gamellott

I did this job a couple of years ago because I was getting coolant into the cylinders after sitting for more than a day. All in all, doing all of the things you discussed and what I am listing, I think I spent $500 in parts alone. Well worth it if you're inclined to do it. Resurfacing the heads, I think was like $250. I can't remember that exact value. Don't cinch out on the Head Gasket set. You'll need all of the gaskets in that set, including the the gaskets on the back of the heads where the cams go into the head. I almost F'd up my heads. There is an elusive 10mm headed bolt on the back of the passenger side head (Front Drivers side) that will need to be removed in order to take off the heads. I missed that on mine on the passenger side because it's pretty well hidden on the back. You pretty much have to replace the timing belt if you're removing the heads. Or... well... it has to come off, so you might as well do it. I also recommend doing the water pump, and timing belt tensioner, since it's right there as well... There's probably a kit for that. And then there is the crank seal. That can be problematic. I had to get a new crank pulley. It's recommended that you replace the head bolts. I found several exhaust manifold studs broken. They were easy to take out once the heads were off. The manifold to pipe nuts... good luck with those. Hopefully someone along the way has replaced the factory steel nuts with brass ones. +1 on the leak down test. If you're losing your compression into the oil and engine block, that makes plenty of sense. If you're losing coolant, that's a different story, but you might not have that long term information. Good Luck and have fun!!!

The Weekend update: Got the transmission, and rear drive shaft installed. Quite a bit of struggling in order to get the transmission to go in the last 1/2". I don't know what the hang up was, it simply wouldn't go in, then I wiggled my nose just right and clunk.... it went the rest of the way in. I'm hoping nothing was damaged in the process. Still waiting on a couple of things before I can button it all up. While the front end is torn apart, I'm replacing the strut rod and sway bar bushings. I also picked up some Ridge Line manual locking hubs... so far, I'm not greatly impressed, considering they are one of the most expensive ones out there for these. I thought I had picked up a manual set that fit, but the splines don't match up... Back to the Salvage Yard to find a suitable donor?? Or... there are some super cheap OE imitations out there on Amazonia. Maybe I'll look into those.... Biggest things remaining are the front axle, exhaust and all of the removable crossmembers. Then I have the interior to put back together... With any luck, I'm past all of the cuts I have been getting from sharply machined metal... Most of the reason why I'm not doing it today. Gotta let my palms heal from cuts...

I don't think carb cleaner is a good substitute for starter fluid. Any time I had sent that stuff down the throat of a carb, it would bog and kill the engine. But then, I have never really messed with that stuff on car engines. I was always warned from using starting fluid in a 2-stroke engine though. All of that being said, I would check to make sure that the timing of the valves is correct. I think the best way to do that is to check the position of the cam gears when the crank is at TDC. If you're confident of the timing mark on your pulley, you can set the crank to TDC and go from there. The markers for the cams should be on position or 180 out depending on the compression or exhaust cycle. If you're way off, I would suspect that the engine would sound weird when trying to crank on it, but I also suspect there might be some degree of coughing from the engine since you're probably still getting some fuel in the cylinder and spark even if the timing is SNAFU'd. Good luck!! I hope it gets figured out!!

WOW, it's been a hot minute since this has been a problem. Apparently I drag out fixing things... I bought a tap for this project since I have the HWOLE front end and transmission torn apart. I was able to chase the threads with no problem. Put in a new bolt and when I finally get it all back together, I'll get a proper alignment at a reputable shop VS the cut rate Navy Exchange.... One Star... would not recommend

That's some good info to know. Again, it's been a hot minute. I don't recall what I put in there. I don't know if there was even an option when I got it. It's kinda proprietary compared to others in my experience. Looking at Rock Auto, all 3 are offered, but it does state that 170 is OE.

I reached a stopping point today so I thought I would put it down while it's fresh in my head. For the gear driven speedometer models, remove the speedo gear first. If you don't, you'll probably break the plastic oil cover and gutter. I didn't make the name of it... it is what it is. When disassembling the rear end of the case, contrary to the manual, do not remove the front driveshaft output nut or adapter until you're ready to replace the seal. The procedure has you remove that first and, in my case, the front bearing came out of the housing vice the rear which misaligned everything when pulling it apart and the chain would not let me pull it apart. If you leave that part on the front of the housing, it will keep the bearing and sprocket on the front housing, allowing for a much easier removal. Now that the extension housing off, the procedure mentions pulling everything off of the tailshaft. Do NOT do any of that. I spent a lot of time trying to pull that apart and it didn't need to come off. Pull the snap ring off of the shift fork that is accessible. That's for the 4WD. Remove the oil cover and gutter. It's plastic, so use care when pulling. I imagine that's probably unobtanium. There are 6 Torx head bolts holding the mainshaft to the housing. Do not remove those. Split the mid section from the front section. This is where parts fell out. Intact. One was a shim that goes on the bearing of the countershaft that resides in the mid section, and there were the 2 pieces of the mainshaft pocket bearing that resides in the input shaft. I removed the 4WD fork rod and 4Low fork by popping them out from the external actuator. There is a ball bearing backed with a spring, held externally with a 19MM plug. I don't know when you should pull those, but when I pulled them, the ball bearings fell into the housing and were easily retrieved with a magnet. From there, you can access the top 2 bolts of the front cover, unobstructed. Putting it back together, I placed the pocket bearing into the space where it goes and used grease to hold the shim in place on the mid section. That's it!! it's basically lining everything back up and doing the same thing in reverse. Since the front driveshaft rear bearing is stuck in the extension housing, I'm going to have to borrow a slide hammer to pull it out and will continue to try to put it back together tomorrow. I'll be ordering a new front driveshaft seal, so, yet another thing I'll be waiting for until it's done. At least, I can start working on getting it back in the Pathfinder and put that in later. All in all, about 5 hours to work on, and if I knew about the things I didn't need to do, or sequence of events, it could have been much less. Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!!

@adamzan Agreed. The seal does not come out of the front. There is a slight ridge in the oil cup that prevents it from coming out the front.... In addition to the oil cup that completely prevents it from clearing the mainshaft (Only on a MT. AT doesn't have the oil cup based on what I have seen and read). The cover that it goes into, has 2 bolts at the top that fasten from the other side. I'll get back to this if I experience anything different... it looks somewhat challenging, but it also seems fairly basic. You just have to take things apart in a certain sequence... but it's pretty much completely disassembled in order to get to it. I thought I replaced this in my 95, and I know I didn't have to split the case.... Maybe my memory is faulty... I don't remember that cup being in front of the seal at all... And it was a MT as well... Maybe someone put the wrong transfer case on it... It was a 4 cylinder D21, so not entirely the same... maybe that was the difference... I don't know... I guess... since everything is 30+ years old and I'm going to be taking it COMPLETELY apart, I might as well replace the front driveshaft seal and the gear selector seal... Off to find out where I can get those...

I would check the ignition wires. I had a couple of bad ones at one point in time where it misfired because the spark was not getting to the spark plug. If it is a bad wire, you will notice a clicking sound while it's running with the hood open, and there is the possibility that you could get bit by the coil. That's always fun. It's low hanging fruit, but I would also put in some new spark plugs. No need for anything fancy. Also, I experienced a couple of frozen injectors which REALLY sounds like what you're experiencing. I had 2 dead cylinders because of bad injectors and it would still run, just very poorly. You can pull each wire independently while it's running to isolate which cylinder isn't firing, assuming it's consistently the same cylinder. If there is no change in how it runs after pulling the wire, it's associated to that cylinder. If it dies, or sounds worse, its not that cylinder.

@Slartibartfast So you're saying I got it pretty close then!! Downloaded the FSM for the transfer case. It looks like the only way to pull/replace that front seal is to take it COMPLETELY Apart. Not quite what I wanted to do...

@adamzan I guess I did it the easy way and pulled the front axle and everything else associated to it in order to pull off the oil pan and the rear main... Couldn't find a torque spec for the flywheel bolts, so I torqued those to 70#. Clutch is in. Just waiting on a couple of fasteners to show up and I'll put it all back together.. Can't find anything on the transfer case, so I'll do some exploratory surgery on it in order to put a new seal in it... It's broke already, can't hurt it anymore... That's the mantra, right? After taking a closer look at it, the seal on the transfer case has to be put in from the back side of the cover, so it HAS to be split in order to replace it. Hopefully it's easy... and doesn't take any special tools or parts that I don't have or can't get....

Update for the weekend so far, if anyone reads this anymore I separated the transfer case from the transmission today and discovered something that I didn't the last time I did this. Maybe my memory is faulty though... The front cover on the transfer case appears to have bolts holding it on from the inside of the transfer case, which means that I will have to split the case in order to replace that seal... I was not expecting that... On a different note, I was able to finally remove the drain plug from the transmission. It took a 1 1/2' breaker bar and a 2' cheater and I had to strap it down to the bench, and it finally broke free. Going to order a new drain plug after that since it's pretty well mangled. It really sucks that you're limited in the pictures to resize and post... this is what you get. I have more, just don't know how to share right now...

The outer pulley is just an indication. If you assembled and clocked everything correctly, it should run. If the pulley is not clocked correctly, If and When you set the timing, you'll start scratching your head as I did. My bet is on the connectors as you mention. Most of them should be undisturbed to do the Timing Belt. If you did something else, that's a different story. There are quite a few ground connectors in vicinity of the distributor, if broken, could cause some issues and break fairly easily. Start with the basics; Spark, Compression and Fuel.

Thanks. Just ordered all of the crap needed to complete this. Also ordered a 14MMx1.5 tap to clean up the threads for the attaching hardware of the Upper Control arms. Guess I'm going to tackle Every Single Issue that I am aware of while I have the front end torn apart. It has been several years since I questioned what I was going to do on that... guess the time is now!!

Armchair mechanicin here.... Do you recall any of the specifics about your impact setup? I'm scrolling through the Grainger website wondering what kind of proprietary tools I might need in order to fit an impact on the bolts without F-ing them up...

When I clocked the harmonic balancer pulley wrong, I had something a little similar, only mine would start. I spent hours scratching my head about it, but I finally figured it out. It's usually the simplest things that get overlooked.

Little bit of an update now that I have the full order of parts in: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L8BR76A?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074SK91BG?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1 Both of these options work for the Head unit. The wire leads on the LEDs are a bit beefier than the leads on the incandescent bulbs, but they work. I can now see it in the dark. If you're so inclined, as I was, you can get whatever color to enhance the backlighting.

Good pointers on the torsion bars. Measuring thread protrusion is a good idea. Paint is also a good idea. I'm well past that point right now, but the bars are stuck in the crossmember right now, and I'm not sure if I really want to try to force them out. If I do, I might get some red and green paint denoting Port and Starboard... hehe... My intent on the RMS is to simply pull it from the housing. I don't really think there is a necessity to pull the assembly off of the block, but I understand a necessity to replace the rubber under it due to sheer age and rubber shrinkage/hardening. I think I'd have to pull the RMS assembly or the oil pan in order to do that properly. One or the other. Good enough reason, I suppose, to clean the oil off of the front axle. Just need to find the right sized 12pt socket to get those bolts off of the CV Shafts.... I don't even have 12 point sockets....

I think, if I'm going to go as far as replacing that bottom piece of rubber, I'll take out the whole oil pan. It took a decent amount of force with "Pry Tabs" to pull the front cover off of the transmission, I can only imagine how fun it would be to pull the RMS housing and not have ANYTHING to pry on. As far as filling the transmission, mine is a 92 as well. I'm planning on filling it through the shifter before I button up the interior. About the easiest way if you're already pulled apart.

Ok... I think I have found out what light bulb is compatible with the socket in the AC head unit. The bulb, 7219 appears to be a viable candidate which only works if you have a good socket to put it in. Amayama is sending one of the lights that comes with a socket. I ordered 4, they're sending 1... I was also able to locate on Amazon LED's that might work well in this application. They populated in the search whenever I typed in the bulb number. Dimensionally, they look like they'll work. Might give those a try as well The LED version of the 74's came in, and they fit the socket perfectly.

@adamzan You're probably correct. It wouldn't hurt too much to pull the pan since I've already got EVERTHING apart. Just have to pull the front axle/pinion if I'm going to do that. I imagine the bolts holding the CVs in place are super tight... Probably pretty easy now since I have everything else removed... Yes, the front bolts that are opposite everything else on the top of the bell-housing. I wish I had a donor with good hardware to rob off of so I could have it all the same. One of my OCD's I imagine. On a different note, Just put in an order for more, unexpected, parts. So, it's going to be a couple of weeks before I start trying to button this thing back up. I know everyone is on the edge of their seats wanting to read about me crushing myself under the transmission

@adamzanThere are 2 bolts on the transmission that are about impossible to get to where the front pinion is at. I was able to remove them by fishing a wrench up there. I don't think I'll be able to get them back in without, at least, dropping it a little. One of the bolts on there was a non-standard bolt that was too short and stripped out of the bell housing. Something to investigate while it's out.... Maybe... while I'm at it... I could drop the oil pan and seal that back up... but it doesn't look like it's leaking at all from there.... Progress today; I cut the heads of the bolts off of the Y pipe and cut the pipe just in front of the catalytic converter. I had to fish the wire for the oxygen sensor out. I was able to unpin the connector and put the box end of a wrench around that. Took quite a bit of force to get it started, but it came out of the bung fairly easily once started. Dropped the transmission with just enough room to clear the extension housing on the fixed crossmember behind it. Sooo... that answers my question to being able to pull the transmission without chopping out the Y-pipe. That would be a NO, unless you take off the transfer case. Next: the rear main on the engine, end caps on the heads, front seal on the transmission and the intermediate seal between the transfer case and transmission.... Lots of stuff to do. New clutch, of course. A lot of work for a little bit of oil and piece of mind I guess...

@Slartibartfast The foil covered heat shield stuff was located at the top drivers side of the firewall. A section about 4" x 10" across the top. IIRC, the entire passenger side is covered. I didn't pull that side down because it wasn't falling apart like the drivers side. The drivers side is all metal now, where the passengers side still has the padding on the bulkhead. Both sides of the rubber/plastic stuff had fallen off. Something that I wasn't entirely expecting, or even know was there... Found a couple instances of non-standard hardware, and one where it was clearly too short and stripped out on the transmission. Once I get it out, we'll see if I can address that and fix it with good threads. At least they didn't put it together with locktite Is it possible to pull the transmission without pulling the Y-pipe out? It looks like it might clear the pipe if I'm able to pull it straight back.... If....

Spent the day trying to get all of the interference out. Turns out that it would have been easier if I dropped the front axle as @FirstGenFreak mentioned. Might do it when I go to put it back in. A lot of the bolts holding the transmission in were incredibly difficult to get to with the front differential there. At the end of the day today, I still have two bolts holding the transmission to the engine, They're on the top of the transmission. Not easy to get to... and I haven't been able to disconnect the Y-pipe from anything. Nuts are removed from the manifold, but nothing is budging there. The bolts holding the pipe together aren't moving, and if I have to get those off, it's probably with a saw. Saving it for another day when I have rested and the cuts on my hands have somewhat healed My 4 cylinder D21 was way easier to pull the transmission....

I'm pulling the manual transmission in order to seal up the leaking 30yo seals between the rear main and the front transmission... among other things. Judging from the marred up Phillips head bolts, It's not the first time this has been done... 30 years and 300K miles... Clutches don't last that long. No surprise there. Bonus!! the carpet did not tear!! As a part of prepping to pull, I pulled up the carpet and boot for the shifter. Under that, on the firewall, it appears as though there was a plastic shell in the well of where your feet go. That has fallen completely apart, and I had to resort to using a vacuum to clean it up. I don't recall anything being like that on my D21 when I last did something like this 15 years ago. Under the sound dampening material, there was a small piece of aluminum foil covered heat dissipating material. I know Nissan put it in there for a reason, but I didn't see any evidence of that actually getting hot. Does anyone know exactly how important that is? Tomorrow... the work from underneath... mostly.... Oh fun... I hate working on exhaust!!!

Update: I got it all apart!! There are 2 lights in the AC head unit. One measures out bad, the other measures out good. Without taking the head unit apart, my guess is that the one good one is just too dim to illuminate it fully. Just a guess. I'm going to try my luck at Amayama to see if I can order some. The clock, as mentioned by @adamzan appears to be a 74, and is bad. The same bulbs are throughout all of the idiot light indications and turn signals, so I might see if I can find an LED that will last being illuminated all of the time. One bad part of this whole tear down is that my Hazards switch exploded when I popped it out of the dash... Gonna have to find a new one... Woe is me....