skiski329 Build Updated 08/08/13!! (New Borla Exhaust)

[PathyProject]

Oh my, I do love those headlights! More than anything else, you won't see another Pathfinder with lights like those.

[skiski329]

^ thanks! i think there are a few pathfinders on here that also have projectors. it really makes the whole car look only a few years old vs the true decade it's endured. Also the Hid's are one of the requirements i have for all my cars, and i wanted to do these right and not blind people. Let me know if you want to do the projectors and hid's on yours it's not as hard as i thought it would be. I can answer any questions and send you all the links for parts that you would need. Also my install in all plug and play, so in about an hour i can pull it all and go back to stock (i bought a spare set of headlamps off ebay for $30 so i could take my time and just incase something did go wrong. good call in the end because the new clean lenses also help make the car look newer).
Cheers.

[skiski329]

Updated *** 5/13/13 new head unit. details in the bottom of the first post

[PathyProject]

A head unit like that has got to be one of the best interior mods you can do to any older car. It makes it look so much newer. Also I must add that the head unit looks great and I envy you cause I want one as well.

[skiski329]

^^Thanks! it was all i thought needed updated on the inside of the pathy. i stil need to deal with the rust, i like how clean and rust free your pathy looks!

I did the wheel bearings yesterday (passenger side) and today (drivers side). There was lot's of rust and it was hard to take appart. i spent about 5 hours yesterday and it only took about an hour today to do the other side cuz i knew what tools to use and how to hit it to break the rust bond.
Now i just hope that i did it right. i've never done the wheeling bearings before, i greased the hell out of em and tried to make sure there were in there tight.
Got an alignment too, because i was told that after switching out the bearings it's a good idea. and i definitely want to protect those beautiful tires!

OoooO! and not sure if i did something wrong but the break pedal is much more mushey then it was before, i did remove the breaks to get to the bearings and used a C clamp to push the caliper cylinder back in. is there something i missed? or did wrong? anyone else have this problem after changing out the bearings?

[PathyProject]

^^Thanks! it was all i thought needed updated on the inside of the pathy. i stil need to deal with the rust, i like how clean and rust free your pathy looks!

Once I get a headunit, an interior trim kit and once I change every light to LED then my Pathfinder will look very recent. The only rust on my Pathfinder that I know of is on some of the bolts that are on the rear tire carrier. I live in Georgia, and my Pathfinder has been registered in this state since 1997. I am the second owner and down here we really don't have many rust problems. That's why I wasn't too worried about the strut house recall. By the way, thanks for the compliment on my ride.

I did the wheel bearings yesterday (passenger side) and today (drivers side). There was lot's of rust and it was hard to take appart. i spent about 5 hours yesterday and it only took about an hour today to do the other side cuz i knew what tools to use and how to hit it to break the rust bond.
Now i just hope that i did it right. i've never done the wheeling bearings before, i greased the hell out of em and tried to make sure there were in there tight.
Got an alignment too, because i was told that after switching out the bearings it's a good idea. and i definitely want to protect those beautiful tires!

OoooO! and not sure if i did something wrong but the break pedal is much more mushey then it was before, i did remove the breaks to get to the bearings and used a C clamp to push the caliper cylinder back in. is there something i missed? or did wrong? anyone else have this problem after changing out the bearings?

Unless you disconnected or loosened the hose that goes to the caliper I can't say I know any other reason why your breaks are mushy. It sounds like you have air in your brake lines, I may be wrong. If you do you can always bleed your brakes which is really easy.

Can't wait to see more updates from your ride!

[Towncivilian]

Yep, mushy brake pedal sounds like air in the brake system somewhere. It's a good idea to flush the brake fluid every two years or so anyway, since brake fluid is hygroscopic. It absorbs moisture over time and this lowers the boiling point of the fluid, which can lead to brake fade during heavy repeated braking. Use any DOT3, DOT4, or DOT5.1 brake fluid. The proper brake bleed order can be found in the FSM or in the general info thread linked in my signature.

[skiski329]

After a few trips it seemed to come back. but still a bit more play than before.
I will have to bleed them, just haven't been looking forward to it. the fluid is really dark. And i had no idea i had to bleed them in a specific order! thank you for that info.

[Towncivilian]

Bleeding brakes isn't too bad, especially with taller vehicles like our Pathfinders where you shouldn't necessarily need to remove the wheel to get to the bleeder valve. Once you and your helper get the hang of it, it's an easy process. I have my helper pump the brake pedal a couple times and hold it, then I open the bleed valve for a second or two, close it, then shout for them to pump again. Make sure they don't release pressure from the brake pedal until you ask them to pump again, that way it's pretty fool proof and more difficult to get air in. Works well enough for me - once clear, bubble free fluid exits the bleed valve I repeat the process a couple times and move on. Be sure the master cylinder reservoir doesn't get below half empty or so to reduce chance of air entry, and put a little brake fluid in the used fluid collection container before beginning to prevent air from entering while bleeding.

I use vinyl tubing from Ace Hardware. I don't remember the size off the top of my head, if you want I can look tomorrow morning. Should be something cheap like 18 cents a foot. Just get 6 feet and cut it if necessary if you feel it's too long.

[skiski329]

That will be nice not having to take off the wheels. i'll dig around to see if i can't find some tubing, i was just going to use an empty water bottle and get in what i can. but i'll take a look around what tubes i have laying around and if they won't fit then i'll message you for that size.

Little bit larger issue that just poped up is my SES light came back on so i'm doing some searching on what could be the prob in the evaporatie emission system P0440. I changed out the gas cap, but one day it smelled strongly of gasoline near the back (near the fuel door) when i got out of the pathy and whet to the rear to get my bag out. Maybe i'll try to find a fuel leak around there. otherwise i think i may have to get a new charcoal canister (sigh, not ready to fund that).

[skiski329]

!!!! New Update in first post !!!!!
new Borla exhaust, and zip up CV boot.
I also flipped the first post around so you no longer have to scroll down to see the new stuff.
New stuff at the top of the first post, and older stuff as you scroll down.

[yngw13]

Thanks SKISKI329!

This thread is awesome!

Where did you get/buy all the parts/connectors FROM? (NVM...SUMMIT RACING)

AAAAA+++++

[GRNMACHINE]

Nice work!! Really like what you did with the exhaust. Never thought of buying the parts and doing it myself. Checking out summit, did you buy the peices individually or in a kit/are they all stainless?

[skiski329]

Thanks. I owe a lot of credit to the contributors on the forum. There help is what has pushed the build forward, saved me lots of money, and answered my questions.
I wish they had a kit for the pathy! Unfortunately, they don't. So I designed, and pulled parts based off of what I saw was available on summit
The pipes leading to the muffler are steel and so are the converters. I could do this because I clamped it vs welding it. If you want to weld it you will need all stainless pipes (I'm assuming the muffler is stainless) and 2 clamps to join the stock steel to stainless (another option is to go all the way back and replace all the pipes with stainless). I only picked steel because it was cheaper if I had a budget I would have done stainless. the muffler exit is all stainless because I could not find a 60 degree bend that was steel. This way I figured if I have clamping issues I can take it to a shop and they would weld the steel pipes going in together and the stainless ones going out, and that would reduce the number of clamps. But I haven't had any problems with it. Since my post I did add one more universal hanger to make sure the exhaust stays away from my spare.

[zach7685]

Any tips on the HID retrofit? Im looking into it but im lost as to what bulbs/ballets/adapters to get. I have a ddm tuning retrofit in my stock reflectors. Also do they make it all plug and play? thanks

[skiski329]

^^ so you've got a few options here.
let me start with plug and play. i made it plug and play by not cutting any wires and spending some extra money to get a wiring harness.
so you already have HID's from DDM, now you need to pair your current (idk what bulb size you have) to a projector. OR! your can get new bulbs from DDM, idk, but i think they are like $15 for new bulbs and then plug in your new bulbs into your existing ballasts (maybe e-mail ddm and make sure that you can pair your ballast to the new bulbs you get). This is something you will have to decide based on your cost. if the projectors cost more for your current bulbs, then you may want to consider getting new bulbs and get the cheaper projector.
these are the projectors i got because they were the cheapest and got ddm DS2 bulbs
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/produc ... cts_id=236
here is part 1 of a 2 part video i watched to get some more info and see what i was getting myself into (also watch part 2 it should link to it in the video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UMlUfBbc1M
Just note i did no cutting to the headlights because the projectors i used were small enough to fit in the stock diameter.
the wiring harness i used was
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/produc ... s_id=14032
so this attached to the battery, to the ballasts, to one of the stock headlight lightbulb connecter (so they harness knows when the high beams are on) and to the projector mechanism that flips that wall to let more light on or off based on if your high beams are on and off.
This is the shield i got
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/produc ... ucts_id=66
i got the value shield and saved $15. so the total cost of that was $15
it wasn't too stressful for me to do this retrofit because i planned out the design beforehand, and then got a set of aftermarket headlights (right and left) for $30 so i could work on the lights and still use the pathy as my daily.

[skiski329]

now that i think of it, you probably have 9004's as your stock. i don't think they make 9004 projectors so you would have to change out you hid bulbs to DS2's like me or something else that fits the projector you desire.

basically now you plug your HID buld into your stock headlight housing. doing the retrofit you will take off the lens and from that side insert the projector, secure it, put your lens back on and your done. so now your HID bulb will be inserted in the projector housing that you installed and is sticking out of your headlight.

also taking the lens off, i put it in the oven ( Don't put the lens on the oven rack or it will melt!!!) for 10 min at 200 degree and was able to get the first lens off. the other one had some more glue on it so i put it in for 10 min started to get the lens off but was struggling and then put it back into the oven for 2 min and it came off easier.
to put them back on once your done, press the lens on as much as you can, then put them in the oven 200 degrees for 10 min, take them out and push the lens in as much as you can (oven mitts help cuz it's hot) and then attach as many clamps and vice grips you have and can find around the lens and headlight holding them together until the glue dries ( i waited like 10 min).

[zach7685]

Just saw this.Thank you so much! Now all i need is $$$