PathyGig12

Agreed. As much as the starter is a pain to negotiate, I’d rather do it three times than do the alternator once I think if I had to recommend one tool to anyone considering changing theirs, it would be a long locking vascular clamp with a bent nose to get the bracket to the back of the alternator. If I had those it would have been much easier. But honestly the rest of the job sucks as well because you have to take off the fan, shroud, belts, idler pulley, and PS pump(just to get to the wiring even if you aren’t changing it also). Anyway, on to the next phase. I’m hoping to order a set of hitachi injectors soon and get started on the rest of the engine work I’ve been planning since the summer. I already have the plugs, knock sensor, valve cover gaskets, pcv valve, spark plug tube seals, and upstream O2 sensors sitting in my garage. Ive just been waiting to get the injectors before taking the intake apart. Debating also doing the thermostats but that’s another ugly job so might hold off. A few weeks back I changed the IAC valve so that’s one less thing to do. Idles great after the relearn procedure, and you could see on the old one that the corrosion was all around the motor so I’m glad I swapped it out when I did. Who knows how much longer I had before it went

Update time: This past week I’ve been going ham. I decided to tackle all the awful jobs all at once because I was getting a low whine from the power steering pump so I went and replaced it with a brand new hitachi unit and swapped the alternator as well while I was in there. Then yesterday I changed the starter because every winter I get a few days where the solenoid sticks and won’t engage for a few tries, so I figured it was prudent to get it changed out ASAP to make sure I didnt get stuck anywhere when it finally stuck permanently. It’s hard to say which job I hated more, but I’ll say this. I want to beat the crap out of whoever designed the alternator mounting system. Theres a small “L” shaped bracket with a nut welded onto the back but the bracket isn’t physically attached to anything, it just rests against the back of the alternator, so to bolt up the new alternator you have to wedge your hand through a mess of wiring harnesses and coolant hoses and around motor mounts and brackets, and finally use the tips of two fingers to hold the nut up to the back of the alternator while your other hand reaches around blind to turn the bolt. Needless to say I was bleeding by the time I managed to get it on and I’m shocked that I didn’t tear anything. As if that wasn’t bad enough, remounting the power steering pump is an exercise in extreme patience because you have to pry the damn thing back into position since the mounts are so tight, and every time you have it almost lined up to bolt through, either the front or the back won’t be perfect and you’ll have to try again but end up overcorrecting and need to go back. And of course it’s all done blind unless you drop your phone in there and take a picture to see, which is what I ended up doing. All in all I ended up logging 14 hours in the garage Fast forward to yesterday and it was time for the starter swap. This job was the one I was dreading the most because of the all the horror stories about how difficult it was, but I have to say it wasn’t nearly as bad as I built it up to be. The only challenging part was reinstalling the new unit because you have to clear the solenoid terminals past a bracket that gives you very little room to move. I didn’t have to remove anything from the truck though, the front diff stayed in place and so did everything else. I even managed to get it past my missing link bar. The key to reinserting the end of the starter into the bell housing (the hardest part) is to have the thin metal gasket in the right orientation so that you can still rotate the starter because if it’s misaligned the part that’s 90 degrees to the rest of it will be hitting on brackets and blocking things Im hoping to never have to do these jobs again, everything about them is just pure suck

When you have a minute, I’d love to hear more about this. Are you suggesting that motion in the Tcase is translating to the front shaft through a fluid friction interaction which keeps the front spinning even when the clutch plates are disengaged? Id just really love to see the inner workings of the Tcase and what happens under different conditions to demystify this whole thing I can say that the last couple times I’ve been off-road I’ve had the hubs locked and the truck in 4Hi and noticed every once in a while I’d get a steady 4WD light on the dash If I was doing a tight turn or reversing awkwardly. It also happened once in 4low. As soon as I restarted the truck, the light was gone. Whether this is a damage related issue or maybe an oil temp issue, I have no idea. But I’ll say this......it never happened before I put the manual hubs on so I can’t rule out the possibility that some kind of damage is being done to the clutch plates

The problem with the electronic system is we don’t even understand how it works exactly. All evidence so far points to the fact that the front drive shaft continues to spin regardless of whether the hubs are locked or not, so I’m not entirely surprised that accidentally activating 4Hi didn’t harm anything. With the shaft still spinning it means the CVs must still be spinning inside the hubs, and that means giving them power would still not “break” anything. Eventually it would probably throw up a light because of the wheel speed sensors though The reason the front shaft still spins is not entirely understood, but I’ve been told it’s because of the clutch plates being partially engaged. So either it’s an issue with the TCase being confused, or maybe just normal operation that the clutch plates never disengage fully. Either way, it makes manual hubs much trickier because there’s no telling what’s really being done to the internals. I’ve had my Warn hubs for the last 15K miles and no real issues except a weird vibration that may or may not be related but sometimes goes away at high speeds and stays gone for the rest of a drive, which seems suspiciously like a TCase thing

Most people would recommend the electronic setup for the AUTO mode that gives you all wheel drive with an open center diff. It’s fantastic for bad weather so that you can still turn without plowing through corners. But the flip side is the truck can get very confused if it’s in any other setup than stock because there’s so many sensors involved in running the TCase. Personally I don’t find that the electronic system is worth it. I’d swap in a manual in a heart beat if it were easy. I don’t trust a system I don’t fully understand and which has so many potential failure points. Same with the transmission, I’d prefer a manual Edit to add: My current plan is to add a rear air locker so that even if my 4WD system stops working on a trail, I’ll be able to use the locker to make the rear more effective and allow me to make it home

Holy crap I think that’s it. Takes me back man! Looks a lot less scary now though, I’m sure you can do it easily

Pronghorn trail was a good one. There was a nasty steep downhill somewhere along the way, can’t remember where exactly. All I remember was being 9 years old on a TTR90 scared @!*%less when my wheels locked up on dirt covered rock and I slid all the way down. Good times

Was considering doing all of mine red but I’m too lazy to take them out. Especially the fronts

When I lived out there Gorman was the go to spot for dirt biking and wheeling. Great place but it can get pretty crowded sometimes

She’s a beauty, I’ve always loved the red Pre-facelifts

Pretty sure Etsy has them. I might be wrong but the user making them should be “pathmaker productions”

Thanks for weighing in guys, I appreciate the responses. I guess this week I’ll try to throw on the new one and hope for the best. Being in Colorado and it’s almost winter, I don’t like the idea of bypassing the throttle body but I could always do it as a sort of seasonal thing maybe? That would at least double the life of the new IAC

Hey thanks man, that’s some good info there. It does leave me a bit confused though. Number one, is this issue isolated to the nissan VQs, or do other engines run coolant through their IAC valves as well? In either case, why would the part be made of something susceptible to corrosion by coolant if it was designed to run this way? I’m not talking about the motor by the way, I’m talking about whatever part of the valve is being corroded and allowing coolant to get to the motor. And on top of that, does this mean that regular cleaning of the IAC wont help to stop the issue with corrosion? Number 2, would a gasket change offer the same protection as swapping the entire part? Is the gasket keeping the coolant out or is it the metal structure of the unit that keeps the coolant from getting into the motor? If so, which gasket? Surely not the one around the edges that keeps air out?

Hey guys So I know there are some threads about this topic but I’d like to get the current consensus and most up to date info that the community has. My plan is to swap out my IACV before it goes bad because I have 285K in the original part and I know it’s famous for taking the ECU down with it when the resistance drops too low in the motor. My question for you guys is which manufacturer would you recommend and what the processes is for re-teaching idle afterwards (or if this is even necessary if the part is swapped while still in good working order). How many success stories are out there, any bad failures after a swap? Specifically when the part is being changed preventatively. Every post I saw when researching this part has involved replacement after failure and a need to repair the ECM at the same time Edit to add: I’ve heard mixed reports on the Hitachi part, but I always thought that it was OEM? How could it be worse than the OEM part which costs $200 if they’re both made by hitachi? I already have the hitachi sitting in the garage and don't want to resell it and look for a nissan OEM if they both have the same chance of failure Oh yeah and one more thing. I noticed that the Motor is a separate piece, is there a way to swap just the motor since that’s the part that will fail? Or maybe even rebuild it? I saw some ebay sellers of what looks like the motor but can’t find a part number on rock auto

My truck does have a clunk but usually only when there’s a weight transfer while turning, both forward and reverse. So if you are backing up out of a parking spot and tap the brakes to switch to drive again, it’ll do the clunk thing. But if I go very slowly and don’t use the brake much, no clunk. Is this what you’re describing? I don’t have any squealing while driving though So far I’ve pretty much ruled out CV joints and sway bar bushings or end links (all replaced), so I’m starting to consider tie rod joints and various mounts.

Take a look around the strut tower top hats in the engine bay, the drivers side is kinda buried under a few things so it’s possible I guess

Im struggling to see how the ECM could be affected by a lift install. As long as you didn’t have to weld anything, which you shouldn’t have had to do. I’m very interested in seeing what this turns out to be Pretty hard to believe that it could be a coincidence though

Oh yeah and small update. I picked up a second set of camber bolts to fix the wacky camber finally. With both bolts in, I was able to get the drivers side perfectly aligned but the passenger side doesn’t want to play as nice. I’ll try again today, it’s so hard to tell before putting the wheel on I also swapped out the drivers side CV with the busted boot while I was in there to see if that was the cause of the clunk, no luck. It seems to be coming from the passenger side anyway but I figured it was worth a shot anyway.

Whaaaaattttt???? Holy crap I never expected to see my truck in another members pic! That’s awesome man, my girlfriend works there and drives the rig to work sometimes. Says she gets tons of compliments lmao. Wonder why I don’t get as many when I’m driving it? Ha

Well the bushings didn’t help at all. Clunk is still the same.Damn. The inner boot on my passenger side tie rod is destroyed and it seems gritty in the joint so I’m leaning towards that now. Could still be a CV, right now I’m trying to source a second used OEM shaft so I can swap both together. I have one already that’s sitting in the back as my spare. I figure I’ll put on OEMs for the best strength and joint flexibility and take off the Cardones for spares

I think your truck looks great man. Not too much rake at all IMO, but it’s all up to what you prefer. If it were me I’d just add some cargo to the back lol I was actually having the opposite issue with the 9447s, they were a tiny bit too soft and my cargo heavy so I was getting a negative rake and had to bump up to the 9449s

Awesome. Bottom one looks like a professional commercial

Fair enough, if the bushings don’t fix it then I’ll look into the CVs more. But I’d also like to point out that I’ve notice these past two days that the clunk only happens when there’s a weight transfer, for example when I’m reversing and then tap the break or switched to drive and touch the gas. So to me that doesn’t sound like CVs. But then again a weight transfer to the rear can extend the front slightly more and make the CVs bind slightly, so it’s possible I guess.

As I mentioned, that was my first thought as well but the clunk would most likely be repetitive if it were coming from a bad CV. As of right now, I never get it more than once in either direction. It also seems to happen more when there’s a big weight transfer and faster movement. That said, my drivers side CV boot is definitely compromised so it’s conceivable that it could be getting gummed up in there. Might be worth replacing either way because I do have a spare OEM lying around. Bushings first though, then I’ll go from there

So I’ve been trying to figure out this weird new clunking sound coming from the front. It happens when I’m reversing close to full lock out of a parking spot in either direction, and sometimes it does it when I switch from reverse to drive while the wheels are still turned and start going forward. Sometimes it’ll do both in a row. Sometimes nothing. And the intensity of the clunk varies from soft and subtle to “oh my god what did I hit” Every once in a while I get a soft version of it while going over bumpy terrain, or while making a sharp turn or braking suddenly, but nowhere near as bad as reversing. When it happens while reversing It sounds like something binding under tension and then releasing. My first thought was end links or CVs, but it’s not repetitive each revolution, and I replaced the end links a while back and have tightened them quite a lot to make sure they aren’t even slightly loose. Does anyone think it could be bad sway bar bushings? Maybe even tie rods? I changed the tie rods recently as well but one of the boots is compromised now and it’s possible some crap got in. I ordered the bushings to try since it’s the cheapest option on the list but I’m not entirely convinced it’ll work. Seems more likely to be steering related to me