PathyGig12’s Build Thread

[PathyGig12]

3 hours ago, R50JR said:

If it hits while spinning, it won’t end well for your fancy boots. You can get band clamps for a few dollars on Amazon.


Sent from my Pathfinder

It won’t hit while spinning because I’ll be able to line it up with the ball joint when I’m reinstalling the axle and see if there’s enough clearance. I’m not going to let it spin without knowing that it clears, that would be quite dumb

[PathyGig12]

The snap ring arrived today so I’ll be reinstalling the CVs soon. 
 

I took some pics of the Warn hubs. The inner ring is missing from the damaged one because I had to pull it off of the axle so I could get the mangled snap ring out from behind it. You can tell where it was trapped and grinding against the hub. I still have no idea how it managed to get stuck in there, but I read in the chilton manual that Nissan recommends replacing the snap ring every time you remove it. I don’t think that’s necessary but I’ve removed it many times over the past couple years so that could certainly have been a contributing factor 

 

Normal:

 

 

Damaged side:

 

 

 

 

[PathyGig12]

The CVs are installed now. Sure enough the hose clamp was touching the ball joint just barely so I had to redo that side with a proper boot clamp.
 

I’m leaving the front drive shaft off the truck until I can get it to the driveline shop for new joints and balancing, but I locked the hubs anyway to see how the new boots handle the spinning. 
 

 

Its funny, I noticed when the truck was parked that it dripped a decent amount of oil over a couple hours, but I’ve been checking the level for the past month and it hasn’t dropped below the high mark at all since the last oil change. Before the last change i was using 10-40 in it, but I wanted to go a bit thinner for the cold weather so I first ran it with some Lucas stop leak for about a month or two and then switched to 5w-30 when I did the change. Before the stop leak it was losing quite a bit while driving but since then I haven’t lost any, even on the road trip. So I’m struggling to figure out how it could be visibly leaking but holding the high mark on the dipstick every week

[Fr8Train]

4 hours ago, PathyGig12 said:

Its funny, I noticed when the truck was parked that it dripped a decent amount of oil over a couple hours, but I’ve been checking the level for the past month and it hasn’t dropped below the high mark at all since the last oil change. Before the last change i was using 10-40 in it, but I wanted to go a bit thinner for the cold weather so I first ran it with some Lucas stop leak for about a month or two and then switched to 5w-30 when I did the change. Before the stop leak it was losing quite a bit while driving but since then I haven’t lost any, even on the road trip. So I’m struggling to figure out how it could be visibly leaking but holding the high mark on the dipstick every week

 

When I got mine I spent an afternoon degreasing and pressure cleaning the engine, steering rack, transmission, CV's, and engine bay, gives you a good base line to chase leaks as once everything is clean, it is easier to see where the leaks are coming from, one thing I noted was after a few drives I did have oil work out of areas I didn't quite get with the pressure washer. Each time I found some leaking down I cleaned it again (spray can degreaser and rag) and traced where it might be coming from and checked it again after the next drive.

 

After a bit of investigationing I discovered the right hand valve cover was loose and leaking.  Tightened up and and has taken the leak up for now, but I now know to keep an eye on it.

 

A lot of my gunk on my engine was from split CV boots, and a weeping power steering. Cleaned up and monitor, have added stop leak power steering fluid, and replaced CV's.

 

Long story short clean everything within an inch of it's life and it will make tracing leaks much easier, and once it's clean it's easier to keep clean. Plus it makes working on the engine so much nicer when you aren't covered with muck from fingers to elbows.

 

Just my 2c worth

 

[Guest]

The CVs are installed now. Sure enough the hose clamp was touching the ball joint just barely so I had to redo that side with a proper boot clamp.
 
I’m leaving the front drive shaft off the truck until I can get it to the driveline shop for new joints and balancing, but I locked the hubs anyway to see how the new boots handle the spinning. 
 
 
Its funny, I noticed when the truck was parked that it dripped a decent amount of oil over a couple hours, but I’ve been checking the level for the past month and it hasn’t dropped below the high mark at all since the last oil change. Before the last change i was using 10-40 in it, but I wanted to go a bit thinner for the cold weather so I first ran it with some Lucas stop leak for about a month or two and then switched to 5w-30 when I did the change. Before the stop leak it was losing quite a bit while driving but since then I haven’t lost any, even on the road trip. So I’m struggling to figure out how it could be visibly leaking but holding the high mark on the dipstick every week

Good thing you caught it


Sent from my Pathfinder

[PathyGig12]

45 minutes ago, Fr8Train said:

 

When I got mine I spent an afternoon degreasing and pressure cleaning the engine, steering rack, transmission, CV's, and engine bay, gives you a good base line to chase leaks as once everything is clean, it is easier to see where the leaks are coming from, one thing I noted was after a few drives I did have oil work out of areas I didn't quite get with the pressure washer. Each time I found some leaking down I cleaned it again (spray can degreaser and rag) and traced where it might be coming from and checked it again after the next drive.

 

After a bit of investigationing I discovered the right hand valve cover was loose and leaking.  Tightened up and and has taken the leak up for now, but I now know to keep an eye on it.

 

A lot of my gunk on my engine was from split CV boots, and a weeping power steering. Cleaned up and monitor, have added stop leak power steering fluid, and replaced CV's.

 

Long story short clean everything within an inch of it's life and it will make tracing leaks much easier, and once it's clean it's easier to keep clean. Plus it makes working on the engine so much nicer when you aren't covered with muck from fingers to elbows.

 

Just my 2c worth

 

Yeah cleaning it is definitely the correct answer here, but it’s time consuming and not much fun lol

 

Even without cleaning it should be evident in the loss of fluid though, and I’m not seeing any loss in power steering, engine oil, or transmission fluid 

[PathyGig12]

2 minutes ago, R50JR said:

Good thing you caught it


Sent from my Pathfinder

Hehe

[PathyGig12]

I was re-organizing the drawers and had to take a second to take stock of the sheer quantity of spares Ive got in the truck now because I was losing track.

Knowing my luck when it dies itll be one of the three or 4 things I don’t have lol

 

 

Spare parts as of right now:

 

-Both serpentine belts
-CV axle
-full sized Tire
-Ball joint
-TB gasket
-headlight bulb
-Original factory hub
-Inner and outer tie rod end
-Rear shock
-Stainless steel brake lines (haven't put them on yet)
-Idler pulley
-Fan clutch
-Fuel pump and sending unit
-spark plugs
- single ignition coil that fits cylinder 2-6
-Both thermostats
-Knock sensor 

-throttle position sensor

-fuel pressure regulator
-Radiator cap
-Ignition start switch
-Main relay/starter relay
-Blower motor relay
-Fuel pump relay
-Assorted fuses
-Inner and outer front wheel bearing and wheel seals
-Brake light stop switch
-Front camshaft position sensor
-Rear camshaft position sensor
-Coolant temp sensor
-Original EGR valve
-Original 6 injectors
-Original upstream O2 sensors
-Original MAF
-Original IACV
-Original charcoal canister purge valve
-Upper and lower radiator hoses
-Section of heater hose long enough to replace any single piece in the system
-Assorted sections of vacuum line and fuel line
-Assorted vacuum connectors and hose clamps
-Assorted bolts, nuts, and washers

-handful of mending brackets 
-Assorted electrical connectors and primary wire
-Gasket material sheets in cork,fiber,and silicone, as well as a tube of RTV
-Assorted O rings and crush washers
-Assorted small light bulbs for turn signals/tail/brake

Honorable mention for supporting stuff:

-Coolant

-chilton manual

-lots of tools

-Jack plus jack stand 
-brake fluid
-ATF
-power steering fluid
-Oil
-Stop leak, for both oil and radiator

-brake cleaner, PB blaster, and MAF cleaner
-Fuel system cleaner
-wheel bearing grease, CV grease, dielectric grease, lithium grease, and brake grease

-super glue, thread locker and JB weld
-Tire repair kit and 3 compressors (primary one, plus my tiny plastic one, and a hand pump for extreme emergency use)

 

 

Keep in mind all of this fits into those two drawers and a small black plastic box on top so I’ve got tons of room for cargo and groceries

 

 

 

[RainGoat]

Ha ha, those cases. I hate that they are black plastic instead of something light colored for contrast - because otherwise, they are irresistible for the price & functionality. I have several filled with Pathy parts in my garage.

[PathyGig12]

Junk yard scores!

 

 

Found a silver hatch from an SE in great shape that even has the spoiler that I’ve always wanted. Paint still looks awesome except for one tiny rust spot. 
 

It came off of a 97 I believe, so I’m hoping the pre and post facelift hatches are interchangeable. They look to be, but I guess I’ll find out when I put it on. The spoiler will probably require relocation of the axe I have on the back of the rack, but that’s alright 

 

I also found another donor truck with the same interior trim color that had the overhead dome light assembly, so I swapped mine out. No more ugly holes from the previous switches. The same truck had two Yakima crossbars with ski clamps so I grabbed them as well, for $20 you can’t beat it. I’ll clean them up and they’ll be awesome for next season. The bars fit in the tracks and between the bars of my rack and hold the skis high enough that they clear the rack bars 

 

I won’t be able to install the hatch for a while since I’ll need to enlist a friend to help me lift it into position. In the mean time I’m putting a set of round rally lights on the front of the rack since I can’t get the original light bar to stop whistling and I’m not content with the output from just the smaller pods I’ve got on there right now. Plus I think the round styling will go better with the aesthetic of the rack. They’re off of Amazon and they aren’t a big name brand but supposedly they’re very focused beams so theyll reach further and won’t scatter the light a bunch. I can then move the pods to the side of the rack for lighting the surroundings if necessary

 

 

Edited May 3, 2021 by PathyGig12

[PathyGig12]

Well she’s officially an SE now. New hatch went on last night

 

 

Just a heads up to anybody doing this in the future, the connectors from the truck to hatch are NOT identical. The donor truck was a 97 SE, and only two of the three connectors were the same. The third one from the truck is brown and it doesn’t match the hatch. There’s two main sections of wiring, the one that goes from the truck into the hatch, and the one that goes from the hatch wiring to each of the electrical components. Turns out one of the connectors between these two sets of wires is also different so I ended up needing to pull ALL of the wiring from the old hatch all the way to each individual electrical component and by some miracle all of them had the correct connectors to match up to the wiring harness from the original hatch.
 

The latch was a bit rusty but with a bit of WD-40 it works perfectly and still locks up with the doors. I just need to swap the lock cylinder from my old hatch so that the back glass is accessable, but I ran out of time last night. It was 3am and raining hard
 

In other news, I’ve been making an aluminum bracket for the rally lights but I’m running into fitment issues so it’ll be a while before they go on. The problem is the housing is interfering with the rack since the included mounts put them too high. I would need mounting tabs below the bottom of the rack for it to sit properly between the top and bottom of the rack. I’ll figure something out

[PathyGig12]

I did have to scoot the rack forward by about 2 inches to accommodate the spoiler

 

 

[RainGoat]

I did have to scoot the rack forward by about 2 inches to accommodate the spoiler

Yeah, the rear wind deflector is probably more trouble than it’s worth but I too like the aesthetics & have kept mine. It’s functionality, however, is greatly diminished with a low mounted ROLA rack. It looks like that’s the older separate pylon version instead of the one integrated into the glass hatch.

[RainGoat]

infamous double post

[PathyGig12]

14 minutes ago, RainGoat said:

Yeah, the rear wind deflector is probably more trouble than it’s worth but I too like the aesthetics & have kept mine. It’s functionality, however, is greatly diminished with a low mounted ROLA rack. It looks like that’s the older separate pylon version instead of the one integrated into the glass hatch.

Yeah I couldn’t care less about the functionality, I don’t see myself needing a spoiler for my style of driving this truck. It happened to come with this particular hatch and I like the look better so it’s a win win

[RainGoat]

The primary purpose of that wind deflector is to blow air over your rear hatch glass to help keep it clear of dust. When I only ran load bars it was really quite effective. Not so much now.

Admittedly, mine was mistakenly installed upside down in this pic. That’s what I get for doing a late night reinstall.

[PathyGig12]

3 hours ago, RainGoat said:

The primary purpose of that wind deflector is to blow air over your rear hatch glass to help keep it clear of dust. When I only ran load bars it was really quite effective. Not so much now.

Admittedly, mine was mistakenly installed upside down in this pic. That’s what I get for doing a late night reinstall.

 Interesting! I never would have guessed that was its purpose 

 

Still, with the full size spare already blocking my back glass, dust doesn’t matter a whole lot haha

[PathyGig12]

 

 

Redesigned the bumper tubing and finally added the rally lights. Super stoked right now 

[PathyGig12]

Wow it’s been some time!

 

I was browsing the r50 section to see what might be new and I figured I might as well throw up an update in case anyone cares.
 

The truck is now at 320,000 miles, still going strong. Worst thing to happen since my last update was an small evap leak, everything else works like new. I’ve got a code for the swirl control system but haven’t been able to track it down yet. Doesn't affect drivability as far as I can tell, so it’s likely one of the million parameters involved in its operation is slightly out of spec for what the system is looking to see. I’ve tested the valve itself and the vacuum lines around it, no issues. Eventually Ill need to sort it out so I can pass emissions, but whatever it’s on the back burner for now.

 

There’s a slight weep from the rear diff, most likely the pinion seal. I need to do the rear wheel bearings, drums, and axle seals all together so I’m planning it for some time over the summer. My girlfriends 4runner needs that same treatment but a little more desperately since her drums are soaked in gear oil so it takes priority over mine at the moment.
 

My engine still leaks oil like crazy, no matter which stop leak I use. I gave up at some point and now I just run maxlife blend 10w-40 which seems to keep it under control better than the mobile 1 did. If I’m driving it a lot every day I go through about a quart per week, but luckily I’m working from home these days so I can keep the oil consumption to a minimum.
 

I also changed the radiator and hoses, along with the two front cam position sensors and fan+clutch as preventative maintenance. Got the front shaft U-joints swapped out and balanced by a driveline shop so there’s no more rumbling on the highway. 
 

In the late fall my dad and I took the two pathfinders out to the Logandale trail network outside of Vegas to blast through the sandy canyons a bit. Super fun spot, but my skinny tires were a little bit out of their comfort zone in some of the really deep sand. Especially because the tread depth is getting pretty low. I’ve had the tires since March 2020 I think? So probably 35K miles at least, with about 6-10 months of usable tread left at this rate. 
 

My JEGS jerry can go stolen from the back of the truck over the winter. Some bastard cut the ratchet strap while it was parked. People are getting desperate with the gas prices being the way they are. So when I replaced the can I also built in a simple swing open locking mechanism to keep casual thieves from trying. It’s not impenetrable obviously, but so far no one has messed with it. 
 

 

 

I also got a nice set of seat covers so I don’t have to look at the ugly cuts and tears in my seats anymore. I think they look great now

 

 

A few weeks ago I welded up some basic low profile rock sliders to help deflect the odd boulder that might want to smack the rocker panels this summer. They mount up using the original mounts for the side steps like most other guys have done. The only exception is the middle bracket had to be modified to get the right height.
 

I tested them with my jack and they’re easily strong enough to use for lifting a wheel. My goal was to lose as little ground clearance as possible, so I made them fit nice and tight to the body, with just enough gap to be able to flex slightly upwards under load without touching. It’s a very basic setup but I’m happy to have that extra bit of protection just in case. You can hardly even tell they’re there
 

 

 

 

In preparation for the season I also swapped out my rusted and damaged smitty trail jack for a hi lift extreme 48” which is much nicer quality and should last forever. I plan to keep it covered in WD40 to keep the rust away and I wipe on a light coat every couple weeks. I’ve padlocked it to the mount just in case

 

 

Last but not least, I noticed my driver side CV was starting to rattle when I was going over small bumps. At first it sounded like something was loose in the suspension but it turned out to be the inner joint. When I tried to turn the shaft back and forth by hand it had noticeable play. Being that I didn’t want to break it on the trail again like last year, I swapped it out for a new one. The brand is GSP I think? Fairly cheap. Absolutely zero binding at full droop, even with no sway bar, and it’s actually so smooth I had to double check that my hub was really engaged. Time will tell if it lasts, but overall it seems to be good quality. I just wish I had the motivation and time to swap my Rockford boots onto it. From what I can tell, this one seems to be in the pre-facelift style with the round flange rather than the tri-flange shape, which I believe means it should have a slightly better range of motion (provided its made to OE spec) because I think I read somewhere the earlier models had slightly longer struts.

 

Anyway, I think that just about covers everything I’ve done in the last several months. Next up this year Ill be redoing the rear bumper with plate steel now that I have a garage again. Even though mine is still functional, I’m sick of the plastic bumper cover. Then maybe I’ll look into some aluminum skids and a locker. 
 

It’s shaping up to be an awesome summer, I’m super excited to hit the trails again. 

 

 

[Jotegir]

Great progress, those sliders look great too. Where are those seat covers from? I don't usually see them fitting quite that nice. 

[PathyGig12]

On 5/24/2022 at 8:58 AM, Jotegir said:

Great progress, those sliders look great too. Where are those seat covers from? I don't usually see them fitting quite that nice. 

Seat covers are an Amazon special no name brand, nothing fancy. One of a million variations of basically the same thing. I liked this particular look and they were listed as fitting the pathfinder (among many other models) so I figured it was worth a try for the $80ish bucks. The only slight issue is the material bulges out and doesn’t lay flat against the backrest in the middle, but I’ve mitigated it by getting creative with double sided tape.

 

 

[Lowkey]

I am a new member, 04 r50, mostly stock and you have described the vibration at high speeds 110 + kph that i seem to have. I read every post you wrote, and you had two separate issues with the front end, a clunk and a high speed vibration. Was it the differential bushings? Or did balancing the drive shaft fix it?

[BCangler99]

What an awesome thread! Very nice! Any updates for 2024?