Typhus

From the pic, thats nothing you cant get str8 with some heat and a hammer. I've fixed far worse, and Im far from being even a good welder.

Yes, thats correct. When standing in front looking at the battery, the neg is on the left and pos on the right. Why would the parts guy call this a reverse post battery, unless he was looking at it backwards, since the battery was out of the vehicle when I took it in. Never thought that the guy might have just been an idiot, Ive done buisness with him before, he has been around for a long time, and I just trusted he knew waht he was talking about. So if your neg is left side, and pos is right side, than that is a "normal terminal" not reverse, right? Knowing that will save alot of headaches, since nobody seems to have this battery.

Thanks Simon for the quick reply. I was considering going with the optima, just kind of on the expensive side, thought they ran about 175, not sure, but might have to pay the extra to get the right battery.

Cant believe how much trouble I have encountered trying to find a battery for my 04 pathy. Went to 4 different locations yesterday only to be told that because of the reverse posts, and size, nobody had the correct battery for this vehicle. I just cant understand this, it a head shaker for something you would think to be rather common place. Has anyone encountered this same issue, and do I really have to go to the dealer and pay 350 bucks for them to install a factory battery? Just cant believe this.

Hey thats pretty cool. Just a suggestion, why not make a larger door using the same hinge design? What would it hurt? Maybe a 12" x 12". This would give you much more room for accesability.

1132 1138 I have always wondered why there where two different codes for the same exact problem. For instance, code 1132 and 1138 both = swirl control valve?

They are about 1/4 inch deep, which is near faliure state IMO. They were cheap, and its an easy job, so no big loss, but lesson learned nonetheless. This situation doesnt even compare to the brand new rotors I just purchased and installed, only to find out days later from a Nissan Mechanic, that they were warped. I thought the guy was just joking with me, since he knew I had just installed them, but he was serious, saying that even new rotors are sometimes warped off the shelf. They are drilled and slotted, and I bought them of E-Bay from a very reputable dealer... I thought. I guess I can pull them back off, and have them turned, but I really wanted to be done with this Pathfinder by now, getting really tired of fixing stuff that Ive already fixed.

It was a year ago, so I couldnt even tell you specifically. I do know that I got them at autozone, and they were the next best that they had since they didnt have the GBs'. But like I said, I would expect atleast 20k out of even the cheapest,,, and I only got about 13k out of these.

Thanks, but I never could get that to open. Not your fault, I appreciate your effort to assist, but Im better at turning a wrench than unzipping a computer file...lol. But anyway, I ended up having to take it to the stealership, since time was a major issue, and the swirl control valve selenoid apparently is a dealer only item, and the only place they had one available was in Massachusets! I really found that hard to believe, but I had no choice, but bend over for this one. I even tried a local shop first in hopes of saving a few bucks, and they ended up turning me away, telling me that they couldnt get the part either.... now Im getting really frustrated. So like I said, I ended up going to the dealer with this, and you wont believe the turn of events. They told me as soon as I pulled the Pathy in the bay, that 105 bucks is the fee for the diagnostic, even though I had already figured out the problem, but I just shook my head, cause I already knew I was in for a big bill. They fianlly called me and told me the truck was ready, and to come get it, and I didnt even bother asking for the total, I didnt want to be pissed the whole way over there. To my dismay, my bill was 105 bucks even! Thats the initial diagnostic charge,,, that was it, and my Pathy problem P1130 was solved. Im still shocked! The problem never was the swirl valve selenoid that the p1130 was indicating, but rather debris in the vacuum line going from the swirl valve to the actuator. The funny thing was that I had the SCV pulled off of that hose atleast 2-3 times examining it before I took it in for repair, and I had never once thought to try blowing the line out. Why would I, its a closed system! How could any debris possibly get in that vacuum line? Mystery to me, but Im not complaining, Im actually thanking my lucky stars that I got out of this one for 105 bucks. That might be some kind of record for the least ever payed at a stealership for getting something resolved.

Changed my drive belts on my 04 Pathy just over a year ago, and I was a little shocked the other day to discover that they already have cracks and need replacing again. My other vehicle I had replaced a few years back with gatorbacks, and have well over 40k on them, and there is no visible wear on them at all. I just picked up some gators for the Pathy and I will be putting them on over the weekend when I get a chance, but one thing is for sure. I will never use anything other than gators from here on out. At the time when I first did the belts on the Pathy, I wanted to get the gators, but the auto parts store was out of them at the time. I knew the gators were better, but I had no idea that the supposedly OEM belts I bought instead were going to be that bad. They werent even the lowest grade available, I remember paying a little more to get the best they had since they didnt have any gators in stock. Anyone else have belts that wore that quickly? I would have been just as shocked if I had put on the cheapest belts available, and only got that amount of time out of them.

My 04 Pathfinder is throwing a P1130 code. Around 3000 rpms, give or take, she starts surging and loping, until you back off the pedal a bit. Im scratching my head on this one. Could the swirl control valve solenoid be causing this? Also, does anyone have a pic of what one looks like? I think its the round plastic valve that is clipped into a bracket that sits over the drivers side strut mount. Am I looking at the right thing?

Just a quick update. Ive completed the Rotors / strut job, just need to throw on the back kyb shocks ang I will be done. I didnt have the spindle nut socket, but I didnt need one. You can tap it out with a tap and hammer, and then reverse to seat the bearing after re-pack, then back it off again, and seat it in place one last time with just a snugging tap. Quick question, and I just couldnt remember since it had been quite some time since I had a hub apart. After you re-pack the bearings, and place the inner bearing in and then seat the grease seal, do you pack that inner cavity with grease, or just a thin layer around the perimeter? I couldnt remember if I had ever filled that up with grease before. Hope not, becasue I just put a thin layer back in. One strange thing happened that Ive never really experienced before when doing brakes. After I had completed the job, just backing out of the garage, and softly applying the brakes, the calliper would grab and make a loud biting sound. I was like I ended up pulling the Pathy back in, up she went and off with the callipers again to see what the heck I could have possibly done wrong, even though I was pretty sure that I did everything right to begin with. Everything seemed in order, and I even toqued everything to spec. So I through the wheels back on, and start backing out and theres that same dang noise again. So at this point Im really scratching my head, because I know everything is right, I double checked, even making sure that I hadnt performed the ultimate goof, and put a pad in upside down,,, dont laugh, it happens, Ive never personally dont it, but a mechanic friend of mine actually had, once,,, thats another story. So anyways, now Im fighting off the redneck urge to fix it by driving it really fast. You know that urge you get, that maybe by driving the vehicle, you will some how drive out the problem. That theory hardly ever works, usually results in more expensive repairs, but anyway, I was getting pretty ticked off at this point so I reverted to my redneck metnality and headed for some open road. Unbelievably, it just seemed that the new rotors and pads needed to "seat" in a sence. Does that make any sence? After some nice hard braking, the noise completely went away. Ive done a few brake jobs in my time, and I dont think Ive ever encountered that issue. Noise was always the end result of screwing something up.

Thank You! Downloading right now, and BTW, I was trying to locate that Spindle nut tool yesterday, but couldnt figure out exactly which one/size it was. Is there any indication on the tool that makes its spceific? Too late for me to order the one you did from summit, but Im trying to locate one here locally, any details would be appreciated. Thanks everyone for the info.. typhus Edit... just downloaded the FSM, but Im having a hard time trying to open it. Di I need a special program to open this file?

getting ready to do my rotors, and struts on the exact same vehicle this weekend. (2004 pathfinder se)., so I re-visited this post in hopes of reviewing the PDF, but it seems to be gone now, or no longer working for some reason. Just curious about a couple details. Do you really need the spindle nut wrench? What size are the bolt heads on the caliper mount ...... 22mm ? Does anyone ever use locktite when re-seating the screw you have to remove when the hub is off? And last but not least, about the inner grease seals, are the one they sale at Napa just as good, or do you recommend going to the dealer? Thanks

Thats exactly my situation. Maybe my post was confusing, and fueler thought I was having the shop do the work. Sorry if my post was misleading. I will be removing the struts and already have everything, just need the springs compressed and the new strut, strutmount, bearing, bellow, resassembled and handed back to me. Sorry fueler, but I still dont see why thats a big deal. I understand your frustration using a cheap loaner tool, thats my whole reason for finding a shop with a bench compresser or a stand alone, like the one you posted. If you have a good compressor like Big O has, the whole swap out of parts doesnt take 20 minutes. Ive seen it done before. I will check Sears next, or just fumble around myself with the cheap loaner. I already have 400 dollars invested in just the hardware... but thats including the shocks as well. Cant really afford to give a shop 150 more for a 20 minute job.

Now thats what Im talking about, ya man. I just seriously doubt that the loaner from auto zone will look anything like that.

I was just up at the local Big O tire getting a tire replaced on the Pathy, and I figured I would just ask the service manager what he would charge me if I were to bring him the the old strut assembly already off the vehicle, and my new struts and mounting hardware, just to have them use their spring compressor and set the new struts up. The guy actually went to the trouble to pull the info up rather than just give me a flat rate, like I would figure anyone else in the buisness would do. He tells me 150 bucks, and I replied,,, no, no, Im not asking you to do the removal, or install, just compress the dang spring and throw the new hardware in and hand it back to me. He looked at me like I was crazy, and still said 150 bucks....... lol. OK, if I owned my own shop, I know you gotta make a living and pay the bills, but come on, for a simple task like this, esp if you have a bench compressor, thats just friggin insane. I would have probably payed like 15 maybe even 20 a side, just to save me the hastle of picking up and returning the loaner I would have to get to do it myself, but no way Im paying that much. Unreal.

60,000 on my 04, no major issues other than warped rotors. Going to change out the struts and shocks to, not because they are bad, still rides the same as the day I bought it new, I just never liked the marshmellow feel of the suspension. Work bench is getting crowded now with New GR2 struts, Spicer mount kits, rotors, pads, grese seals... etc.. Waiting until the week of May 18 (vacation), to do everything. I know, some people prefer to actually be on vacation, like on a beach somewhere, but I guess Im a little whacked these days, because I start stocking my work bench with project parts months in advance of my vacations... Quick question for the masters... Since Im going to have the rotors off and re-packing the bearings is obvious, with the mileage I have on them already, would you suggest just going ahead and replacing them? Or is it just a waste of money at this point... outside of any visible bearing damage ofcourse. And also, did the power valve screw issue affect the 04, if so I will probably add that to the list as well. thanks...

Thanks for the feed back guys. So Silverpath, are you saying that the tool wears out after a few uses? How much confidence should one have from a loaner if this is true?

I hate giving up on reliable vehicles. Ive sold a few in the past, only to kick myself for ever getting rid of them, and replacing them with something else later. Is there any way you can keep "ole Betsy", or do you need to sale her to get the new one?

Anyone thats replaced their struts, which spring compressor tool did you use, and who offers the best loaner? I believe the stock struts for a 2004 Pathfinder are McPherson, so is there a McPherson spring compressor that works better, or are all the spring compressors capable of doing the same job. Just getting ready to do the struts, and I want to try and eliminate any problems in advance. Getting a loaner tool from Auto Zone, Checker, Napa, any recommendations would be truly appreciated.

As a matter of fact, I just had to go change a flat on my wifes 2004 pathy yesterday. I swear that woman is a magnet for flats tires, never seen anyone get so many screws, nails, and even a a wrench, yes a wrench! in the tires. But thats another story in itself. For whatever reason, when she got her first flat in this vehicle, I didnt even know where the tire letdown bar was stashed, and I actually had to pull out the manual to locate it under the back rear seat. Does anybody know if the tool to get the hard plug out is back there too? I dont remember seeing it when I changed her last flat tire, but I wasnt looking for it either. I will have to check when she gets back in town. Bout time for a tune-up.

Just a quick update to for anyone that cares, I finally figured out which part numbers were correct for the 2000 - 2004 Pathfinder SE 3.5 after talking to a "real" KYB associate. 335032 and 335033 are the front GR2 struts, and I went with the gas adjust for the rear, (hope their not too stiff), KG4163. After a month of researching listings of multiple part numbers for the same vehicle, I finally figured out, thanks to members here, that different retailers have their own specific part numbers and they are not consistent from one retailer to the next. That was frustrating as $#%$. I just got everything yesterday.. 260 for the struts and shocks shipped, and another 127 for the super mount kit from Spicer, that included the Mounts, Bearings, Bellows, and stops. BTW, the spicer components appear to be of high quality upon inspection in the box, I will let everyone thats interested in these components know how they perform once I have them on and broken in with a few k. Thought that Rock Auto and Tire Rack were both very reasonable and the most imformative venders on-line, so thats who I went with. I will be doing the job this weekend, and looking forward to an improved ride and feel from my Pathy. Hope the correct part numbers help anyone esle scratching their head, trying to do the same thing.

Transmission Flush/change every 30,000 miles? Im all about preventitive maintanance, but is that a little to early, or what is factory recommended? I guess I need to pull out my manual, Ive just always went off the every 60k rule with all my vehicles concerning trans service. Im at 60k now, and I hope I havent over extended the trany.

No, thats just for one side. I believe it was $128 total, including shipping for both sides. I just ordered the kits this afternoon, at 4pm, and when I checked my E-Mail at around 6pm, Rock Auto had already sent me confirmation that my order had been shipped. Now thats impressive. I dont think Ive ever ordered anything online that has shipeed in less than two hours after ordering it. Pretty impressive. Just to update on the strut situation.... Whats confusing from a potential customers standpoint is the list numbers that certain sites use that are exclusive to their site and different from the actual KYB list numbers, so thanks for that. I finally went with what KYB was actually listing, DUH... lol, should have done that from the start... a month ago, but I got confused with all the other venders different list numbers. Hope this helps anyone else that is looking at going with KYB struts, heck, just ask me if you need the accurate part numbers since Im now more knowlegable than the actual KYB retailers... lol. Couldnt believe how unknowledgable all the on-line venders were when I contacted them, well over a dozen over the past month. They couldnt even explain why they had 2 sets of differently listed struts, listed for the same exact vehicle, and I still dont know the answer to that. I have never been more frustrated and totally pissed off when trying to order a friggin simple part before as I was with this experience. But atleast everything seems to be ordered right, and now the fun part will actually begin once I recieve everything for the install. Hell, I think the install will probably be the easier part... lol Oh, and sorry to the OP, yar1,, I never intended to jump this thread that you started, just kinda ended up that way,, sorry man.