noobie tune up

[NickD85]

Hey guys,my name's nick, I'm 17, and was lucky enough to have been given a 2001 qx4 by my uncle. I've had the car for a little over a year, and I love it. It has almost 160k miles on it, but is running fine. I've replaced the drive belts, two of the O2 sensors, and done some body work. I also replaced the completely rusted out exhaust. Although there isn't anything particularly wrong with the way the car is running, I feel like there is definitely room for improvement. What are some basic services I can perform on the car, some tune ups and tests that you more experienced guys might recommend me doing? Is the pathfinder/Q notorious for a specific problem that maybe I should inspect? Thanks for your help,-Nick

[screwinitupagain]

Did you replace the timing belt? If not then go ahead & get that done. Also see when the last time the transmission fluid was flushed or if it ever has been & if it's been more than 110+K then go a head & do that as well. Other than that its just simple sh*t like struts, shocks, bushings & coils but that depends on you & how well the ride is too.

[Chuck Tribolet]

Gee, nobody ever gave me a car. You're lucky.

I've got a 2001 PF with about the same milage.

Don't all the 2001's have the 3.5L motor? That's got a timing chain which doesnot need to replaced regularly.

Were the plugs replaced at 105,000 miles?

When was the last time the air filter was changed? FSM says 30,000 miles.

Besides the transmission, be thinking about changing the oil in the front and reardiffs and the transfer case, and changing out the coolant (use the real Nissanstuff and distilled water)

[pathfinder9035]

man your lucky! Qx4! u got one of the best years with the powerful 3.5 liter. well u should get a repair manual form like autozone or something and follow their maintance schedules!!

and yes 3.5 has timing chain which does not need to be replace unless it is damaged.

go out and get a compression check also... and like fukinupagain said...service your suspension parts to see and problems like swaying, clunking and that kind of stuff. well looking for ward for u to post some pics!

[screwinitupagain]

Don't all the 2001's have the 3.5L motor? That's got a timing chain which does not need to replaced regularly.

I roll a '97 R50 so I didn't know when QX4's switched to the 3.5

[NickD85]

I'm not sure if those pics will post- I'll try again if they don't. Thanks a lot for the advise guys. I bought the chilton's manual, and have been working from that. I'll start looking into some of the stuff you've mentioned so far, and appreciate any more suggestions. If the pics work, you'll be able to see that there's clearly some corrosion under the hood, which is likely a result of how close my uncle lives to the the water. There's plenty more corrosion under the chassis. The worst of it was the exhaust, which like I said, had to be replaced. There's a pic of the new drive belts that went on yesterday, and one of the area of the front bumper that I rebuilt with fiberglass and refinished with an aerosol touch up kit (my uncle's neighbor clipped the bumper). I also added the trailer hitch last week. The car's very dirty... Im waiting for a warm day to clean and wax. The paint on the alloy wheels is chipping pretty badly; they need to be sandblasted and refinished. That's it for now- and thanks again for the advice.


Modified by NickD85 at 1:59 PM 1/3/2009

[pathfinder9035]

u have to put it on the net first...u cant pull it straight off your computer...start a photo bucket account and upload photos on there, then copy the image link location and put it on here using the picture button on the top of the posting box.

[NickD85]

u have to put it on the net first...u cant pull it straight off your computer...start a photo bucket account and upload photos on there, then copy the image link location and put it on here using the picture button on the top of the posting box.

thanks

[Chuck Tribolet]

I''ve never been a big fan of the Chilton manuals. I had one years ago formy late wife's Firebird ('68 convertible, 400 motor, it's in New Zealand now),and it was one size fits none. The Haynes manuals are better, and thefactory manual is by far the most complete. It's like 3036 pages. The Haynesmanual does have a lot of "here how to do it under a shadetree" tricks.

[NickD85]

thanks for the advice chuck. I haven't bought a manual yet... I've been referring to my library's Chilton's. It's seemed pretty comprehensive so far, but then again I've only been doing fairly routine, simple jobs. I'll look into ordering a Haynes manual for future jobs. I'd also definitely like to look into getting the factory manual at some point- does anyone know where I might be able to find one?
Modified by NickD85 at 6:56 PM 1/4/2009

[Chuck Tribolet]

Maybe Chilton's is better than it used to be.

The factory manual is a set of PDF files. You should be able to order it from thedealer on CD ($150), or there's a 1-day subscription to Nissan's Technical Info website for $20 (search around here for the details). Not sure about the legalitiesof keeping what you downloaded on that one, but it was sure helpful to readall the TSBs on my '01 PF. If you take that approach, use IE; I had to do somehacks with Mozilla the one time I subscribed, til I figured out it worked a lot better with IE.

[fueler]

I'd also definitely like to look into getting the factory manual at some point- does anyone know where I might be able to find one?

Dont spend money!!!

the factory service manual can be downloaded for free (as a rar file) at http://www.phatg20.net you need winrar to decompress the file, its A LOT of pdf!

The factory manual is better than both chiltons and haynes combined!

EDIT: the sites not working right now... but they been around for years, i really hope this is temporary..... try it later and cross your fingers

[Buzzman]

What are some basic services I can perform on the car, some tune ups and tests that you more experienced guys might recommend me doing? Is the pathfinder/Q notorious for a specific problem that maybe I should inspect?

One other suggestion I have is to read through some of the stickies at the top of this forum. Lots of good information. In particular, you should read up on the power valve screw issue on the 3.5 engine. You should probably ask your uncle if they have ever been checked.

[W O T]

Ya definetely dont pay for a service manual, I got mine for free, but they sell them on cd on ebay for like 3 bucks. The service manual is all I will ever use, its so detailed and has EVERYTHING, like literally everything possible