morpheus

The "xterra" is just a sticker on the rack, you should remove it.. Either or looks fine to me (IMO) but if you chose to have the deflector installed, the xterra has a clear plastic strip under the front edge of the deflector that is installed right on the paint surface of the roof (a 3m clear plastic tape) It's there to prevent the vibration while on the highway from damaging the paint surface. Make sure you put something there, or it will end up rubbing right through the paint over time.

So I was contacted by a member the other day asking for more information on what type of transmission fluid to use in his 05 Pathfinder, so I thought I would post up my research. The service manual says for 05-08 Pathfinder's to use J-type fluid. He went to his local dealership and was told that S-type fluid is the new J-type fluid, and that he should be using it. S-type fluid is used in 09-10 Pathfinders (and xterra/frontier/370z) The service manual for 09-10 pathfinder says that j-type fluid can be used if s-type is not available. I contacted nissan tech for clairification, and was told that there is no official word on what putting s-type fluid in a transmission calling for j-type fluid would do. They're thoughts were that it probably wouldn't cause any issues, but they didn't understand why a dealer would be telling someone to put a different fluid that calls for something else. (except for the fact that S-type fluid is more expensive than J-type, so maybe they were trying to upsell) My thoughts are why would you risk it, even the tech guys don't know for sure what will happen. The FSM says use J, use J. If something is published down the road, then that's different. I wouldn't want to see someone with a pile of worn out transmission parts in their hands.

update -- I have no update, shop was too busy to bring it in today. I was thinking about the strut tower brace, more for the subframe drop, but also becuase of the accident repairs I had to do when I bought the truck. I obviously don't have any idea how the truck drove pre-accident, but it was a hard enough hit to tear the sheet metal from the frame rails, so I was almost thinking about weak metal allowing movement/vibration through the upper strut mounts.

I'm going to put it back on the hoist tomorrow and recheck everything, but I'm sure about the balljoints, has been double checked, I have manual hubs (unlocked) Rear links are new and rear axle is in spec (just did alignment on thursday) I'll double check the control arm bushings and the steering rack bushings. When I bought the truck it had been in an accident and torn all the upper strut mounts away from the frame, body shop repaired it all, and the alignment shows it all within spec, but I'm concerned that might be part of the issue too.

So I've had a shaking in my steering since I got the pathfinder, and I can't seem to get rid of it. I have eliminated all the obvious issues, and can't sort it out. There is zero play in the front end, both inner and outter tie rods are new, alignment bang on, balljoints zero play, wheel bearing zero play. Tires balanced New KYB struts and AC springs (but shake was there before the lift) I've used 2 different sets of wheels - 17" aluminum wheels that came with the truck, and AR 15" steel wheels I replaced them with. I've used 2 different sets of tires - 17" BFG Allterrain T/Ako and 15" BFG Allterrain T/Ako Shaking starts at 80kph and goes away at 110kph If I'm driving on a nice straight stretch of road, and set my cruise control at 90kph, the vibration will come and go. When it's gone, the drive is smooth as glass, when the shaking is there, the steering re-verberats back and forth like a belt shifted tire. As far as I can tell I've eliminated - front end parts - inner and outter tie rods are new - tires - 2 different sets used, and balanced - wheels - 2 different sets used - Drive shaft u-joints - fronts replaced, rears not siezed or loose Any thoughts?

I don't have any personal experience with using them, but from what I've seen they are based on engine size and horsepower. Someone on here might be able to offer better advise.

If you don't have e-testing, just plug it for now. When e-testing comes (it will eventually) just repair it then.

I tell everyone I can to bypass the factory radiator cooler and put a stand alone cooler on an 05+ pathfinder/xterra/frontier. They all blow eventually, just a ticking timebomb. Just make sure you get the correct size cooler for your application.. This case, too big isn't better, it can make the fluid too cold. The only thing you might notice, is a bit of a funny shift, or a lack of lockup at highway speeds when starting off with the vehicle cold (sat overnight) because the radiator also warms the fluid up to operating temperature quicker. That won't hurt it, just will take longer for the fluid to warm up.

You can always try a stilin supercharger for a 350Z, I don't know if anyone has tried it yet....

needs new cap rotor and wires. when they get old,they will arc like that.

If you have a floor shift from 2H to 4H and 4L then it's the tx10. If you've got a switch on your dash that is labeled 2H auto 4H 4L then it's the atx14a If you have an auto mode transfer case and you put manual hubs on, you can NEVER have the switch in AUTO mode, or damage and carnage may result.

make sure you didn't double gasket the oil filter either (old gasket from old oil filter stuck to engine)

I'm pretty sure the main oil pump in the atx14a is run off the main (rear) drive shaft. The secondary pump runs when the vehicle is stopped or in reverse.

Seat belts ARE covered under a lifetime warranty against defects. up till around 2004ish (I think) where they changed them to 10 years, unlimited mileage If the belt is slow to retract, many times it's becuase of the d-ring (the ring above your left shoulder) gets filthy. Take a rag with brake clean, lift the belt off the ring and clean it. Slow retract is a "grey" area. Technically they still work. I would replace them for one of my customers, but other dealers may not. If the belt is completely fubar'ed (ie: pulled all the way out, but won't retract at all) it's a no-brainer, it's warranty. As for the comment above re: color, the warranty system is VIN specific, so if you put a grey belt in the truck that came from factory with blue belts, nissan will not pay for it. The dealer might assume that there is a colour error and order the grey one for you and not even notice.. They'll just have a hard time collecting the money from nissan. The belts may not be in stock anymore, but they can still order them. How long they will take to come in is a different story. I had to order a timing cover for my 300zx once. It took 2 months, but it showed up eventually.

Got more details today about the brake pin on the big trucks. Looks like during a production run of the brake pedal assemblies the pin that the brake pedal piviots on before the pushrod was not mushroomed at the end after production, it was just left as pressed in. They don't know which pedal assemblies went in what vin#'s by the looks of it, so they are inspecting every vehicle during those years made. They expect a 1% replacement rate, so it sounds like they didn't make many of the pedal assy's with the issue, it's just they don't know what vehicles they went in.

Here's the facts that nissan has released during our conference call this AM. There are 3 recalls Recall 1 - 2009-2010 Armada Titan, and 08-10 Quest Potential for the brake piviot pin to come out of place causing reduced braking ability. Number is incidents in north america - 0 (ZERO) Recall 2 - 05-10 Titan, Armada Potential for the fuel guage to read 1/4 to 1/2 tank of fuel but be actually empty Recall 3 - 06 and 08 frontier xterrra pathfinder Potential for the fuel guage to read 1/4 to 1/2 tank of fuel but be actually empty Nissan is stressing that they are being PRO-active for the brake pedal pin, not RE-active as toyota was with their recalls. There has been no reports of any accidents or injuries. The actual numbers may be 500,000 vehicles worldwide, but the numbers for canada released this morning are: 3900 08-10 Titan's 438 08-10 Armada's 1400 08-09 Quests no numbers were released for the xterra/frontier/pathfinder recall. I will post more information as I recieve it.

I've seen a lot on the R50's. Usually you inspect them when you do belts, and when the rubber shows signs of cracking you want to start thinking about replacing it. Small cracks are not bad, but when they are left for a while the outter part of the pully will seperate from the inner part.

I've seen guys push it to double the recommended change interval and be fine. I've seen guys go 10,000 miles over the recommended change interval and the belt breaks. Moral.. Unless you're a gambling person, and willing to gamble a $5000 engine repair, then change it.

If it's close enough to the surface of the lock, you could try small tweezers.

be thankful you didn't put engine oil in the transmission... ATF in the engine for that long will not hurt it.

The proper remote starters are a royal PITA to make work. You can install one for an AT in the vehicle, and just make sure that it's in neutral with the e-brake on all the time. If you do install a MT version, the most common ones make you follow a set of procedures EVERY time you get out of the car to ensure that there's no way that it can be left in gear. You need to stop the vehicle in your parking space Activate the remote starter while the engine is still running by stepping on he brake and pushing the remote then the remote starter needs to see the e-brake applied (via the brake light switch) then the remote starter needs to see the door open, then close (via the door pin switch) then once you're outside of the truck, then you push the button on the remote again, and the vehicle shuts off Now the remote is acive, because it saw all the above steps, and there's no way you could have gotten out of the vehicle with it still in gear. Now the next morning it will start. If you miss any of the above steps, it will not even attempt to start the next morning, thats why it's easier to simply install an AT unit, and just make sure it's in neutral.

I vote sell, and buy 4x4 mods..

I stand corrected by the gods of wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Pathfinder R51 pathfinder was offered with a 6 speed manual outside of north america..

Maybe it was in 2005, but it had to be a 2004 model. this body style: were never offered in manual transmission *** to the best of my knowledge, maybe they did something different in the USA ***

The rule of thumb is to change it when it hits 3% water or so. You can get test strips that you dunk in the fluid, or more expensive electronic testers will tell you what the water content is. There's no specific schedule, as moisture absorbtion will be different for all driving conditions.. If in doubt, and the fluid looks dark/dirty, then it's cheap insurance to change it. $10 buck or so worth of fluid. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_fluid