Nissan - Pathfinder :: 1995 - Rust Damage Under The Truck
Oct 11, 2012
I have been car shopping, car researching, and test driving cars for over two weeks. I recently came across a 1995 Nissan Pathfinder with 178,xxx miles. QUESTION: I noticed some rust damage under the truck, and before I buy, is there any tricks to finding out how bad the rust REALLY is? I think I read you can scrap off the surface rust and as long as no metal flakes chip off as well, it is to be considered normal wear.
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We have a 1995 Nissan Pathfinder (automatic) that is having trouble starting. We can't find a pattern to when it starts and when it doesn't start so we can't diagnose the problem. When it doesn't start, here's what happens: turning the key, you can hear one soft click. Then nothing. After several or many turns of the key (and the same single click), it finally "catches" and starts. Two weeks ago, the car would not start at all. Even the following day, it wouldn't start. The lights and radio did work. We tried a jump-start and it surprisingly started right up. We immediately replaced the battery, but the problems resumed. The following have been replaced since the problems began: starter, ignition switch, battery, transmission, and the horn for the alarm has been bypassed. Note: with the old battery back in, it does work.
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Driving my '95 Nissan Pathfinder to the 'Retirement Farm' and the transmission dies at the top of a hill. Now the t-fluid reads above 'hot' on dipstick, but there's no burnt/bad smell or look (not dark brown) to fluid. Already had a blown head gasket, overheating, won't pass smog, etc. (could this be from an aftermarket thermometer?)
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1995 pickup truck 2.4 liter 4 cal 4WD. I have a new problem- I drove out to a favorite spot in the mountains (up a dusty road) and when I got to the end of the road my truck was suddenly idling REALLY rough. I was able to drive it home and it runs "OK" as long as you stay on the gas (I say OK but it does want to die and especially wants to die after it warms up and then harder to restart until it cools)- as soon as you let off the gas the idle is on the extreme side of rough. It did not act like a fuel filter has historically (hesitate when giving gas), but I had a filter so I replaced the fuel filter anyway.
I also pulled the air duct work and cleaned it all out, put a new air filter in and used CRC MAF sensor cleaner on the MAF sensor. I did pour in a Chevron fuel system cleaner but it would likely take a tank full at least to work and it does not run good enough to run a tank full through. I put in all new plugs (gapped) and checked resistance on the plug wires and cap- all seems to be acceptable. I checked all the vacuum lines and did replace a couple that were dry and crumbly. I am now at a loss,
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Have a 1998 Mitsubishi Montero.
Best car I've ever owned. 184K miles, never once failed to start.
I was crushed to discover this spot of frame cancer on the driverside rear portion of the frame behind the rear wheel (attached images) .
Is this terminal?
Is it safe to drive and therefore potentially crash this vehicle?
Before the ground froze I dug a 10x18x10 foot deep hole in the backyard....
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Our 1999.5 Nissan Pathinder has about 148,000 miles on it. At the end of 2011, we replaced the struts, shocks, and brake pads. We also added a new in-dash stereo with GPS. At the end of 2011, the mechanic recommended replacing the ignition wires, cap/rotor, and spark plugs, all of which were OEM. The mechanic also recommended replacing the power steering belts and serpentine belts, which were cracking. We did not do these repairs in 2011.
At the beginning of February 2012, I drove the car for several miles and then parked for 30 minutes. When I re-started the car, the engine made a thumping sound and the whole car vibrated. The thumping sound was a dull sound (not a pinging). These symptoms occurred in Park. I drove about 100 feet down the parking lot (using both Reverse and Drive) and the thumping sound and vibration continued. I parked and re-started the car. The symptoms continued for about 1/2 mile driving and then went away.
The problem has occurred 2-3 times more. To my knowledge, the problem has only happened when the car has been driven, left standing for 15-60 minutes, and then restarted. Each time the problem goes away shortly after it begins. The third time the problem happened, the "Service Engine Soon" light went on. We took the car to a different garage. The computer showed two codes (Cylinder 2 Misfire, which had been tripped 3 times), and Engine Vibration.
The mechanic recommended doing the service that we had put off in 2011 (ignition wires, cap/rotor, spark plugs, power steering belts, and serpentine belts). The theory was that a misfiring cylinder may have caused the engine vibration. So, we had this service done. The next morning after picking up the car, and again after a short drive, a 30-minute delay, and restarting the engine, the problem happened again. So, it seems that the service did not fix it.
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This is a '96 Nissan Pathfinder with a manual transmission.
On a few occasions, sporadically, over the span of a couple months, my pathfinder wouldn't start on the first turn of the key... but it would on the second or third turn. When I say "wouldn't start," I mean I'd get a single click and that's it... it wasn't trying to turn over and failing. It wasn't cranking at all. The stereo and lights worked fine though.
Then, on two occasions about a week from each other, it failed to start (as above) right after a short drive but started again without issue a couple hours later. On these two occasions, I tried turning the lights on and starting and did not see the lights dim, which would seem to indicate no juice was getting to the start motor at all I guess?
Now, it seems to have just stopped starting altogether. The battery voltage seems fine. A little high even at 15V+ when measured with a multimeter.
Do these symptoms give any strong indications of what the problem might be? If I have a chance of fixing it myself, I'd like to do so. Otherwise, I'd like to have a good idea of what the problem is before having it towed somewhere.
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The A/C in my 2001 Nissan Pathfinder (~153,000 miles) only works on high as of this afternoon's commute. This seems like a common problem on older cars - what's the typical cause? Googling just gives me all sorts of answers and I would like to have some background before calling our mechanic.
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My car recently got a code for the camshaft sensor after my car died in the middle of street and the engine light turned on. I had gotten it replaced. In fact, I had both (left and right) camshaft sensors replaced and we changed out the crankshaft sensor as well. Then, a new problem comes up.
My car does not accelerate as strongly as it used to. In first gear (car is automatic), my car seems to struggle to get in 2nd gear. Imagine the feeling of your car when you keep it in 1st gear (in a stick-shift) and you KNOW that's the point of having to shift into 2nd, but you keep driving anyway. Then, once it does shift gears, my car jolts forward with a big drop in RPM. Imagine the feeling of finally shifting your manual transmission into 2nd gear and feeling that "relief" in the engine as it doesn't seem to struggle anymore. What's worse is that at higher speeds/gear my Pathfinder won't go beyond 4000 RPM. I'm driving at around 65 mph and the car is at 2500 RPM. When it hits 4000 RPM, the RPM just ticks before it and my car stutters back and forth as if I'm playing a beat with my car by hitting the breaks.
An example scenario, I'm driving on the highway and there's a slower car in front of me. I just want to pass the person and be on my way but as I press on the gas, my RPMs don't really increase as it normally would when applying more gas to go faster. Once I do finally get to 4000 RPM, my car starts to stutter or rock back and forth as if hitting an invisible wall. Are there tons of reasons that this could happen?
On the other hand, I tested my car, in park, to see if my engine would rev pass 4000 RPM, and it does. So, the problem presents itself only when I'm driving.
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I have a Nissan Pathfinder 2001 and it only works on settings 1 - 3 . When put on high the compressor turns off and no cool air . Even when turn on , the air is not cool enough. It's pretty hot in Arizona but it should cool off nice but it doesn't . Took it for a check up and it needs just a bit of refrigerant and probably the AC control might need to be replaced. But they weren't sure about it.
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How to stop my Pathfinder from randomly spouting it's alarm? Happens about once a day, I think it only happens when the car is locked but not quite sure.
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is there a way to check fuel injector to make sure they are working.
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My Nissan Pathfinder (1994) makes a "clunk" sound when I go around tight corners, usually only one "clunk" per turn.
The sound occurs on tight turns at low speed (e.g. on a round-a-bout: [URL] ....) as the weight of the car shifts and leans away from the turn.
The sound seems to come from the front end, near the driver's side wheel.
My mechanic couldn't work out what was wrong. He removed, greased and reassembled the upper driver's side ball joint and then gave up.
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I have a 1998 Pathfinder with around 160,000 miles on it. This week it has had some issues with stalling when I am idling. The first time it happened, I was at a stoplight and it cut out 3 times and I was able to start it back up and drive the rest of the way home (40 miles) with no problem. The next time it started stalling out I was at a stoplight and was able to put it in neutral and rev the engine and it stayed on. I have a 45 mile commute to and from work every day, and I don't want this to happen when I am on the highway going 65mph.
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I have a 2002 Nissan Pathfinder and the Car Key FOB did a strange thing last week. Car is locked, keys are INSIDE the house and [TaTa] on its own, the FOB started to "beep" like when you click it to lock the car, made that kind of sound. Funny thing and wonder if this could be a coincidence, down the street, 8th of a mile away [or less] a house was being built. Could someone have had [maybe] an alarm system or two-way Nextel phone or SOMETHING [???] that could set it off? What can be done about it BESIDES enclosing the FOB in aluminum foil? We did that. Strangely, the beeping has stopped, which gives me the idea that it MAY have been what I suggested in the first place . . . something "signaling" it from wherever to go off!
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2000 Nissan Pathfinder, 150k miles, automaticWhen I accelerate between 2nd and 3rd (from what it feels) the whole car shakes. No matter what speed I'm already at.I recently had both CV axles replaced. Transmission fluid doesn't have any flaky stuff or anything, it's pink though. The check engine light is always on, but it starts to blink when it starts to shake between 2-3 gear.
It's been doing this for about two weeks, nothing has changed, average 15 miles a day. No weird smells from the engine, leaking radiator fluid super slowly (was told to just keep filling it)To start the car I have to press the gas slightly.That's everything I know is wrong with it. I just want the shaking to stop. Does it sound like I need new transmission fluid or something?
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i wanna put a lift kit on my 87 pathfinder but i was wondering if i would have to change the gears, if so how would i change them?
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I have a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder SE with 160,000 miles. I took my car in for an overheating problem yesterday after I noticed the coolant was leaking out of my car. I needed a simple hose repair to fix the leak problem, but now they want to replace the temperature gauge because they say that it is still running hot due to: "temperature gauge is stuck and not letting the cold water in." He said that he fixed the hose and it is blowing the cool air to the motor, so the only problem could be the temperature gauge.
Within the past year, I replaced the radiator and hoses. He is saying the temperature gauge + labor would amount to around $300. The car is probably worth around $2250 for a dealer trade-in. I am planning on trading-in the Pathfinder towards the purchase of new one once I am able to present it to the dealer in workable condition. What to do?
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My 2005 Nissan Pathfinder with approximately 150,000 miles has been losing power while driving. It's pretty scary. The problem first manifested one week ago when it stalled at a stoplight. It restarted after a few panicky moments of frantic key turning. My husband and his identical twin brother took a look under the hood when I got home and discovered the terminal on the battery was loose and had a screw in it to maintain a closer fit. They remedied that by replacing the screw with aluminum foil. Four days later, I'm driving away from a large big-box store, and it loses power again. I got it restarted and drove around back of the store to the tire center. They tested the battery, and declared it "bad".
The battery and the terminals were replaced. Hooray! I was safe. Or so I thought. The very next day, I drove out to the middle of nowhere to go fishing, and it lost power three times. I was an hour away from home and there was no cell phone service. I left the lake before dark and lost power once more on the way home. To recap, the first time it lost power I was stopped at a light, the second time (at the store) I was at a stop sign, the third, fourth, and fifth times I was driving but slowing down for cars in front of me and had to pull over to restart it, and the last time I was driving down hill and the power came back on before the bottom of the hill. A lot of lights come on in the dashboard when it loses power.
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(It has 220K miles) This started suddenly the day after a painless 450-mile trip -- It will run fine for a few minutes, then starts jumping like it's running out of gas (but it's not). Then the lurching stops and it runs fine. Repeat . . .etc. New fuel pump 2 years ago; yesterday mechanic changed spark plugs, distributor, crank position sensor . . . but still doing it.
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My 1994 Nissan Pathfinder will intermittently not start. When I get in the car and turn the ignition, the dash board lights will light up as usual, I can hear the starter solenoid click, but then nothing will happen. The power windows, stereo, headlights and air-conditioning will all work but the motor will not even churn. All I hear is the click. If I get a jump the car will start right up.
This has been going on for over a year. At first it would only happen every few months and I thought that by just disconnecting the positive from the battery and putting it back then it would start. It appeared to be doing so. When it started happening more frequently, I took it my mechanic and each time he would fuss with some wires charge me 20 bucks or not charge me at all and I would be on my way. It would be good for a week or so then once again not starting for me.
After the three times of my regular mechanic not fixing the problem and saying it was fixed I took it to a different mechanic. This man said it was my starter even though it will start with a breeze if you jump it. I went ahead and had him replace it. My car started a few more times but the next day the problem was back. After having gone to two mechanics and them misdiagnosing and me paying for service I didn't need, I borrowed a volt meter and the battery test at 11.5 volts. Some buddies said, that perhaps my battery being 14 years old was putting out enough power to power the cars electronics but not enough to turn the starter over. So I bought a brand new battery. I got four starts off of it before I experienced the problem again.
Another friend thought it might be the alternator not fully charging the battery. I believe we tested it at 12 volts but he said it should be more. Anyway, he and I pulled the alternator took it to be tested and it's fine. While we were removing it though we discovered the belt on the alternator was a little loose so maybe it wasn't charging fully. Anyway, we put it all back together and the car started five or six times, while my more knowledgeable buddy was with me. The next day of course, no start.
I probably did a bunch of stuff I didn't have to do in trying to diagnose this problem but at least I learned a lot more about my car. Anyway, ye wise car sages, What do you think is wrong with my old car, which for the most part has treated me well for all these years? Ignition? a short somewhere? If it's the ignition perhaps you can explain to me why the vehicle will start with a jump.
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