gamellott

Just to close this out. The differential was installed over the weekend. Have been driving it in the snow for the last couple of days. Totally unrelated; somehow one of the bleeder valves for the brakes got galled and didn't seal at all after being put back together. Fixed that by chucking it up in a drill and cleaning the bur/gouge off with a file (Probably related to being 33yo). New ones are on the way. One injector decided to seize. It took about 4-5 warm up and cool down cycles in order for it to free up. After all of that, everything seems to be running great except Some vibration around 55-60mph that clears up >60mph.

Never seen a damper, but... Oh well, something to be aware of, Kind of like a Pontiac 301 Turbo. I've only seen one in the wild in 5 years of working Auto Parts in the hayday when they were popular. Hoses acting like a check valve does happen. I failed to remember that one... It's a part to consider.

Ya, that's a new one on me unless you have a leak in your master cylinder where it is letting in air past the piston as you drive and progressively gets worse. But that would be a bit different symptom I think. I'm not aware of a damper in the system. The couple of these that I have owned have included a Master Cylinder, Hose, and Slave Cylinder. Don't judge me, that's what they're called...

I could be mistaken, but I believe you can get away with a single spade connector for the temperature connector. I know you can get the ones for the clipped in ones found on all of the emission related systems, but that one isn't one that I have seen in the past. If the spade fits, you can put a little bit of heat shrink on the spade for added security. Not having a thermostat could be a big problem in colder climates right now!! Heat is a nice thing to have for sure!!!

Agreed what @Slartibartfast said regarding the wires. My 92' has both sensors located adjacent to eachother on the neck to the upper radiator hose. The 2 wire connector will look almost identical to any of the fuel/emission connectors on the engine. As far as the Temp Gauge and potentially erroneous indication, that could be the result of a failed Voltage Regulator on your instrument cluster. (Not sure if a 95' still has one of those) Replacing that little gizmo fixed the fuel and temp gauges on my rig.

Agreed. That step down in size is likely a bushing/spacer that is probably rusted in place and would probably come out if given the proper force.

Sweet!! you'll need everything that is attached to that, including, and especially, the parking brake cables!! They're not interchangeable with the drum cables, and the correct cable for that setup is unobtanium nowadays unless you can find it on Amayama or some other overseas outlet!!

Yes, it's a mess. I imagine it could have been worse, but it's time to make this a paperweight. @hawairish is providing a great assist in order to get this back on the road. Hopefully in time before for the snow to hit. I kinda still want to find a good donor vehicle, but I don't want to wind up with a junk yard full of non-working vehicles in my yard, or a garage full of spare parts that I want to keep for Justin. That said, a LOT of parts are becoming increasingly difficult to acquire unless you have a stash somewhere or know someone... I can't tell you the last time I saw a D/WD21 with 2 factory brake lights like mine on the road. It would be awesome to find someone who parked something 12 years ago that's wanting to get rid of it now that's compatible.

Good Afternoon All!! Teardown complete and I found one side of the LSD was missing both of the friction plate guides. The tabs on the friction disks with tabs had worn into the housing on both sides. Additionally, one of the springs @hawairish discusses in his teardown and rebuild post, was shattered. Special Thanks to @hawairish and @Slartibartfast for their guidance on how-to DIY.

Safe bet is that the injectors are fully clogged if it's been sitting for 12 years and was running when parked. I wish you luck and hope it finds a home. As mentioned above, I'm a bit far to try to take it off of your hands as well. Although... not totally impossible

Another thing to note; when I got the parts request back from JP's, all of the disk parts were available to manufacture with the caveat of having a 2+ month lead time to build. Maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel for these things and getting NEW replacement parts!! Other question @hawairish; do you recommend replacing the non friction disks, or just the friction ones? As mentioned above, it appears as though I can get them all.... Just might take some time...

I managed to get it out over the weekend. At that, it's just out. I cannot see any smoking guns on the "failure". Good wear on the Ring and pinion gears, nothing abnormal as far as I can see. It's all pretty well encased and the clutches/retainers are not visible. More to follow when I make the time to disassemble what I need to in order to get to the clutches. One thing that I was able to figure out is that I do have the correct gear ratio according to the plate inside the engine compartment. One thing that I did overlook was a gasket. It's not expensive, so I'll probably get 2. Shipping will cost more than the parts, I'm sure...

The occasional clunking and pulling, can be a number of things. I had a pull when I hit the brakes and clunking long after someone who didn't know what they were doing performed an alignment and didn't tighten up the upper control arm enough, galling the threads to one of the bolts mounting it to the frame. It's Still not properly fixed, but it's not moving anywhere after I drove it home with an impact hammer. Among other places, look there as well. As far as a consistent pull, I would look at an alignment issue, worn out bushings... All of those things, considering the age, could be worn out. Unless you put one on, I don't believe these things ever came with a factory installed steering dampener. I put one on a D21, and I noticed no difference in performance. Might be different if you are doing a lot of off-roading. I don't really know. Squealing when turning.... That might be PS pump related, but it's worth giving the everything in the steering and bearings a once over before getting too deep into it. It almost sounds as though one of your problems could be a really bad front wheel bearing.... Get it off of the ground and push the wheel around on it's axis and see if you get much play. Good Luck!!

@hawairish I'll keep an eye out for the correct one then. Seems to be slim pickings around here. There was ONE in Portland that looked promising... but that's almost a day trip from here, and I wouldn't want to travel that far to be disappointed with an open diff.... although, it seems as though all Pathfinders may have LSD's according to one source I saw. I don't know if that's true.

I have preemptively sent an inquiry for ALL of the LSD parts in the differential to JP-Carparts... I should be hearing from them in the next couple of days to see what/if the parts are available. Total, sans shipping and tax, is 295.53. Kinda eager to see what they have... I'm glad someone turned me onto some of these resources overseas... It's a mixed blessing.... Otherwise, I might be considering scrapping it...

I have read that the 9-11 bolt patterns are basically interchangeable by removing or omitting 2 of the studs based on what you're putting on... but if I'm going to do it, I'd rather have the right thing in the first place. I'll give them a call back to verify the year of the potential donor. That being said, the other question that comes to mind is if it has the LSD option. I'm not convinced that the LSD is junk yet without looking at it. It is Quiet. Actually, more quiet than I have experienced in the past. There was a moment in time where it would routinely clatter when I was making slow turns. Now, I don't notice it... Anyway, provided nothing comes up, I'll be trying to pull it this weekend to inspect and try to order parts as necessary.

Putting aside the gear ratio for a second, what year range should I look for in a donor for a 92' (2/92)? I found one that might fit the bill; AT w/237/75/15 tires. I don't recall the year, and their search engine doesn't work online.... But then... with what I have in there now being in question.... who knows.... Provided I don't detonate the rear end in my trip home this evening, I might just have to rebuild it since parts do seem to be unobtanium unless you already have a donor vehicle on hand.

@hawairishThanks!! As far as how it broke, it wasn't sheared or bent. It looks like it had a stress fracture from something where it just broke as a result of.... something.... I'll break into it this weekend and see what it looks like. Just have to drive it home this evening and it'll be parked until I can get to that. Should be getting a new clutch and other related parts soon, so just as good of a time to rip out all of the driveline while I'm at it. I have messages sent out to a couple of local parts yards looking for a donor. So far, no answer...

@hawairishThank You Again!! I guess it's time to park it again, and start tearing into the driveline to figure out if it is from mine. Looks easy enough to figure out based on the videos. I just hate that I dumped $60 in synthetic gear oil into it the other day.... maybe I can figure out a way to filter it after draining it.... sigh.... Junk Yards around here are pretty slim, and they usually take the wheels off to recycle the Aluminum, making it that much more difficult to get to something like a rear differential. But... I do know someone that has an HG46 somewhat available.... and somewhat local.... somewhat.... The mountain pass just closed for the season If the part is from mine, I might be better off trying to get replacement parts online direct from Japan, and cheaper... assuming they're still available. If they are available, It looks like a complete rebuild, sans bearings, could run up to $300. Unless I missed something.... which is a complete possibility....

Amayama seems to have that part available.... Maybe the friction disks as well... A lot cheaper too... There are 2 different options, one is a 1.6, the other is a 1.5.... What's the difference?

It's beginning to look like I need to tear it apart to see if this is actually from the one in it now.... If it is, It's looking like I'm going to have to look for a donor vehicle since new parts for this are basically unobtanium. I guess the question I have now: Could this lead to a catastrophic failure?? Or... should I just gut it and not have LSD?? That is... until I find a suitable donor... And the other question, as originally discussed, is the HG43 compatible with the HG46 since I might have a 46?

Good Evening Smarter people than me!! I would like to give @Slartibartfast credit for allowing me to pick his marvelous brain to help me come to some conclusions here! I found the attached piece of metal on the magnet on my rear differential drain plug magnet. It's about 10mm wide and it looks like it could have been a bearing race piece... Based on the videos I have seen on the HB233 axle tear down, it doesn't look familiar... There are a couple of tells from the teardown I did while replacing the rear wheel bearings and seals. 1)The nuts holding the axle in place were nylock fasteners and not the traditional crimp lock nuts. 2) My speedo has traditionally read about 10% off, low, compared to the radar assisted speed signs on the side of the road. Based on the tag in the engine compartment, I should have an HG43 pinion. I'm wondering if someone in the previous 20 years prior to my ownership, they had a differential melt down, and the replacement was and HG46? Anyone recognize something like this?? It's been about 30Kmiles since the last oil change on this and aside from this, I have noticed nothing significant, no noises, no wobbling, no grinding.... I appreciate your insight!! Have a great evening!!!

@Slartibartfast I'm finally getting motivated to replace these bastages along with the rest of the leakers now that it's chilly and rainy. I do have a dry place to work on it though I did a search after watching your video, and I was not able to find the, Nissan branded, bent tab locking washer anywhere in the US, but I was able to locate them through Amayama, in Japan or the UAE, for about $25 after shipping. Probably going to take a few weeks to get here if I do that. Do you recommend just using the old ones and hope for the best with a different location of a bent tab, or waiting for a new part? I'm half tempted to just pull the trigger and work on other things while I'm waiting. The question of the moment... what other parts do I try to order while I'm at it.... Parts, as you mention, are getting more difficult to find.... the right ones, at least... Some RHD parts are not compatible with LHD after all... which is why my intermittent wiper switch is still randomly intermittent Hope you're not getting too much snow yet!!!

Was just under mine the other day trying to figure out how difficult it's going to be to pull my transmission. I observed that the O2 sensor wiring was held up out of the way by a wire wrap on the transmission... didn't know that was there, among other things.... Yet another thing....

I would keep in mind that there are Disk and Drum brakes available on some of these things. Swapping from one to the other will pose additional problems/costs that you may not have anticipated.