McFalconPunch Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 Hello everybody, I've been lurking for awhile and I thought it might be good to start a build thread to keep track of what i'm doing, help others, and possibly gain ideas for the future of my Pathfinder. I had a Ford Focus ST that I sold to Carmax, then took an Uber to a small used car dealership to pick it up. History: Purchased on August 30th, 2016 2003 Nissan Pathfinder LE 4x4 with 149k Known issues when purchased were: Rust on Passenger door, exhaust rusted out, ABS light on, Radio not working, and needed brakes all around. Made it home without any issues. Repairs: 4 Kumho Road Venture AT51 Tires (9/9/16) Neutral Safety Switch bypassed because it was bad (9/9/16) New brakes all around, Wheel Bearings, ABS Sensor replaced (9/10/16) Replaced Radio with a factory unit. Old one was full of pennies (9/12/16) Replaced Exhaust with a Flowmaster 70 series. Had 2 inch pipe put in from the cats to the flowmaster (removed resonators), then 3 inch exit. After a couple weeks this was too loud for me, so I had a knockoff Magnaflow put in where the last muffler was. (9/22/16) Replaced passenger side door with one that was the exact same color. Drove 3 hours to get it (beats paying freight shipping) (10/6/16) Replaced all fluids and will continue to drain and fill the transmission and Transfer Case every other or 3 oil changes. Also replaced oil pan because of a couple questionable rust spots. (10/10/16) Replaced Cut Valve and solenoid for EVAP system (11/17/16) Replaced battery with a Duracell AGM 34 size group. (12/19/16) Current Battles: P0442: Got this after replacing the Cut Valve and solenoid (P1491). Replaced gas cap but it is still coming on. Need to check the valve on the charcoal box and all associated hoses. Also need to check filler neck. Vibration from 40-60mph: Most likely the front driveshaft needs new u-joints and to be balanced. Local shop will do it for under $100, just crappy weather at the moment to mess with it. Shocks, Struts, Springs: The rear is sagging, noticeable when I have a full tank of gas in it. More detailed below. Also currently has the same shocks, struts, and springs it rolled off the factory with. Drivers Side Headlight: Previous owner lost a bulb in there and left it. I managed to fish it out but the damage has already been done. I have a new one but I haven't put it on yet. Current Modifications: Bull Bar with 22 inch LED light bar. Custom Exhaust with 2 inch pipe from cats, resonator delete, 3 inch exit to a knockoff Magnaflow. LED lighting inside, LED license plate bulbs. Future Plans: Replace rear shocks with Bilstein 5100's. Replace front struts with KYB or equivalent. Still undecided on whether to use AC Coils or new springs with spacers. May go with spacers to keep the ride smooth and costs down. Install a Rola Vortex Safari Rack. Its been sitting in my shed for a month or 2. Finally went to Lowes to get the conduit brackets and screws to make it "low profile". Will probably do this in the next couple of days. LED cluster lights. I have white, yellow, and green to pick from. Was leaning towards green but we shall see once they are in there. I actually plan on doing this today. Replace headunit with one that supports a rear view camera. Loved it in my ST, and I love it in my wife's Rogue. Rear tire carrier. Currently don't have a spare, and I don't know about putting a spare on my Safari Rack. Just gotta find one. Replace Headlight and Fog light bulbs with LED's. Replace corner lights with switchbacks. Add LED light bar to Rola Rack Install my Bearcat 880 with either a hatch mount for the antenna or mount to future tire carrier. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
03TroutFinder Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 Cool Man.....Looks like your right in your way. Nice post. Keep posting pics of your progress. Love seeing these R50's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McFalconPunch Posted December 28, 2016 Author Share Posted December 28, 2016 Thanks! I've always wanted a Pathfinder since I was 16. The opportunity came when my lawyer sent me the bill for adopting my step-daughter (well now daughter) so after I paid him, with what was left over I bought this. For being a vehicle that spent its entire life in Cleveland, its surprisingly not as rusty as the ones I have seen around here, and I'm a few hours south of Cleveland. I did install the LED's last night. What was suppose to be a 15 minute job turned into an hour. The bases that came with the LED's didnt work, so I had to reuse the old ones. I couldn't get the old bulbs out, so I had to break them. Well 2 came out fine with some pliers, but the 3rd one I had to drill out. That base is pretty mangled, but it still worked. Pretty sure I need those tri-LED's as you can see in the pics. Not too sure how I feel about the green, so I bought some white tri-LED bulbs. Im going to replace the bulbs in the shifter and HVAC controls with white too, once I can figure out how to get to them. Ill have more pics of it later after it gets a good washing. I live in the middle of a forest so there's a couple dirt roads I have to deal with, so its a losing battle after I wash it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChemExposure Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 When you said you changed your exhast out because it was too loud, was it a bad sounding loud or you just don't like loud vehicles? My pathfinder could be a bit louder, but as it is it's very raspy past 3000RPM so I'm wondering if that sound just gets amplified. Great thread by the way, kinda inspires me to be more organized and maybe get a thread of my own up here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McFalconPunch Posted December 28, 2016 Author Share Posted December 28, 2016 I like a happy medium I guess, and this was just over my limit. I got the Flowmaster 70 series because it was the cheapest 2 into 1 I could get (even cheaper than the stock one). The 70 series is their quietest muffler. I had a ripoff Magnaflow muffler added where the rear most muffler was to quiet it down. I feel like its just right now. Louder than stock, but not true flowmaster loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McFalconPunch Posted January 3, 2017 Author Share Posted January 3, 2017 Since it was at least warm yesterday, I got a couple things accomplished. I changed the oil and went from 10w-30 to 5w-30 to help on starts in below freezing temperatures. I decided to use Carquest High Mileage (from what I read is the same as Valvoline Maxlife) and used a Purolator Boss filter because they were on sale. I was (or still am) having issues with a P1163 code just showing up randomly. It seemed to come on after I fill up with 87 grade gas, but could be just a coincidence. I found some threads on a couple frontier/xterra forums that said to loosen and tighten the ground bolts from the intake to the head. So I disconnected the battery and messed with these connectors. Either way, my Pathfinder seems more lively after these changes. Im hoping fiddling with the ground cable gets rid of that code, if not I have replacement O2 sensors that I can put in whenever. I also got my Rola rack installed. I used a method I found on here with electrical conduit brackets and screws that fit into what is already in the tracks of the factory roof rack. After i tightened everything down I hung on each side (I weight 235lbs) for about 5 seconds and nothing broke or failed. Id say this method is more than good enough for my uses. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleurys Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 Wow.. This truck looks like new... good for you ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
03TroutFinder Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 Looking good! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunchie Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 Hey last pic reminds me that I STILL have install my hood deflector-bin sittin in its box for 3 years now-lol. And you got the rims I want, dammit! BTW, I drove my truck for a year before I realized I needed to run premium in it-what a profound difference it made!!! MPG AND performance. My Pathy was equipped the 3.5 ltr as it was a late model year upgrade to the line. Check ur owners manual-mine sez 90 octain or better. The $ amount at the pump will be offset by the improvements in performance and mpg. And did you use nylock nuts on your rack mounting system?-nothing like losing ur gear at the most inopportune time cuz the std nuts backed off. Overall, nice ride, duder! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McFalconPunch Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 I used locktite on the rack, I check it every once and a while and its still doing good! I did change out the bulbs for the dash and HVAC controls about a month ago. Haven't posted any updates because of work and my wife being very, very pregnant. I also put in an aftermarket stereo (Kenwood KDC-X500) to work with the existing Bose system. You just gotta make sure it has 4v outputs. It sounds alright, better than stock and now I have bluetooth connectivity. Bonus pic of the switch for the LED light bar. I wasn't paying attention and accidentally rubbed the side of the trim panel with my dremel. I also changed out the belts and pulleys. I felt the belts could look worse for being 14 years old. The bearings in both the pulleys were both shot. I replaced them with Gatorbacks and ACDelco pulleys. I did install my CB radio (Uniden Bearcat 880) that I had laying around along with a 3ft Firestik with hatch mount. I will post pics of that after I button everything up and tune the radio, probably sometime later this week. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McFalconPunch Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0UlapB2TUY Video of my drive home (If I take the back route) I have 4 of these stream, or small river depending if it rains, crossings I have to go through. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citron Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 I like the switch. Where did you get it. I live in Sasquatch country,they actually filmed some of that finding Sasquatch show around here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McFalconPunch Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 I got it off eBay with all the wiring which was of good quality. http://www.ebay.com/itm/111753083658 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McFalconPunch Posted March 24, 2017 Author Share Posted March 24, 2017 The rears are on! Had to cut off the sway bar links (lucky I had new). The fronts will go on tomorrow morning. Sent from my ZTE A2017U using Tapatalk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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