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WIP on my Pathy


Kittamaru
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COMPLETED Upgrades:
Oil Change
K&N Performance Gold Oil Filter
Dizzy Cap
Dizzy Rotor
K&N Filtercharger Air Filter


Planned Upgrades:
Spark Plugs - NGK Iridiums
Spark Plug Wires - NGK Resistor
Exhaust Gasket - FelPro
New Catalytic Converter - MagnaFlow Direct-Fit
New Muffler - MagnaFlow Direct-it
Manual hubs - WARN
Oil Filter Relocation Kit - Unknown

Long Term Upgrades:
NTK Oxygen Sensor
Pacesetter Headers
Rancho RS5000 Steering Stabilizer
Rancho Shock Boots
Rancho RCX + 4x RS9000XL shocks
Calmini 3" Body lift kit
Small taper steering system - Hoohaa

REPAIRS Planned:
Control Arm Bushings (mine are shot to hell) - REPLACE 
Rear Sway Bar + end links- REPLACE
Front Sway Bar + end links- REPLACE
Floor Rotted under Front Axel - unsure
Replace Rear Coil Springs (3 inch sag) - Calmini Lift Kit


REPAIRS Completed:
Distributor Cap (cracked) - REPLACED
Y-Pipe -> Straight Pipe gasket - REPLACED
4x New Shocks (OEM replacements)
Right Front CV Assembly/Axel - REPLACED
Right Front compression rod + A-Arm Bushing - REPLACED

Got a long run ahead of me still

 

I plan to do my plugs + wires this friday or saturday. I will also review the repairs I need to do and post images for advice.

Edited by Kittamaru
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Aight, I feel like an idiot.

 

Just did my Dizzy and Rotor (yay!), changed my oil and filter (going to do the damn relocation kit next time or i"ll SHOOT myself GAH!) but now have an issue:

 

I have all 6 NGK Iridium plugs... they're gapped to about .44 as far as I can tell (.40 is a little loose, .45 doesn't quite fit for the wire)

 

I can't, for hte life of me, see how the fskc to get to plug #6... I don't even see where it is! I see the wire leading back to it, but it seems to go around behind and UNDER the intake pipes.

 

How in the high hell do you get in there?

 

A picture would help - I can't even find the wire's boot to pull off, much less the plug itself!

 

I just got done doing my plugs for the first time this Summer.

 

First off, do you have the tool that the pathfinder came with? should be under the seat in a black bag.

 

If you do, just take your hand follow the plug wire down, (so you can get a sense of how the plug is angled) take the longer of the 2 sockets and slide it down there. There is a cut out in the ridge in the Firewall just so you can fit that tool down there. I seem to remember that you can see the 6th spark plug if you look between the intake pipes with a flashlight, kind of at a downward angle.

 

If you don't have the tool.... uhhh... get a really long socket extender and do the same thing.

 

The nice part about the tool is, it kind of guides it self down there.

 

Be sure to blow out the spark plug holes really well, before you start.

 

Oh and when you change the 6th spark plug, be careful not to take off the rubber tube that is on the back of the air intake. It is a moisture drainage tube. Mine crumbled all to pieces when I did it.

 

-Mike

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Just follow the wire with your hand and you'll find it. It is a PITA, but not all that hard. Nissan actually gave us a spark plug tool made specifically to get to that plug. Should be in the kit with the stock lug wrench. Otherwise you need a 6" extention, a swivel, a ratchet and a plug socket (a second extention would also help).

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My hand only just fits down there:

 

Yes, I pulled that little tube off - thought it was a vacuum tube. Anyway, got it back on no problem.

 

I found the plug... didn't actually do the plugs tonight. I'll have to look for that tool tomorrow afternoon.

 

I did the dizzy, rotor, and oil. My old dizzy was cracked, which is probably why I had issues when it rained hard. My rotor was also lightly corroded. Threw the new ones on and it made a world of difference on it's own (I think I had the original ones from 1990 XD)

 

I'm going to get new wires this weekend so I can finalize the deal :)

 

I'll keep ya updated :)

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Yes, I pulled that little tube off - thought it was a vacuum tube.

Could be... maybe that's why my car is running so rough :D

 

I thought it was just a little condensing moisture collector tube... thingy... can't think of name right now...

 

-Mike

Edited by MadManMike
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I found what you were talking about... pretty nifty.

 

Gonna tackle 3 things this coming weekend:

 

Plug Wires

Plugs

Exhaust Y-Pipe -> Straight Pipe gasket

 

Should be fun :)

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Exhaust Y-Pipe -> Straight Pipe gasket

 

Should be fun :)

That is a royal PITA. I changed the gasket on mine but it didn't helpt as the flanges were fubared. If it's been leaking for a while it might be too late, as moister will collect there and will rust the flanges and they get warped somehow.

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That is a royal PITA. I changed the gasket on mine but it didn't helpt as the flanges were fubared. If it's been leaking for a while it might be too late, as moister will collect there and will rust the flanges and they get warped somehow.

 

Well, the flanges looked good when I was doing my oil, so I'll have a shot at it.

 

My question is - how do I get the old gasket out? I assume the obvious - Breaker fluid + breakerbar for the bolts, but is the gasket going to be like, welded onto the flange from the heat?

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Well, the flanges looked good when I was doing my oil, so I'll have a shot at it.

 

My question is - how do I get the old gasket out? I assume the obvious - Breaker fluid + breakerbar for the bolts, but is the gasket going to be like, welded onto the flange from the heat?

Well, if there is any of it left, it will come of fairly easily, mine did. If not just use a scraper or some needle nose pliers.

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Aighty, just had the gasket replaced on the Y-Pipe (flanges were good). Had to have Monroe Muffler do it because... well...

 

Simply put, there wasn't enough left of the bolts TO take them out. And I didn't have the means to burn/drill them out. So I just left it to the pros - only put me out $80, and they did a full under-car check for me.

 

They confirmed what I had already suspected:

 

Front Left shock is broken (literally, it's busted)

Rear left anti-sway bar link is broken

I have serious rust / cancer on eating into the floor under my front axle

My rear coil springs are shot

The rest of my shocks are near-death

My uhm... I think centerlink (left the paper in my truck, I'm ready for bed, and it's fskcin 38* outside... not going out for it now) and idler-arm bushings are shot to hell

 

So yeah, pretty much confirmed what I had guessed - I'll revise my first post tomorrow with a "repairs needed" and "repairs made" section.

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My uhm... I think centerlink (left the paper in my truck, I'm ready for bed, and it's fskcin 38* outside... not going out for it now) and idler-arm bushings are shot to hell

 

From personal experience, but I think many will agree, Hoohaa centerlink and new idler arm bushings would be the best way to go and a CALMINI idler brace soon after to make sure everything lasts and don't break/bend.

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Well, she's not a real trail rig atm - I hope to be able to perform an SAS on her one day, but for now she's my daily driver and my long-trip (read, PA to Florida style) vehicle, so I need her to hold the creature comforts of a good road vehicle. I worry if I do any serious mods to her now, she won't ride as nicely on the highway.

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...but for now she's my daily driver and my long-trip (read, PA to Florida style) vehicle, so I need her to hold the creature comforts of a good road vehicle. I worry if I do any serious mods to her now, she won't ride as nicely on the highway.

 

The HooHaa centerlink is an improvement no matter what your driving conditions are. It corrects the faulty points of the original factory system that wear out too quickly and cause shimmy and bump steer. when I installed mine, the 85 higway miles I would do once or twice every weekend became allot more plesant; Smoother, straigther & no lag on the turns.

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Lol red, she still "steers like a Ferrari"... just like one with no shocks and a flat left rear tire :P

 

And the hooha centerlink - i just did a quick search, didn't come up with the post I first saw em in. How/where do I find them?

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Doh

 

Anyway, first post is being updated now

 

EDIT - actually, that brings me to grassroots4x4.com, and they don't make mention of the Hoohaa Centerlink o0'

 

Unless of course they renamed it

Edited by Kittamaru
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