Another roof-rack removal question

[amaff]

Hey all, new hear and new to Nissans. I've looked through various forums and the factory service manual but I can not seem to find a shred of info somehow on how to remove the specific roof-rack that came on my 2003 Pathfinder.





I can only find 4 screws that hold it together, but I can't get it apart. It LOOKS like the end-plates somehow attach to the built in roof rail, with the rack rails screwed to the end-plate bits, however I can't seem to separate the end-plates from the rail. My guess? Bolted through the roof... but that would truly suck LOL.



Part of the problem is on interstate drives (or when it's blustery out) air gets under the "NISSAN" air diverter panel, making it vibrate / whistle / howl, which is annoying as hell. And I'm sure I'd get better mileage without a couple extra square feet of frontal area there. Notice how the panel's not straight, but bent like it's trying to pop out from the front end-plates:




Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Oh, how about a picture of the Pathfinder doing a great job of what I got 'er for: Towing the race car




~Andrew

[Pwnin O'Brien]

First, welcome to NICO!!!

Removing the roof rack is very simple and doesn't take long. First, you need to remove the black plastic caps on the front and rear of the long rails (the ones that run the length of the vehicle). You will have to pry these off, let me warn you, it is likely that when you pop off the two front trim caps you will break a plastic dowel off, so be careful. Try to pry the caps straight up as this will prevent breakage. Once you remove the caps you will see two hex bolts at each corner. Once you remove the eight hex bolts you can simply lift the entire rack off the vehicle. The rack essentially bolts down to these rubber pads and the rubber pads are what's bolted through the roof. I don't remember if you have to remove the front wind fairing before you can back out the front hex bolts but you may want to remove the wind fairing from the rack to prevent damage when storing anyhow. Once you have lifted the main rack off, you will need to remove the rails that run under the rack. You simply back out the hex bolts in the middle of the rails and they come right off.

I have the same exact roof rack on my '03 Pathfinder; here's a pic when I removed it. In the pic you can see there are six little black rectangles, those are the rubber pads that the rack mounts to.

Also, you will want to put the four screws that you removed before back into the rack; those screws hold the black plastic end to the actual metal rail. If you want to completely disassemble the rack for storage then you can keep those screws out, that will allow you to remove the crossbars and collapse the rack for easier storage.



A closeup of a rubber mounting pad

[Pwnin O'Brien]

Using your pics for reference (it's also the same for the rear trim caps):

[amaff]

Aaaaah, ok so that's just a cover, got it. Thanks for the welcome, and the info. I'll probably have to try that tonight

Oh, And I reinstalled those 4 screws once I realized that I couldn't get it apart. The last thing I wanted, not knowing how it all fit together, was for it to suddenly all come undone on me on the interstate LOL

[amaff]

1 more question: is there any real reason to not just leave the rails that run under the roof-rack intact? I think it'll look a little cleaner with those, than with just the bear roof under there.

[Pwnin O'Brien]

You could, but I wouldn't recommend it. Those rails only bolt down with two bolts, the ends aren't bolted down. Also, it looks pretty ugly if you leave those rails, you'll see when you remove the main rack.

[amaff]

Yep, fair enough.

[amaff]

1 more question: Ever since doing this, after it rains I get a pretty serious moldy smell in the car the next hot day after any serious rain. I'm assuming there's a clogged drain somewhere. Any thoughts on where that may be?

[Pwnin O'Brien]

1 more question: Ever since doing this, after it rains I get a pretty serious moldy smell in the car the next hot day after any serious rain. I'm assuming there's a clogged drain somewhere. Any thoughts on where that may be?

I would recommend tightening the rubber pads to ensure water isn't leaking into the cabin. Just tighten the pair of Torx screws on each pad...

[amaff]

I checked them, and I didn't get more than 1/16th of a turn out of a one of them. I suppose it's wait and see now, but are there any other common drains that get clogged? The most frustrating part is I can't find where the damp spot is on the carpet, because I know that would help a lot in figuring out where it's coming from.

[Pwnin O'Brien]

Those are the only spots that I know of where water can get into the cabin.

[amaff]

Gotcha. If that didn't fix it then, I may go ahead and pull them and run a little RTV sealant around the holes then just to make sure. Thanks for the help

[sc2nr]

I know this was a dead thread, but I can't find my type of roof bar info in my service manual or anything either. I don't want to remove them I want to tighten one. My rear bar on the driver side is loose and on a windy day driving on the highway it bounces around and sounds terrible.

My owners manual tells me that my 03 pathy should have some sort of dial/knob to turn, which it does not. I have a seal unit. the only screw I see is the one holding the bar to the footing.

Can any one enlighten me?

thanks

[SBK03SE]

Just thread jacking reaaaaally quick but if there's anyone that took off their SE roof rack, can i have the driver side plastic cap for the back corner?



This, but in the back.

Thanks in advance!

[ferrariowner123]

Why would want to remove it??

That thing looks MMAAAADDD!!!