csprinkle

Once again, thanks for the pointers, and yeah.. needle nose pliers as well, but they did work out fine in the end. Now I'm just wondering what else to fix on my car before my big road trip..

Success! Took about 3 seconds after leaving the driveway for me to realize how easy it coasts now. Did a test drive for around 30 minutes in a pretty hilly area and I have to say I am quite satisfied. Thanks for the guidance here, really happy with how it turned out so far. Hope these somewhat cheap ($100 ish a pair) SKP hubs last me a while! More random blurbs about my installation experience: The install took me about an hour for the first one to kind of figure out what I was looking at and how to take the thing apart, but the second hub took 15-20min after I got the hang of it. In my opinion, the hardest part was wrangling the stupid O-ring clip thing (or whatever you want to call it) on and off the axle. Maybe I just grabbed the wrong pliers but that part was brutal. Also, didn’t have to take the wheels off to install, for any other newbies wondering.

Planning to do the manual hub installation tonight. I don't have any spare grease on me so I'm going to install without it today, but someone holler if I gotta go put some back on before driving more. Hopefully I have the tools to remove the oem auto hub, looks like its in there pretty good. Excited to feel the Pathy roll down the hill without needing to step on the gas to maintain speed limit

Bought the 28-Spline version of the SKP SK404461 manual locking hub (set of two). Will keep the thread updated if/when I get to it this week! Thanks again for the help on this so far, really appreciate it.

I did watch a couple videos on YouTube of owners/repairmen doing the valve cover gasket replacement and it seemed to get really tricky and time-consuming. That said, I do have a good week-long stretch where I'll have another car available to commute with but I don't have the parts on-hand yet (oops). Just ordered "FEL-PRO VS 50608 R Engine Valve Cover Gasket Set" and "Permatex 82180 Ultra Black Maximum Oil Resistance RTV Silicone Gasket Maker" off Amazon. Was gonna run with Rockauto.com but the shipping/return process on Amazon works better for me. I'll drop another comment if/when the valve cover gasket repair ever comes to fruition. I work 10s and I might realize pretty quick that working on my car is the last thing I want to do when I get off work Although I can always save it for the weekend. Thanks for the extra guidance again.

Thanks for the replies! The quote for a valve cover gasket replacement was somewhere near an upwards of $2600 which seems outrageous, so I won't worry about the oil leak. And it doesn't seem like it would affect the car much so long as I keep topping off the oil. Will definitely take a look at the factory service manual... Haven't really flipped through that too much yet. It honestly seems like I'm getting greedy with the mechanical condition of my pathy, as it basically runs flawlessly minus said conditions in my post above. Thanks again for the pointers! I'll update if I attempt to fix anything.

Hey all! Thanks for the info - going to give stuff another read-through in a moment but yeah, I got a manual transfer haha.. Sorry should have mentioned that

Okay - bear with me here. I'm looking to get manual hubs to fully disconnect my 4wd system from the front wheels and as I rarely ever pop my pathy into 4wd. Can someone explain manual hubs to me like I'm stupid? I've done google searches, youtube videos, etc. but I still don't feel confident in if they are even beneficial to me. I want my car to be able to "coast" or "roll" better. It feels like even when I'm on a slight downhill I still have to have my foot on the gas to keep it from losing speed at around 35-45mph. If I were to buy manual hubs, could I just grab a set of SKP SK404016 (27-spline, set of two hubs) from rockauto.com (https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=13842569&cc=1431960&pt=14103&jsn=9)? Also, do I just buy one set for the front (one hub on each front wheel, none on rear), or do I buy two sets (one hub on each wheel). My understanding is that I'd have hubs at least on the front wheels to let them disconnect from the 4wd system completely and roll freely. I'm not looking for it to last forever like Warn hubs, but need a decent solution. Thanks to anyone who can help me out here - not a car expert but trying to learn a thing or two.

Hey all, Thinking of doing a road trip from WA down the coast to Cali sometime and I wanted to make sure my pathy is in good enough condition to confidently do so. It's my commuter/daily so I know it can get me to work and back fine but there still are three pending codes that it likes to throw, as well as a check engine light. Here they are: P0740 Starter Signal Circuit/Torque Converter Clutch Solenoid, P0420 Catalyst System Bank 1, and P0430 Catalyst System Bank 2. In the past, I've had a P0304 misfire but I solved that with a new spark plug/ignition coil. Also, I am by no means anything more than a socket and wrench mechanic. I have an OBDII Innova 5210 Handheld scanner that I can use for at-home testing, but I'm not sure where to start. For P0740, is that worth getting diagnosed at a shop? I don't mind shelling out a bit of money to get that one fixed by a professional since I'm not too keen on tinkering with my transmission. I did a quick search on the 96-2004 R50 forums and found minimal information on a fix; maybe I just wasn't looking for the right keywords. My gears seem to change fine, first to second is always rough but there's never any gears that get stuck and I've never experienced a stall. For the two cat codes, P0420 and P0430, are those even worth looking at? Or rather, if I don't pay any attention to them now will that come back to bite me? I'd like to get that fixed if its bogging down my power, since I feel like I'm driving a tank sometimes when I go up a hill at anything sub 2500 rpm. Maybe I just drive slow. And lastly, I have a decent oil leak issue. I would assume the valve cover gasket is in shambles, but I'd prefer to have that one done at a shop as well. I've attached a photo that shows what I think is oil running down the underbelly towards the front of the vehicle - someone more knowledgeable would probably be able to diagnose where the leak is coming from. The oil pan seems to have a bit of the leak but majority of the leakage doesn't seem to be below the oil pan when I check. Again, should I just let that one be and keep refilling with synthetic 5W-30? Kinda sucks to leave a footprint everywhere I park. Some extra info: SE 2002 4wd auto mileage: 277,000 miles combined avg mpg: 17.5 slight vibration in chassis and steering wheel when idle, gets worse when highway speeds If you are able to answer even one question that I've asked in this post, that would mean a ton to me. Really trying to figure out what's going on with my pathy so I don't let it get in worse condition. Thank you!

Hey all, I'm not too knowledgeable on how detailing works so forgive me if I'm glossing over things. I currently have the factory brown paint on my pathfinder but I was looking at possibly getting chrome front and rear bumpers like some older 4runners do. I've attached an image of a random 4runner that has what I'm specifically referring to circled in red. Also, the paint job on my pathfinder is starting to chip and peel in some places so I was looking at possibly getting that redone sometime. I like the look of the factory silver paint job on pathfinders, but I'm not sure if it's worth doing to the whole entire car just for cosmetic purposes. I'm skeptical on dumping money on body work since I should probably be tending to mechanical repairs instead. Its still running on the original transmission which is probably on its way out (270k+ miles on the odometer), and its leaking oil like no tomorrow. Any guidance here would be greatly appreciated!

Hello all, I've been looking to retrofit the headlights in my '02 SE, is this something that's worth doing just for cosmetic's sake? I'm not really sure where to look for good quality headlight retrofits, so could anyone point me in the right direction? Forgive me if this request is a bit vague, I've just been seeing some cooler looking headlight designs out there (e.g. "angel eyes") and not sure how to go about obtaining that look. Thanks, csprinkle

Thanks for the reply, Chris! Just ordered some new struts for my rear glass hatch. For anyone else looking at this thread, these are the struts I purchased off eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/124245651388 Thanks, csprinkle P.S. Love your videos, Chris

Hello all - Haven't really used the rear glass hatch in my pathfinder a lot, and I tried to open it up this past weekend but it wouldn't stay open on its own. Is this by design, or do I need to look into a fix for this? I've been doing a bit of car camping setup recently and I wanted to try to get some air moving in the trunk area since the trunk door can't open from the inside . I just bought some rain deflectors for my windows, though, so hopefully that will hold me down airflow wise if the rear glass hatch can't stay open on its own. Thanks, csprinkle

Hello all, I've noticed a slight decline in my gas mileage despite ditching the lead foot. I've been staying around 2500rpm on the highway and using cruise control when I can, but my mpg is still around 16. 99% of the time I am in rwd, so I don't think the 4wd system is really to blame here. I think my cats might be clogged because there's been a P0304 misfire code for a while now, dunno if that has anything to do in this situation. I've bounced around from Shell, Costco, Chevron, etc. over the course of a year and still saw the same results (all using premium/92 fuel). Does anyone have any suggestions of where to start with tackling this sort of problem or should I just give it a rest? At the end of the day, I know it's a fuel-hungry V6, but I would expect a little more mpgs while driving like a grandma down the highway Thanks!

Hello, My front windows, especially on the driver's side, roll up/down very slowly. When it gets cooler outside, to maybe 30-40f range, sometimes the windows won't move at all unless I push or pull the top of the glass myself. I'm not entirely sure what's wrong with it but I can only assume the window motor is on it's last leg. I do notice that the rubber lining on the bottom of the window on the outside is being dragged with the window, so when I roll the window down, the rubber track starts peeling into the door cavity. Apologies if my description doesn't make any sense, I would add a photo but a family member drove my car out today. Is this something that would be relatively easy to fix or should I just let it be? I'm not too interested in having to take the door apart for the windows because frankly I don't like them being wide open anyway, but it gets annoying at entry gates/drive thru windows.

My SportRack basket just arrived yesterday, pretty excited but I'll have to wait until the weekend to install it because those bolts in the rear where the recovery hooks are won't budge at all and I don't have a breaker bar at the moment (although I'm sure I could borrow one from a friend). I also got a matching cargo bag from SportRack, so I should be all set for roof storage. Good point about the garage; I usually park outside though so I shouldn't run into any problems there. Thanks for the input!

Good to know, I'll probably refrain from touching anything related to a lift/suspension until I run into any difficulties in my infrequent off-road drives. Thanks for the reply!

Thank you both for your input, I'll be sure to bring these items along. Can't wait to hit the road!

Hey all, looking to get into some car camping and road trips with my R50 for when the spring/summer season rolls around. I figured I'd start collecting gear now so I'm all ready to go when the sun hits. Currently, I have a rear hitch, roof cargo basket, and typical camping supplies. I don't plan on doing too much off-road driving yet since that seems like quite the investment (time/money wise). Is there anything else I should look into buying, like an awning or other interior items that would make sleeping and quality-of-life better? My plan right now is to stow the middle seats and roll out sleeping bags, but I'm open to other ideas. Thanks, csprinkle

Hello, I've been wanting to get into a bit of off-roading/lifting my pathfinder. I've read through a bit of posts on here and realized that maybe spacer lifts aren't the best option, but it's the only thing I'm able to comfortably afford at the moment. If I were to continue down the path of spacer lifts, what is the most viable height for front and rear that wouldn't require me to do too much other handywork on the car (shocks, springs, etc)? I'm not really too sure where I should buy from, but I see that sfcreation still sells front spacers, not sure about rear. Apologies if I have the wrong idea about this or if I've posted the hundredth identical post asking about lifts. Thanks!

Found this at home depot but I'm a bit skeptical https://www.homedepot.com/p/Mockins-250-lb-Roof-Rack-Basket-with-16-CF-Roof-Bag-Roof-Rack-Cargo-Basket-Adjusts-from-43-64-in-L-x-39-in-W-x-6-in-H-MA-34/323073945#overlay

Hello, wondering which route to go for storing cargo on the roof of my '02 LE. I'm not particularly good with DIY and to my understanding there's no way to just slap a cargo basket on the roof and call it a day, so would it be better to just go for a roof bag with straps instead? I don't think I'll be doing any off-roading, this is mostly for camping/road trips. I have a gift card for REI so I looked there for roof bags and saw they have a Sherpak Go! 15 Roof Bag but I don't think I've ever seen a roof bag out on the road before. All opinions are welcomed. Thanks! Edit: My pathfinder has factory roof rails and crossbars.

Hey all - There's been an oil leak on this Pathfinder for a couple years now and I wanted to try and tackle it on my own. It's dripping from the oil pan in the front of the car and some weeks it gets so bad that I have to put almost a full quart in. Other weeks, it doesn't lose nearly as much oil, though. Not sure if this is means much but figured I'd give some extra info. Anyways, the drivability of the car doesn't seem to be affected by it but I'm wondering if it is more worth my time to try and repair this or keep buying more motor oil. Just ask if more clarification is needed. Thanks and happy holidays!

Hey all, Just scanned my 2002 Nissan pathfinder LE since the check engine light has been on/blinking for quite some time now. I posted previously about this but I gave little detail, so this time I come bearing codes. The codes are 'P0304 Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected' and 'P0740 A/T TCC Solenoid Circuit Malfunction'. I am by no means a car guy so I don't know what these mean, so I came here for assistance. I probably have tools to repair most things but I'm on the edge about buying parts for repairs because I could use that money to save for a new car instead (I don't know if I will bring my pathfinder to college). But if the parts aren't too pricey I'll try and fix the car up. So far, I've received suggestions that I should swap cylinders from another to #4, replace spark plugs (although my dad replaced plugs fairly recently), and even to use a compression tester (?). So, would a beginner be able to tackle these repairs (P0304 & P0740) or should I take it into the shop instead? Extra unnecessary info: It might be worth noting that my dad owned the car for about 20 years so he knows some repairs but not the specific codes that came up. I've done research on the codes in the forums here and saw that there could be a pressure leak in one of the cylinders (?). Images of the scans are attached (in case you can't see them, the only additional info are parts that the scan recommended I buy for the repair). Thanks, Cameron Sprinkle

Thanks for the detailed reply! Sorry that I'm just getting around to reading this now, had a pretty busy week. I'll try what you suggested when I have a free weekend and I'll update the thread when I've done so. Again, thank you for the suggestions, because otherwise I'd be completely clueless on what to do