92 XE 5spd - My Son's First Rig

[Aonghus]

Hey all, I've been lurking here for some time and learning a lot. My 16yo son recently bought a 1992 XE 4x4 Manual Pathfinder (with 311K smiles!) for $400 cash from the original owner's son, it was his highway commuter rig for years and years. Pics coming at some point. Pretty proud of my son for buying his first rig outright and his willingness to work on something rather try to buy the newest thing he can get. It badly needed a new clutch, which we knew beforehand and explains the low price, but it ran reasonably well and I babied it for the ~hour drive home. This is the first Pathfinder we've ever had around, first Nissan now that I think about it although I had a 1977 Datsun pickup when I was his age.

 

I've looked through a ton of threads and searched and learned and I also have some questions as we fix this thing up learn the intricacies. I don't mind starting a new thread for a specific topic when we get deep into it but I thought I'd post some info and my initial questions here and see if some of them can be eliminated easily.

 

What we've done so far:

• New Exedy clutch/pressure-plate/throw-out bearing and a new flywheel, bled the system and adjusted the pedal position - drives and grabs great now!
• Replaced rear main seal
• It idled very low - thanks to this forum we replaced the PCV and the fuel filter, cleaned the MAF and throttle body, and adjusted the idle speed with the screw on the intake manifold - idles pretty good now!
• My son has deep cleaned the interior and fixed or replaced a lot of little things inside.
• Serviced the rear differential - the gear oil that came out looked really good so I'm hopeful this rig has been reasonably maintained over the years. 

 

What we plan to do:

• Timing belt and water pump/thermostat - no idea when this was done last, also replace the metal hose section behind the belts that is currently leaking
• New transmission fluid - (I know we could have done this while it was dropped but, well, we didn't, mostly because I still cannot find GL-4 fluid locally)
• Service the transfer case and front differential
• Service hubs - no idea how to do this yet (added with the edit)
• Replace a few work front end parts - overall things are pretty tight but it needs an idler arm and tie rod end at least
• EGR and Evap delete? probably?
• New plugs - we have a set of NGK 8mm silicone wires - no idea how old the plugs are
• New cap/rotor
• other hopes and dreams...

 

Some questions I have:

1. Headlights - has anyone found a reasonable upgrade or swap to improve the headlights and stay DOT legal?
2. Manual transmission lube - Seems like Redline MT90 or MT85 is the favorite? I'll have to order it anyway.
3. EGR/Evap delete - is it consensus that this is at least either neutral or beneficial? (we do not have smog inspections here)
4. Fan - anyone have an electric fan? Like it? Links?
5. Spark plugs - most info I've found is pretty old, are there new/favorite recommendations for spark plugs?
6. Transfer case - a bit of ATF leaked from the output when we dropped the tranny, does this TC actually take ATF?
7. Exhaust manifold studs - I'm figuring we'll replace these along with new gaskets as preventative maintenance if anything, I have not yet closely investigated for a leak and it isn't loudly obvious but seems common enough...
8. This rig has low power/torque and a growly noise at lower RPM, like around 2K, the noise stops at like 2400 - it sounds good and accelerates well at upper RPMs...thoughts? This one might be worth it's own thread, this is what got me wondering about the manifold leak...

 

Thanks for reading my novel.

 

 

Edited March 4 by Aonghus

[Slartibartfast]

 

1. The Hardbody pickup used sealed beams, and you can get conversion housings/LEDs/whatever for sealed beams. You need the grille, side markers, and buckets from a Hardbody to make it work. I remember seeing conversion housings in the Pathfinder sad-eye shape a while back--pre-Covid, probably, now I'm thinking about it--but I haven't seen those around in a while. Also look into relaying the headlights. The factory setup puts a lot of stress on the headlight switch, and probably loses a little voltage to the bulbs while it's at it.

 

2. Mine's got the slushbox, so no firsthand experience here, but I generally see MT-90 called out.

 

3. If the EGR is stuck open, and it doesn't have California emissions (California trucks have a sensor that'll notice it's gone and throw a code), then sure, delete it. Otherwise, leave it alone. It's supposed to improve the fuel economy a little. There is no benefit to getting rid of the evap can, unless you want the truck to smell like gas. This isn't a malaise era clunker (or a modern diesel) where the smog gear is holding it back and/or trying to kill it.

 

4. I think the fan from a Ford Taurus was popular for a while. Should be some old threads about that around here somewhere. Sounds like the clutch fan does better under heavy load, though. You may want to upgrade your alt if you put an e-fan on it, the stock alt's only 70A. I've got a 90A alt for a '93 Maxima (SOHC) on mine, bolted right up. I'm still running the clutch fan on mine.

 

5. I think I got the platinum NGK plugs for mine. Don't remember the numbers, whatever Rockauto said it took. Don't buy them on Amazon, sounds like they have a problem with people selling counterfeit spark plugs, because of course that's a thing.

 

6. They do use ATF. The early service manuals say to run the same oil that's in the transmission, but the later ones say to run ATF either way.

 

7. IIRC the 300ZX exhaust studs are supposed to be tougher. I have a set of those that I bought for mine years ago. Never got excited about putting them in. While you're messing with the exhaust, check for an exhaust leak from the Y pipe, blowing up at the floor. They tend to leak there, rust out the floor, and then set the carpet on fire.

 

8. These trucks aren't quick at the best of times, but the noise is worth tracking down. Could be a lot of things, tough to say without hearing it. Could be rattling heat shields on the exhaust, could be accessory or idler bearings going out. Your tuneup plans may help with the power. Check the timing while you're in there.

 

I took an auto hub all to bits once, in hopes that a good clean and some fresh grease would bring it around. Turned out the clutch inside was worn way past spec, and the old grease was the only thing making it work as much as it did. The truck it was on had about half the mileage of yours. If you plan to use the four wheel drive, huck the auto hubs in the bin and get manual hubs! The autos were a neat idea, but there's a reason nobody makes them anymore.

 

Oh, and download a service manual! The '90 manual from cardiagn.com is the closest to your year that I'm aware of.

[Aonghus]

Thanks Slart! This is excellent and narrows down my searching tremendously. 

I will keep checking into this stuff.

[Aonghus]

Oh, one issue I forgot to list: 

Speedometer - this one is very very slow to react, it's more of an approxometer than an actual speedometer.

We haven't dug into this yet but I'd thought to maybe pull the gauge cluster and drip some lubricant down the cable, a silicone spray or a special cable lubricant if such a thing exists. Wonder what the slipperiest thing would be to try?

The needle is bent too. Thought I saw another thread where it's possible to swap the gauge cluster and set the odometer for the correct mileage. Might go that route I guess.

[FirstGenFreak]

1 hour ago, Aonghus said:

Oh, one issue I forgot to list: 

Speedometer - this one is very very slow to react, it's more of an approxometer than an actual speedometer.

We haven't dug into this yet but I'd thought to maybe pull the gauge cluster and drip some lubricant down the cable, a silicone spray or a special cable lubricant if such a thing exists. Wonder what the slipperiest thing would be to try?

The needle is bent too. Thought I saw another thread where it's possible to swap the gauge cluster and set the odometer for the correct mileage. Might go that route I guess.

The bent needle is more than likely binding against the speedo face. Very, very common. You can retrofit different needles to speedo and tacho.

[adamzan]

For a quick fix some people just snip the bent part of the needle off, it should at least stop it from binding while you find a replacement. There was someone on the FB page selling a cluster I believe.

[Aonghus]

Thank you sir!

[Aonghus]

Figured I'd post a couple pics and try to chart what's happening with the Pathfinder. 

Here's the day we brought it home late last summer. The drivers door was the only functional door at the time. Lots of little things to do and a few big things! 

 

 

[Aonghus]

After a good wash. The paint is pretty bad, I think it's been rattle can touched up a few times. But the body is remarkably straight, one dent in the rear bumper and a simple in the front if the hood.

Removed the bent up roof rack and took this picture so we could noodle on a design for a custom roof rack.

It's sloped down in the front pretty good, we've since adjusted the rotation bars to sit close to level.

 

Well... An unknown server error limits my upload to 51kb so I'll try to get this and the next pic uploaded another time...

[Slartibartfast]

Looks pretty straight, at least! Bad paint just means you don't have to worry so much about it. I see that missing door handle, those are always fun.

 

The forum isn't really built for hosting pictures. Better to host elsewhere and link them in. No size limit that way. Paste in the link and it auto-embeds. I've got mine on Flickr, but there's probably a better option. 

 

Let us know what you come up with for the rack! I've been designing one in my head for a while. Naturally I haven't gotten around to building the thing.

[FirstGenFreak]

Awesome first rig for your boy! 

A great platform for him to learn how to maintain cars, and it will take him anywhere reliably. 
My WD was my first 4wd and it gave me such a sense of freedom (still does 20 odd years later!!), glad to hear your Son will get to take that journey, enjoy!