BowTied

I agree with nunya, filter time. I hope that works out for you. I presume you didn't get any codes?

I lift my ~500lb BBC out with a 3/8" bolt at opposite corners on each head with some chain. That should lift a 3.5 block no problem.

I have no idea. What I would try: Make a loooong skiny tube that goes on the end of a compressed air blow gun. Make another tube that would fit beside the first one in the spark plug access hole that adapts to a shop vac. The idea being that the blast of compressed air would stir the screw around enough to get sucked up to the shop vac. This would need to be done on the compression stroke so the valves were closed. Maybe a magnet would work in place of the shop vac tube. Maybe it would work all by itself if you could get it in there?

Sorry to hear that man. When the screw falls into the engine it can get sucked right into the combustion chamber where it could score piston, cylinder walls, damage valves. It will bounce around in there until, maybe, it goes into the exhaust and into the cat.

Sometimes a starter gets a dead spot. Only stops there once in a while, so no-start is random. Does it only no-start when warm (always starts in the morning, but sometimes doesn't start after a drive)? Could be a heat soak thing on a weak starter/solenoid. Had that happen to a couple of Chevs I owned.

YOu might be getting restricted trans fluid flow through your rad?

Congrats! What temp is your engine at?

5 years? Guess what I am gonna say? yes, cap and rotor too.

Does the trans/t-case have a vent, and if so is it plugged? I know this happens on some Chevys...

I bet you got the plugs / cap wet and the ignition system was shorting. How old are your plug wires?

Thanks for posting Jose. How many miles on your rig?

I don't think the power valves dictate the towing capacity, it is more about the strength of the cltuch and manual trans (and likely warranty claim mitigation). You might find that you can get the low end you want by changing your gears instead of the cam. THe VQ has dual over head cams (4) and they are variable valve timing I think. Not something to mess with IMHO. To you guys who are happy to find this info: go spread the word that NPORA rocks!

Make sure it has good plugs wires, cap and rotor. check the plug gap. do these first, it is cheaper than pulling the engine big time. Run fuel injector cleaner through it (I do a double dose to one tank if it has not been done in a while). Verify timing. Usually bad air filter and fuel filter affect top end more than bottom end, but if these are due for change.... dif/tcase oil should last much longer than 2 years imo. Now, if you are taking the pathy swimming regularily that might be different. I think 5 years should fine but it is more about mileage. Should be a schedule in the owners manual.

If you have not used a 2 wheel dolly to tow a car before... Check the hold-down straps twice before you leave. Then again after a mile or so and a couple of turns. The car settles on the dolly, finds it low point - re-tighten and check yet again in a couple of miles. If still tight, should be good to go...can't check that too often within reason.

The safe answer is always get somebody else to do it. If it were me, I'd put a trans cooler on it (good idea to have it anyway!) and go for it. Don't tow in overdrive. If you can avoid the freeway and just drive sensibly at 40-50mph on back highways, you'd be ok. In this case you won't have trailer brakes. Braking is the biggest problem, jack knife risk. Leave 4-5x times the normal stopping room, maybe more. Overheating your brakes could be an issue. Have you towed any vehcile before (just curious)?

and make sure both trucks have the same gear ratio

Sorry to hear that. Any pics of the carnage?

A lot of folks use the terms interchangably, it's no big deal. For any newbs reading, technically he's right though, a flywheel is something that has significant inertia to affect a rotating assembly. If you ordered a flywheel from a parts supply place, you would get a manual trans version not a flex plate.

For on highway use: If you are running stock size tires/rims - go by the sticker NOT the tire for the pressure. The tires are made to fit multiple applications and specify the maximum pressure that is relative to the maximum load rating for that tire - nothing to do with a particular vehicle. The OEM engineers specify on the sticker the correct pressure for those tires for a given vehicle for appropriate handling and braking at the given load ratings for that vehcile. If your sticker says 30, run that. ±2 psi or even a bot more is not a big deal so long as you have set your pressure at cold. The engineers have accounted for temperature variation and heat generated from driving and temperature fluctuation. Check/adjust your tire pressure regularily and you won't have any problems. If you have custom, non stock tire sizes then above does not apply and you should be inflating based on the load range and contact patch, likley by trial and error. If you have not done this, you should consider it for best safety and handling and tire wear.

Perhaps the input shaft on the trans has not cleared the end of the crank or the torque convertor?

L to H = ~ 1 litre or 1 quart.

I am not a Nissan guru but here is my experience: If during the minute or so before the oil light came on, and/or during the times since that you have been testing things, has the engine sounded different? Any rattling, tapping, clacking, ticking, that was not there the previous day? If yes, then there is something wrong and there really isn't oil pressure. This could be a oil pump pick-up tube falling off the pump, a plug oil pick up tube screen, a blown oil line or something else plugged. Bad news, big fix. If all was quiet and lovely as it was the day before the light (especially if you pulled the valve cover and checked as noted above), then you are most likely getting a false low oil pressure reading. Could be failed sending unit, bad connector at the sending unit, wire from the sending unit is broken inside from age or bending, same wire touched something hot like a manifold and melted, same wire abraided something sharp like the metal edges if the fire wall where the wire passes through. Did the light come on full/bright instantly and stay that way? Did it come on dim and/or flicker? I hope you have traced the wire as muc as you can to verify it is not damaged. If the engine was quiet, I'd be looking at the sending unit myself. You mentioned the engine "ran like crap and died" - can you expand on that? Was it noisy like marbles in the valve covers or was it just sputtering and stalled? If the latter, perhaps a 12V wire has shorted out. I hope you find the issue, good luck.

Crow, I have what appears to be the same rims on my 02 LE. They are 17" 265x75 16 calculates to 31.65" diameter; 265x75 17s calculate to 32.65". Which do you have?

Leaky injector?

I am not sure I understood your method of testing for spark at the plug, but that is a moot point now, it sure seems like it is fuel related. I have done this before as a quick and dirty test, although it isn't always accurate. Turn the key to on, but not to start. Check for the fuel pump noise. No noise is either bad pump or no power to pump. If noise is there, wait until it stops. Turn key off. Repeat 3 more times (no waiting between off and back on). Then try to start. THis could build enough pressure to fire. If it fires or seems to try but stalls, it is likely a fuel pressure issue, which is likely the pump.