1990 Pathy Advice

Kittamaru · Nov 17th, 2007, 09:59 PM

The Truck:

1990 Nissan Pathfinder 3.0L SE V6, fully STOCK as far as I know

The Question:

Maintenance... I needs ta know things

Alright, here's the thing:

I bought the truck from my Grandfather. He's taken pretty good care of it... few patches of rust I need to patch, but otherwise the body is great. The frame looks good climbing under the truck, and my muffler and possibly oil pan or gas tank (not sure which) needs to be replaced... it's rusting thru pretty badly. I need a new undercoat.

I am only 19 years old... I know a bit about the truck but not nearly as much as I'd like. I want some advice on what to do for it... I know my valve cover gasket is leaking a little bit of oil - that is something I want to replace as soon as funds allow.

Oh, before I continue, my Mechanic is a family friend and has been in the business for years... I wish I could do the work myself, but I have nowhere to do it, nor the tools to do it with.

I want, to be frank, to be able to hand the truck down to my kids and, if they take care of it, for them to be able to hand it down to their kids.

What information do I need to gather so i can put together a good maint schedule?

I know I'm LONG overdue for a tranny flush... I'm afraid to do it to be honest because of how overdue it is. I'm thinking just drain and re-fill without the acid bath?

I get my oil and filter changed every 3-4 thousand miles depending on weather and driving conditions.

The truck has a little over 143,000 miles on it.

I have had to replace my Tie rods due to them being completely broken (I drove into the shop with em broken... how that works I don't know but I WATCHED him lift the truck and saw his surprise... he showed me the problem... they were broken clean off)

I have replaced the shocks recently.

PCV valve and Fuel filter have been replaced within the last thousand miles.

I run an injector cleaner through every third or fourth gas up.

According to my mechanic, the engine is running nice and tight.

My 4WD transfer case is a little mucked up - it will no longer FULLY disengage on the fly - it partially disengages and then the gears grind a bit. I have to stop and reverse a few feet for it to fully disengage.

I am considering the following:

Engine rebuild kit
Iridium Spark Plugs w/ new wires
Tube replacement for all the tubes on the engine
Tranny drain and refil
Transfer Case Replacement

Anything else I should consider?

Also, does the 1990 model have any kind of locking differential? I've heard people say that, if you press the breaks, the rear diff will lock or partially lock... is this true?

Thank you all, I appreciate ANY help I can get. I really want to do a full restoration on this truck and hope I can get the information I need to do so.

Kittamaru · Nov 17th, 2007, 10:08 PM

Oh, also, my pathfinder has a strange quirk - it seems to 'stutter' between 1500-2000 rpm when accelerating. My mechanic thinks it may be crossfiring. Is this a serious problem to have looked at ASAP?

That and my torshin bar is kind of loose (due to age the brackets don't hold as tight as they should). Is this serious too?

The truck has never seen real off road activity... just a few romps thru my back yard and the treatcherous roads in Fort Washington Philly. She drives and handles like a bloody sports car though... on the snaking roads around where I am, I can outrun most sportcars (chased down a 'vette once) because I seem to be more comfortable taking turns at high speed *shrug*.

coolnesss · Nov 18th, 2007, 09:46 AM

You're on the right track, but I don't see a reason for an engine rebuild.

While you're replacing the hoses, replace the belts. The timing belt is probably due now, if it hasn't been done before. Those are on a 60k replacement schedule in that year as I recall. Check the manual.

Replace the coolant.

Trans flushes are dangerous - assuming you're talking about an automatic trans. Better tactic is to disconnect the trans fluid line at the radiator, and turn on the engine and pump out the old fluid while pouring new fluid into the dipstick hole.

For the stutter - take it to an Auto Zone or one of them where they have a code reader and read the codes before you throw parts at it. They do it free.

That said, spark wires may be causing the misfire, and if they haven't been replaced by now, they probably should be.

Get a can of WD-40 with the tube, and White Lithium Grease and some electronic contact cleaner. Start at one end of the car and go to the other. Spray WD everywhere there's a moving part. Use the grease for hinges and the like. Use the contact cleaner for all switches, and pull plugs if you can get at them and clean them. If you use the tube on the respective cleaners, you can spray into places where something moves - in all the switches for instance, while manipulating the switch. Into the door handles. Into the dash controls. Turn signal lever base. On the antenna while its going up and down. On the cable-controlled stuff in the engine compartment. EVERYWHERE. You should be able to go through half a can at least of WD and considerable contact cleaner if you've done it right.

Get under the dash with a good flashlight and some snippers, and wherever you can find where a vacuum tube plugs into something, snip 1/2" off the end and reconnect it. Same in the engine compartment. Heat/time hardens the rubber hose, and if you snip the end, there'll be a fresh rubber contact and no leak.

Kittamaru · Nov 18th, 2007, 01:13 PM

Yeah, it's an automatic. I'm actually considering, when I have the time, money, and space to do it, dropping out the 5 speed auto and dropping in a 6 speed manual or 6 speed auto. My mechanic says he can modify one to fit in properly and I'd like being able to cruise 70 mph down the highway at 2500 rpm instead of 3500 rpm

As for the flush, yeah, I was considering a simple drain and replace. Acid flush = bad from what I understand.

Coolant was replaced.

Belts are good, just did those. Timing belt is good according to my mechanic.

Already did the WD-40 and White Lithium trick

I'm not going to bother with cutting the tips off the old hoses. Most of them have had that done already so they don't reach really well, plus many of them are getting hard the entire length of the tube.

I also need to replace a few gaskets, and recommendations?

Do you have any recomendations on where I can get good parts? Authentic nissan or better would be awesome.

**88pathoffroad** · Nov 18th, 2007, 10:21 PM

Quote:

For the stutter - take it to an Auto Zone or one of them where they have a code reader and read the codes before you throw parts at it. They do it free.

Only on OBDII vehicles. A 90 is pre-OBDII. You have to put the ECU in diagnostic mode and read the codes yourself. There's a How-To on NPORA for that.

Kittamaru · Nov 18th, 2007, 10:30 PM

uhm... none of that makes sense to me mate.

I'm a truck noob

I'm learning, but I'm still a noob (hey, only 19 after all, and until I got this truck a year ago I couldn't care less about vehicles... now I'm HOOKED!)