Pathfinders...

[BadQ45t]

so my 85' Maxima got to 290 and has quit on me. I think the timing belt is snapped, not exactly sure what is wrong but it seems like this is the end of the road for the old girl.

This car is my 4th car, if that is allowed. I have 97' Q45 that is my "nice business car" and an 84' 300ZX that I brought brand new and is my sunday driver. The wife drives a liittle 99' sentra and the hole left by the Maxima hurts, we used it for dogs, home depot etc. Since it was essentially our pickup truck I'm thinking about getting a cheap Pathfinder to fill the hole and maybe take up to Lake Tahoe too.

so I found a 94' with 90,000 for about 5500 bucks. What are the big things with these? Do they still have the timing belts or are these chains? I will get a mechanic to check it out, my question is will this be relatively cheap to run to home depot and to the dog park? Opinions on this era? Is it worth getting a 97 or 99 for 10k?? What are the differences?

[Repo Man]

Jeff, I moved your thread to NOM because I will be the first to admit that I am not familiar with the reliablity and service issues associated with that generation Pathy. It sounds like a good buy to me though.

repo

[NISTECH]

Sorry to hear about the Max Jeff, I thought you got it fixed. The 95 Pathfinder is a pretty rugged beast and is still on a frame where as the 96 to 2004 are all on unibody chassis. The 95 does have a timing belt. the pathfinder has used a belt on all its V6 engines up till 2004. The 95 though unlike your max has a 105K belt. Common problems I see on the WD21 pathfinder are exhaust manifold studs tend to break every so often which allows the manifolds to warp. Not a big issue but a bit pricey each time it needs to be done. I would say the average lifespan of the repair is 40k to 60K miles. I know a fix to prevent it from reoccuring but I dont know many techs willing to venture into that territory as it requires making one of the stud holes on each head slightly bigger to recieve a stronger more durable stud. that is the only Pathfinder specific problem I know of off the top of my head. It has other problems all the nissans have like window regs goin out every once in awhile. If I can think of anything else I will post, but ont let those 2 things shy you away from the truck as it is a work horse and very durable. Doesnt tend to suffer from any major engine and trans issues as long as its maintained properly.

[BadQ45t]

Thanks for the relocation and the reply. I was trying to be true to the board, since I post mostly to the Q45 side I was searching around where to post this. I think it will run me too much since i have ZERO skills as a DIYer and I just figure my MAx has had it. I had to replace the exhaust on both Z's (I have a 84' and the max) so that is expected. Too bad on the timing belt, but at least 100k is better. I think I'm going to look at 10k as my max outlay of cash and I think that a Toyota 4 runner is as good as a Pathfinder (even though I'm a Nissan guy now)...just want the fewest miles for the best price. My Max is going to be charity I think. I am gong to tow it tbis week to my mechanica in the Bay Area but I think it will cost too much to fix at this pont. I do have alot of new parts on it like battery cables, manifolds etc so if anyone wants those parts let me know.

[NISTECH]

The toyota V6 in the 4 runner is prone to head gasket problems, not sure on the model years of that problem though.

Let me know what you fond out with your max too.

[BadQ45t]

It was classic, tonight my buddy was over and I said that we're looking for an SUV, either a Pathfinder or a 4 runner. The wife says, "wait, which one is the Nissan???" I said the Pathfind, she replies, "that that is what we're getting, we don't want a stupid toyota." Pretty well trained!

As for the Maxima, I'm going to tow it to my mechanic later this week to find out its fate..I suspect it will not be pretty.