Citron

Cylinder 1 is the front passenger.

Yeah, I have never had an issue with theft when living in rural areas. Even small cities though, I have had things stolen.

I am kind of thinking it is a control issue. Either bad inputs (sensors) into the ECU, or a failing ECU. Do you know anyone with a running pathfinder of a similar year that you could swap ECUs and see if that works?

Boy that's weird. I don't think it's any sort of mechanical problem that I can think of. I would think a bad sensor would show a code. Check and see if there is a TSB on something like this. Sorry I can't offer any ideas.

Keep us posted on what you find.

I have always wondered about those. Some people swear by them. I wonder if they make a difference on engines with more restrictive intakes. I understand that the VG flows really well stock. People say the vk56 has a restrictive intake and cold air intakes make a difference. Never could put my money down to find out though.

When you are cranking over an engine, before it starts, the injectors are still pumping fuel in to the cylinder. Once it starts, not all of the fuel that was pumped in gets burned, so you generally get a slight unburned fuel smell out of the exhaust. I have smelled it on brand new vehicles sitting on the lot. I may have an over sensitive nose though. When I say short time in the previous post, I mean like 15 secs or so, just long enough for that initial fuel to clear the exhaust.

Actually leaking on the ground, or you just smell it? Smell it in the cab, or when you are outside? When you start a vehicle cold, especially older ones, it is normal to smell fuel from the exhaust for a short time. Is it more then that? You might need a tune-up to improve your mileage.

The question is how much play. If someone else shakes the tire while you watch, then you can see the movement and tell if it is coming from the ball joints or wheel bearings. Do you feel the vibration in the steering wheel? Are you running in 4wd when you have the vibration? Without seeing how much play you have, it is hard to make the judgement call of if you can make it home. Also, punctuation makes it much easier to read your post.

I don't think I would use Turbine oil in a hydraulic system. Hydraulic AW ISO 68 would be fine, but turbine oil doesn't have the right additives to function properly as a hydraulic fluid. Turbine oil is pretty plain, hydraulic oil usually has anti foaming additives, friction modifiers (sometimes called anti shudder) additives, etc. You might be able to get away with it, but not really how it was designed to be used.

You should try to go to a Baseball game while you are in the country. You can see the Great Smoky Mountains while travelling in the south. Hoover dam while in Vegas. I see you are not coming to the Northwest. Crater lake in Oregon, Mount St. Helen's in Washington, Glacier park in Montana, Yellowstone in Wyoming are all great places to see, especially for hiking and camping. To me, that would be much more interesting than going to the big cities.

June would be a good time, should give you pretty good weather in all the places you go. I think your best bet might be to rent a car. You need an address in the state you buy the car to register it.

Dry lubricants are better for locks. The liquid ones end up attracting and holding dirt. I try to lube all my locks on my vehicles anually, especially after drilling one out, replaceing it, and getting a locksmith to rekey it because it was frozen.

There is also the vg33er.

http://www.4x4parts.com https://www.calmini.com/index.php There are a couple of sites that sell lift kits for the wd21. Also check the vendors forum, there may be a few more on there.

Awesome, I have been thinking about this for awhile. I usually have to brake the rods apart and fit them in the back. Do you have foam or something inside to keep the rods from banging around and into each other?

I had thought about this too, but I don't know. If so, then when he pressed the brake to shift out of park, it would do the same thing, shut the TCU down. Also, I would think you would not have brake lights, or they may be really dim. It would probably blow a fuse too. It is worth checking though, would be easy to do and a quick thing to rule out.

Start with checking the condition and level of the fluid. It seems to be slipping, which can be caused by low fluid. If you already know this then forgive me, but check it with the fluid warm, tranny in park and engine on.

Welcome to the forum. There is a search function, you should be able to come up with the answers for a few of those questions. There is a parts for sale section where people part out vehicles sometimes, watch that, eBay and Craigslist.

So you can drive around, and as soon as you hit the brakes, you lose all gears? Or is it only while sitting still.

I can agree about the engine swap, but disagree about taking it to a shop. If you are able, and have the confidence, do the swap yourself, and diagnose any problems that pop up, then you are a huge step forward in learning to take care of future problems yourself. You will know the vehicle inside and out. Your kid will learn mechanics, and you will both be able to apply the skills to other vehicles. If this was a daily driver and you were on a time frame, then take it to a shop. It sounds like this is not the case though, so there would be nothing wrong with letting it sit in the garage while you go through it and learn. Who cares if it takes two months or two years, as long as it's ready to drive when he is old enough.

Agreed. Mechanics stethoscope is the way to go.

Any flat spot on the frame, as far forward and back as you can get. Lift it a few inches off the ground, then shake the heck out of it by bouncing on the bumpers front and back to check stability. That's good for pretty much any frame on vehicle. Great for checking stability on jack stands as well.

I read awhile ago, that due to cooling passages being moved, the 3.3 has thicker cylinder walls. they can be bored to create a 4.0 and still have walls that are as thick as the 3.0 at the thinnest point. Something I was thinking about if I ever get a 3.3, of course, that would probably mean modded intake, different injectors, custom tune, etc, but boy it would be fun.

Since the vg33 throttle body is larger, and when doing a 30 to 33 swap you use the 30 intake and throttle body, then wouldn't this restrict airflow into the 33, making less power? Since the HP and torque gain is so minimal going to a 3.3, restricting it would defeat the purpose. Why not just rebuild the 30, instead of the swap, and save the headache of the accessories mounting, crank pulley, oil pump, etc?