the switch. I used a nut bolt and some washers to replace it and now cruise works fine. The same thing applies to the brake pedal. For the 87 the plastic piece on the brake pedal controlling the brake lights is also getting worn out, so sometimes the brake lights stay on after I've gotten out of the truck.

If your truck didn't have a hitch is there even holes/threads to bolt it on?

Bummer about the Eibachs. Let us know how the LR springs work out though!

What changes have you made to the exhaust? Sounds pretty good in the video!

Took an afternoon trek up to Laurel Lake after skiing in Mammoth.

That would be sweet if these could work! From reading the thread that mjotrainbrain mentioned it looks like the free height for the OME MD is 360 mm (14.173 in) and the spring rate is 140. So the Eibachs with a 15 in free height and 150 (or higher) rate should give a noticeable bump in lift over the OME's. Couple of things though: earlier in that thread someone measured the ID of the stock springs at 5", whereas the Eibachs are 5" OD. That could be a deal breaker. Another thing is the Eibachs don't specify the number of coils for their springs. TBH I don't know if that matters since the rate is specified, maybe someone else could clarify that.

Update: Tested it with a mechanical gauge from harbor freight and oil pressure is great. I replaced the sender (for the second time), this time with an Airtex/Wells unit and the light is no longer on and the gauge works much better than before. Phew!

Great news! I tested the oil pressure with a kit from harbor freight and it was great. 62 psi on a cold start, 11 at hot idle, 54 at 3250 rpm. The kit came with a booklet listing the proper pressures for different makes and engines. It said 53 psi at 3200 rpm so the engine is basically new! As adamzan said, turns out I was just having @!*% luck with the senders. I wasn't able to find an OEM sender, and B/A doesn't sell one for trucks with a gauge so I installed the A/W one and it made a big difference. The light is no longer on and now the dash gauge reads about 15 psi at hot idle and is right in the middle at 45 on the freeway. The gauge still doesn't seem to want to go past the halfway point no matter what and there's still a delay in needle movement. I've heard the latter is common though and I'm still very happy with the improvement. Thanks for all the suggestions guys!

I think I've heard Exedy is the OE manufacturer for these clutches? They're kit on rock auto is pretty reasonably priced and probably the one I'd pick when mine starts to go. As far as the shudder, I don't know if the cause could be the same but my 01 miata does something very similar after it's warmed up. If my launch in first isn't aggressive or very VERY delicate, I'll usually get a shuddering that'll shake the whole car if I let it. From what I read it's a material incompatibility between the friction disk and the flywheel causing the disk to catch rather than engage smoothly. Anyways the temporary fix I use is a high-rpm start with a good few seconds of slipping before letting it engage. Not good for clutch longevity but seems to get rid of the issue for awhile.

I'm in SoCal, but I went on their website and no dice I think my only chance at getting one is from a junkyard or private sale. I stopped by a Nissan dealer today and the guy said even the "master warehouse" in Tennessee doesn't have it, and that all the OEM parts websites are sort of linked in some way to Nissan's inventory. I'll probably just get the Airtex, no reason they shouldn't all work the same other than just bad luck I hope.

Ah that sucks. Guess it's good I didn't buy that wholesale exedy clutch that I saw a while back haha. I'm 0 for 2 on purchasing an OEM sender. Any suggestions on where I could get ahold of one of these? I feel like I'll get the same luck at most nissan parts websites I order from.

Now that you mention it I got it at a discount as a wholesaler closeout, don't know if that's telling. I can't remember if the box looked opened or not. The only alternative on rockauto is from Airtex/Wells. My order for the OEM sender got cancelled saying it's a discontinued part so I tried another website today. They already billed me which hopefully is a good sign, but I'm not getting my hopes too high yet...

Thanks guys! The first replacement sensor I got was standard motor products from rock auto. This time I ordered an OEM which was only like $20 more and will hopefully make the difference.

I posted this in the 2-door section, but I would really appreciate feedback from the VG30E guys as well. Thanks! Today I was driving my 87 pathy down the highway and I noticed my oil pressure light was on. Weirdly though my oil pressure gauge was showing what it normally does. Some backstory: When I bought the truck about 18 months ago the oil pressure gauge wasn't working properly. The light was never on after startup, but oil pressure would read zero at idle and only like 10 on the highway. On cold starts it would climb to about 30 until warmed up then drop back down. I replaced the sending unit and things improved but still not quite spec. Now on cold starts pressure will go to the middle (45 I think?), then when warm at idle it will drop to zero/sometimes slightly above zero, then when cruising at about 3000 rpm it will be at 30. I figured since just changing the sending unit improved the pressure reading, that maybe the old sender or the port that it screws into is partially clogged or there's some issue with the wiring. So I assumed that my actual oil pressure was fine. In any case, kind of weird that the light would come on even though the pressure gauge was "normal". To be on the safe side I had it towed 50 miles back home. My initial plan now is to check the pressure with a mechanical tester and get a new sender on there. But I was hoping to get some insight or suggestions from you guys as well. Clogged oil pickup maybe? It's worth noting that the truck doesn't consume any oil, and the dipstick today showed full and the oil looked pretty clean (I think about 1500 miles since the last change). Also there wasn't much discernible valvetrain noise (this is usually a symptom of low pressure right?) Last thing, I happened to snap a picture of the passenger side valve train the other day when I changed the valve covers. Besides a little bit of sludge in areas where the oil pools (i.e. bolt heads), I'd say things look pretty good right? I read somewhere that sludge here can indicate a clogged pickup. Thanks for all the help guys! She'll stay parked until I can figure this out.

Today I was driving my 87 pathy down the highway and I noticed my oil pressure light was on. Weirdly though my oil pressure gauge was showing what it normally does. Some backstory: When I bought the truck about 18 months ago the oil pressure gauge wasn't working properly. The light was never on after startup, but oil pressure would read zero at idle and only like 10 on the highway. On cold starts it would climb to about 30 until warmed up then drop back down. I replaced the sending unit and things improved but still not quite spec. Now on cold starts pressure will go to the middle (45 I think?), then when warm at idle it will drop to zero/sometimes slightly above zero, then when cruising at about 3000 rpm it will be at 30. I figured since just changing the sending unit improved the pressure reading, that maybe the old sender or the port that it screws into is partially clogged or there's some issue with the wiring. So I assumed that my actual oil pressure was fine. In any case, kind of weird that the light would come on even though the pressure gauge was "normal". To be on the safe side I had it towed 50 miles back home. My initial plan now is to check the pressure with a mechanical tester and get a new sender on there. But I was hoping to get some insight or suggestions from you guys as well. Clogged oil pickup maybe? It's worth noting that the truck doesn't consume any oil, and the dipstick today showed full and the oil looked pretty clean (I think about 1500 miles since the last change). Also there wasn't much discernible valvetrain noise (this is usually a symptom of low pressure right?) Last thing, I happened to snap a picture of the passenger side valve train the other day when I changed the valve cover gaskets. Besides a little bit of sludge in areas where the oil pools (i.e. bolt heads), I'd say things look pretty good right? I read somewhere that sludge here can indicate a clogged pickup. Thanks for all the help guys! She'll stay parked until I can figure this out.

I replaced the few that came out easy. Most were too difficult to remove from the metal cups so I just left them. I'll just replace them if they start to leak.

Replaced the spark plugs yesterday, an easier process than I was expecting. The old plugs were certainly original, and the gap for all of them had widened to 0.08, 0.09 at the worst, crazy. The tube seals seemed to be okay from what I could see, however I shined a light in the cylinders and from the limited amount that I could see the piston heads looked nasty! The carbon build-up even looked slightly shiny, could this be a byproduct of the oil consumption? In any case the engine did and continues to run excellent, startups are maybe just a little easier and more confident with the new plugs.

Hey thanks for the links, lots of good info there. I do have the plastic valve covers and I can't find replacements for less than ~$170 each before shipping. At this point they're just seeping along the edges a bit, no drips so I guess those will be left alone for now. I was of the mindset of taking some steps to reduce oil consumption while addressing a simple maintenance item at the same time, but of course nothing is ever straightforward. I'm pretty sure the spark plugs are 40K miles overdue though so I will definitely be changing those and praying that the plug tube seals are still good.

I'm planning on changing the spark plugs and leaky valve cover gaskets soon on my 2002 VQ35, and was wondering if there was anything else worth addressing while I had everything apart. From what I understand the intake manifold has to come off to get at the valve covers. I do have the oil consumption issue so I was hoping there could be something I could do to mediate it a bit. I've read there was an updated valve cover that can be purchased but that it most likely won't help, and I don't know what the correct part number would be anyways. I've also heard the PCV valve can be a culprit, and that installing an oil catch can somewhere helps keep the intake manifold from getting dirty, but I don't really understand how all of that works. Details aside I would just like to know if there's anything else I should do when dealing with the plugs/valve cover gaskets, and more specifically things relating to oil consumption. (BTW I have a 5 speed so no power valve screws to worry about). Last thing, I was under the impression that iridium plugs are better than platinum, but NGK iridiums are ~$2.50 cheaper per plug so now I'm not so sure. Should I just go with those? Thanks for the help!

Maybe a dumb question, but how does keyless start work with a traditional keyed ignition?

Glad y'all like it! Yea you can really do whatever you feel like with a sticker which is really nice. And you can always change it up if you feel like it, this one cost me $20 which I think is a steal for a single custom sticker of this size. I was also considering something like this since I was having trouble getting enough resolution with the WD21 logo: That's a cool one. It's totally possible to make this into a sticker as well to put on a larger cover. It will just take more care getting the color in there. Is this the amazon cover you mentioned? I saw it but it only is good for a 30" spare. The cover I got was this blank one. I took a picture of the logo on my '87 and messed with it in an online photo editor to go from this: To something like this: Not perfect, but close enough for me. Then i just used that to order a die-cut vinyl sticker from carstickers.com

Took care of the finishing touches for this project. First was covering and concealing the wires. They're not noticeable at all when the carrier is closed. I used some rubber grommets and a little silicone to cover the holes left from the pathfinder logo. I forgot to take some pictures but I ground off the broken bolt on the tire bracket and had a new one welded on. I found a matching allow wheel at the JY and went to a used tire shop for a 265/75. Unfortunately they only had highway tread, but better than a spare thats 3 inches too short! And the best part, I got a generic vinyl tire cover from amazon and had a custom sticker made for it. I used the WD21 tire cover logo to give it some retro flair which I'm really digging. All said and done only $40 for the sticker and cover, plus time spent editing the graphic.

I had a set of 96'-98' 4runner wheels that I almost put on my pathfinder, I remember the backspacing being only like 1/8" less than stock. I also had purchased the same lug nuts that hawairish posted. I believe BS for 1st gen xterras/frontiers is 5.5", so Toyota wheels will give a wider stance. I wish R50's had the same BS, because I want so badly to put some xterra SC wheels on my pathy haha

Loving this! I'm hoping my 87 won't need an engine anytime in the foreseeable future, but this is an awesome resource nonetheless. Can't wait for more!

Yup got those with the Fel-pro kit. For some reason they almost tripled the cost of just the gaskets though.