Motor inspection maintenance 100k

[freyspath]

Hey guys,

 

So I just hit 100k last week, and wanted to know from you guys what I should do or look out for. So far I am noticing the following:

 

- When going from Reverse to Drive if I dont wait a second, or slowly take off, I will get a thunk from the bottom of the car, as if something is loose. Is that normal?

 

- Transmission hasn't been serviced since 60k, and I've been meaning to do it, but from what i've been told its tricky since the trans has "self sealing" bolts?? Do I need to get new bolts after I replace the trans filter and replace the fluid?

 

- When on the highway at 60+mph if I turn the 4x4 knob from 2wd to Auto (aka AWD) I start to feel a vibration coming through the cabin.

 

- When on highways (over 65-70 mph) I feel a slight vibration coming through my seat. (Almost feels as if my seat has a vibrator in it lol) The car is in 2wd, AWD/AUTO just makes the vibrations spread to the steering wheel.

 

- My brake pedal seems limp. Maybe its because the gas is so sensitive. I feel it goes in a good 3-5 inches (1/2 way down) before any braking is felt. I had my brakes inspected and was told they where all "good".

 

- Interior lights are very dim, even with the dimmer switch to high, the lights inside are very dim... Any way to improve this?

 

- As for other maintenance, I have already replaced the transfer case oil, front and rear diff, P/S fluid, radiator fluid, oil and filter, brake fluid (complete flush), air filter, and the spark plugs were replaced.

 

Thanks guys, feel free to let me in on stuff I didn't look at, or things commonly to look for after 100k.

 

As for the motor, it starts up great like day one, trans is strong, and this young buck still feels like its in its teenage years!

[Towncivilian]

You should get new self-sealing pan bolts (there are 18), the FSM suggests to. You'd probably be fine if you just clean off the old bolts and reuse them; the bolts should not leak as the gasket surrounds them anyway, but new bolts are cheap and shiny insurance. If nothing else, you should do a drain and refill a few times to change out most of the fluid; I believe the filter is just a screen, and if it was replaced at 60k I wouldn't bother dropping the pan again.

 

I don't know about your 4x4 issue, I drive a 2WD and can't help there. Your vibrations may be a bunch of things... I'm not the expert on that stuff though, let someone else chime in. You certainly can change the interior lights.

 

As for other maintenance, have you put threadlocker on your power valve screws? How about in-cabin air filter (if equipped), and fuel filter? Greased propeller shaft?

[adamzan]

If it clunks, vibrates on the highway and touching the 4wd exacerbates it, it sounds like it could be u-joint related.

[m0nkeyprince]

I did not order new bolts, just cleaned and reused the old ones. When you taking the bolts out, since you have 4 wheel drive, two of them are going to have a small metal pipe on top so you are gonna have to squeeze your bit between that and the pan. If you reuse the bolts, there are thread sealers available from any auto store right next to the threadlockers.

 

Another caution when changing the ATF, when done cleaning the pan, do not over tighten the pan bolts too hard. If you tighten it to the degree the new gasket is being squeezed out, thats too much. I think the torque spec is somewhere round 10 ft, lbs.

 

Have you cleaned your MAF or throttle body? after 80k miles, there was black gunk crusted on my throttle body valve.

 

Also i +1 the thread locker on power valve screws, its gambling the life of your engine if you dont.

 

Congrats on your 100k

[Towncivilian]

I did not order new bolts, just cleaned and reused the old ones. When you taking the bolts out, since you have 4 wheel drive, two of them are going to have a small metal pipe on top so you are gonna have to squeeze your bit between that and the pan. If you reuse the bolts, there are thread sealers available from any auto store right next to the threadlockers.

 

Another caution when changing the ATF, when done cleaning the pan, do not over tighten the pan bolts too hard. If you tighten it to the degree the new gasket is being squeezed out, thats too much. I think the torque spec is somewhere round 10 ft, lbs.

 

Have you cleaned your MAF or throttle body? after 80k miles, there was black gunk crusted on my throttle body valve.

 

Also i +1 the thread locker on power valve screws, its gambling the life of your engine if you dont.

 

Congrats on your 100k

MY1PATH in this thread suggests even lower torque spec for the pan bolts - between 5.1 and 6.5 ft lbs.

 

I have a 2WD and I have the same hard line running at the front of the transmission pan. I had forgotten to reinstall the brackets providing support for it, but it's supported on either side of the pan and I see no issue with not correcting the issue (which would require another pan drop, I think) as it seems quite sturdy. Also, the two pan bolts that screw into those brackets are slightly longer than the rest, and Nissan just gave me 18 self-sealing pan bolts of all the same lengths. Though I'm not sure that hard line is what you're referring to, but it's something to note regardless.

 

And yeah, definitely clean the MAF and throttle body! I had forgotten about those two. An easy time to do it would be when putting threadlocker on the power valve screws as you'll likely have the intake tube removed, providing easy access to the throttle body. You will probably require a tamper-resistant T20 Torx bit to remove the MAF sensor.

 

Regarding the power valve screws, there's a lengthy discussion here and an excellent pictorial how-to here. Feel free to ask questions about the process, we'll be glad to help!

 

You can also lubricate your locks and hinges per FSM page MA-30 using some NLGI No. 2 Lithium soap base grease. Make sure to remove any old grease with some WD-40 or other degreaser first.

Edited February 16, 2011 by Towncivilian

[esy]

Check balance of those tires. Rear tires can be OOB when you feel a vibration in your seat at about 60+. But, it can also be u-joint related as well.

 

A nice fluid flush and fill of all fluids would be nice to do at this stage. Typical tune-up work.

[XPLORx4]

- My brake pedal seems limp. Maybe its because the gas is so sensitive. I feel it goes in a good 3-5 inches (1/2 way down) before any braking is felt. I had my brakes inspected and was told they where all "good".

 

Maybe do a brake fluid flush... again. There may be air in the brake lines. Did you do the fluid flush yourself?

 

- Interior lights are very dim, even with the dimmer switch to high, the lights inside are very dim... Any way to improve this?

 

I assume you mean the instrument cluster lights. You can improve the intensity of the instrument cluster backlighting by replacing the stock bulbs with high-intensity #74 LEDs

Edited February 16, 2011 by XPLORx4

[kidscollegefund]

I just put in LEDs for the instrument cluster, map, dome and upper rear brake lights. Took a total of 30 min and 15 of that was swapping polarity and bending in the contacts for a better connection on the dash lights. superbrightleds.com had them 3 days after ordering. Very worthwhile project.

[kidscollegefund]

Followed this guide - http://forums.nicoclub.com/topic563777.html

Edited September 14, 2013 by kidscollegefund

[fixinto]

Hmm sounds like you have things well in hand bud. However, on my 96, i dont have the auto 4x4 or awd option just a stick in the floor, but i believe it says in the manual somewhere not to drive it over 55 while in 4x4 hi. not sure about your ride. If it only does it in 4x4 it probably has something to do with the front end being engaged is all i would say about that ;P. For future reference, when i do a trans fluid change on auto's, i get a 5 gallon bucket, and some cheap trans fluid, the cheapest i can find, I take off the return line for the trans and clip it onto the 5gallon bucket so its shooting the stuff into it. while i have the car running i add the brand spank me new trans fluid as its emptying the old into the bucket. after the color coming out of the hose gets consistent, I stop adding flood and let it run for maybe another 30 seconds. then turn the engine off. At this time i drop the pan and replace the filter. then after the pan is back on I reconnect the hose to the cooler and put the good stuff in. That way im not just changing a few quarts of the fluid when i do it. Im giving it the full meal deal so to speak. Have fun with your pathy. Happy to hear your takin care of it.