newbie observations/questions

[njbray]

Have been pocking around my recently aquired 92 with 160,000 miles, and have a few q's,

1/ how long dous a rotor arm and rotor cap last for.

2/ I have replaced the belts and noticed the engine sounds like a diesel (wish it was!) when warm & idling, I am wondering if it is the belt tension pulley as it has a bit of play in it, how long do these usually last.

3/ I have replaced tape/radio with a Sony cd/radio but am now getting bad reception/interference when on AM frequency, engine interference that goes up a

& down with revs. Is there a filter/suppressor needed.

4/ I an due for a front brake job as I get squeels & pulsating. I noticed the front rotors have some hairline cracks, can this be machined out or are the history - (they may be the originals!)

 

Thanks for any help.

[treywurst]

The stereo reception could be that your speaker wires are to close to your power wires, or one of the speaker wires is cut and grounding out somewhere....

[wheelmanLS1]

I can probably help with questions 2 and 4.

 

2) Mine sounds like a diesel, and I know why. I have a bad exhaust leak coming from the manifolds due to broken studs. Most Pathfinders from 86.5 through 95 have a problem with the manifold studs breaking and the manifold warping. This causes a 'ticking' noise that will quiet down after the engine warms up. Mine sounds much worse because most of my studs are broken.

 

4) Slightly warped rotors can be resurfaced with a brake lathe. But most warped rotors cannot be remachined, and cracked ones never can be.

[Precise1]

Ditto to wheelman about the rotors, but 1 step farther... If you can see cracks, even jagged surface discolorations running from rim to center (I dont care how long) you need to change them out, now ! Thats not safe Bud, dont wait till a catastrophic failure !! Rotors can be machined back to acceptable deviations sometimes, but if there are cracks, they are gone and need to be replaced immediately ! Just looking out for ya Bud...

 

B

[jj big shoe]

Yeah, what Bernard said. I've always replaced rotors instead of resurfacing them though. 'Round my way it's usually the same price to buy a set of new ones anyway.

The buzzing as engine revs is due to a bad ground. Try running a ground from the head unit straight to a bolt or screw under the dash and not the old ground the factory used. If that doesn't help, it might be that the engine isn't grounded well and someone else will have to chime in to help you remedy that. I haven't had a reason to dive into that yet, sorry.

[njbray]

Thanks for the replies so far. I will try the ground idea.

As far as the 'diesel' noise, it is not the exhaust. It's more of a rattle that comes from front/top of motor, (what do failing water pumps sound like?)

I will change the brake rotors asap. Deciding whether to do it myself or not, (I have done brake pads but this has the hub/grease work also.)

When I said 'rotor cap and arm' I meant 'distibuter cap & rotor'

[88pathoffroad]

The rattle might be your AC belt tensioner bearing. Or the water pump, I can't tell from over here. Bring it closer!

 

Dist. cap and rotor should usually be changed every 30,000 or so, I think. Same with spark plugs, and 60,000 for the timing belt and spark plug wires.

[Animal]

what do failing water pumps sound like?

My best effort description is like a bag of marbles rolling around. But, as 88pathoffroad said, the A/C tensioner makes almost the same noise, just a little squeekier; at least mine does. Easy way to tell is, with the engine running, to put the blade end of a long shank screw driver on the tensioner bracket and put your ear against the handle (watch out for that fan!). If the noise is much louder, you've found the source. If the noise really bothers you, replace the pulley, otherwise do what I do - close the hood, get in and go somewhere.

Also, cheap plug wires, even new ones, can produce a lot of RF interference.