ubertalldude

Had a bit too much fun offroading last weekend and put my Pathfinder where it ought not to have been: nose deep in a pond where it took a bit of water in the intake, crankcase, cab, etc. Got a buddy with a winch to get me out of the pond and onto dry land, where we drained the oil, pulled a spark plug, gave up at 2am and decided to call it quits and go home, feeling defeated and like I had probably killed my truck. Next morning I headed out to the field where it lay wounded armed with a new drain plug (lost in the sand when draining the wet oil), a jug of new oil, and all the extensions to reach the #6 spark plug. Pulled all plugs and cranked over the engine a few revolutions to expel any water in the cylinders, reinstalled plugs, drain plug, and oil, and very tepidly cranked it over and... IT STARTED UP! Now, don't get me wrong, it was mad at me bigtime. Spat about 2 gallons of water out of the tailpipe and was stumbling, but not knocking or screaming. This little truck never ceases to impress me. Anyhow, now knowing that it ran I decided to pick it up later when I could have a friend drive my car back home while I drove the truck. Luckily it was only about 2 miles from the field back to my house, because when I dropped the oil I had just put in it was chocolate milk. As was the case with the 2nd gallon of oil I refilled with. Oh well, par for the course. At least the water is coming out emulsified in the oil. My issue comes now in the weeks after as I get it back to safe running shape. I'll keep changing the oil until it runs clear, no problem. But some bearing(s) on the front of the engine are screaming at me, I suspect the AC clutch free-running bearing(s) are shot, but I'll confirm this with a stethoscope. I also suspect my transfer case and gearbox took on water and will need fresh oil. Same goes for the differentials. I'll continue to hilight whatever issues I confirm as I run the engine more once it has waterless oil in it, but my question for now is what else am I missing, or should I consider looking into knowing I dunked it and took a bit of water into the engine? tl;dr: dunked the truck, took on water. no apparent hydrolock. current fix list: -oil+filter changes until the oil drains clear -check bearings on drive belt systems -change gearbox, transfer case, differential oils -clean engine & replace spark plugs -anything else?

not much to say went pickin' recently at a local junkyard picked a sideview mirror I knocked off while finding paths, and a 150k mile distributor to buy me some time on bearing and cam position sensor failure (maybe fix my sputtering) but while we were working on it over the weekend we went ahead and painted it from the nerf bars down, a crap rattlecan black pics! http://imgur.com/gallery/GK3BY

FWIW I have some whirring noises on mine too, very apparent when you're in front of the engine. I suspect it's the water pump impeller making noise, because mine was ROARING until I got enough water in it to wet the pump and then it quieted down to a whir. I plan to get a stethescope and prodd around up front, see if maybe it's a pulley bearing or my thermal fan clutch making the noise

I don't think there are any internal access mechanisms, but I'll take a look and a pic later today when I get home for ya

even though I solved my stalling issue with the MAF ground lead, I am suspecting that the distributor sensor/bearings are going out and causing a sputter in my '92, especially at 250k miles on the clock Did you have any general issues before yours started dying while hot, or was that the first sign of the dizzy going out?

that whole assembly looks really nice, man, nice job

m18x1.25 LHT... sounds like a motorcycle flywheel puller bolt

Having completed the ECU relocation, I thought I would share a write-up detailing how I went about it. I wound up leaving the glovebox mostly intact and placing the ECU inside of it. Nice thing about the glovebox is that the main cavity is a one-piece plastic moulding, so it's watertight until water spills in above the upper lip, whereas other ECU relocations have the connector down at the bottom of the glovebox compartment, which leaves a bit to be desired in terms of waterproofing, IMHO Pics to complement this write-up: http://imgur.com/a/43clX Instructions: 0 - disconnect negative battery terminal (ALWAYS when working on electrics) 1 - remove the passenger seat, unbolt the ECU, unbolt & unplug the connector and remove the ECU 2 - unscrew the bottom cover of the ECU with the mounting brackets and place the ECU somewhere safe, dry, and mostly dust-free 3 - cut the mounting brackets off with a cutoff wheel, or you can drill through the spot welds and knock the tabs off 4 - if you drilled the brackets off, tape the outside of the newly made holes and epoxy over them to fill them. Remove the tape after the epoxy has cured Now you have a much more manageable size for the ECU to fit into the glovebox, and the ECU doesn't have any extra holes for debris to get into and ruin the sensitive electrical components. Back to the truck: 5 - remove the trim piece between the carpet and the door, and remove the kick panel. Peel back the carpet to reveal the wiring harness leading to the ECU. Remove the plastic shield for this harness 6 - Unwrap all that electrical tape and make sense of where the wiring harness goes to. There are essentially 3 harnesses here which are different between MT and AT models. You will need to separate them so that the ECU plug's harness is separated all the way back to the kick panel while leaving the rest of the wires intact. 7 - cut the thicker ground wire which leads from the ECU to the ring terminal. Get some automotive primary wire and solder & shrink wrap a new lead onto this ground wire. Give yourself a good 2-3 ft. of ground wire, then solder a new ring terminal onto the end for attaching to a ground point later. Reattach the old ground wire to its original location. 8 - electrical tape the separated harnesses back together, but leave the last 6-8 inches of the harness at the ECU plug end unwrapped. This is to allow some flexibility when installing in the glovebox 9 - remove the glovebox (there are 2 pins at the bottom hinge, they are tricky but can be removed by hand) 10 - remove the metal panel behind the glovebox. 11 - there is a gap between the HVAC box and the blower motor, mark the location of this gap on the rear lip of the glovebox and cut a ~1" x 1" notch in the glovebox here for the wiring to feed through 12 - At this point, you should have your ECU sized-down, your harness re-wrapped most of the way, your glovebox modified, and a new ground wire added. Now you will need to fiddle a bit to get it just right, but the essence of what you will need to do is get the ECU in the glovebox, route the wires out of the notch, temporarily install the glovebox (not the hinges yet), and shape & wrap the harness so that the wiring loom wants to curve up and out of the glovebox, thru the notch, straight down the back of the glovebox and through the gap in Step 11. Bend, tape, test fit, repeat until the glovebox will open and close smoothly without pinching the wiring harness. 13 - once you're happy with your wire wrapping and the glovebox closes freely, fasten the ground wire and fasten the lower 4 screws which previously held the metal panel behind the glovebox. (NOTE: The left screws make for a good grounding point, see pics.) Don't reinstall the plate, it is scrap metal now 14 - install the glovebox with hinges, and test that the glovebox opens and closes freely without pinching any wires 15 - route the wires through the gap mentioned in Step 12, around the back of the blower motor, and feed any excess into the kick panel area. You may want to remove the sound deadening in the kick panel to make room. 16 - reinstall all the trim pieces, carpet, etc. Feel free to ask any questions or request more pics, I can always add some to the imgur gallery. Thanks for the input on the previous concerns in the thread!

that looks like a solid idea, too, Cuong. I have a different style ECU but I like that he kept his glovebox mostly intact. I'm going to see if there's any space in the dash above the glovebox that I might be able to use. Like I said, I don't care about a stock look as long as the ECU is higher and isn't getting baked by the sun (the latter is only an issue because of my placement atop the dash)

Unfortunately pretty much any "pics" postings I've seen for the ECU relocation are devoid of active pictures due to the server space issues I've seen discussed here. I fiddled with putting it in the glovebox but am not a fan of losing that storage area. I agree with you on the clean look, it WILL look awkward and misplaced, but that's fine by me. This truck is in rough shape cosmetically, and is a dedicated offroad/camping/beach rig. I just don't want to fry my ECU by leaving it baking in the Florida sun. EDIT: I have found http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/14020-relocated-my-ecu/ this thread but my issue is that I have the old square dash '92, and I really don't like the idea of those ECU connectors still being so close to the ground, or where dirty feet could kick them! Still a good relocation, but not quite what I'm looking for.

So over the weekend I started working to move my ECU from under the passenger seat to somewhere in/on the dash. I got the wiring harness unbraided from the transmission connector and the rear-door wires, re-wound everything with electrical tape, re-hid everything going from the passenger footwell under the carpet, soldered in an extended ground wire for the ECU, and routed it out of the passegner footwell kickpanel side cover. The ECU still works and the truck runs, THANK GOODNESS! Now here comes the interesting part: I want to move it on top of the dash to put it in the highest location possible, but after leaving it there for about 1/2 a day in the Florida sun with nothing covering the ECU, it got SUPER HOT. Not skin-singing hot, but too-hot-to-hold hot for sure. I don't want to do that to the computer, as it's a sensitive electrical piece. My plan to mitigate the heat is to take the black plastic cover for the ECU and paint it white, line the inside with foil, and put it on top of the ECU so nothing black or metal is in direct sunlight. That seems like my best option. My question to you is if you think the white paint will be enough to mitigate the heat, or if there's a better place maybe above the glovebox inside the dash (where an airbag would usually go) that I could cut some plastic to get to? [i'll be posting pics later in the day of my progress so far, and adding to the album as I get more done.]

links for the impatient/unwilling to search MAF ground fix: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/36667-bad-maf-harness-ground-nissan-official-fix/ ECU diagnostics: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/21-ecu-self-diagnostics-for-87-95-pathfinder/

Distributor sensor could be suspect, but I would think it was the MAF connector based on my very recent experience. BTW pulling the O2 sensor sends the engine computer into open-loop mode which can cover up running issues for a bit, but isn't a fix. I was having your exact issue just a few weeks ago and solved it by adding an additional ground wire to the MAF (mass air flow) sensor near the air filter box. The middle wire of that connector is ground, and you essentially need to add a wire from that to a ground point somewhere in the engine bay. I would try that first, as it's either a $20 fix for the Nissan OEM sub-harness which is pre-wired, or if you can solder and crimp, you can make your own additional ground wire. Also, you can't be getting codes along with Code 55, as Code 55 is "No malfunction" and indicates a lack of stored codes. If you read more about the ECM (engine control module) self diagnostics, you can see how to test if your O2 sensor is dead by monitoring it with the engine running.

my MAF wiring was almost certainly suspect. The engine was dying at lights,so I added a new ground wire which made the truck run TERRIBLY for 3 drive cycles, but now has no stalling issues. IACV is working fine from what I can tell, the truck high-idles fine and then idles down to ~750rpm when warm and doesn't fluctuate much. I also have new plugs/wires/cap/rotor, so the main things I think that would leave for sputtering would be injectors or the O2 sensor. Had plenty of injector cleaner run through it since I bought it, and it had a stuck thermostat which makes me think the engine seldom got to operating temps (leading to excessive carbon buildup and rich running), and the PO didn't mention having replaced the O2 in the service history of the truck (now at 245k miles) but that is an easy check once I get around to pulling the passenger seat and doing ECM diagnostics.

I have an all stock 92, so I'll try and grab some pics sometime soon for you. One thing that may help is checking the ignition switch in the steering column. I would get intermittent no crank because the back end of the switch was coming loose from the body of the switch, so when I turned the key to crank it wouldn't engage the terminals properly. Zip tied it tight again, and now it starts first key turn every time.

I was having difficulty getting the rear disc/drum rotor off the hub so I could inspect & adjust the rear parking drum brake assembly. I realized there were 2 bolt holes on the rotor. I'm not sure of the original thread size on these, but I used an M8 tap to tap into those and POP! The tap threading through the holes was enough to break the rusty rotor off of the hub. Useful little feature Nissan built in there! Definitely saved a lot of headache on removing those rusty old rotors, and now my parking brake grabs sufficiently and doesn't rub!

Yesterday on the 3rd warm-up after installing the ground strap the truck just POOF started running fine again. Tooke it on the freeway, even, and had no issues with the stalling I was dealing with before, or the rough running issue I was dealing with the last few days. I'll keep an eye on it and report back if any more problems/fixes pop up, but for now it's back to normal and running as well as it was before. Maybe the computer just needed more time to cope!

Yeah, I'm leaning towards a bad O2 sensor, MAF, or distributor (in that order) considering that my truck would stumble ever so slightly before I did this fix. Engine has been GREAT up until about 2 weeks ago when it started the dying-at-idle crap, and now it just runs pathetically bad. I just wonder why the MAF being hooked up PROPERLY causes this issue? Either way, there's a local junkyard I plan to visit this weekend to pull the MAF and Dizzy if I can get a good price on them (and maybe some other goodies, too) and will report back after I run diagnostics on the ECM.

Sorry for the late reply! I haven't checked this thread in a while. I'll try and get pics as I'm working on it, but right now I'm chasing a sputtering issue with the engine so it may be a bit!

So, recently my Pathfinder ('92 SE 3.0 5-spd) started idling low and stalling out at stoplights or when simply idling for a while (20+ seconds) and after seeing so many topics regarding the MAF grounding issue causing similar problems, I went ahead and modified the stock plug on mine to include a ground wire from the plug to the ground strap on the inside fender. I verified the ground with a multimeter, and thoroughly soldered the connection. Truck ran exactly the same on the initial test drive immediately after installation, but after taking it out last night once the truck got a little warmer it started missing, running rough, acting like it wasn't firing on all 6 cylinders, and generally just running poorly. It has power past 3k rpm's, so I figure it IS getting a MAF reading, but am not sure why the sudden change in performance. I'll check the ECU and try to get the O2 sensor diagnostic check done to rule that out, but past that I am not sure what's up. -truck was dying at stoplights -added a ground to the MAF -now it idles strong but runs very poorly Any help is appreciated!

Took my 92 SE out to the Ocala National Forest a few weekends ago and noticed it was dripping coolant from behind the crankshaft pulley. After a day out on the 4x4 trails I saw it heating up and noticed coolant all over the subframe and realized my worst fear was a reality: the water pump had failed, was leaking coolant, and the fan was wobbling on the water pump shaft. I called a tow, got it home, and prepared to dive in and do the timing belt+ job. 1 week and $300~ later I have replaced the water pump, timing belt, t belt tensioner, all drive belts, all 4 coolant hoses, thermostat, radiator, rad cap, and the fuel filter. The truck lives again! As an added bonus now the truck gets up to temp much faster, I think the old thermostat was stuck open. Anyways just wanted to post some good news and say thanks to everybody on this forum for the How To's, they really helped me out.

next time I decide to do some work on it or have some free time I'll take a few pics of what I did to give you a better idea of how I zipped it all up

Hey, everybody. Did some major work this weekend trying to fix an intermittent start and figured I would share my story and findings. So, truck starts acting worse and worse when I try to start it, sometimes requiring that I be in neutral, sometimes starting while still in gear with the clutch not applied, sometimes needing an extra hard turn of the key, or just not responding to the key input at all. I head a small relay clicking over in the passenger fender when I turn the key, so I figure the relays are probably OK and decide to replace the starter. Old starter needed to be done, the commutator bars on the rotor had all melted together (no wonder it sounded to strained when it actually WOULD turn over) but even with a new starter, problem persists. SO! I think, "Starter is good and still fires sometimes, maybe it IS that relay I thought it was!" and also note that on the starter I pulled from the truck there's a sticker saying something to the effect of "recommended to replace Inhibitor Relay when replacing this starter". On the manual transmission model the Inhibitor Relay called the Interlock Relay, and in effect it's a relay that will not allow the ignition circuit to be completed unless the truck is in neutral or has the clutch applied (or in park for an auto trans). The part is located in the passenger side fender well, a few inches rear of the battery, and it's the only blue relay that has 2 connectors coming out of it. I order the part from a Nissan dealership ($30 or so) and replace it. Same issue! I'm getting flustered at this point. New relay doesn't solve the problem, so I check the components attached to the interlock relay, which are the clutch interlock switch (clutch pedal), the neutral switch in the transmission, the emergency clutch interlock switch (in the cab below the steering wheel) Lo and behold, the clutch pedal switch has been removed and jumpered with a wire so it's always switched on, thus defeating the interlock relay's function. Since it's already been defeated, I decide to bypass all that extra circuitry and just jumper two electrical terminals located within the bigger of the two plugs which go to the interlock relay. This effectively bypasses the whole interlock circuit and allows the ignition switch to directly trigger the starter. This DOES create a dangerous situation where the truck can be started in gear, so do this at your own risk. So, no more clutch interlock, nothing standing in the way between the ignition switch and the starter, this should be perfect! Of course, though, it is not. When it does want to start, it starts quicker because it doesn't have to wait for the clutch interlock relays to kick over, but is still intermittent. WHAT THE HECK. So I do some more research and find a lot of complaints about Nissan ignition switches going bad and requiring the key to be jiggled to actually kick over. I test it, and this is how mine is! So I take apart the steering column, look at the ignition tumbler, and realize that the back end of it is loose from its housing. When I hold it in and press it back into the ignition tumbler, it works fine. If I don't touch it, the truck won't start. After all was said and done, I spent about $120 on a starter and relay, when all I really needed was to zip tie my ignition switch back together with $0.45 worth of zip ties. I kept the interlock jumpered, too, because this is an offroad toy and I also know better than to start it in gear, so if you're in need of an interlock relay/inhibitor relay, I've got 2 working units.

Had to spend $20 on extensions and universal adapter to get that rear spark plug out, what a PAIN! And, unfortunately, I found the rear frame has a couple pretty sizable rust holes, especially on the passenger side. I washed out the frame rails and scrubbed what flaky rust I could get off of there, and I'm gonna use some rust converter and undercoat spray to keep it from rusting further for now. 23 year old car, I live in Florida (a few miles off the coast, so not too much salt air, and no salt roads) so HOPEFULLY it won't get a whole lot worse. Any suggestions other than that? The rust holes are on the outer sides of the frame and are just big enough to fit a few fingers into, so they're not a huge detriment to structural integrity (for now)

Hello NPORA! Really glad I found this forum, and even more glad I found the Pathfinder to go with it! I bought a 1992 SE V6 w/ 5-speed manual this past weekend off CL for $500 (unbelievable deal) I've been watching a bit too much Dirt Every Day on Motor Trend's YouTube, and started to think it might be cool to get an offroad toy. From my experience driving the Pathfinder around a local vacant lot, I can see I got a real winner of a truck. About me: I've been working on cars as needed ever since I started driving, slowly picking up more and more skills along the way (and a mismatched hodgepodge of tools to go with it) and it recently came to a head when I bought my first project vehicle, a 2005 Kawasaki Vulcan 750 motorcycle. Now that I have that running in good shape, I plan to do a full tune-up and service on the Pathfinder so I have 2 running driving toys to bleed my wallet dry. My Pathfinder is in pretty good shape considering its age, but at 250k+ miles it needs some attention. Primary courses of action are to do plugs/wires, all belts (timing belt soon, too), bleed the brakes, and an oil change. Later on I plan to change all the MT, TX case, and diff oils because I can't imagine they've been changed recently. I'll go ahead and overfill the MT oil per the TSB with some good GL-4 fluid, because my transmission isn't whining yet, but I don't wanna chance it. After that, toss a decent set of cheap knobby tires on it, and find some trails! Anyways, let me know if there's any other things I need to do to get this bad boy back up to tip-top shape (for a 23 year old car) Here's a pic of the Pathfinder towing my daily driver, a 2014 Mazda 3, on the 2 hour trip back home from buying it.