'06 Pathfinder "Spun Bearing Woes!!!" -- Yikes! Help needed in making a decision to fix it or sell it and take a loss

[soundquest]

So my '06 Pathfinder is not doing so hot -- it was run 4 quarts low on oil and now has some pretty decent rod knock going on at startup and with the rev of the engine. Classic spun rod bearing situation. Not happy at all... but need to move forward and figure out what my options are and what the best option would be. This car has already had the transmission replaced and the top end and chain/tensioners repaired last year due to the timing chain tensioners exploding, and... well you know the rest (class action against Nissan in multiple states for both problems... wish they would take root and go national so I could be reimbursed). At any rate -- if I am dealing with a best case scenario where only the rod bearings have been affected and the crank is fine and no bent rods... can the oil pan: upper/lower be removed the said bearings replaced in-situ without lifting the engine? And if so... has anyone performed this procedure before on this particular engine? Thanks in advance for your help.

[soundquest]

Bump. Anyone?

[Hawairish]

Doubt you'll find many people here who dive into repairs like that.

It seems reasonable to think that if you can get the bottom end off, you stand a fair chance to making the repair. But I can't imagine doing a repair like that while being on your back the entire time, let alone supporting everything for reassembly.

I'd be more concerned about related damage that you'd not be able to see or repair without having the engine on a stand. If the engines fails again for some reason, then the work is for nothing and you're back in this same situation with more to lose.

In your scenario, if an engine swap or repair can't be justified to make it worth keeping, then I'd say it's time to let it go. Given your history with the truck—and an unfortunate one at that—may be time to put it down.

[soundquest]

I'm afraid this is the conclusion I have arrived at today. Nissan used to make world class engines. Fatal that marriage with Renault. Hit or miss now with Nissan. Have owned two Maxima's (3rd and 4th gen) and they were both rock solid, especially the 3rd gen -- 250K and it still did not burn a drop of oil in between oil changes (really, not a drop). They need to put their primary focus back on quality/reliability (some would argue that they have... but to that I would say "they still have a long way to go." They could absolutely dominate if they wanted to.

[Hawairish]

I agree. Nissan went soft when the 05's rolled around on all the truck/SUV platforms. I had high hopes for the models but they were plagued with the SMOD issues and weak aluminum front diffs. I actually just rented a 2016 Frontier CC 4WD with the 4.0L VQ, and it was great. I hope Nissan has worked out the kinks on it, but it's too late for many. (And don't get me started with the model line name changes for Infiniti...)

Is an engine swap out of the question?

[yeldogt]

How did it run 4 quarts low?

Did you get any estimates? I have gone through this with a few older Lexus vehicles. Cars worth 4-5k and the transmission fix is 3k -- car worth $500.00 with a damaged transmission. If the car is in good shape it normally pays to fix them.