Macrow

I would have to agree with Cuong Nguyen on this one as well. Certainly sounds like someone had to rig up something to try & make it work for the time being probably was lost on them. I am not seeing it showing anything like that in the Manual either so would say yes, It is a job done by someone in an attempt to make what they had work for the job.

I have gotten to know & understand a good deal about working on both of the 1995 Pathfinders which I am down to just one of now. I have done all of the work myself with a little help as needed from a couple mechanic friends of mine if needed. With that being said I know there are things out there which I have yet to tackle & don't have the experience with working on certain problems that may come up on the Pathy. I have been dealing with multiple issues going on with my 95XE AT 3.0L 4x4 Pathfinder which was built in July of 1994 according to the VIN Tag & this is my daily driver. The VG30E motor in it Came out of a my 1995XE AT 4x4 built in September of a 1994 which I no longer have. I do have most part off of the Pathy built in July as well on hand if need be which brings me to my first question I have been going back & forth on this question lately. As far as the Diagnostic box under the passenger seat goes would it have any affect on anything with reading the codes properly as to which box I should be using with it? I know that each of them Have different Model numbers on them & was curious if this could possibly have an affect on it read the codes differently with the motor from the other 95 being in my current 95? One reason for my first question which is leading to my next question here is while looking around for a transmission replacement I have been told that this only applies to the 1995's & have been told this from multiple places as well. With my current one being built in July of 1994 I was told I could only use one built from Jan.1994-end of July 1994 & If pathfinder built in September 1994 could only pull from one built from August 1994-December 31, 1994. Seemed rather odd to me so I wanted to see if anyone here has heard this before or has a piece of mind to shed some light on this for me. The transmission is about the only thing that I haven't done myself yet on my current 1995. I know that these can be a pain in the butt to repair from what I have been reading about lately & also don't want to get into the replacement project only to find out I have gone with wrong one. Next question is while driving anywhere I have been hearing almost like a rattle sound of some sort & which sounds to be as if it is coming from under the dash somewhere. It only seems to do this when pushing down on the gas pedal & accelerating & once I let off of the pedal it begins to go away & won't come back until I accelerate again. Has anyone had to deal with anything like this or know what could be the cause of it? I just can't seem to pin point it & it does only seem to do this when physically driving down the road & not while in Park or Neutral I was thinking possibly something to do with the blower for the heater but I don't know how this could cause that to react to the problem. Next is that I have still been having issues with my idle fluctuating on it after it warms up it goes down to about .850 but then every so often it will jump up to about 1500 & bounces back up & down eventually going back down to .850. It also has been starting to Rev fairly high before kicking in to shift gear which shifts hard & mostly does this while going from 1st to 2nd & occasionally from 2nd to 3rd. Once driven for awhile it will slowly begin to shift better with much smoother shifting & doesn't seem to rev as high before each shift. I have also noticed that If I drive it for a short or long distance that after I shut it off the next time I get in to drive it these problems will go away on it but them sometimes come back again after the next shut down & start up that takes place. It has been running a bit sluggish as well from time to time with not a lot of power when going up hills with higher rev while going up hill which I haven't had this problem before & used to climb hills no problem with good power doing so & not having a high rev either. Exhaust issues which have been giving me a lot of problems & need to see what I might be able to do to fix for short term on this Girl to make her happier while being driven until I can get new one bought. The biggest issue with it right now is that almost all of the supports for exhaust are rusted away & broken leaving me not many options for where to add support on it leaving it putting a lot of tension on the motor I would say. Is there anything I can do or get to help with the support on exhaust until I am able to afford the new exhaust for her Right now it appears that the tailpipe has support still in tact & just recently the support bracket attached to top of muffler has rusted off the muffler leaving just the top bracket attached to underneath the body where the top bolt of the doughnut would bolt into. All the rest of the supports for exhaust up to the front all are rusted off with rubber not connected to anything anymore. This is leaving me not wanting to drive it much with all that tension being put on motor which leaves me to think that is the cause of a few other minor leaks in exhaust throughout. I have been also having issues with the front shocks going out on it in a very rapid pace & they have all had the same thing go wrong with them when they go bad. I have switched & tried various manufactures for the shocks & so far they all end up being stuck fully compressed not wanting to release even the slightest bit. After going through this issue on few different shocks they all end up going out in 3 months time or less on me which is just insane if you ask me along with what the cause of this could be allowing them to be permanently compressed? I know that with these AT Transmissions is overheating is one of the biggest problems with them going out & I have posted with some previous transmission issues on here before & have gotten a lot of great feedback as well from members. I have a couple questions on this one of which what are good external coolers that are compatible to use & where are best places to mount & install them at along with how to bypass the factory one since I have not ever had to do this before any help would be great. Also I know that it calls for ATF for the transfer case & had someone tell me that with the ATF being in there that it allows it to get much hotter then opposed to having gear oil. They said that with just the ATF it is much thinner & could be the cause of it not shifting properly I have never hear this before & was curious on it because they also said that even though it calls for ATF I should be able to add 80W90 Gear oil in it with no problem which they said they do in there Jeep that calls for ATF & they have not had any issues. Still seems rather sketchy to me & want to get some feed back & do some research on this one before even thinking of doing this. As mentioned before I have been having the problems with hard shifting & on top of that my reverse has gone out it this 95 too like in the other 95 I had but this one just quit working unlike the other one where you could sometimes rev it up high & it would catch sometimes then reverse would engage. In this one I am driving now it just seems to have gone out & wondering if it could just be a solenoid that went bad in the transmission pan? Was also thinking is there some sort of pump for the transmission that may have gone bad on it that can easily be replaced? I know that to get into reverse there is a certain amount of pressure that it needs to have which allows it to reverse so was just curious on this? As I said earlier transmission is the one thing I have yet to tackle on her & don't have all of the knowledge when it comes to finding the source of this issue. Which is why earlier was also curious about which transmission is compatible with this one if it does boil down to needing a whole replacement but if there may be something that could be causing this that can be fixed without transmission replacement I am all ears. Could it be possibly too that maybe the transmission box inside the passenger side panel in the rear I think it is the gold box. If that goes bad would it allow just reverse to go out or would it cause it to not have it shift into any gears at all just curious on how that box functions too? Sorry for such a long posting here but wanted to lay everything out all in one shot for you all to see since I figured was the easiest way to do so. Any help & ideas or links to pages to guide me in the right direction are greatly appreciated. You have all helped guide me in the right direction before & have always given the best pieces of advice you have as well as allowed me to build onto my knowledge with working on these Pathfinders. She has made me think quite differently about Pathfinders as for impressed me with everything I have put in front of her when off road. She has climbed up roads & things I never would have thought possible along with a few friends that I go with that own jeeps & have put a lot of money into them where they struggled to go up & I had no issues at all conquering with only running stock with just better tires put on where even many have said to me on a few roads we have gone on that they have no clue how I even made it to the top & through what we did. The way I see it is I won't say no until the road decides to tell me I can't do it which has yet to happen other then a few dings which can always be fixed & a few breaks but that's why I go fully prepared for a number of possibilities that could go wrong & plenty of spare parts. So would really like to get her up & running awesome as she did before & don't have any problem spending the time it takes to do so either beings it gives me the chance to work on things I haven't had to yet & build up the knowledge as well. Thank in advance as I do really appreciate all that yo give with support, input & answers on this site.

Good Post was very help full as my 95 XE Pathfinder seems to have this same problem going on which started on me last night

Thanks jj big shoe & no wasn't that bad at all really. I will check out those methods & see what I can come up with on the seeing if there is an exhaust leak or not. I did find one small leak the other day got that taken care of but ticking is still there so I may be in the same boat & might just have to learn to live with it but will still check for any other leaks & anything else that may lead up to that as well before that.

Have you checked all your spark plugs to make sure they are fully connected? I had same issue with my 95 & turned out that the spark plug in the back behind the intake wasn't pushed down in there all the way once I fixed that problem it fixed it for me. I would check all of them if you haven't done so already.

That is what else I am looking for input on as far as good axle but also not to pricey as well if there is something out there which will work and what might they be looking for any suggestions on this.

Awesome thanks for the input & tips guys I do have a stethoscope & got the problem resolved with the knocking sound. Turned out that there was a nut missing off one of the studs in the manifold my guess is just rattled loose from not being tightened all the way. There is still a mild ticking sound coming from under the hood in that same spot which we are thinking is coming from a lifter still but not 100% on that though. Again thanks for the help & hopefully now will be able to take it up to the woods on Sunday to the plane crash up in Lyons, CO.

So this is the issue that I am having currently I recently swapped motor's from my 95 Pathfinder with another 95 pathfinder. The 95 XE V6 VG30E 3.0 L 4WD Pathfinder I took the motor from was built in July of 94 & I put it into a 95 XE V6 VG30E 3.0 L 4WD Pathfinder that was built in May of 94. Swap went great other then oil dipstick getting stuck which we have currently removed & have new one in & working properly we have no leaks from any of the fluids at all which is great. The problem however that I am having now is when I start up the Pathfinder you can here a slight ticking sound which turns to a knocking sound which is all coming from the passenger side back towards the Firewall & the down pipe of the exhaust. The sound will stay there for a few minutes or so after first starting the engine up. Once it has run briefly & you begin to drive you can hear the ticking/knocking sound while barely accelerating when you let off the gas the sound goes away. You can also hear the sound very clearly when in park while lightly pushing down on the gas pedal. Now after you drive it for about 10 minutes or so this ticking/knocking sound begins to fluctuate all over from loud to not so loud the longer you drive it which then it almost goes completely away. So here is my question at times it sounds like it could be a lifter going bad & other times it sounds like could be something coming from the exhaust. Has anybody else had this same problem at all & if so what was the outcome of this. Also are there any good methods of testing that can be done to find out what is causing this sound. I do know in the FSM it mentions a few tests you can do but just not sure where to begin with them or if there are any other ways to test for what this could be caused by. Any input & help would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance.

Yes, that is what I did actually once got that side of the pan bolts out was able to pry the pan open and after some pulling and fishing around was a success in removing the dipstick from the pan.

Engine swap went well for the most part had a few setbacks which we have gotten everything out of the way and installed again and no leaks anywhere which is good. Only thing now is try to track down the ticking or minor knocking sound coming from passenger side of motor which I am thinking is a lifter going bad possibly. Other then that just need to get everything tuned in properly and sounding and running good.

@Adamzan yes we had the Pan off of it last week when we were swapping out the Engine turns out my friend that was helping me put the dipstick back in it when putting things back together so guessing that this is the case of this. @Kingman we tried fishing it out through the drain plug with no success doing that we had the dipstick tube out the other day to see if that would help get access to it but didn't cut it off yet. We are going to give it another go here shortly and try to fish it out again before we go to cut it off or drop the pan which hopefully we don't have to drop the pan.

I have a 1995 Pathfinder with the VG30E Engine my problem is that the dip stick is stuck inside the oil pan and while trying to remove the dip stick the top of the dip stick broke just leaving the cable from dip stick stuck in pan. Has anyone had this problem or know any way to remove this without having to remove the oil pan itself?

Ok great thank you for the input this is all good to know.

I am curious of opinions on some good SAS Swap with Links options that are out there both new as well as ones you could use from a junk yard just wanting to know which was will be able to work for me on a 1995 Pathfinder XE haven't had to do this before so want to be sure I get the right options for thiis swap.

So I have a few questions regarding swapping out engines I am pretty sure it should just be an easy swap over because they are both on 1995 XE Pathfinders but I know one was from May and the other is from June so didn't know if there would be any other differences between the two of them or not. What is the best route to take when swapping out the engines being this will be my first time doing so I just want to be sure to cover everything on this so I don't have to go back in after getting the new one in. The reason for swap out is the one engine is blown but tranny good and the other has some sort of tranny issue but good motor & the one with bad motor is the one that I am going to be using anyway. Also I have another question regarding the rear end my 95 Pathfinder from June I noticed has a Limited Slip Differential on it but on the 95 from May I am unsure if it does or not because I am not seeing the tag or any sign of markings stating to only add LSD Oil into it like my other 95 does so I am curious if there is a way to tell this or not because if it doesn't then I think I am going to want to swap out the rear end on them because I would much rather have the limited slip differential on it.

Ok thank you I will give that a look & see if that could be an issue with it & will also look at the fsm & see what I can find out.

So I have a 1995 XE Automatic 4wd Pathfinder with the 3.0 liter. Now here is the problem that recently happened to me which I believe could be the torque converter went bad but I have been told could also be many different other thing anywhere from electrical to solenoid to transmission completely shot or valves being stuck. So if I could please get some help on this topic that would be awesome. So last week when I was leaving to pick up a friend I got onto the highway on my way to pick them up everything appeared and felt to be driving fine for me then after about 25 min of driving when trying to increase to 75 mph there was a sudden I guess you would say jerking feeling when trying to shift into next gear and stayed at 70 mph then about 3 min later the same jerking feeling happened again. Only this timeI began to lose speed and rpms began to sound as if they were getting higher but did not show to be on instrument panel. I dropped down to about 30-35 mph which then when pressing down on gas pedal nothing happens except the engine revs up fairly high but does not accelerate for me. So I then put it into 2nd gear to see if that does anything for which it does allow me to accelerate so I can work towards getting off the highway and to the gas station. After I exit and get pulled over I check my transmission fluid which is fine start to Investigate if there are any noticeable issues I might see everything seemed ok except for one area where I noticed some wires hanging from about mid truck on passenger side of ride by the exhaust piping they were still all connected but they looked to be wet my guess is from washing vehicle that day. However few days before this I was out four wheeling and had gone through some pretty deep mud puddle and such. After inspection of ride i decide to look for gas station which i find on other side of highway. I begin to drive there where putting it into drive again still did nothing but raise my rpms high so back into 1st gear just to see if it worked which it did so back into second gear which seemed to drive ok except for would not let me get above 34 mph and still sounded as if rpms were high as can be but didn't show they were on the instrument panel. Also my reverse works perfectly for me. So my question is does this sound like bad tranny or torque convertor or could it possibly be electrical or some as just switching gear oil out with new or removing tranny pan to put new fluid in which I have been told all these things from different people? Just trying to narrow it down because I do have another 1995 pathfinder xe with a bad motor but good tranny i was looking to buy a motor for that I could swap the motor into but if it is more of a smaller fix with what i have described then I would rather fix this issue and look for motor for the other one like I have already been doing. Thank you, Joe

So I have a 1995 XE Automatic 4wd Pathfinder with the 3.0 liter. Now here is the problem that recently happened to me which I believe could be the torque converter went bad but I have been told could also be many different other thing anywhere from electrical to solenoid to transmission completely shot or valves being stuck. So if I could please get some help on this topic that would be awesome. So last week when I was leaving to pick up a friend I got onto the highway on my way to pick them up everything appeared and felt to be driving fine for me then after about 25 min of driving when trying to increase to 75 mph there was a sudden I guess you would say jerking feeling when trying to shift into next gear and stayed at 70 mph then about 3 min later the same jerking feeling happened again. Only this timeI began to lose speed and rpms began to sound as if they were getting higher but did not show to be on instrument panel. I dropped down to about 30-35 mph which then when pressing down on gas pedal nothing happens except the engine revs up fairly high but does not accelerate for me. So I then put it into 2nd gear to see if that does anything for which it does allow me to accelerate so I can work towards getting off the highway and to the gas station. After I exit and get pulled over I check my transmission fluid which is fine start to Investigate if there are any noticeable issues I might see everything seemed ok except for one area where I noticed some wires hanging from about mid truck on passenger side of ride by the exhaust piping they were still all connected but they looked to be wet my guess is from washing vehicle that day. However few days before this I was out four wheeling and had gone through some pretty deep mud puddle and such. After inspection of ride i decide to look for gas station which i find on other side of highway. I begin to drive there where putting it into drive again still did nothing but raise my rpms high so back into 1st gear just to see if it worked which it did so back into second gear which seemed to drive ok except for would not let me get above 34 mph and still sounded as if rpms were high as can be but didn't show they were on the instrument panel. Also my reverse works perfectly for me. So my question is does this sound like bad tranny or torque convertor or could it possibly be electrical or some as just switching gear oil out with new or removing tranny pan to put new fluid in which I have been told all these things from different people? Just trying to narrow it down because I do have another 1995 pathfinder xe with a bad motor but good tranny i was looking to buy a motor for that I could swap the motor into but if it is more of a smaller fix with what i have described then I would rather fix this issue and look for motor for the other one like I have already been doing. Thank you, Joe

thank you I will give them a look and see what they have to offer

What I am wondering is if there is anybody who sells a conversion kit for 1995 Pathfinder to convert over to a straight axle so I can eliminate IFS on it?

Perfect thank you that's good to know

Awesome Thank you I thought it would be able to swap out but just had to be sure. Also do you happen to know of anybody who makes a conversion kit to straight axle for the 1995 Pathfinder?

Ok great thank you for your feed back and help much appreciated.