brickheadbs

Thanks for the heads up! I'm on my third Nissan (1 pickup, 2 pathy) and its great to know a truck so well you just about know everything that can go wrong with it. My connections are corroding a lot especially that one that attaches off to the side of the main cable. I was wondering how to fix it. Got my instructions now!

I'm a little more conservative than that... I start with a 12lb sledge hammer and work my way up.

Cool, that sounds easy. I guess if I had gotten a bright light and looked close I may have seen that... For the lock...I don't know how you describe the parts. I think the part that moves when you pull the open lever is probably called the latch. If I remember right since I haven't seen it in a long time :-() the latch popped off, i.e. ejected with the spring. I remember pushing it back on and holding it down till I could slam it shut. Hmmm...I guess it would make sense that it is stuck shut if I had to do that...I didn't look to see how the locking mechanism worked before I did that. We were going somewhere and I didn't want to listen to my passenger complain about the hanging open box the whole time. So once I get the box open and the pins removed, what part am I looking for to stop it from falling open?... Yeah, I can take some pics. It may be a little while before I have time to mess around with it. I'm having eye surgery next week. And, besides, it's really cold and snowing out so I will likely procrastinate a little after that. :-| How do you upload a picture anyway? Just put it as an attachment? Oh, and thanks for the quick reply!

I had 32x11.50s on my 91 stock. Had to remove the mudflaps and trim the back of the flares ever so slightly. Drove it like there was no tomorrow and it survived. Would it be worth it to have less trouble to go with 32"s? (I'd post pics but dunno how. I'm a forum illiterate computer geek.)

1995 Pathfinder: recently purchased with broken glove box. The glove box would fall down and dump it's contents out on the floor, which was annoying. The latch came apart and it wouldn't stay closed either!!! I tried to put the latch back together and now it's stuck shut!!! Can't win, eh? The interior is in very good shape so I am thinking it will be difficult to find a matching replacement if I need to replace the whole thing. I'm not sure what part is missing that holds the thing closed since - well, it's missing! Where is the stop? and if the actual box is broken, how do you remove it? As far as the latch goes, I'm afraid that I'm going to break the dash part if I just yank it open. I'd rather just keep it stuck shut than make things worse. Suggestions anyone?

THERMOSTAT: Been there, done that... Yeah, I bought my '95 in November of '06, noticed the lack of heat when a cold wave came and it stayed -5F for the whole month...tried replacing the t-stat and IT DIDN'T WORK!!! After freezing your but off that makes you a bit unhappy. FIX: I ended up going to a dealer to fix. It ended up that when I installed the new one it hadn't seated properly and it bent when I tightened the housing back on. After they swapped it everything was fine. IT REALLY SUCKED TO SPEND ALL THAT TIME IN THE COLD TRYING TO FIX IT, HAVE IT NOT WORK, AND FREEZE FOR THE REST OF THE WINTER!!!!! At least I'm warm this winter. Hey, there is no post about the hard shifts at the beginning. I've been searching about that and found vague answers, pretty much that it's normal. Can you include that tip (even though it's not a fix). SPARE TIRE CARRIER (AND POWER ANTENNA): 3 in 1 oil. I never used the stuff before, but after applying 3 in 1 oil every day or two for a whole month the tire carrier loosened up and now is perfectly fine, just like new. I've been doing the same for the power antenna and it keeps improving. I cleaned it off with ultra-fine steal wool and keep putting 3 in 1 on it and now it will go down if I turn the radio off, on, off, to allow it a second try :-)

Regarding the O/D on the highway... I don't know if Nissan was the only one smart enough... but if you switch the O/D off when you are going over (about) 55mph the torque converter will lock up (I'm pretty sure it won't lock unless it is O/D manually switched off). This is what would save the heat. It seems to give a pinch more power in my opinion - I use it to enter highways. You will feel it lock up around 55 and notice your RPMs drop just like when it locks in O/D. My Altima works the same. It's a very smart thing. I don't know much about converter locks, but why don't they just lock up in drive and stay locked? I know you can make a manual override - but are there some downsides to that? (another subject...) Oh, and how about this question... can you OVER-COOL a tranny? It can get down to -10F here on occasion. I also found that if you set your cruse control for a speed less then you are going (i.e. 35 then go 55 manually) the converter will stay locked when you take your foot off the accelerator. This saves a bunch of lock/unlock cycling when you are on hilly roads and makes it feel easier to drive since it adds extra engine breaking. Just don't forget the cruse is still set for that lower speed!!! It'll kick in when you drop back down! Regarding fluid changes... I just recently changed mine (3rd owner, 184K, no idea of history). I was unsure about changing due to the "ain't broke" mentality, but figured it was a better option. I LOVE the fact that they put a very easy to access drain plug!!! The dealer said that there was no filter anyway, just a screen (I'm sure there is a magnet in there that's covered with gooey metallic junk...) Rather than have a flush done for $120+, I drained the tranny, filled it with the exact same amount I drained (measured with wife's help [required begging]). I used MaxLife. It makes sense to use something designed for high mileage. It took me about an hour and a half. I changed the fluid TWICE to be able to flush out a higher percentage of the old fluid (as everybody knows, the torque converter doesn't drain out). I drove about 20 minutes up to Wal-Mart to mix out the old fluid. It cost me about $40 and was very easy. The funnel that I bought was made for refilling. The plastic tube fit tightly into the dipstick/fill tube. Super easy. Concern... After the first flush the tranny made a funny sound, it also shifted smoother, which was good. It wasn't crazy loud, but quite noticeable. It scared me that I made the WRONG CHOICE!!! I can't explain the sound. It reminds me of a piece of very thin metal, like aluminum foil, dragging across a shaft very lightly. It wasn't related to gear selection. It made the sound in neutral when moving. It didn't increase in sound once you hit 25 or so. I went ahead and did the second fluid change after I got back. This time the noise mostly went away. I still think I can hear it ever so lightly. Odd, eh? Ticking time bomb??? Finally... I've put on at least another 3k (up to 188k) and it's been fine despite the faint noise, so far. It shifts better than it did before the change. However it has always shifted very hard, especially into 1st gear. Has anyone found any posts about that? (send link)