zack1978 Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 Hey everyone, AT this point I am VERY angry at Nissan. I love my Pathfinder (1995, 170,000 miles) but I am thinking of selling it due to some major rust issues and the dammm 5 spd TSB. But I was on the car survey site and I came upon the thread about the frame and it is so true http://www.carsurvey.org/review_78984.html What do you think? Zack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zack1978 Posted July 21, 2006 Author Share Posted July 21, 2006 I guess another thing that angers me about the Path is that my uncle has a 1999 Exploder that he never EVER washed since new. He always drives in the NJ winter (SALT ON THE ROADS!) and the Exploder has 0 rust!! He is a guy that does not care about his car, and I was always washing my Path even in the winter to get the salt off. Now I have a huge pile of rusty junk and his damm Exploder is fine. It is just not fair! Zack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 Here's my comment, I posted just to toss my 2 cents in. I have an 88 Pathfinder with no rust whatsoever. It seems to me that everyone that's saying "terrible design", "poor design" and "death trap" have neglected to properly care for their vehicle (or the previous owner, of course) and have simply allowed the rust to continue unchecked until it gets so bad that the frame breaks or things start falling off. Proper care includes undercarriage inspections and rust-proofing or treatment to prevent rust if necessary. If you do find rust, you CAN have it fixed before significant damage occurs and/or expensive repairs are necessary. Rust is not invisible. If you live in a salted road area and do not clean your vehicle's frame and undercarriage frequently, what do you expect? Just my 2 cents... -88pathoffroad http://npora.ipbhost.com Nissan Pathfinder forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 I have an 88 Pathfinder with no rust whatsoever. It seems to me that everyone that's saying "terrible design", "poor design" and "death trap" have neglected to properly care for their vehicle (or the previous owner, of course) and have simply allowed the rust to continue unchecked until it gets so bad that the frame breaks or things start falling off. Proper care includes undercarriage inspections and rust-proofing or treatment to prevent rust if necessary. If you do find rust, you CAN have it fixed before significant damage occurs and/or expensive repairs are necessary. Rust is not invisible. If you live in a salted road area and do not clean your vehicle's frame and undercarriage frequently, what do you expect? Just my 2 cents... very true...my 87 doesnt have any rust my 95 had some from the fender flares but i sanded it up and painted it...after wheeling in either of trucks or if i go out in the snow i always wash the underside...including flushing the inside of the frame rails with the hose...its amazing how much mud/sand/muck comes out of there and i'd hate for the rails to rust from the inside out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 its amazing how much mud/sand/muck comes out of there and i'd hate for the rails to rust from the inside out like mine probably did, but im gonna fix the thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solid snake Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 I guess another thing that angers me about the Path is that my uncle has a 1999 Exploder that he never EVER washed since new. He always drives in the NJ winter (SALT ON THE ROADS!) and the Exploder has 0 rust!! He is a guy that does not care about his car, and I was always washing my Path even in the winter to get the salt off. Now I have a huge pile of rusty junk and his damm Exploder is fine. It is just not fair! Zack Why not sand the rust off, spray some rustoleum, then spray some bed liner on the chassis This i'll guarentee no rust for a long time, at least if you are a weekend warrior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zack1978 Posted July 22, 2006 Author Share Posted July 22, 2006 Here's my comment, I posted just to toss my 2 cents in. I have an 88 Pathfinder with no rust whatsoever. It seems to me that everyone that's saying "terrible design", "poor design" and "death trap" have neglected to properly care for their vehicle (or the previous owner, of course) and have simply allowed the rust to continue unchecked until it gets so bad that the frame breaks or things start falling off. Proper care includes undercarriage inspections and rust-proofing or treatment to prevent rust if necessary. If you do find rust, you CAN have it fixed before significant damage occurs and/or expensive repairs are necessary. Rust is not invisible. If you live in a salted road area and do not clean your vehicle's frame and undercarriage frequently, what do you expect? Just my 2 cents... -88pathoffroad http://npora.ipbhost.com Nissan Pathfinder forums In my case that is not true. I can remember almost having frostbite on my fingers because I was out there in the winter attempting to get the salt off, and wash it. I was/am a fanatic with my Pathfinder, and it is still melting before my eyes. Zack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 get it oil sprayed. As long as the rust ins't too bad, it will buy you time. Cleaning all the dirt out of the frame rails is a great idea. I wait until it's all dried up, tehn stab at it with a screw driver. Then i'll stuff the air compresser hose in the holes and blast it all out. that usually does the trick. The part that sneaks up on you is the seam under the rear passenger seats. Make sure you rinse that area really well and then spray some oil up there too. Those people on that other message board obviously know nothing about basic maintenance, or are too lazy to get underneath the truck and give it a good scrub. I live in southern ontario, the world capital of road salt and my frame is still sound as a pound. New fenders can be bought, and I've already sanded and repainted both sides of my rear fenders. Just make sure you layer the paint on thick where the fender flare meets the body and it will take a while before they rub through to the bare metal again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Boy Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 It's true, true, true, this has nothing to do with owner neglect. It's no secret that these frames rust TO easy. I'm at odds myself with to keep this truck or not, I have a lot of surface rust but am sure like mentioned it will only be a short time before it rust through. It's sad because other then the rust problem it's a great truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 So you're saying that if you spray out the frame and undercarriage every now and then that's all you need to do to deter rust if you live in a salty environment? You might note that my comment had a bit in there about "rust-proofing or treatment to prevent rust if necessary." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgr8cycler Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 My grandfather had a 1988 olds custom cruiser. That car he drove it hard, towed his boat with it and never checked the oil or performed any maintence unless something wasnt working right and he had to take it in. He didnt care about anything other then that it drove and towed his boat. He drove the car into the ground, literally when it was on its second radiator and until the transmission had nice plumes of black smoke coming from it and the car couldn’t move anymore. In the 17 years he owned it he never took the time to kick off clinging clumps of rock salted snow, hell I think he only washed the car like 4 times the entire time he owned it. And at the time of death the cars frame only had light surface rust, nothing as detrimental as on a lot of these pathys. Luckily my pathy doesnt have any frame rot, But i think the average joe that owns a car wont wash the undercarriage every 2 weeks or so. For the average person, average maintenence is the occational car wash, checking the oil occasionally in between changes, and taking the car to the mechanic for things to be fixed, usually only if its blatantly wrong or the check engine light is on. A lot wouldn’t even think to regularly look under the car or wash the undercarriage. From the number of pathfinders ive seen with severe frame rot on the internet, and selling on ebay. I'd have to say that the frames of the pathy's do deteriorate quicker then most of other cars. This is happening on cars in places with mild winters like where I live in MD. With this strong correlation id have to say it seems the metal is not up to a grade among other car frames. Finally, lucky for us on the forum all this information is known and readily available. For those that already have frame rot, I’m sorry. For those who don’t we know what we have to do, either get rid of the car, or keep the car knowing that it is higher maintenance but at least you know what to do from what everyone else mentioned to prevent your car from getting past that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordie4x4 Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 (edited) I’m with 88 on this, clean it and rust proof inside and outside the frame and underbody and you will have fewer problems. I have a 92 Terrano that started its life in Japan on salted roads but thanks to the previous owner had been rust proofed from new. The only rust it has anywhere is in a door that was repaired by a panel shop and not treated inside. I drive on the beach a lot, launch a boat in the surf and drive on muddy salt lakes but clean it well after. I have made a long hose spray attachment to clean under and inside the chassis frame after muddy trips. I also regularly re-apply under body black stuff and spray inside the frame with fish oil, Penetrol or cavity wax. When I purchased the Terrano as a second hand import to Australia, I looked at dozens of other vehicles (all 1989 to 1993 Terrano) and found most had rust under the back seats on the floor around seatbelt attachment plates. Probably because the Japanese owners never intended to keep these cars very long they never bothered to rustproof or clean them.Mine was the first that I saw with no rust and had clearly been rustproofed inside and out. If you start with no rust and look after it you can keep it that way. Geordie Edited July 23, 2006 by geordie4x4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Extreme90path Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 I have found a little bit of rust, next to my rear wheel well, but over all really clean and my 90 had nothing at all. Mabey they changed there rust treatment in 92 or somthing. I dunno. But from what I know, most or all car companies treat the mettle for rust prevention... oh and you aint see nothin till you see a neglected 1966 IH Scout... I had on an ti was insane.. the bed completly rusted out... haha.. any hoo... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 What happened was that they changed steel suppliers and didn't coat it very well. The coatings then proceeded to flake right off and rust set in due to the uncoated "new alloy" steel they switched to. At least, that's what I've heard. They should have used a higher chromium content steel to avert rust problems, probably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zack1978 Posted July 23, 2006 Author Share Posted July 23, 2006 Here is a classic example of an otherwise good truck, except the frame. Zack http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Nissan-Path...009344872QQrdZ1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Boy Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Yep I saw that auction what a shame. I guess if you live in a non salt area it's easy to defend the frame thing but for those of us that live in a salt area and don't have time to clean the frame ever other day it's a bitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bear claw Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Under coating is a must and will stop the rust to get worst If you park in a garage the constant melting and re-freezing can make it worst Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bear claw Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Re-applying of the undercoating to parts that are prone to rust is a must too The undercoating should be done in warmer weather for the oil to absorb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted July 24, 2006 Share Posted July 24, 2006 I've heard the afore mentioned denatured fish oil sworn by. If that doesn't work, move to a decent climate... *puts on body armor and flame suit* B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LD50 Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 My 92 is being given away for the cost of gas and a case of beer this week because the frame is toast. It's sad to see an otherwise good vehicle simply given away. It's also sad when your praying for someone to steal it or an unfortunate fire to wipe it out The 95' has body rust issues beginning, and the frame has some surface rust. I'm going to have the frame sandblasted and rustproofed or undercoated this winter though, I really dont want to junk another perfectly fine truck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 Agreed. I was under my truck today and saw the beginings of rust front and rear(due to an accident/frame straightening which cracked open the paint/sealer). Nothing to worry about yet, but it is on my mental list of something to do soon. Truck runs like a champ, I'd hate for it to rot away from underneath !! B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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