jjonez

Awesome thanks for the info. Can't wait to get going on this. How's the handling with your new suspension? I'm hoping fresh heavier-duty springs and shocks will limit some of the body roll and sloppiness I'm feeling with my 145k mile OG parts.

Nice lookin Q! I currently have the same spacers as my only lift (except 2" all around), and after about 10 months or so I noticed the front has definitely come down a lot. I went from slight lean to definite rake, so I'm thinking of doing a similar set up to yours. OME HD/MD as part of a full suspension overhaul, but then include just 1" of spacers all around rather than 1" front, 2" rear like yours. Based on the experience with your rig do you think I could expect to keep just a little bit of rake? Also, are you using camber bolts for alignment? I currently have some on, but I'd like to use the stock bolts when I do the overhaul if possible. Thanks!

Do your turn signals flash when you lock it using your keyfob? On my 2002 they only flash sometimes, and when they don't it's an indication that the security system hasn't been armed. Part of a larger problem I'm having where the alarm goes off in the middle of the night. I bring it up because I had an instance where I was camping in the back with the doors unlocked, and they locked themselves randomly right as I was falling asleep. Gave me a good jump. Possibly related issues?

Figured I'd ask here rather than starting a new thread. From your guys' experience would this repair be significantly easier with the transmission dropped? I'm planning to have a shop replace my clutch at some point (no slip, but pilot/TO bearings are making noise), and I'm wondering how much labor time it will add to have gaskets replaced at the same time. Thanks!

Good suggestion I'll look into the door harness first. For the wiring along the rocker panel do you have an idea how to get at that? I can't find anything promising from underneath the vehicle, so my only thought is pulling up the carpet inside...

Thanks for the reply. The harness layout that I've been looking at is on page 469 of this: http://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual?fsm=Pathfinder/2002_Pathfinder/el The B pillar and door hinges seem completely fine as far as i can tell. And I can swing the door open and closed without the light coming on, it's just when I give that light pressure... The door switches on the R50 ground straight to the body as well. But I think in this case the door switch wires have to first run up to the smart entrance control unit in the dash area, which then goes to the dome light. So based on your theory, perhaps that bundle of wires in the diagram that runs along the rocker panel could be the culprit? Now that I'm looking at it again the front passenger door switch is on the B pillar as well... Any advice on how to get at the wires? Remove the B pillar interior trim? Or the whole door? Pretty unfamiliar with this sort of thing ha. Thanks.

Skip to the third paragraph to avoid some potentially useless, or possibly insightful information. Alright, so I've been slowly investigating this over the last few weeks and think I am closing in on the problem but at the same time feel completely stumped. So I bought this pathy back in June and it spends most of its time in the underground parking garage at work. However when I do bring it home it spends the night outside, and occasionally the alarm will start going off late at night, after 2am generally. This has happened maybe 6 times, so up until recently I had simply taken to disconnecting the battery at night as a temporary fix. My current work-around is this: lock all doors with keyfob, unlock ONLY driver door with keyfob, then lock driver door by hand and close door. If I understand the FSM correctly, this doesn't arm the security system which seems to be indicated by the security indicator light NOT being lit solid for 30 seconds upon closing the door. Seems to be working so far, but maybe I've just been lucky. One observation I've made is that when driving with the passenger dome light set to the "door" position, it has a tendency to turn on when I accelerate and turn off as I come back to a neutral throttle or decelerate. *I believe it's important to note that the door ajar light on the dash does NOT come on when the dome light does this, but otherwise functions as it is supposed to. Usually when I lock the car with the keyfob the dome light turns off and turn signals will flash twice indicating that the doors are locked and the security system is armed, but sometimes when I use the fob the doors will lock, but the dome light will stay on and the turn signals do not flash, and the security system is not armed. I figured out that with all doors closed and locked and the dome light off and the security system successfully armed, if I pull on the top of the rear right door the dome light will come on and the alarm will go off (if the 30 second window after arming it has passed). This behavior doesn't happen on any other door. I figured it was the door jamb switch but quickly ruled it out by testing continuity of the switches/swapping them between doors. No matter what I did the behavior of the rear right door remained the same. So where I'm at now: The two rear door switches are currently off the car so these doors now always register as closed. I found that with the ignition in the on position I can see on the dash whether a door is open or not (information that is provided by the switches). So, the biggest finding so far is that with the rear right passenger door open (albeit registering as closed since the sensor is gone), I find that if I apply even just a very gentle downward pressure on the door, THE DOME LIGHT TURNS ON! This doesn't happen on any other door. In addition to this, it interrupts the security arming process the same way as if a door was opened, but it does not light up the door ajar light on the dash. So based off this and the accelerate/decelerate thing, obviously there's some kind of misconnection. Maybe this is far-fetched, but what I believe to be happening is the temperature change at night is affecting the connection, causing the alarm to go off. As far as I know this is not a problem at work, I have heard no complaints and I'm assuming the stable temperature in the parking garage is preventing the issue. The thing is I have NO idea what the misconnection could be. I jiggled the part of the wiring harness between the door and the body but got nothing. My only other idea is that maybe it's a bad body ground, but according to the harness layout in the FSM, the only ones pertaining to the right side and door harness are close to the very front and very back, and I've had no luck locating these two anyhow. The pictures with their supposed location isn't very clear. So that is my current progress, so close yet so far... Sorry this is such a long post. But I figured the more detail I provided the more I might be able to spark some ideas. Or at the very least give anyone with a similar problem now or in the future something to chew on... Thanks a lot for any help. JJ

Thanks for all the replies, I was able to replace it with a R50 CV from a junkyard with the boots intact. For how long remains to be seen. I'll eventually open up the old one to see the damage when I get a little more time/motivation.

Thank you! That would be something to combine with cleaning, greasing, and replacing the boot right? Because it has to come off anyways to get at the snap ring? I drove it maybe 5 feet with the hubs locked, then to work with them unlocked, so it's probably screwed. I'll pick up a junkyard replacement for the time being, and at some point maybe get around to taking the busted one apart to see the damage. I haven't removed a CV before, would it be a bad idea to remove it and continue driving with it off for the time being? I'm not sure if that would expose anything in the hub or front diff...

Next order of business, I need a new CV axle. Rock auto has stuff for around 50 bucks, but I was told to avoid the cheap stuff, or even aftermarket all together in regards to CV's since they apparently aren't made to OE standards and are more likely to break. Napa sells store-brand remanufactured ones for around $100 after core charge, I was told this could be a safe bet. Another option I'm keen on is trying to find a suitable replacement from a junkyard. There's a place near me with a few 4x4 pathfinders and xterras. Any input on the most suitable route to take? Thanks for any and all advice! JJ

So this past weekend I decided to install my 2" spacer lift from Fleury's on the front struts of my 2002. Driver's one goes ok, albeit with some major wrestling to get the bottom of the strut back onto the knuckle. The second one starts off even better than the first, with removing the strut and installing the spacers taking half the time. When it comes time to reinstall the strut is where things go south. I'm messing with the strut and knuckle for 45 minutes when suddenly there's a clunk and all the sudden I have plenty of free play and they slide together no problem. Turns out I really screwed something up in the outer CV joint on the passenger side. I can't tell what 's wrong exactly cuz of the boot, but it seems like something separated in there. And here's the good one for comparison Anybody ever break a CV just by pulling on it?? I thought they would be more robust... In hindsight there's several ways I could have avoided this, probably most simply by removing the snap ring to allow the spindle to slide around in the hub. Dang it. Thankfully I already have warn hubs on there or it would be completely undrivable. There's still a connection in the joint but it clunks and binds like crazy.

This 7 year old thread really put my mind at ease. Still one question though: swirl valve screws. I have no idea what a swirl valve is but apparently some people also threadlock these screws when doing the power valves. Is it even worth the effort to do this since I don't have power valves in my 5-speed? Thanks.

On my old R50 I had 265/75/16's on 4runner wheels with 1.25" spacers, for roughly 3.25" of backspacing. When turning I had minor rubbing on the plastic in the front of the wheel wells, never got to see what it was like when flexed.

Figured I'd post here rather than start a new thread. I just picked up a 2002 SE 5-speed. The most recent maintenance receipt that the PO had stated that it had code P0011 and that the oil was very low. After they changed the oil and reset the light the code hasn't come back. From what I've been reading it sounds like it's practically a pre-low oil pressure light. I take it your issue was resolved? I'm also interested in the power valve screws thing. Can anyone direct me to threads regarding them not being present on the 5-speeds?

http://www.4x4parts.com/i-18981127-pathfinder-rear-coils-1-5-inches-of-lift.html Anyone have experience with these? I'm not looking for a ton of lift, just enough give some more clearance for the 265/75/16's off my old R50. Also, if I adjust the T bars to match the 1.5" can I get away with not getting additional components like control arms? Thanks, JJ

Yeah... I'm still kicking myself over that. Realistically though I didn't know if I would end up with another pathfinder, and I don't really have anywhere to store a wrecked vehicle. I'm already pressing my luck keeping two other cars in the parking garage at work haha.

I see. I should probably already know this, but are there any diagnostic components for the 1st gens? Man it kills me that it still ran completely fine, no damage to the suspension or drive train. There was just too much body/frame damage to be repairable, so I handed it off to the insurance company for a check. But not before pulling my wheels, spacers, and warn hubs. I had less than 400 miles on my wheel/tire setup

When I'm accelerating I do notice occasional weird dead spots in the rev range when the car is still warming up. Possibly associated?

I have the receipt for the timing belt done 5 years ago. It's only been driven about 4000 miles since then. Are there any concerns associated with the broken studs other than the noise?

What I've noticed so far are possibly common issues I've read about. Under acceleration/load I hear a fluttering/flapping sound from the engine. Exhaust leak from broken manifold studs? Also, I've been listening for the gear whine from the improper transmission fluid level, and I only hear something faint in 5th gear on the highway. I'm swapping the fluid tomorrow with the correct amount of MT90 and maybe some lucas heavy duty oil stabilizer, should I be concerned? I've read that it's mostly a concern for severe duty/hill climbing, but I believe the vehicle has spent it's whole life in SoCal where that's not too relevant. Thanks for the help JJ

And this is what I've ended up with: 1987 SE, super clean inside and out. Only 125k miles. Despite that, this is by far the oldest car I've ever owned and it does make me kind of nervous, but maybe you guys can put my mind at ease?

So a couple of months ago my 1997 SE 5-speed went from this: To this: Needless to say I was pretty devastated, and immediately started trying to find something to fill the void.

Too true. I just picked up a super clean '87 yesterday. I will make a post with pictures and questions pretty soon.

Yeah they just don't have the same rabid fan base as toyotas. Which is actually nice as a prospective buyer, not as much pressure to make a quick decision. Whereas a deal on an older 4runner or tacoma will literally be gone within hours of posting.

Looks like the 2 door listing is gone. I'm keeping my search fairly local, there's no reason for me to be in a rush to get a new one, other than I just really want one haha. And yes 1st gen xterras are on my list as well. I'm not a big fan of the stadium roof look, but I do like that it would be a familiar drive train. Besides that I'd be happy with a 3rd gen 4runner, 1st gen tacoma (not a crazy overpriced one), 1st gen frontier, or if I'm really lucky, a manual R50 with the VQ35.