westslope

Thanks gentlemen. The truck runs fine, seems to idle at slightly slower rpms. Will check the fuel efficiency once I go through another tank or two. Have reduced highway speeds by 5 to 15km/hr in early 2008 and have decided to keep driving the slower speeds (typically 95km to just under 100km/hr. Driving slower increases fuel efficiency substantially.

The Michelin LT LTX M&S 4-season tires are quiet, exhibit low rolling resistence, and work just fine for me in a variety of snow, ice, lose dirt, mud, bogs, etc. Have to agree with OldSlowReliable.

Went to the closest Air Care testing facility here in southern British Columbia the other day and failed. (The lower Fraser Valley boxes up bad air on occasion just like Phoenix, AZ or Greater LA.) Went to my new mechanic in South Surrey: CJ's automative repair. They replaced the 02 sensor; was insufficient, and then replaced the catalytic converter with a new Walker unit. The mechanic had some difficulty with rust. Total cost ~C$850. Returned to Air Care and passed with flying colours. The readings are better than they have been in several years. Question: I gather that the O2 sensor is designed to last 60,000 miles or ~100,000km. Ours was switched out at 220,000km. Should a person ideally switch out the 02 sensor at 100,000km as a preventative measure or simply wait until the unit fails?

Thanks for sharing Tungsten. I examined and thoroughly cleaned the fuel sender unit on our '93 pathie last summer. The fuel guage works for the first and last quarter tanks but goes to zero for fuel volumes between the 1st and last quarter tanks. I keep a running log of fuel purchases and kilometers travelled so running out of fuel is not an issue. I decided to do nothing as the ground and sender units appeared to be solidly attached. However, I notice that some of the plastic seals were slightly cracked. Should I cover those plastic shields with some silicone compound as a preventative measure? Another question: I try to thoroughly high pressure hose the pathie everytime I take it off-road. Is aiming the high pressure above the fuel tank running the risk of accelerating corrosion in that area? Or if I am driving the vehicle for a sufficient distance after high-pressure hose washing, will any accumulated water immediately evaporate minimizing the potential for corrosion?

Just cleaned the MAF because I thought the engine was idling a little high, just under 1,000 rpm. Thought I could reduce the idling speed by cleaning the MAF. The alcohol-tipped Q-tip sopped up a little bit of dirt but not much. RPMs did not change noticeably. (They drop if I turn on the air-conditioning or turn up the ventilation fan.) I should check the gap on the plugs.... Great thread 88. Thanks. Bernard's pictures were particularly useful.

I treat the 1993 4WD, 5spd 4-door, 3.0litre V6 pathfinder to Mobil 1 oil. I used to change the oil, filter and lube the nipples myself but lubing the 17-odd grease nipples is tough without a hoist so a couple of years back I started to go to a garage with materials in hand and pay them to do it. The first place I went to--Mr. Lube--overfilled twice. The first time, I emptied some of the oil; the second time, I got the shop to redo at their expense. In both cases the guys working on the floor showed me the dipsticks which were difficult to read in the glare of the fluoroscent lights. Then I went to a Budget, Break and Muffler shop in Burnaby (Dawson street) who had done some work for me in the past. That worked out well. Great, competent, open-minded honest guys. Just recently we moved to White Rock about an hour drive south of Burnaby. At the nearby South Surrey BB&M shop, the guy dumped all 4 litres in the pathie and told me that I probably needed to top it up (!?!!). Twice we looked at the dip-stick and twice, he told me that it was fine though I could see that it was clearly OVERFILLED. Finally, I was impatiently ordered out of the shop and 0.8 litres of oil were removed. The oil now hits the top of the dipstick--as it should. Mr. Lube's book called for 3.8 litres. BB&M's database called for 4 1/4 quarts (US I presume). I called my old BB&M shop in Burnaby and Jeff verified that his on-line database called for 4 1/4 quarts (~4.0 litres). The manual calls for 3.4 litres. The Haynes manual calls for 3.3 litres. 3.2 litres seems to top it up in my experience. I have to wonder how often this occurs, how many times vehicles have been overfilled with engine oil by professional mechanics and have subsequently experienced leakage and other problems as a result.

Howdy, short version: Why do garage databanks call for 4 1/4 quarts or of engine oil when the manual calls for 3 5/8 qarts or 3.4 litres? The Haynes manual calls for 3.3 litres. In the past, when I performed the oil change myself, I have found that 3.2 litres is sufficient to fill the engine oil to the top of the dip-stick. All measures are WITH the oil filter.

How safe is Zep Purple for the environment? I might have a leak from the rear engine seal and need to clean the engine. Would like to avoid a C$70 detailing charge. BTW, it seems that an earlier Zep Purple product was recalled in 2006: Hazard: 5-gallon plastic pails containing the cleaning products can unexpectedly crack and leak from the base, posing a risk to consumers due to the corrosive nature of these products. URL: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml06/06237.html

Could it be the air throttle intake and/or the MAF sensor?

Could be an air intake issue. Search.

5523, I agree; I have come across little evidence in favour of the usefulness of oil additives. I did flush the engine near 100,000km but have read mixed reviews on the benefits of engine flushing. Now that I am running Mobil 1 synthetic oil, I see no need to flush it again.

I looked more carefully. Idles at 750 rpm most of the time, even with the air-conditioning on.

Well, urban commuting on a bicycle is a whole set of skills in itself: dressing safely and most important brightly coloured clothing, lights, keeping your head up, carefully choosing routes, avoiding the gutter lane, making eye contact with motorists, explicitly signalling, being respectful of others, and then knowing when to back down when somebody doesn't obviously give a rats azz about your safety. I have urban commuted 365 days of the year in Quebec City, downtown Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa and Greater Vancouver. I consider driving the highways of the Greater Vancouver area in the pathfinder to be a more dangerous activity. redfinder: Sounds like you have fair, smart deal with the parents. Lucky you. A yes, the Queensway and Woodroffe Avenue. Are they in 24-hour gridlock like the major roads in Vancouver and Toronto yet? When it dumps snow or freezing rain, that 4X4 sure comes in handy doesn't it?

If you have an accident due to the condition of your frame and hurt some civilians, I would get ready for a lawsuit. Your private insurer will not cover you. Mind you if you have no money and no assets, it might not be so bad. On the bright side, it looks like a problem that regular welding can solve.

Smoking tobacco increases the risk of accidents. Private insurance companies frequently charge higher rates to smokers or at least they did in the past. People who knock their ashes out the window are reducing their attention to the road. But the really risky behaviour that I look for are the individuals who smoke tobacco, talk on the cell at the same time, and/or put on make-up. There are plenty of cheap 4-bangers in the used market that have much better fuel mileage. A pathfinder for a typical undergraduate student is a luxury. But if you have the money, why not!?!! Besides, student loans are really easy to walk away from.

Ours is smooth as butter when cold, and then may slightly stick going into 4th if one is not careful to drop the RPMs and hesitate slightly.

You are indeed privileged for an 18-year old college student. What I like about the pathie is the excellent view one gets of other drivers except of course those driving the monster trucks. It allows me to keep an eye out for folks talking on the cell, smoking tobacco, putting on make-up, writing notes and sometimes all of the above. Even the RCMP seem to be distracted while driving half the time; RCMP officers do not observe many of the traffic laws, so no wonder, ordinary citizens behave in a similar manner. P.S. When I last lived in Ottawa and worked at Statistics Canada, I bicycled the 4km to work and back all year long except during periods of freezing rain. But if you have a huge trust fund man, drive the pathie.

800 to 900 rpm

Oops! I missed your location. One I know well as it is my home town. Our pathie always passes the mandatory Air Quality bi-annual test with flying colours. I baby it. Don't want the vehicle failing 20km from the nearest blacktop road. To answer your original question more thoroughly..... I'd still be driving a front-wheel 1.6 litre 4-banger like our old Nissan Sentra mini-wagon if 1) I had not punched the right rear strut throught the uni-body a few years ago on a particularly bad road south of Kamloops, and 2) the average size of vehicle had not doubled in the late 1990s. Our pathfinder is still smaller than the average vehicle on the road out here! Frankly, it is ridiculous the huge over-sized SUVs that big fat housewives use to drive their fat kids to school and to shop the malls.

Does your uncle travel the backcountry? Tell him that the USA should adopt Scandanavian-level fuel taxes and all will be well. hehe Yes, I guess I'm unusual. I usually park the pathie at some point and self-propel into places that would scare the livin' daylights out of most motor-heads. In town, we leave it parked -- a lot. I'll add one more thing: Give the number of jerks in this neck of the woods who still let their vehicles idle for 5, 10 minutes or more, the price of fuel is still not expensive enough. Here's one for you red-blooded, patriotic Americans. Care about National Security? Push your federal government to adopt Scandanavian-level fuel taxes. Who knows? Guys like me might make less money as the price of gas at the pump plummets. --------------------------- P.S. If CA gov Arnie leaves his vanity-item hummers parked in the garage all the time, what is the harm? Some 'tree-huggers' get all hung up in the feel-good symbolism.

I switched to synthetic oil at just under 100,000km. The engine does not leak a drop. I expect the '93 pathfinder engine will easily oulast the rest of the vehicle. NOTE CAREFULLY: I'm a freemarket, capitalism-friendly economist and an unabashed wilderness lover/tree-hugger. Our household portfolio is heavily-weighted with oil and gas stocks. I switched to synthetic oil as part of an experiment, possibly an expensive experiment. I cannot vouch for the cost effectiveness of switching older vehicles to synthetic oil. I suspect that switching is NOT cost-effective in most cases.

Try turning the heater on full blast with the fans going at top speed for a few minutes and see if anything changes. You may want to leave all the windows open during this experiment. Another thought: When was the last time the radiator was flushed?

Well, I looked around and talked to a number of people and queried this board in the 1990-1995 pathfinder forum. The guestimated 5.8 litres stay. There should no issues. http://npora.ipbhost.com//index.php?showto...mp;#entry330844

I talked to a bunch of people. Many reasoned that as long as the vent works and the fluid is close to ambient pressure, there is no danger of blowing out seals, or causing other kinds of damage. That was also the reasoning of the mechanic who thought that 5.1 litres was not enough.... and after glancing 2 seconds at the hard copy of posts and TSBs I printed from here, filled the manual tranny to a little shy of 6 litres. He also claimed that since the Technical Service Bulletin (TSB)--which I showed him prior to flush and refill--targeted transmission whine, that 1990-1995 pathfinders with manual transmissions not exhibiting those symptoms, did not need to be filled beyond the 3.8 litre amount. Frankly, I was not entirely impressed. Think about it. You wait for the problem to occur and then you fix it? To the best of my knowledge there has been zero leakage from the transmission. So the 5.8 or so litres stay in. Thanks for the feedback everybody. BTW, the 4th gear still sticks slightly unless I'm very careful to allow the RPMs to drop completely before shifting into 4th.

I know that overfilling motor oil is bad but how about overfilling transmission fluid? I recently had the transmission flushed and refilled with synthetic GL-4 gear oil. It appears that the mechanic added ~0.8 litres of fluid above and beyond the recommend 5.1 litres of fluid. Any risks? Should I empty some of the fluid?