HankG

I got my universals off ebay. Not sure what is there currently but you should be able to find them for around that price still.

I replaced all four of mine with Bosch universals for $25 each. I can't tell you how long they last since I only changed them 3.5k miles ago, but I haven't had any problems and easily passed the smog test. Not really your question, but if you do decide to replace all four, you might want to think about just using universals.

I'd love to see pics of the whole process, 89_trailboss.

I have a manual so no OD. My engine revs around 2900 at what the speedometer says is 65. However, it seems to read about five miles fast so 2900 at 60 approximately. Guess you have to pay for those nice low gears.

I'm not sure what Cali gas is like, but I'm actually currently running smaller than stock tires at 40 psi. The air filter looked good and the spark plugs were replaced less than 3,000 miles ago. I live in a really moderate temperature zone; it generally only ranges from 40-70F. My daily commute is about 75% highway and 25% city. I can accept the gas mileage, but if there's something to fix I'd like to do it, especially since I have high hopes for future mods. I was hoping the static mpg would be a clue, but oh well. I love driving the Pathfinder so don't mind too much, but I do have to admit I'm kind of disappointed that mine gets almost 25% lower mpg than, from the mileage threads on these boards, a stock Pathy with manual hubs should.

My question isn't really about the low mpg as much as how is it possible to get the same mpg driving as efficiently as possible as well as inefficiently as possible?

Well, not to seem presumptuous, but it's been a few days with as many as 50 people viewing the topic, but no replies. Is everyone else stumped or does this fall into the category of too dumb to answer? Forum goers tend to love telling people how dumb they are, so I wouldn't think it was that, but I also didn't think there were any Pathfinder questions that this community couldn't answer.

I am admittedly very unskilled at mechanics and so I might be way off base here, but my Pathfinder's mpg seems kind of odd. For a little history of the vehicle, it had a full tune up shortly before I got it, I replaced all four o2 sensors, the coolant temp sensor, cleaned the MAF sensor, and added Warn manual hubs. It has only been getting 15-15.5 mpg. I did a couple tanks babying it as much as possible with slow acceleration, low rpm shifts, and cruise control at 60-65 on the freeway. After that didn't change anything, I decided to go to the opposite end of the spectrum which is what I found odd. I went through this last tank driving as inefficiently as possible: fast acceleration, high rpm shifts, speeding on the freeway, and no cruise control. Despite this, I still got the exact same slightly over 15 mpg. Am I wrong to think that it is weird that my mpg doesn't change when driving in a manner that should be hurting my fuel economy by as much as or even at least 25%? Does anyone have any ideas about what this could mean in terms of possible problems? Do I just have a weird vehicle? Thanks for any help.

I've been trying to improve my mileage as well since I got the Pathfinder in December without much luck. Between what the previous owner did, what I did for smog purposes, and what I did after reading an earlier thread on mileage, the pathfinder has gotten a full tuneup, all four new o2 sensors, a new coolant temp sensor (that one helped a little since the old one was completely wrecked), clean MAF sensor, and Warn manual hubs. Also, it should be a bit below stock weight and has 225/15 AT tires (for now anyways). Despite all this, I get 16 mpg mostly highway even when doing low rpm shifts and keeping it under 65. I'm not really sure what else there is to fix; was hoping to get the highway mpg up to around 20 before adding things that would bring it back down.