onespiritbrain

If it’s swaying then I’d inspect the sway bar end links and bushings. However you’d be hearing clunking something fierce if it were the end links or bushings. I just changed my lightly worn rear sway bar bushings and it took away the non metallic clunking that remained after a repair I had to make to the driver side upper trailing arm. Do you have clunking noises from the rear?

Lol

When you say sway does that mean the vehicle is rolling from side to side? Or is it more like there’s no real center position on the steering wheel and to go straight the wheel is never actually in the same position?

The only real deer protections are defensive driving skills, fast reflexes, and well maintained brakes. And maybe a set of led spot pods aimed off road?

I feel bitchy about it. From traffic fines and emissions on citizens to carbon taxes and the ISO mafia on business, I think it’s all a racket based on science that was paid for by government grants. Bleeding heart.. greed. Sorry about that. I think the VG33 swap will be awesome anyway!

You should do a time lapse from above the engine compartment.

Putting new bearings in the bottom and new rings for the pistons sounds like a good idea to me. You could also go ahead and put a new oil pump in there. Redoing the top sucks butt.. FYI

So you can swap any engine that was approved by the EPA? Or only engine’s that were approved for that chassis?

I have the 3.3 I’ve been thinking about the pumping mechanism.. so a gear pump pushes oil with the space of each tooth holding some oil against the case. Normally a small amount of leakage between the gears and the thrust plate occurs but I wonder if my thrust plate has some grooves cut into it from contaminates and the thicker oil equals higher resistance to flow thru the oil galleries and the path of least resistance actually ends up being between the thrust plate and gears. Having a thinner oil which flows easier allows the oil to flow thru the proper channels instead of blowing past the gears. All of which would have to be in a balance that didn’t cause the idiot light to turn on. I really need an oil pressure gauge...

Supposedly ATF is very high in dispersants and is also thin so it does well at helping to suspend particles that usually end up depositing in low flow areas, or in my case it helps to keep whatever deposits are loosed by the Seafoam, which is a naphthalene distillate solvent, in suspension. So basically just cleaning additives. Edit: However it’s pretty clear that the only thing that was actually happening was that the ATF/Seafoam mixture effectively thinned the 10w30 out a bit.

I can order flanged JIS stuff at my local bolt house. They service a big Toyota plant and a huge Kubota plant so it very well might be a special situation. I’m sure anyone can order flanged JIS nuts and bolts but maybe it’d have to be in larger quantities? Most JIS stuff is 10.9 and everything we use at my job is 12.9 so I usually use what we have and call it a kaizen hah! I used high strength M14 zinc plated threaded rod and welded a nut and washer to the one side. I also have a habit of completely coating anything I touch with copper anti-seize.

For future reference, 50 bucks for 8 bolts is too much. A local nut and bolt supply house would have the exact same thing (minus the external torx) for a quarter of that and 12.9 black oxide socket cap bolts with nuts and washers for even less.

Dug this up in order to report that my recent oil change to SuperTech 10w30 yielded the same noisy results. I don’t know why my engine hates 10w30 so bad.. but it really does. I thought I had a rod knocking and I’m still greatly puzzled by what that sound could’ve been... I threw a quart of mystery oil in to decrease the viscosity some and 50% of the noise went away. Then as soon as I got home I drained the oil and put 5w30 in, quiet as a mouse. What the heck is going on here?? 10w30 sounds like my engine is falling apart and 5w30 it’s quiet as ever. Is my oil pump worn out or something? And if so then wouldn’t thicker oil cause better performance... what in the heck is going on here...?

I can vouch for water wetter. That stuff does work and if turning on the heater is all the nudge you need to be in range then it might just work for you. You might also consider an electric fan. My engine would try to overheat with the AC on at idle on a hot day. Now the electric fan keeps the temps below 210 no matter what, AC on up a mountain at nearly 100 degrees outside. I hope you find a solution where you don’t have to worry about it anymore.. I truly loath worrying about major vehicle failures.

Oh yeah definitely install the input and output shaft seals before you install the transmission. There is also an o-ring on the input shaft that seals inside the torque converter. I couldn’t find the seal at any auto parts stores but I did find it at Ace Hardware in the faucet o-ring section. Make sure it’s buna-N rubber and not ethylene-propylene(EPDM). It won’t suck the new fluid in. You use the discharge line to empty it and refill thru the dipstick tube. It’s better to have a second person starting and stopping the engine. I use two painter’s mixing buckets so I can see exactly how much oil is discharged but you can use any clean buckets. Take both lines loose at the radiator and put them in the bucket. Have someone start the engine so you can see which lines discharges. Reattach the line that doesn’t discharge. Have someone start the engine again while you hold the discharge line into the bucket. While the engine is running watch as the oil fills the bucket. Bubbles will start to spit out of the line and as soon as they do call out for the engine to be shut down. Measure how much came out and put that exact amount back in thru the dipstick tube. I use two identical buckets and I fill the one with new oil to match the level in the bucket filled by the discharge line. I think about 3 quarts come out at a time before the bubbling starts. You’ll just keep this cycle going until the darker oil is replaced with bright new oil coming from the discharge line. You’ll want to have 12-13 quarts for a full swap.

That’s a smoking good deal. I don’t know much about the HD version. I do know that folks put some power on these transmissions inside the 240sx, 300zx, and R33 Skyline. More than anything I think it’s important that the transmission was kept cool in whatever vehicle it was in. As far as I know the best way to flush the trans is with the cooling lines. I would go ahead with the install and then change the filter before startup, top off the oil and run it for a while. After you know it’s going to be a good one then flush the oil out the cooling lines and fill it back up with some good quality stuff. I am going to put some synthetic Amsoil stuff in mine later this year. Are you familiar with flushing the trans thru the cooling lines?

You deleted both your most recent posts. My coolant hoses are all pretty tight at running temperature. Thermostat and radiator are two that’ll cause your woes but you’ve replaced them both. Chances that you’d get a part with the exact same failure mode are slim but not impossible. Did you notice any chalky looking buildup on the radiator cap? Do you notice any bubbling in the coolant reservoir after the engine is shut off? The steady stream of bubbles in the radiator filler neck is no bueno. Not enough to call it a head gasket though. You’re no longer loosing coolant. Before using the sealant, did you notice any light misfiring when starting the engine after sitting for a while? You might want to read this thread: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/43908-blownseeping-head-gasket/?tab=comments#comment-795883

What does the underside of your oil cap look like?

Is that spacer supposed to be visible from the engine bay when you take the rubber grommet off? What happens if the spacer is not installed??

Use a real transmission jack

I would hate to have to pull one of these trans/tcase assemblies at pullapart. I got a used trans with the tcase attached for $600 at Givens Junk Yard in Lawrenceville. It was literally flawless. Best shifting trans of any vehicles I’ve ever been in. I tried to destroy it, and with great success I was able. The next transmission I got was from Lance Used Auto Parts also in Lawrenceville. It had 50k more miles on it and I think I paid $700, or $550.. can’t remember. It’s not flawless like the first but it’s a solid transmission. Givens and Lance both guarantee their transmissions for 30 days which is plenty long enough to know whether it’s going to be a good one or not. If the trans from pullapart is bad you have to pull it back out yourself, take it back, pull another one which may also be bad, and put it back in again. That’s worth the extra cash to me...

You guys that live in extreme heat areas, have you ever considered a water spray system? People put them on race cars to speed up cool downs between runs. They make kits but they’re expensive. It’d be easier— well much cheaper, to grab a window washer reservoir with pumps and put it in the back somewhere or where ever you have room and run lines to a couple atomizers (like this: https://www.mcmaster.com/#3178K41). You’d have to make sure to spray just enough water to promote evaporative cooling. Too much and you’d actually insulate the condenser since aluminum is a MUCH better conductor than water. I’d be willing to bet it’d make a colossal difference.

Please delete.

22deg is a world of difference. 50-60degF vent temps at idle (35-50degF at speed) with outside temps around 90degF is about the best I’ve ever seen. An electric fan has made a big difference at idle. I never see temps above the mid 40’s and it’s more often than not in the mid 30’s. The low powered blower is the weak point now..

I was going to say the same thing haha x2