PerlNinja Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Or in other words, every car gets to that point in life where you either sell it, junk it, or sink way too much money in it to fix it up. I'm about to embark on the "sink money" option; I really, really like my Pathy. It's got 190.220km on it as of this morning, and the previous owners weren't too hot on maintenance. As you can see from my various posts, I've not been spared my share of problems, so I decided to bite the bullet and get it all done and over with, and basically catch up on *all* the maintenance. Currently on order from the nearest Nissan parts guy: - new front discs and pads - new rear drums and shoes - new clutch pack (discs, bearings,the works) - new carburator - new front fender flares - a new instrument cluster due to the old one's wires being so badly mauled it's impossible to fix properly - 4 new shocks - pretty much every bushing and joint in the front suspension I've already made a deal with my local garage to park it there, and I can do the work myself or have them do it - so probably a little 50/50 since the mechanics there still think it's hilarious that a foreigner (I live in Indonsia) actually gets his hands dirty by working on his own car; and it's fun to hang around with them and get me some learning! Already told my wife that I'd rather keep the pathy than to switch to another car, in the 4 years I've owned it it's had it's fair share of weird problems, but it's never once actually let me down or gotten me stranded. It's reliable, sturdy, comfortable to drive (well... except my right foot, it gets hot...) and hey, I *heart* it. My 3 year old son also loves it, last time we drove another car he was incredibly cranky and didn't like it one bit. I think he's already got ideas about him "taking it over" when he turns 18... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushnut Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 right on man, If you own it, keep it! and only 190,00km thats peanuts. do the work, enjoy it and feel proud that you've done most of it yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Agreed, 190.220km is not much at all as long as the major parts are ok (engine, tranny, drivetrain). Most of what you mentioned are all wear items, so it is to be expected, although that is why some people drive a vehicle for 4-5 years (often doing no maintenance) and then switch to another new one so they don't have to deal with it. They wind up paying a lot more in the long run though... Your pathfinder has a carburator? B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boothill2008 Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 (edited) Hi PerlNinja! If your right foot is getting hot when you drive, it is probably a sign that you need to replace an exhaust gasket. Nissan, in their infinite wisdom, decided to join an exhaust pipe under the driver's side floorboard not far from the gas pedal.... How I found mine was I placed my Pathy on jack stands and crawled under and had my son start it, while holding my hand around the junction. I could feel the exhaust leaking from it as I moved my hand around the area. If it is not the gasket, it may be a hole in the pipe. Make sure the car is cold when you do this so you do not burn your hand. I would send you a gasket, as I had one laying around but I lost it in my last move. Give it a try and let me know what you find? Take care.... Edited April 2, 2014 by boothill2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APACHECHIEF13 Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 I have a 87 pathy and I have 240,000 plus and I put a new 3.0l from japan and put a rebuilt trans in it. I also replaced everything in the steering and just last week out new coil spring on out of an 09 tj. I have replaced the shock in 04 but have new Calmini shock on back right now. I have 31/10.5/15 bfg km2 all the way around and one for a spare and I'm over 10k and it looks like a new pathy again. Little rust and dents from wheeling but welded rock rails off a 4 door tj to help with not denting it to bad. So is it worth putting money into a 27 year old pathy yes but that's what I think. Spend Away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerlNinja Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 Agreed, 190.220km is not much at all as long as the major parts are ok (engine, tranny, drivetrain). Most of what you mentioned are all wear items, so it is to be expected, although that is why some people drive a vehicle for 4-5 years (often doing no maintenance) and then switch to another new one so they don't have to deal with it. They wind up paying a lot more in the long run though... Your pathfinder has a carburator? B Yes it has - I'm in the enviable (?) position of owning a ... not entirely one-of-a-kind; Indonesia happens to be one of those countries where Pathfinders were made for a lot longer than anywhere else, and they come in a variety of odd flavors. Mine was built in 2002, has the 90's body style, but the updated front fender. Comes with a Z24 engine - not a Z24i, but a Z24. With a carb Hi PerlNinja! If your right foot is getting hot when you drive, it is probably a sign that you need to replace an exhaust gasket. Nissan, in their infinite wisdom, decided to join an exhaust pipe under the driver's side floorboard not far from the gas pedal.... How I found mine was I placed my Pathy on jack stands and crawled under and had my son start it, while holding my hand around the junction. I could feel the exhaust leaking from it as I moved my hand around the area. If it is not the gasket, it may be a hole in the pipe. Make sure the car is cold when you do this so you do not burn your hand. I would send you a gasket, as I had one laying around but I lost it in my last move. Give it a try and let me know what you find? Take care.... Actually my exhaust runs under the left side of the car, I sit on the right since it's RHD - the heat is more a case of it coming off the engine; for some reason the airflow through the engine bay deflects all the hot air off the firewall, and it gets hot at some point. Not really super hot but hot enough to get noticeable after a while. On top of that I've got a tendency to lead-foot it, so that doesn't help >.> My entire exhaust system has been replaced already, new headers (well... somewhat headerish), new pipe that runs a bit further to the side of the vehicle, no catalytic converter (yay... ), and a flow-through muffler. There is one section of pipe that's going bad though, might finagle a welding torch from somewhere and slap a patch on it for the time being. WIth all this maintenance coming up I'm having very, very sneaky visions of spooning a bigger engine in... I mustn't mention it around SWMBO though, she tends to frown on massive spending for car related fun parts >.> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gv280z Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 If you're replacing the clutch, why not upgrade to a stronger clutch like a Centerforce or Zoom. That's cool you've got a late model WD21 man, Sweet What shocks are you going back with? As far as your wife is concerned, I say you count yourself lucky, I wish I could go and drop a grand into my truck without having a huge fight over it, not possible. I wanna see some pics of that truck. So did Indonesia also get the Exterra and R50 as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Yes it has - I'm in the enviable (?) position of owning a ... not entirely one-of-a-kind; Indonesia happens to be one of those countries where Pathfinders were made for a lot longer than anywhere else, and they come in a variety of odd flavors. Mine was built in 2002, has the 90's body style, but the updated front fender. Comes with a Z24 engine - not a Z24i, but a Z24. With a carb Actually my exhaust runs under the left side of the car, Yes, I know you have the cool new/foreign mix-match, but I never would have thought it would still be carburated. I figured Z24i... Yep, the Z24 exhaust is collected on the left side and piped straight back. (owned a D720 with Z24i for a decade). B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerlNinja Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 If you're replacing the clutch, why not upgrade to a stronger clutch like a Centerforce or Zoom. That's cool you've got a late model WD21 man, Sweet What shocks are you going back with? As far as your wife is concerned, I say you count yourself lucky, I wish I could go and drop a grand into my truck without having a huge fight over it, not possible. I wanna see some pics of that truck. So did Indonesia also get the Exterra and R50 as well? Mainly because there's no need for it (yet), my Pathy is a 2WD, not a full-fledged big boy 4WD, and I don't really do any heavy towing or other odd things (well, okay, I peel out at traffic lights sometimes) so... easier this way. Getting any sort of after-market parts requires ordering it in the USA or Australia and having it shipped. That in itself isn't a big deal, but it starts getting interesting when it hits customs. Often there's the official taxes that need to be paid, and then there's the "unofficial" taxes that need to be paid. Makes things somewhat prohibitively expensive Shocks are plain jane bog standard nissan factory jobs, I had ideas about having some stiffer ones but ran into the above problem. Turns out the aftermarket parts market (heh) here consists of bull bars and roof rack mounted lights, and that's about the end of it. As far as the wife goes, well, it did take some back and forth about it, but we both like the car, for different reasons. I like it because it's reliable, my ride's had a few nasty breakdowns but it's never actually given up the ghost or left me stranded, so that counts. Second, it's big. Indonesian traffic being what it is, this is a distinct advantage. Then there's the thing that even though it is a heavy bastard, it's quite agile, handles well, and is generally "comfortable" to drive in the sense you can stick a pinky on the wheel and drive 200 miles like that. SWMBO likes it because it's big; usually it's her and the munchkin in the back, and with the passenger seat all the way forward there's room for the munchkin to play around some, plenty room on the back seat for the munchkin to actually lay down with his pillow and blanket and snore all the way home, and the seats are comfortable. Then there's the munchkin who basically likes it because I like it - these days whenever I get home he's waiting for it, hops in and sits on my lap steering it into the car port while I deal with the gas and the brakes. There's pics in another thread of mine, I'll see about posting some new ones after I come back from the garage tomorrow And as far as I know, no R50's but plenty xterra's - there's a bunch of them around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerlNinja Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 Yes, I know you have the cool new/foreign mix-match, but I never would have thought it would still be carburated. I figured Z24i... Yep, the Z24 exhaust is collected on the left side and piped straight back. (owned a D720 with Z24i for a decade). B Yeah, the crazy thing is that they're all like that, it's literally like ... when Pathfinder production stopped for the US they just grabbed whatever was in the parts bin and slapped one together and sold it locally; and the Z24 engine's used in a lot of other Nissan vehicles so... makes sense. There's still that joining of 2 pipes though that would indeed be right behind the gas pedal in a LHD car; kind of an odd place for it come to think of it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerlNinja Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 Welp, new front discs and pads are on, got 4 new tires as well, the old ones looked fine on the outside but the inside was heavily cracked and ripped, apparently some sort of stress fracture like thing. And of course when the wheels were off, turns out I need me some new tierods as well; the amount of play in there is ... not entirely insignificant and explains the rather wobbly behaviour at anything over 80kph. So getting those tomorrow, putting them on sunday. I hope. And then monday new clutch, new AC compressor, and new rear brake drums/shoes/kitchen sink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerlNinja Posted April 27, 2014 Author Share Posted April 27, 2014 Thought it was all done but nooo... not quite. Was on the toll road the other day on the way to (irony of ironies) the Nissan workshop I usually go to to finally have the clutch replaced since I hadn't gotten around to it yet and to have them eyeball the carb. The carb got rebuilt by my (then local, now not so local since I moved last week) workshop but I had a feeling things weren't quite right. Indonesia being what it is, traffic built up real fast and for some strange reason I had the urge to be in the slow lane, and good thing it was too, next time I had to come to a stop the engine almost died, chugged at 100-odd rpm; turning on the AC real quick saved the day because it'll add a little extra gas, so rpms went to normal. For about 30 seconds, then it chugged out and died. Coasted to the shoulder and commenced my usual "jebus f'in bleep bleep bleep bleep bleeping bleep bleep" thing. 35C, right around noon, under the sun, does not make a good spot to start working on an engine. Luckily one of the toll road's many tow trucks happened to come by and the gents were kind enough to bend their rules (to the nearest toll road exit only) and towed me down to the nearest Nissan workshop. Did cost me 2 packs of smokes and 2 cups of coffee but hey, for that price... At the Nissan workshop they found out what happened: the geezer that rebuilt the carb forgot to put the new gaskets in. He also forgot to put a gasket between the carb and the intake body. That's gotten fixed (had to wait 2 days for parts), and the car runs good now. I did get told it's probably better to get off the 85 octane gasoline and start using the 91 octane (unfortunately it's about $20 more for a full tank). Does make a nice difference though. The only thing now is that there's a ticking noise coming from the valve cover, it seems. Not sure if it's a valve or a lifter that's gone kaka or whether it's the common exhaust rattle but... that'll have to get looked at. One thing's for sure, with the amount of new stuff that went into the Pathy, it should hold up for at least another 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Glad it was a pretty simple fix. Time to go back to that first place and get some sort of refund... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerlNinja Posted April 28, 2014 Author Share Posted April 28, 2014 Glad it was a pretty simple fix. Time to go back to that first place and get some sort of refund... B Not going to happen Hell will freeze over before I get one. Besides the total cost for the job was $20 so... not like I really want it back. It'd cost me more in gas to drive there than I'd get off the refund. I did call them and told the nominal manager type that the dude who rebuilt my carb shouldn't be let near any anymore. He said he'd sort it out, I believe him. Still not sure if it uses too much gas though; but I've done only city driving which involves a hell of a lot of stop and go. Guess i'll have to ask the Nissan dudes for a tuneup or something... I also installed a dashcam recently so I may start doing a "pathy meets idiot road users" type thing soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Got it! Be perfectly honest, I'm not sure I'd let anyone touch it that only wanted $20... I know, different economies, wage rates, etc. Couldn't hurt to have a 'professional' Nissan mechanic give it a look over, especially snce you plan to keep it. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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