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What did you do to your Pathfinder today?


RedRider3141
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Washed about a million tons of salt off of it. I swear, Michigan winters are going to kill this thing long before any crazy stunt I pull... Any suggestions for rust repair inside the back door well (the curved part by the wheel)? Seems like it would be a pain in the $@* to replace anything in that area.

I'm glad I live in the south west. Only thing I have to clean off is mud, but sometimes I'll get this clay-mud all over it that takes hours to get off the fenders if it dries.

 

 

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Washed about a million tons of salt off of it. I swear, Michigan winters are going to kill this thing long before any crazy stunt I pull... Any suggestions for rust repair inside the back door well (the curved part by the wheel)? Seems like it would be a pain in the $@* to replace anything in that area.

Depends how far gone it is. Surface rust can be sanded off and then repainted, with maybe a little body filler if needed. Cancer needs to be cut out though, and preferably you'd butt weld in new sheetmetal and then do all the bodywork. Or try and patch the hole with fiberglass. There really is no easy solution with deep rust. I've spent at least 50 hours on just sheet metal repairs on mine already, with plenty more still to do and I haven't even broken out the body filler yet. Or dealt with the surface rust on the underside...
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The pins on mine are seized as well. When I got the truck, they weren't and the door pins seemed tight. I assume over the 6 months it sat they seized and the wear was accelerated. Where did you get the hinge plates?

 

The plastic @!*% on the striker is getting all chewed up because of this.

 

 

I got them on eBay. Don't get them on eBay. Each kit I found had two identical plates that were apparently driver's lower and passenger's upper. I have no idea why they were being sold like this, or why I had to do so much looking around to find the matching kit with the driver's upper and passenger's lower. When I did find the second set, they were Taiwanese and clearly manufactured by someone who'd never seen a Pathfinder before, and the door wouldn't close right until I shimmed it out. Even then, it was never quite right, and of course the hinge pins stripped right out the first time I opened the door. It was enough to make me consider tearing the other door off and going Jeep style.

 

If you have to get new plates, it looks like factorynissanparts has them for $30 each. At least the holes would be in the right places.

 

Or do what I did on my '93. Replace the pins, replace the bushings if they need it (I replaced the lower bushings on the driver's side since they'd worn down against the hinge plate), jack up the back corner of the door until the hinge pins slide to the end of the wallered-out slot where the hole's supposed to be, then weld them there. I didn't even replace anything on the passenger's side, just broke the pins loose, lubed them, and then welded them down. Worked great!

 

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Washed about a million tons of salt off of it. I swear, Michigan winters are going to kill this thing long before any crazy stunt I pull... Any suggestions for rust repair inside the back door well (the curved part by the wheel)? Seems like it would be a pain in the $@* to replace anything in that area.

 

The part of the door where it goes over the wheel well? I'd take the door off and set it on a table so you can see what you're doing, pull the trim panel so you don't set fire to it, and make sure there's no wiring right behind the rust. Then cut until there's no more rust, beat a piece of sheet metal into the rough shape of the hole you left, and weld it up. Hopefully it's not rotted through into the outer skin.

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Nice to see they stood behind it, anyway. Hopefully the OEM stuff goes in easier.

The oem ones did not go in so well. I ended up having to smooth out the barrel further for the bushings to go in easier. I won't have to worry about replacing these in another 10 or so years.

 

I must say that this is probably one of the most satisfying fixes I've done.

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I got them on eBay. Don't get them on eBay. Each kit I found had two identical plates that were apparently driver's lower and passenger's upper. I have no idea why they were being sold like this, or why I had to do so much looking around to find the matching kit with the driver's upper and passenger's lower. When I did find the second set, they were Taiwanese and clearly manufactured by someone who'd never seen a Pathfinder before, and the door wouldn't close right until I shimmed it out. Even then, it was never quite right, and of course the hinge pins stripped right out the first time I opened the door. It was enough to make me consider tearing the other door off and going Jeep style.

 

If you have to get new plates, it looks like factorynissanparts has them for $30 each. At least the holes would be in the right places.

 

Or do what I did on my '93. Replace the pins, replace the bushings if they need it (I replaced the lower bushings on the driver's side since they'd worn down against the hinge plate), jack up the back corner of the door until the hinge pins slide to the end of the wallered-out slot where the hole's supposed to be, then weld them there. I didn't even replace anything on the passenger's side, just broke the pins loose, lubed them, and then welded them down. Worked great!

 

 

You assume I have a welder....Oh wait, I have 2 20+ year old trucks, of course I do! lol

 

Breaking them free sounds fun. Just put vice grips on them? I'm trying not to fskc the paint on the door if I can help it. What lube did you use on the bushings? I figure regular old grease should be fine?

Edited by adamzan
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You assume I have a welder....Oh wait, I have 2 20+ year old trucks, of course I do! lol

 

Breaking them free sounds fun. Just put vice grips on them? I'm trying not to fskc the paint on the door if I can help it. What lube did you use on the bushings? I figure regular old grease should be fine?

 

I used a very delicate and technical method that involved beating the crap out of them with the BFH. Take the clip out, beat the pin one direction, beat it the other direction, once it breaks free and starts to move you're mostly there. You might be able to move the pin with vise grips after it's broken loose, but it really is amazing how hard those things lock up. I even tried breaking one free using the door as leverage (welded without breaking loose) and quickly realized I was going to tweak the door long before that pin came loose. Luckily I hadn't welded it on very well and a few good hits broke it free. If you take a piece of steel rod and drill a little divot in the end, you've got a punch that'll stay on the pointy end of the pin, mostly. I would've used an air hammer if I'd had one at the time, but then I probably would've slipped and put speed holes in the A-pillar with it.

 

And yeah, whatever grease you've got lying around should do fine. I used super sticky synthetic marine schmoo on the driver's side, because it was apart, and 10W30 on the passenger's side because it wasn't and I couldn't be arsed.

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I used a very delicate and technical method that involved beating the crap out of them with the BFH. Take the clip out, beat the pin one direction, beat it the other direction, once it breaks free and starts to move you're mostly there. You might be able to move the pin with vise grips after it's broken loose, but it really is amazing how hard those things lock up. I even tried breaking one free using the door as leverage (welded without breaking loose) and quickly realized I was going to tweak the door long before that pin came loose. Luckily I hadn't welded it on very well and a few good hits broke it free. If you take a piece of steel rod and drill a little divot in the end, you've got a punch that'll stay on the pointy end of the pin, mostly. I would've used an air hammer if I'd had one at the time, but then I probably would've slipped and put speed holes in the A-pillar with it.

 

And yeah, whatever grease you've got lying around should do fine. I used super sticky synthetic marine schmoo on the driver's side, because it was apart, and 10W30 on the passenger's side because it wasn't and I couldn't be arsed.

 

Lol thanks. One of mine is still missing the circlip 2 years after my attempt to change it. Shows how seized they are. I guess I will be welding mine in place as well. I do have an air hammer so I may try it. Las time I used an impact socket extension and a 5lb sledgehammer. Didn't break free and I didn't want to kill my fingers!

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Got my cruise control working. The stealership wanted $16 a piece for the rubber nipple things that go on the brake pedal. I duct taped some cardboard to it temporarily till I can find time to get some from the junk yard. This is an improvement to the previous owners crappy attempt at the same fix. It's working really good and makes my 50 mile one way commute to school a little nicer.

 

 

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:rofl: Can you do a step-by-step guide in the hardcore fab section? (I love the sarcastic enthusiasm in this meme by the way, mind if I steal it?)

Steal away. James had this truck pretty well wrapped up before I got to it (again). The front speakers were blown in a week and the gas gauge is far off, but it's working well.

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I got the flickering dash clock so pulled the dash out and found the led that was in there was pretty loose. Bent the pins inwards inside the bulb holder so the bulb would make better contact. All fixed! Also installed new headlight 6000k bulbs although I highly doubt they are 6000k. They were $11.45 off Ebay, they are coloured blue but when they light up they certainly aren't blue. They are supposed to be 90w/100w going to test it out tonight.

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Got my new Cooper ST MAXX 31x10.5r15 tires mounted and made a 2" spacer for the rear springs using a new Polyurethane jeep leveling kit I had kicking around the shop. Had to do a little bit of trimming because of my offset, but I'm really liking the wide stance. Sitting quite a bit taller than before now. Also mounted some Rigid Dually Spots by my fenders with the security kit. Well worth it. Diagnosed my compressor to be bad, so now I have to send it in and wait for a replacement. Contemplating adding another compressor to the system as well.

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I have done lots in the last few days. Timing belt, water pump, valve cover gaskets, all new coolant hoses, all but one vaccum hose, cam and crank oil seals, cleaned throttle body... I think that is about it. Nope, new accessory belts. Oh, and sealed the leak on the windshield...

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Installed the new oil pressure sender. I kind of freaked out and thought my gauge wasn't reading at idle until I gave it some gas. I just need to hard mount it now.

Which one did you get? This is on my list of things to do sooner than later. I don't like not having one.

 

 

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I bought the Equus electric model. $50. Only thing additional is the wire to hook it up. The send has another prong so you can hook up your stock oil pressure dummy light to it. I'm still trying to find where my wire is to test it.

 

Our VG30e reads 9 PSI at idle and I think 55-65 psi at 3200 RPMS no load.

I'm running a z31 oil pump that is suppose create more oil pressure (FSM states 11 PSI at idle) but I do not think the pump itself is doing that so probably using the pump was just a waste (the timing belt covers and water pumps do not fully seal the timing belt--mix and match parts)

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