westslope

Thanks. Question: why does the 1993 Nissan pathfinder directory (folder) have 12 sub-directories (sub-folders), one for each month?

Very cool! At least the VPD is investigating. In my case, the tow-truck driver (the pathie was illegally parked in downtown Vancouver) provided the details for the police report--assuming one was actually made. Then the provincially-owned auto insurance corporation (ICBC) delayed returning the vehicle to us for a about a week because they had personnel issues. At our expense of course! For those of you unfamiliar with Vancouver and the Lower Mainland region of southwestern British Columbia, it has the highest property crime and violent crime rates in Canada. I find the racist attitudes to aboriginals and recent Asian immigrants to exceed anything else I have personally experienced in Canada. Greater Vancouver is also the prostitution murder and butchery capital of world. Many of the prostitutes killed by famous serial killer Robert Picton were drug-addicted aboriginals ("crack-ho Indians) so I reckon that many BCers believe that Picton was doing everybody a favour. Greetings from the "BEST PLACE ON EARTH"! -westslope

Smart idea! I have a C$200 immobilizer installed. Sucks to be you kid. I saw the thread title and sez to self betcha $100, the truck was stolen in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia (includes Vancouver). Sadly I was right. Mine was stolen right outside the Mountain Equipment Co-op store in Vancouver in the early afternoon. I believe the thieves borrowed the vehicle to go to Whistler and back. Left a packing slip with a Whistler address but the Vancouver police were not interested in pursuing.

You probably misunderstood 'cause I was being terse. I use these deep-cycle batteries for powering electric motors and since the early part of the decade have been running "used" deep-cycle batteries in the pathfinder. So when I thought the older Trojan had failed, I switched it out for a newer Trojan. Napa should have a battery tester. Need to go in, I guess.

Thanks B. Haven't bought a new battery yet. Would take the older Trojan deep-cycle battery to the store where I bought it but the trip is over an hour and am not sure I want to spend C$200 on a new Trojan battery when I can get a starter/deep cycle batter at Napa Auto parts for ~C$131 and only about 1/2 hour of driving. (27-RVS East Penn, 650 CCA, 175 minutes @ 23 Amps.)

I have a 27 Group Trojan lead-acid deep cycle battery that operated for a couple of years in the vehicle and prior to that powered a 52 lb. thrust electric motor for a couple of seasons. I'm not sure about the condition. I recharged it a few days and have watched the voltage reading subside. A new deep-cycle Trojan batter is down to 12.90 volts. The old one has dropped to 12.6. Both of these batteries are sitting on a shed floor. Does this indicate that the old one might be toast? Can I get useful information out of these tea leaves or do I need to hook the battery up to a volt and amp tester?

All good advice. But as a rule of thumb how long should, let's say, aftermarket shocks on a stock set up last? 100,000 km? 200,000 km? Do years of use matter? In other words, does simply sitting parked also age the shocks?

Thanks ventec. Dumb questions follow: Where is the DRL module located? Out of curiosity, why do only the front lights come on? Why don't all the lights come on? As a result I drive 24 hours a day with all the lights on. I want to be highly visible from behind in all atmospheric conditions.

One option is to keep a hand-written log of all gasoline purchases and periodically enter the data into an eletronic spreadsheet. Record: Date, mileage (miles, kilometers), Price ($/gal, $/litre), Litres (gallons), Total cost. Key-punch into a spread sheet, and calculate miles/gallon or litres/100 km in the spreadsheet. I like to average over 3 fill ups, sometimes more. Fuel efficiency varies widely from one fill up to the next depending on where and how I'm driving. I know this sounds tedious but it can be rather informative especially if the fuel gauge is sending approximate information or sometimes no information at all. Will also help monitor vehicle operating costs and budgeting. If you don't know how to use an electronic spreadsheet, take a tip from Uncle westslope and spend the time and effort to learn it. For household budgeting, home businesses, retirement planning, investments, taxes, electronic spreadsheets can be extremely useful. Microsoft's Excel is fine but costs. The most excellent, zero-cost OpenOffice suite spreadsheet (made by Sun Systems) is what I use: OpenOffice.Org web-site

If I can sneak in a question GG, what is wrong with rear LEAF springs? dd: What are you towing? How many klicks, err miles on your pathie? tek is right, manual shift WD-21s are relatively easy to find.

According to the instructions on the kleen-flo engine flush bottle, one is supposed to fill, idle 5 minutes and drain. Like MikeV says: flush with no load on the engine. Costs less than Seafoam. Cris, maybe you should do a second engine flush? Just a suggestion.

Why 10W40 Mobil 1 ? Why not the 10W30 Mobil 1 for high-mileage vehicles? (Not that it would make a difference.)

Actually there is. But it would require a radical change in mind-set that may never come about. To begin with, wheelers would have to recognize the difference between Open Access and access rules on the one hand, and freedom on the other hand. They are not the same.

gm? Government Motors?

There is also a trend up here in Canada to ban motorized vehicles in sensitive natural areas. Beyond that, it is also popular to decommission logging roads and skidder roads that are no longer used. I'm guessing that we'll see additional restrictions on snowmobiles as racing to the top causes avalanches and snowmobilers can effectively harass game to death. I'm curious: Is wheeling on private land growing in popularity in the USA? There is certainly a strong trend towards the privatization of public sport fisheries and the de facto privatization of many hunting territories that were once available to the public in the USA. There's actually a compromise solution that would allow folks to continue to wheel on public natural areas but I doubt it would be at all popular with American wheelers.

FWIW, on our '93 MT pathie, we => slowly shift at low revs from 3rd into 4th. Allowing the revs to drop seems to eliminate any grindings. => double clutch from 5th into 4th. Didn't spend much time driving hay trucks that required double-clutching. Works. I guess that would be the synchros? We removed, flushed and replaced the tranny fluid last summer. Overfilled it. May have helped but not by much. We had planned on driving it as is until shifting became dysfunctional, and then fix/refurbish the clutch and transmission.

Have you cleaned out the air intake throttle body? See this thread.

O2 sensor

Now that I recall, it is a 'recovery strap'. It is in excellent condition; it has never been used.

Especially if you don't mind doing some of the maintenance, holding onto the pathie is by far the cheapest option. What are you doing to prevent rust? I'm applying Krown Rust treatment annually. I try to high pressure hose off the dust and mud immediately after each and every trip off road.

Now, that could be the only unequivocally positive benefit of this Cash for Clunkers program. Fewer older Ford Explorers on the road. A 1/2 tonne SUV whose suspension is that mushy has to be dangerous at some point. Even if you do inflate the tires properly.

BTW, does anybody know the expected life span of a '90-'95 pathie these days? Years or distance. Anybody care to guess? Remember that more than a few are succumbing early to traffic accidents, cash for clunker boondoggles, exciting life styles as local militia rides in Africa, rust from winter ice, etc.

The Hi Lift Jack looks like a heavy-duty come-along. The Tirfor also looks interesting. Think I have seen those on job sites: Thanks kiwipete. Thanks all for the comments and suggestions; much appreciated. OK. If I am registering correctly, nothing beats an electric winch for power, safety, weight, and convenience. Understood. Haven't used one in the last 10 years and am unlikely to use one for the next 20 years. The Hi Lift Jack looks like a more powerful and safer alternative to what I have now. Wonder what the weight and volume increment would be.....

That's curious adamzan. Us heavy carbon foot-print monsters must think alike. At this point, if we ditched the '93 pathie, an Xterra would be the replacement but the BC Scrap-It program would offer $0.00 assistance. Frankly, I would rather wait a few years for a turbo-diesel powered 4X4 SUV mounted on a light truck-like frame. (That and folks are complaining that the Xterras are top-heavy.) In the meantime, we keep the pathie motor and exhaust system in good shape, drive slower and walk and bicycle as much as possible close to home.

Just quickly read this thread on Doctor Bill's homemade winch ideas with interest Rear-bumper-mounted winch thread Don't have a winch. Am not sufficiently adventurous to justify the expense, weight, maintenance, etc. But I do own a come-along and a towing strap which I have yet to use but carry in the vehicle at all times. Not sure I could haul the pathie out of a prairie ditch with it but I should be able to remove fallen trees and pull the pathie off a slippery grade. I suppose I can always lend it to the 3/4 tonne 4X4 to pull me out if I really get stuck (if one is handy). Experiences? Thoughts? Suggestions?