Newbie With A '92 Pathy

[Manifesto]

Hi there I recently just picked up a '92 XE 4x4 with a 5spd manual for $700

lots of tasty mods, but has a snapped timing belt.

There's 304000 km on the odo and not a single leak ANYWHERE. Some rust in the usual spots- frame's still good though. I didn't buy this truck to be a show truck so im not overly worried about it.

I've been made aware that these are interference motors, so I'm well prepared that I may need to replace some valves.

This pathfinder in particular rolled with the Northern Alberta 4WD Association for quite a while, so the previous owner had kept up all the maintenance[front end work when required, a full motor and trans rebuild 3 years ago -- showed receipts ]

Abused most of it's life, I'm hoping to get a couple more years out of it with proper maintenance while hitting the trails.

 

I've been out of a 4x4 since last spring ever since the death of my R50 pathy (a beautiful gold, fully loaded 2000 SE 4x4 with 5 spd) so now im looking forward to finally being able to hit the trails again after a little TLC

[Precise1]

Damn, that looks like a good find, even with the work needing to be done, so congrats!! I hope to see pictures of your new beast in action soon.

 

B

[Pezzy]

YOU KILLED AN R50?? GET OUT!! *points to exit* NOW!

 

 

Welcome to NPORA! Good luck with the timing belt. *fingers crossed*

[Scaramoche]

awesome PF, and welcome

[Manifesto]

YOU KILLED AN R50?? GET OUT!! *points to exit* NOW!

 

 

Welcome to NPORA! Good luck with the timing belt. *fingers crossed*

haha thanks Pezzy

the R50 had a good life

..well... for the most part

it died an honorable death anyway xD I miss that pathy

at work, diagnosing the dreaded check engine light

this is where I kept her patched up

Staff parking after just 2 hours of snowfall (deeper on the other side)

*sigh* ... I pulled alot of people out of that parking lot lol

packed rims back on the pavement after playing in the snow

wish I had some pics of it in the snow,

couldn't stop, had to keep up the momentum

mud tires in deep snow really aren't that great XD lol

Edited March 26, 2010 by Manifesto

[Manifesto]

OH

and the '92 pathy has a yellow stripe now

I'll get more pics of how it looks now- sometime this week

but here it is on the way to the shop

 

can you spot the R50?

;P

[DavefromOZ]

Mate, that thing looks like a beast. Welcome, killing the caR50, most of can only dream of such an oportunity.

 

[Manifesto]

haha thanks. She ain't pretty that's for sure -- it's going to be nice out this weekend here so I'm hoping to get that timing belt done and hit the trails

I dooooo miss that R50 though XD

[nunya]

r50 killer? Can we keep him? Please?

 

 

Welcome man, got my fingers crossed for ya it goes together nicely so you can beat around in a REAL Pathfinder!

[Manifesto]

 

i look forward to seeing what this thing can do

I'll post pictures of my progress

guess I'll find out tomorrow, but it would be wicked awesome if all the valves are good

if not - well I've already taken the liberty of locating a wrecked '95 Pathy with a VG30E at the local scrap yard with the motor intact if i need parts

[Pezzy]

Welcome, killing the caR50, most of can only dream of such an oportunity.

 

I keel you!!

 

r50 killer? Can we keep him? Please?

 

I keel you TWO times!!

[Manifesto]

oh noes, what have I done? XD

[Pezzy]

Heheh, they're all too easy to get going. Especially if they know it will annoy me.

[Precise1]

Don't worry, she is Canadian (they are all a bit unstable) and a redhead to boot. Frightening if she wasn't so helpless...

 

 

 

 

B

[Manifesto]

ha, I'm not sure about ALL of us, but the majority of the people I hang out with are all a bit unstable lol

anyyy way, timing belt is coming along, just waiting for some parts to come in from Nissan.

 

soon as I started loosening up the timing cover, coolant starting dripping out, its pretty nasty in there- looks to be coming from the pump

so I'm going to replace the pump seals for sure. Should I replace the water pump itself since I'm taking it out? And how hard is the oil pump to get at on these motors?

Both pumps still work, I'm just wondering what all I can replace while I have it all apart O.O

[DavefromOZ]

Most people here replace the T/belt and pump at the same time. If your looking for parts, send Rob a PM, he goes by the forum name of Alkorahil, he runs an online parts department, genuine Nissan, but without the Stealership prices. Click the link below to go to his thread.

 

CLICKY

[Precise1]

Yeah, I'd change the waterpump just so you don't have to deal with it again for another 60k miles. Cam and crank seals, bypass hose and thermostat should be inspected/replaced also as far as I'm concerned. I just did this work last year and changed everything, then buttoned it back up, hopefully for the full 100k miles.

 

Thanks for the link Dave!!

 

B

[Dowser]

Hey Man. Great Find for the price. I had commented on your Pathfinders previous owners post before he sold it, which I presume was to you.

 

HawkeyePrinting

 

For 700 bucks CAN you got a steal even if the engine is gone to crap since there's some aftermarket already on it and not to mention the Safari Snorkel that I was all too interested in. At any rate, I was living North of Edmonton up past Grande Prairie. I never did any wheeling in Edmonton but there's a Club in Grande Praire called TNTGP. They are a ROUGH bunch since its a lot of Oil Rig guys but hey, at least its someone to wheel with if you're in that neck of the woods.

 

And as I mentioned on the previous owners topic, If you somehow find yourself in a situation where you will be parting with it, I call Dibbs on the Snorkel!

 

Have fun with the new rig, and welcome to the World of REAL pathfinders. That other thing that sort of resembled a Pathfinder doesn't count.

Edited March 31, 2010 by Dowser

[Manifesto]

@Dave - oh great, thanks for the link, I'll give them a call right away today

REALLY good to know

 

@Precise - thanks for the info. I've got it pretty much all torn down, just waiting for a new water pump. Those cam and crank seals are pretty cheap, how much is involved in replacing those?

I think I can already tell that a repair manual will be a good investment for this thing lol

 

@Dowser - Yep, I'm the guy. Lol the ashtray is still full of his business cards haha. I've already got a few buds hounding me to hurry up and get this thing finished, we already managed to get an '84 Chevy pretty stuck... and then the Ford Ranger that was supposed to pull him out wouldn't start... so now nobody's going back out until I've got the pathfinder around to bail them out XD. Going out with some seasoned wheelers would be a great experience too, so I'll have to check out that TNTGP group sometime too

 

and yes, you'll be the first one I call errr message IF I ever part it out. You may not have to wait tooo too terribly long, it's got a crap load of rust, and I bought this thing so I'd have something to beat on instead of wrecking all the new cars I buy, I'm hoping it lasts longer than the R50 did XD

[Precise1]

@Precise - thanks for the info. I've got it pretty much all torn down, just waiting for a new water pump. Those cam and crank seals are pretty cheap, how much is involved in replacing those?

I think I can already tell that a repair manual will be a good investment for this thing lol

 

Yeah, the seals are cheap, but if there is no sign of any leakage, is it worth messing with??? People will argue both ways. They are easy to deal with, tap them in slightly with a drift pin to break them loose, then hook them with a pick and pull them out. Just make sure not to scratch the metal sealing surface, or you will be sorry!! The crank seal has a lip it must be guided over but just cut a thin piece of plastic, roll it into a tube and put this over the lip and slide the seal on. Make sure to lube all surfaces with fresh engine oil after cleaning them and simply tap them in flush, I used a socket extension and walked it around the diameter. It's simple...

 

Also, go to the Garage section here and download the FSM in PDF format (the thread is pinned, look at one of the last posts) for a 94. The main differences is some trim, and the entire dash but almost anything under the hood will be the same so it is a great reference and FREE!!!

 

Don't part that pathy out if you break it's spine or whatever, buy another one and transfer all the choice parts!! (sorry Dowser )

 

Anyway, great to have you on board, even if you are Canadian.

 

B

[Manifesto]

HAHA thank you Precise1. Well, I've been procrastinating quite a bit, focusing my attention elsewhere but finally got to work on her. After my buddy 'towed' it home for me (which was just throwing a recovery strap around the rear axle of his old chevy (his bumper rusted off and wasnt much else to hook onto lol) and pulling me 40 blocks through city traffic (omg big tires and no power brakes are scary... established that the parking brake works)

Yesterday I changed out the water pump and tensioner, as well as pulled the rad out and hosed all the dried mud out of the fins (there was ALOT) and reinstalled it.

 

All that's left now is to install the new timing belt which... is proving kind of tricky

I swear I need 4 hands to pull this stunt off XD I get the belt positioned on the crank, and then I'll get it on one of the cams while ratcheting into position, then fight to get rid of the slack on one side and get it where I need it so I can get it on the other cam while trying to get that cam in position, just to see that the belt had come off the crank and skipped 3 teeth >_<

 

I gave up after about an hour of this -_-

 

I had the new tensioner on, but I tightened it so I would have as much slack as it would allow, would it be easier to install the new tensioner AFTER the belt is on?

 

Also, while replacing the thermostat I realized that it hadn't come with a new gasket... I went ahead and made a gasket out of a cigarette pack and spray tack, as well as put a tiny bead of black gasket silicone type sealer around the thermostat before I threw it in, so I'm hoping it all holds lol.

 

ONE MORE thing... without realizing, I was able to turn the crank with a wrench while it was still in 1st gear... is my clutch gone O.o?

 

I should probably be writing in a tech section but... oh well, I already started here

Edited April 27, 2010 by Manifesto

[Manifesto]

Edit ***

Moving to The garage