jaafallon

The alignment is probably a good move. One other thing you might think about is finding someone else to do the balance. Since you've used the same place twice it might be them (or the machine they use). At this point though I'd find a speed shop or someone that really knows what they're doing, not a local discount shop that hires a new kid to do the balancing every other week. Good luck. jim

On my 2003 SE I put a "Draw-Tite" hitch on, including light hookup, in about two hours. The instructions that came with it were pretty good but didn't mention the EVAP canister. I decided to remove the bolts also. It helped. It seems that there was something else (driver's side) that I broke. Can't remember what it was but I used a plastic tie to fix it. Another thing that really helped was my mmotorcycle jack. I put the hitch on the jack, rolled it into place and slowly positioned it so I didn't have to try and lift it with one hand while putting bolts in with the other. A helper would easily be worth the price of a six-pack. As I remember, the lights were kind of hard and I had to look for quite awhile to find a spot where I could get the wiring outside the body. Since you're taking it off another vehicle, you'll have an idea of how to do it. Good luck. jim

Hi, I'm new to this forum but have found some good information. Thanks. I have two questions: 1. Is the "# 6 sparkplug " problem discussed in this forum applicable to only a specific engine or is it common to most Pathfinders? What years have the problem? 2. I read the "tune up guide" above where someone switched to iridium sparkplugs. I didn't see any comments by him as to whether he thought it was a worthwhile change or not. Anybody know? Thanks, jim

It is a lot of work and the books I have on doing it are not perfect. I tried to drill it out without removing the head but my drill kept "walking sideways" and so ... After I got the head out I drilled on the broken stud for at least 20 minutes with a cobalt bit (7/64th) and have barely nade a dent in it so I'm now taking it to a local machine shop and going to pay the pros to get the two studs out. jim

It does have guide pins but thats not what these are for. Hopefully someone will know what the rings are. Actually though, I'm probably going to have to take the valve cover off the other head anyway, so I'll just look for the rings on that head. Assuming I do find them, I'll post the answer. It'll probably be awhile before I get to it. Thanks jim

There is nothing on the inside of the valve cover that would apparently hold these. By the way, in the bottom picture, I have placed the two rings where they seem to fit, but it isn't so obvious that I'm satisfied I have it right. jim

I'm in the process of fixing two broken exhaust manifold studs. I wish now that i'd just forked over the money to the dealer, but thats hindsight. Anyway, when I took the head off, I turned it upside down to drian some fluid. When I turned it back over I found two metal rings (they look like small, short pipe) .4 inch long and about .35 in diameter. There are two "holes" in the head that they appear to fit into, but I'm not sure that a good way to determine what they are or where they go. I'll try to attach photos and see if someone recognizes them and can tell me where they need to be when I put this thing back together. Thanks all, jim