TruTaing Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Hey NPORA readers, I live in Washington where the weather has been getting worse on an annual basis during the winters (yay for global warming?) and needed a car that wouldn't get stuck in the snow in the winter, so I recently picked up an auto '96 Pathfinder with 200k on the clock for $800 and like my other car, I will probably end up modding it plenty.... The car had one owner prior to me (my neighbor) and he bought it new and it has never let him down. I'm hoping w/ a little TLC the car will treat me the same for several hundred k miles more... I'm planning to drive it primarily in the winter to go snowboarding and to take me through any sort of bad weather that gets thrown at me... With that in mind, I plan to make the car into a pure winter vehicle... Ive got small plans thus far for the R50, but I need to take care of the basic maint first... The front pads and rotors need to be replaced. I figure adding stainless steel brake lines + flushing the brake fluid would also be a good idea. Additionally, if the front rotors are going to come off, I figure I should go the distance and install some of those locking hubs Ive read a lot about.... I figure after 200k+ miles of use, the car's bushings have been thoroughly abused also. I would like to update the bushings after the brakes are done... I guess at this point, I would look to increase the engine's fuel efficiency by improving intake and exhaust.... After that stuff is taken care of... bigger tires and maybe a small lift... And I'm gonna tell myself now that I wont go any further w/ this car.... We'll see how well I stick to that. Quick Questions: As w/ my past car, reading through the forums has lead me to lots of great material, but not many concrete resources of where to get good deals on parts... Please drop me a link with the best places ya guys like to buy maint/mod parts from. What are the regular service intervals on the R50s? What else should I look at to make sure my car is running in good condition? Thanks! -j0hn PS - I'm big on photography so if any of ya in the Seattle area need a nice pic or two snapped of your cars in action, just hit me up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Hello John, and welcome to NPORA!! Sounds like you know where to start... Here is a basic parts/suppliers list. http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=13814 I don't know the service intervals of the R50s, but I believe they use a timing belt. Ask the neighbor when the last time it was changed. Any other model specific questions would be better addressed in the R50 forum. With a little love, I'm sure you will enjoy your pathfinder for many years. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 welcome. i would check the plugs, air filter and replace them if neccessary. If you don't know the last time it was changed, you could also replace the fuel filter, plug wires, cap and rotor, oil and oil filter. Check all your vacuum lines for cracks and leaks, check your pcv valve to make sure it's working correctly etc. there are lots of small, easy things you can check and replace as part of a mini tune up. Checking your tire pressure weekly is also a good way to save fuel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzy Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 B is correct, your pathy has a timing belt, and it's important to take care of that. Check Nissan's website (under service) for the service intervals. Here is the US version: http://www.nissanusa.com/owning/vehicle-ca...aintenance.html The Canadian one is more vehicle specific: http://www.nissan.ca/owners/vehicle_care/en/vmschedule.aspx Welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fukinitupagain Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Hell man $800, you can't beat that. Welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TruTaing Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 Yea, for 800 bux its a pretty dang good deal! I didnt even take a look at the odometer last time I looked at the car, but I looked at it today and it only has 193k miles! My neighbor (previous owner) came by w/ all of its service records today too! New things I found out: Timing belt was changed around 103k miles. Front pads were noted to be thin about 10k miles ago. Transmission fluid was flushed 20k ago. The car was bought at the END of 96 and is actually a 97 car! A few services back (about 20k miles), the valve gasket was leaking and was not fixed. Additionally, the throttle body was grimey and had been stuck open a few times, but he declined to fix this. Tires have less than 10k miles on them Weekend plan of attack: Change oil + filter Clean/inspect throttle body / MAF / intake (and associated parts) Order front pads and rotors + SS brake lines Snap some pix for you guys. Maybe flush the diff fluid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerranoNZ Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Sounds like a good start Welcome to the family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TruTaing Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 As usual things go mostly as planned during the weekend. We got around to changing the oil on the pathy and took off the front wheel to investigate the brake pad/rotors issue. Luckily, we found that there was plenty of pad AND rotor life left. Damn those stealerships for lying to my neighbor. Yay for the neighbor sellin' us the car for cheaper cuz the car supposedly needed more work So we're gonna wait on the brake pads/lines for now... With the front driver side wheel off, we got to investigating the lil dent in the front driver side fender and and a big dent in the bumper. (neighbor's pathy got charged by an elk... who woulda thunk? - thats what he tells us at least) The big dent in the bumper was primarily in the plastic while the dent in the fender was small. Either way, we got to putting the heat gun + lots of just manual labor on the fender and bumpers. Both the bumper and fender look lots better now! I hard read somewhere in the R50 forms that removing the roof racks helps your fuel efficiency so we removed those and managed a good 100 mile highway trip w/ about a quarter tank. Does that sound about normal/avg to you guys? Things I discovered this weekend on the R50: Holly @!*% the plastic wheel well linings are such a pain to remove. So are the flare. Is there a more graceful way of removing these things aside from yanking real hard after you get all the screws out? They were such a pain, I didn't wanna put them back on.... I dont think the funny engine noise is coming from the timing belt. Sounds like its just coming from one of the accessory belts. Could be a cheap fix! I also noticed some rust on the bottom of the slider bars where they mount to the car. Is this normal? I would have imagined that these things would be a lot more durable (at the same time I could see how 10+ years under a car gettin hit by rocks could change that)? Ya guys got any other suggestions for places to look for rust? Most the under body appeared rust free. (no salt on the roads in Seattle!) Next weekend: Investigate the belt sounds more Clean the throttle body/MAF Any tips/hints/suggestions for next weekend's tasks would be greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HitTheTrails Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 (edited) Welcome! For the valve cover gaskets, check that the screws are tight, mine were all loose and now that I've tightened them there is only a small oil leak. For the timing belt, you are almost due for another change since its been 90k since the last change. In the future if you replace the rotors you should repack the wheel bearing and install new seals while you're at it. Good luck with your new truck, sounds like you got a great deal! Edited January 12, 2009 by HitTheTrails Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fukinitupagain Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 There is no real "gracefull" way to deal with the flares & plastic lining, sorry. As for the step rails, just take those ugly bitches off. My were rusted when I bought my '97 in 2000 & one of the first things I did was take those things off (they really don't do much as a step since our vehicles sit so low to the ground anyhow). Any pics? Lets see the beast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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