Grumpy

My daughter's boyfriend cleared the codes by pulling the battery cable, but the check engine light came right back on. My daughter went to an Advanced Auto Parts store in SC, and they shot the codes for free. It's apparently a throttle postion sensor. Autozone offered to shoot the codes - for $74. Ha ha - that's a good one Guess where we ordered the sensor from?http://www.partsamerica.com/Default.aspx The price seemed fairly competitive as well, at $78. Many thanks to all.

My daughter's 97 Pathfinder lit up the "check engine" light during a 900 mile trip the other day. After parking the vehicle overnight, the check engine light is still lit. She is less than adept at things mechanical, so I'm wondering how to retrieve the codes on this vehicle. The Nissan dealer in her neighborhhod is far less than price friendly. Any tips or creative thinking would be appreciated.

WOW... what month!!?? Check your door jamb. It was built in November of '96, so I believe that's the old style mast. Bridgewood had one in stock. I should have it tomorrow morning via expedited shipping. The car will only be around here until Saturday, then my daughter takes it back to school, 900 miles away. I ordered her a new MP3 / CD player too, along with a harness to cross it over to the Bose amp / wiring. http://www.crutchfield.com/S-MeE3UMmfPLz/c...00&I=070XDM6820 This unit comes with an external jack to plug in a sat radio or ipod. I have a similar head in my car. It's a great unit for the money. Crutchfield is my friend. Maybe I'll off the Bose unit on ebay, or better yet, put it in my backhoe.

I believe that's what I'll do. I have to find what month in '97 the car vehicle was manufactured, then I'm calling Bridgewood Motorsports 516 Buffalo St. Manitowoc WI. 54220 920-686-0644 I found them on Ebay. They said they'll take it back if it doesn't work. Many thanks

The power antenna in my 95 has been shot since I got it. I just pull it up about half way and leave it there. No need to replace. Radio reception is good. Just a thought. Not a bad idea, but the mast itself is gone. She does have the windshield antenna, but there's nothing quite as good as a correct height vertical antenna for the best performance at the far ends of the signal. Finding one that's H=(DxD)/2, or : D= sq rt.(2H). H=feet, D=miles, would be nice, but I'll settle for 28 or 30 inches.

The power antenna in our 97 Pathfinder is kaput. Crutchfield does not list an antenna for this vehicle, nor do my local auto parts suppliers. I'd like to change over to a solid mast antenna, but can't yet find one that will fit. Nissan wants $200 for an OEM power antenna -- I don't think so. Nissan does not sell a solid antenna that would fit either. At this point, I may just drill a hole on top of the fender and go with a top mounted solid mast antenna. The factory antenna is on the side of the fender. If anyone has a better idea, or how to find a compatible side mount solid antenna, I would appreciate the help. FWIW, the vehicle has the Bose radio. Thanks

State Farm (the at-fault party's carrier) told the body shop it was a total. Two weeks later, State Farm decides they want to fix it. I've already bought a replacement. My brother wants to buy the 94. I did a little googling on State Farm's practices. They aren't exactly the kind of company I'd be proud to work for. Among a very lengthy list of questionable practices, they recently lost a 23 year, 145 million dollar law suit filed by a former customer that they tried to screw.

I believe if you polled the electric shock owners, and asked if they would pay an extra $5 to have electric shocks over conventional shocks, 80% wouldn't bother to pay the extra money. My point - the electric shocks (IMO) don't offer a lot of enhancement. Many just cut the wires and replace with conventional shocks when it's time to replace shocks. ps - I have my doubts about lengthening an existing shock. Perhaps a shock mount area could be modified, but the shock itself - hmm..... I could be wrong.

It's fixable, but the price of the fix exceeds the book value of the car. When the at-fault insurance carrier settles, they want the car for it's salvage value to help regain a little bit of their loss. I need to get her into another car pronto, for once they settle with me, the rental car provided has to go back within three days, or else I have to start paying for it. She's 1,000 miles from home, so I can't practically loan her my car while we fix the 94. You're always behind the 8 ball in an accident, no matter who is at fault.

ouch

I just picked up a 97 Pathfinder, with 92,300 miles on it. Here is my list of to-dos for service, prior to handing it off to my daughter. Timing belt All other belt(s) Water pump Thermostat Oil & filter Auto transmission fluid change Transfer case oil change Rear end oil change* Ball joint / front end check Brake check Plugs Air cleaner Fuel Filter What am I missing? *How do I tell if this unit has a LSD rear end?

Definitely. If I can find out from State Farm what junkyard it's going to, I'll post it. It has a fairly new in perfect condition MP3 player, 4 Goodyear tires with 90% tread, a tranny cooler, and the engine and transmission are fine, at 92,000 miles.

Looks good

I've tried some of the rust cures, and some impress me. "Rust Mort" seems to do good job, but it is extremely toxic. I bet many other brands work well too. When you're done, the stuff sets up like a very tough plastic coating, which should prevent further corrosion. The frame sections of the 94s over the rear wheels seem to need a little help if you run in the salt. If you catch 'em early, I believe you can save the frames.

If you're going to do the water pump, might as well flush the cooling system first, and throw in a thermostat for good measure while the coolant level is down, and replace with new coolant too. If you really wanna get into it, use distilled water with the new anti-freeze. It's more kind & gentle to the chemistry of the cooling system, but not a must-do issue. The potential exists to get another 60,000 miles out of that engine, which may equate to 2 or 3 years worth of driving. But then again, the guy posting this shakes engine oil bottles to put the additives into suspension prior to adding oil at oil change time, so maybe I need some medication to begin with.

The best thing about buying vehicles, is that there are so many to choose from http://used-cars.autos.yahoo.com/usedcars/...n&mo=Pathfinder

The 97's have exhaust stud issues too? f@#$ ! I prefer the look of the 95s and earlier, and the full frames they have, but I read that the 95s and earlier may have problems with survivable crush space after rollovers, so I wanted to put her in a 96 or later. She [hopefully] isn't off road too much. Maybe on the beaches down south. As far as her looks go, I'd feel better about if she weighed 300 lbs, but so it goes. If you see her and she reaches into her handbag, she's probably coming out with a gun.

The 97 is in good shape, but I'm going to miss the real frame in the 94. Oh well - life goes on.

camera phone - what can I tell ya?

The new one

A driver in Charleston, SC ran a red light the other night, and my daughter's beloved 94 Pathfinder is no more. She's fine, but mighty pissed at losing a great 94, with 92,000 miles on it, and no mechnical issues. I found a '97 today to put her in, and it has a small issue - the brake light is on in the dash. I worked the e-brake handle a few times, but the light is still on. Any ideas? Also, at what point is the timing belt due on a '97? Any other tips on 97s? The FAQ doesn't list too many problem areas. Thanks

It's a good idea to drain the oil after driving for a while, when it is warm, as the contaminants should be in suspension while draining. Draining overnight never hurts either, but it isn't a must. When refilling, top off the oil to the bottom of the hole, then wait a half hour or so to see if the oil settles out into the nooks and crannies, then add a little more to bring the level back up. It wouldn't hurt to refill with synthetic oil either, if you don't mind springing a few extra bucks, but it isn't a must. Conventional gear oil will work fine too. If I'm not mistaken, the drain and fill plugs are tapered - pipe thread. The taper helps keep everything tight and from leaking, but you don't want to over tighten when replacing the plugs, because the threads mash together causing the same problems again at removal time. ```````````````````````````````````````` Now here is something I don't admit to very often - when I add lubricant from a bottle to a vehicle, I always shake the bottle first to be sure any additive package is not laying on the bottom of the container, then I pour the stuff in. I probably need to see a good therapist for that one. shhh - don't tell anyone! sly

When he gets table scraps, he often has a near death experience. He's blissing out.

Yep - there's an intercooler - about 2 feet wide by 3 feet tall - air to air

happen to good turbos. When they let go, the quarters get a might cramped. From a 500 HP 60 series Detroit Diesel. The replacement - $1200 http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/martinh@snet...r=/2300&.src=ph The little flat metal shaving is from when the footloose turbine blade tries to pretend it's a lathe, and cuts into the housing. At full load, they spin around 60,000 rpm or more The shaft between the impellers has no bearings - it only has bushings, and the shaft rides on a film of oil. Forgive me the odd image titles. Windows XP's memory card reader software will assign file names of the previous batch of photos unless it's told to do differently. I shot some Mustang interior pictures in a previous batch, and didn't think to change the name of the turbo set.