97 pathfinder issues doors, tach, noice in transmission, advice for power chips

[joeseif]

Hello I am new here. I just bought a 1997 pathfinder yeasterday, my 1st. I have a few issues I would like advise on. thanks in advance

1. The rear doors seem to intermittenly refuse to work. this morning I was installing the childseat, I tryed the pass rear door and it would not open from inside or out. I worked the lock a few times and that did not help. I installed the seat on the other side, my wife comes out and I exsplain that the door stoped working and to illistrate my point i tried the door again and it worked fine. What is the deal?

2. The tach sits in the redzone when the truck is off, after starting it up it jumps around. Never working corectly for more then a few seconds.

3. when i depress the clutch pedal i hear and winding sound like a plastic pulley spining on a steal rod. once the clutch is engauged the sound stops. it is not real loud

4. I would like my truck to go faster and have better mgp, like everyone else in the world. I see power chips on ebay from 9 to 49 dollars all claiming unrealistic improvements. I was wondering if anyone has tried them and which ones if any work?

thanks everyonejoe

[anthonyc]

worry about #3, then worry about the other stuff. and just forget about #4

[bmlawless]

Congrats on your new purchase. You will love your Pathfinder. If this one turns out to have more problems than you want to deal with, don't be afraid to buy another one down the line.

1) Check the child safety lock on the door. This should be a small switch located on the door itself frame near the door latch. It keeps kids from being able to open the door from the inside. It shouldn't affect the operation of the door, but if it is halfway between locked and unlocked, it could cause problems. Other than that, check the striker bolt on the latch. When the door closes, the latch on the door locks around a heavy bolt on the vehicle. There should be some sort of plastic coating on the bolt or the door (or both) If the plastic is mangled, the door can stick. My pickup does this.

2) Don't know on this one.

3) Take it to a shop and see what they say. If you have a throwout or clutch bearing on the way out, it is better to get it fixed now before bits and pieces get into the clutch and transmission and cause a lot more problems.

4) These things are a joke.

[joeseif]

Thanks for the speedy responce. for the clutch issue is this something that would be best taken to a dealer? or is a local guy ok? I called the dealer and they want $92 to diagnoe the transmission. is it worth it? Also if it is the clutch or bearings is this something that a guy who can replace a transmission in a 72 duster, but can't rebuild a big block can do?thanksjoe

[bmlawless]

Don't take it to a dealer, they will rob you on transmission work. Ask your friends for a shop with a good reputation. If the duster dude can rebuild a transmission than he's fine. If all he can do is put one in, I would spend the dough to have a shop do it.

Most garages shouldn't charge you to drive the vehicle around and identify the problem.

[joeseif]

Thanks. I am thinking of trying it out myself. All I need to do is remove the transfer case then the transmission, then i can replace the clutch and bearings? I am the duster guy. What else could it be besides a problem relating to the clutch? weather it is the bearing or the clutch itself, it does not seem to matter because I would replace everything at the same time.

OR is it possable that there is some easyier cheaper part I could replace 1st?thanksjoe