Martinjmpr

My window's been getting slower and slower by the month. I work at a secure facility and have to show an ID badge when I drive in. This morning I put the window down and it refused to go back up! Going to try the silicone spray thing. At least it's a nice sunny day today, I'd be pissed if it was raining since my window is half open now.

I have an action packer in the back of my truck that has a small tool roll with basic tools, a warning triangle, a 4-way lug wrench (I HATE the factory lug wrenches, never enough leverage!) a small "survival" kit I made, a flashlight with the batteries reversed (so it can't accidentally turn on and burn out my batteries.) Also in the box are a 12v air compressor and a fire extinguisher, a set of jumper cables and a portable jump starter (I get on-line reminders every 3 months or so to plug it in and charge it.) I don't really have starting or battery issues but if I run into someone else who needs a jump start, it's easier (and safer) to use the portable jump starter than to try and connect the cables. One thing I always keep in there is a warm jacket, several pairs of gloves and a couple of hats (knit watch cap style.) Here in CO it can go from 75 and sunny to sub-freezing in the space of a few hours when you're at high altitudes. Many times when we've been on camping trips during the summer and it's gotten unseasonably cold we've pulled that jacket out (it's an old Army Gore-Tex parka, so warm and waterproof.) Food and water is problematic for long term storage in a vehicle, IMO. If you know you're going to be in the wild for a while you can pack some in there but food has a limited shelf life and if it gets out of the package it will (1) spoil and ( 2) attract vermin (ants, mice, etc - not who you want in your vehicle!) It will also stink to high heaven if it gets hot. Even MRE's have a limited shelf life, so personally I wouldn't waste the space. As for water, the issue is how much space it takes up. Pathfinders are not large vehicles (especially R50's) and the space taken up by a case of water is significant. Also as time goes by, plastic starts to break down which can lead to leaky water bottles and/or BPAs or other nasty chemicals in your water.

On Saturday I finally got around to putting the new head unit in my 2002 SE. The install went OK except for the steering wheel controls. Note to self: If I ever have to put a new stereo into a vehicle with steering wheel controls, I'm just going to pay someone else to do it. (On the plus side, I was once again very impressed by the friendly and knowledgeable customer service at Crutchfield. They were patient and courteous even when I was getting frustrated. Would definitely recommend.) Anyway, they always recommend that you disconnect the negative cable on the battery before doing anything electrical, so being very careful I did this. Because of the issues I had with the wiring harness, the truck was probably disconnected from the battery for at least 6 hours, long enough to wipe out all the memory in the computers. When I started back up, everything worked fine except the sun roof. Normally the button on the left works almost like the up/down buttons on the front windows, i.e. one touch, hold the button down and the sunroof opens all the way. Same thing happens when closing, push the button to the front and hold it and the suroof closes all the way. But ever since I put in the new stereo, the button on the left only makes the sunroof raise and lower, unless I hold it, and then it will go back about 2". Then if I press it again, another 2", then if I press it again another 2" and so on. It WILL eventually open the sunroof but what a PITA! Closing is exactly the same, i.e. push the button forward and the sunroof moves 2" and then stops. Then I push it again and it goes another 2". I'm assuming this all has something to do with a computer that controls the sunroof, is that right? And does anyone know how to go about "reprogramming" it so it works correctly? Thanks in advance!

Torque is only for Android though, right? I have an iPhone.

I was about to buy an Ultra Gauge for my 02 Pathy but figured that seeing as how I have a smartphone (Iphone 6) I might as well put it to work. So who uses an OBD-II reading program, which one, and what dongle do you use? I know some of them are not IOS capable but I've seen quite a few that are. Just wondering which ones seem to work best on our Nissans.

Well, I just checked it at 200 miles after the last top-off and it is still showing full of oil, so I'll be cautiously optimistic. What I'd like to be able to figure out is under what circumstances is the oil burning. The Pathy is my DD so it's normally going on about a 20 mile (round trip) daily commute plus typical stop-and-go city driving. Occasionally, I'll take it on a longer trip, so I want to see whether it's the stop-and-go or the long drives that causes it to burn more oil - that could be a clue as to what the problem is.

Automatic I'm assuming? For that price, if everything else was OK, you could maybe swap in a junkyard auto and still be ahead of the game, but I don't know how much auto transmissions for these cost. I had the auto rebuilt on my Suburban and it was $2k even.

Hmmm...Leaking only at highway speeds? Interesting, I hadn't really considered that, but then again I haven't gotten onto the creeper to look underneath either. If it was just leaking at highway speeds, wouldn't there at least be enough oil on the frame to drip down after I parked though? I have to emphasize I am dripping absolutely nothing! Still, if this was the case it would set my mind at ease that my truck was headed for a breakdown. As long as I keep the oil topped off, I should be OK until I can track down what is happening. That would also explain why it doesn't seem to be burning oil, no visible smoke, etc. My old Montero used to burn a quart every 1000 miles (which is half of what I'm losing) and had a noticeable blue cloud of smoke, especially when starting up!

Only 121k miles on my 02 SE 4x4. Had 117k when I bought it in September. And except for some rub marks on the bumper, not a scratch or dent on her.

Exploring some old mines near Leadville, CO in October:

Everybody loves pictures so I suppose I should post one! I know it seems silly but I can't get over how good looking the R50 Pathfinders were. Especially the 02 version with the obviously "Xterra inspired" luggage rack and wind deflector. IMO there are a lot of homely looking vehicles out there but every now and then a manufacturer gets it "just right" and the R50 is one of those "just right" designs (as is the 3rd generation Toyota 4runner.) This was right after I put new tires on - Cooper Discoverer M+S in 245/75/16. The stock size on the SE was 255/65/16 (29") and I went with a slightly oversize tire for a bit more clearance (31.5".) As you can see, they fill the wheel wells but they fit fine. Probably helps that they are about a half inch narrower than the stock size. These tires are great in snow, rain, and other incelement weather conditions (I had them on a previous 4runner so I've got a lot of miles on this model of tire.) Sometimes I feel an urge to 'build up' the Pathy into an off-road machine - lift, big tires, etc. But then I think "no, I already have a lifted truck and anyway, the Pathy is just perfect the way it is." About the only thing it could use is a new stereo with iPhone controls and Bluetooth - but in terms of looks, at least, an aftermarket stereo would be a step down, as I really like the way the factory stereo looks (mine has the Bose in dash 6 disc changer with the cassette deck.)

Thanks for all the input. I think I may have overreacted when I first started reading this stuff on the internet - I sometimes have to remind myself that for every person who posts up a message that says "my vehicle is a POS!" there are 20,000 people driving that same make and model who don't post on the internet because there are no problems. At this point I'm going to say "no harm/no foul." Truck runs fine, MPG is right about where it should be (16.5 - 17.5 in mixed city driving), power is good, no smoking, hesitating, backfiring, no CEL (anymore). I'll get in the habit of checking the oil every 150 miles or so and if it needs to be topped off, I'll top it off. Otherwise I won't worry. As I said, this is mostly an around-town or around-the-region vehicle, long trips will be in my Suburban. I seem to last about 2 1/2 - 3 years on a daily driver before I get bored and want something else. It would be nice to have something that got better mileage - my previous DD was a 1996 Mazda B2300 pickup (aka Ford Ranger.) That little truck was slow as hell and not particularly "fun" to drive but it got 22 - 25 MPG on a regular basis. But it was also 2wd which meant that if snow or ice was in the forecast I'd leave it at home and drive the big gas guzzling Suburban. Now that I have a DD with 4wd and good tires I don't worry about getting caught in a snowstorm so that - and the fact that the Pathy is more comfortable, more powerful, and more fun to drive - makes up for the slight decrease in MPG.

So first off, yes I know there's another post on this topic but I wanted to start a separate one because my question is a bit different from the other one posted. In a nutshell, I bought a 2002 R50 Pathfinder in September to use as a Daily Driver (DD.) My "road trip" vehicle is a 2004 Suburban that I use to pull a 16' travel trailer when we go on long camping trips. I have to admit I've been admiring the R50 Pathfinder ever since they did the "facelift" in about 1999 or 2000 to raise the center of the grill a bit (I didn't really care for the 1996 - 99 front end.) Over the last few years I've noticed R50 Pathfinders everywhere! They're very common here in Colorado (Denver area.) Since I like to shift my own gears and the Suburban doesn't give me that option, I started searching for a Pathfinder with a 5 speed. I was fortunate (I thought!) to find one in absolutely cherry condition, an SE 4x4 with the 5 speed in great condition and only 117k miles on it! Bought it in September and absolutely love it. I replaced the crap Kumho tires with some decent Cooper M+S and it does awesomely in the snow. Except for a few "rub marks" on the bumpers, this Pathy doesn't have a scratch or dent on it, and everything works perfectly. It's comfortable, fun to drive and handles well. It's just a great little truck! But...a few weeks after I bought it, I filled with gas and went to check the oil. Dipstick was bone dry! I thought "maybe there's a trick, maybe I need to let it sit for a few minutes, maybe it has a short dipstick" etc. Checked again -still dry, so I added a quart, and it was now showing full on the dipstick. No problem - I figured maybe it just needed to be topped off. Drove for a few more months, usually when I filled with gas I didn't bother to check the oil. But just for the hell of it, I checked it in January. Dipstick was bone dry, again. Now I was getting concerned. So I topped it off, drove for a while, then a few weeks ago a CEL came on. I have a Scangauge II on my Suburban but I don't (yet) have a code reader or re-setter on the Pathy, but the previous owner told me sometimes the CEL would come on. I've had other vehicles do that and its usually something minor, a sensor or something, so I ignored it and continued to drive. Last week I filled the tank, and checked the oil. BONE DRY DIPSTICK! Got some oil, it took 2 full quarts to fill up, but now it shows as "full" on the dipstick. Oh, and here's something funny: When I got back in and started the engine, the CEL was off! Now, before anyone asks: No, it is NOT leaking. Not so much as a drop of oil has hit the ground from this truck. We just moved into a new house (new to us) and my wife is very picky about keeping the house clean - if my truck had dripped oil, I would have heard an earful from her, but not a peep. And there's no evidence of burning, either. I've owned vehicles that burned oil. My 1990 Montero with the 3.0 V6 had a notorious valve guide issue that caused it to burn a quart every 1000 miles. It would put out visible blue smoke when idling. And I had a 1997 Protégé sedan that had bad rings (to be fair the engine had 210,000 miles on it!) and that used to leave a huge cloud of blue smoke every time I started it. But the Pathy? nothing. No smoke, no smell. My engine seems to be a "Bermuda Triangle" of oil. It disappears, but I don't know where. Now common sense tells me that oil doesn't just 'disappear', if it's not leaking, it has to be burning. Maybe the emission control equipment is so good it scrubs the exhaust clean of oil smoke, I don't know. After the last incident, I did some googling, and that was when I discovered a well documented, but still unexplained, loss of oil in the VQ35 engines. The odd thing was that there seemed to be no actual consensus of what was causing it . Some said a bad piston ring, some said it had something to do with the catalytic converters sucking oil out of the engine (how does that even work? The Cat should be connected to the exhaust manifold which is connected to the exhaust valves. Shouldn't the engine oil be BELOW the piston rings and separate from the exhaust valves?) I've even heard some say it has something to do with the PCV valve. And just as there is no consensus on the cause, there's no consensus on the fix. In fact, there doesn't seem to be a fix, at least not that I can tell. So, with that long preamble, my question is simply this: In the opinions of those here, does my excess oil consumption mean that my engine is destined to fail sooner rather than later? I'm trying to figure out if it makes sense to keep the Pathy or to cut my losses and get rid of it. The oil itself is not an issue to me - if my excess oil consumption just means I need to carry a couple of quarts in the car and fill up as needed, I'm fine with that. But my concern is that I'm hearing that the excess oil consumption is actually a symptom of a very serious condition that will lead to engine failure and that this may not be too far off. Worse yet, the only "cure" would be to drop another engine in (which I'm assuming would be a $2500 - $3500 cost) and there would be no guarantee that the new engine wouldn't suffer the same fate, since it seems the excess oil consumption is just something that some engines have and some engines don't have, with no way of knowing which is which. A secondary question would be: If the excess oil consumption is a symptom of a serious problem, then how can I expect that problem to manifest itself in the future? IOW what is the sign of impending failure? As I said, I love this little Pathfinder, but if its days are numbered I'd rather get rid of it now, before the engine craps out on me. Anyway, thanks for reading this long message, I'd appreciate any input that anyone can put in.

I would like to hear more about the oil cooler replacement. I am in a very similar situation (that's what brought me to this board, actually.) 2002 R50, 5 speed manual. Went to fill with gas on Sunday - dipstick was bone dry! Added 2 quarts to bring it up to full. No trace of smoke from the engine and no indication of leaks (we have a new house and I park in the driveway - if there were leaks I would know because my wife would be giving me hell for dripping oil in our new driveway!) I've done a lot of googling and have have heard multiple possible reasons including bad piston rings, something to do with the catalytic converters, etc, but I think your post is the first one I've seen where somebody did something that actually fixed the problem. Where is the oil cooler located? And how difficult was it to replace? Thanks in advance!

Just put Falken Wildpeak AT3W on my Suburban in November. Seems to be a great tire for the price. Does very well in snow, too. I've only done limited "off roading" in them (on the Mt. Lemmon trail in Tucson over Thanksgiving week) but they did very well, even though I didn't air them down (which I should have.) I was going to get BFG AT KO2s but the Wildpeak just seemed to be a better deal - saved me almost $200. FWIW size I am running on the 'Burb is 285/75/16, just a hair under 33".

Hi, everyone. My name is Martin and I live in Colorado (Denver area.) I have a 2004 Chevy Suburban that we use to pull our travel trailer on long trips (we do a lot of camping) but I didn't like driving that big beast to work or around town so last year I picked up a 2002 Pathfinder SE, 4x4, with a 5 speed manual (I love manual transmissions - if I could have gotten one in the 'Burb I would have!) I have to say the Pathy is one of the nicest little SUVs I've driven. I used to be a Toyota guy, owned a 2004 Tacoma, then a 1999 4runner, then a 2007 4runner. The Toyotas were nice but the V6 4runner didn't have enough "grunt" to safely and comfortably pull our trailer (which is why we went to the Suburban.) I also got a little tired of paying the "Toyota Tax" and while my Toyotas were nice, they were a little bland. I had seen lots of R50 Pathfinders around and always wondered about them. Now that I've got my SE I can see that they're amazingly nice little vehicles, plus I got mine at less than half of what I would have paid for an equivalent 4runner (and the 4runner would have had double the miles and an automatic transmission.) I've had the Pathy now since September, put some new shoes on in November (just in time for snow) and she's done great. I love the little "extras" like the automatic headlights, the reclining back seats, the sunroof, and the nice stereo - Even though my 4runner was 5 years newer it didn't have ANY Of those features. I also love that it's got a by-God manual transfer case shifter instead of the little dial on the 4runner or the push buttons on the Suburban. Now I wish I could say it was all sunshine and rainbows, but sadly, it's not: The whole reason I'm here is because my Pathy has the dreaded VQ35 excessive oil consumption problem. And that's a shame because except for the oil consumption, I LOVE every other thing about this vehicle! It's fun to drive, peppy on the freeway, handles nicely and does great in the snow. It's comfortable and quiet and gets reasonably good MPG (~17 in mixed city driving, which I think is decent for a 4x4 SUV.) Anyway, I'm hoping to get some good insight on the oil consumption issue here. Other forums don't seem to have much institutional knowledge so I'm hoping for some kind of practical solution here.