Things I figured out that may have been Obvious

[Chris.m]

Anyway like the title says, this thread will be dedicated to things that may be obvious to you old-timers and thus not talked about, but are actually helpful to kinda new-to-car guys like me and not mentioned in the manual.

Maybe "Tips and Tricks" would have been more appropriate but I love complicated thread names.


This is what prompted me to make this thread;

- If you have throttle by cable, and it has slack in it, you can tighten it up (up to the point of not actually opening throttle)
- This gave me noticably better throttle responce

- Front seats can be slid all the way forward and reclined back to form a bed with the rear seats

- I think I heard this on a Corvette forum and always use it - Swiffer cloths to clean the dash/console of dust

Anyone have any others?

[Towncivilian]

Yep, FE-3 has instructions on adjusting the accelerator wire. I need to do this soon, I have some slack in my cable.

"Bed":



I can't think of anything interesting off the top of my head.

[Buzzman]

I can remember seeing a thread similar to this one a few years ago. It was actually kind of fun and interesting.
One thing that came out of that thread was how few of us knew that you could open the front windows with the remote.
One other one that I found really amusing was my sister-in-law had a Honda CRV, and they drove it for 5 years before they realized they could recline the rear seats.
Everyone who sat back there complained of how uncomfortable it was, not realizing they were adjustable.

[Towncivilian]

I remember that thread too. The window remote thing is only for 2002-2004 Pathfinders (dunno if R51 has such a feature). See page 117 of the owner's manual

[Chris.m]

One other one that I found really amusing was my sister-in-law had a Honda CRV, and they drove it for 5 years before they realized they could recline the rear seats.

I've got one like that too.

When my brother got his Chrysler 300 he couldn't figure out that to open the fuel filler door, you push the hinged side of it, and it opens the door in a leveraging fashion.



He just assumed something was broken, and was prying it open with his key for 3 months.

[miamiheat3332]

My audi is the same way, after i bought it and went to fill up, took me about 10 minutes to figure it out.

[CanuckQx4]

The "thumb roll" dial on the left side of a qx4's dash labelled 0-3 actually adjusts the headlights up and down a fair bit

Great way to piss off pesky drivers!!

[wisehunter1]

yea the g37's have gas doors are like that.. spent like 10 min at the gas station and a phone call to a friend before I found that out. Canuck... what setting do you keep your lights on? I've always kept it on 0. I've realized I've been flashed a couple of times... not sure if they are warning me about cops or my headlights

[Towncivilian]

I adjusted my accelerator wire the other day and it really made a noticeable difference. There is no more slack in the gas pedal and acceleration seems a little better. I didn't adjust the cruise wire, but it has a lot less slack than the accelerator wire did. I'll probably adjust it tomorrow regardless.

My absolute throttle position with the pedal to the floor was 92% before. I'm going to hook up a scan tool and see if it is closer to 100% now.

[Pathfinder3.5]

I adjusted my accelerator wire the other day and it really made a noticeable difference. There is no more slack in the gas pedal and acceleration seems a little better. I didn't adjust the cruise wire, but it has a lot less slack than the accelerator wire did. I'll probably adjust it tomorrow regardless.

My absolute throttle position with the pedal to the floor was 92% before. I'm going to hook up a scan tool and see if it is closer to 100% now.

I might just have to do this aswell. When I go to pass people on two laned highways I literally need to bury the throttle to get it to downshift to second. Sometimes it won't even do that. Another reason why I hate 4 Speed Autos. Not enough gears! That Short Ram intake throws off quite the nice groan tho!


I'm convinced my transmission is on it's way out. The DSG like shift from 1st to second is anything but smooth. The flare from 2nd to 3rd has a mind of its own.

[Towncivilian]

Change your fuel filter if it's old or you don't know the last time it's been changed. The fuel filter can impact the ability to reach higher RPMs. I was amazed the first time I changed my fuel filter - I could actually reach 6k RPMs.

[miamiheat3332]

that^ and other things like dirty airfilter, old oil, etc, also look into the intake mod, i know it helped with any hesitation it had, because after i did it, it has none.

Another cool trick is lets say your cruising 65 and want to pass, hit the O/D button, it will downshift to 3rd in .1 sec and then gun it. Better response.

[miamiheat3332]

Town, what were the steps you did to adjust the throttle, mine has about half an inch of play.

[Alfredo24.pr]

Town, what were the steps you did to adjust the throttle, mine has about half an inch of play.

I would like to adjust mine as well. Please post How to

[Pathfinder3.5]

Change your fuel filter if it's old or you don't know the last time it's been changed. The fuel filter can impact the ability to reach higher RPMs. I was amazed the first time I changed my fuel filter - I could actually reach 6k RPMs.

Ill have to order a new bracket of tie strap my Fuel Filter to the truck somehow. I already have the filter sitting in my garage. My bracket is just so rusty it just bends when I try to remove the bolt. I'll have to get it on a lift next weekend at work and do the Sparkplugs while i'm at it.

[Pathfinder3.5]

that^ and other things like dirty airfilter, old oil, etc, also look into the intake mod, i know it helped with any hesitation it had, because after i did it, it has none.

Another cool trick is lets say your cruising 65 and want to pass, hit the O/D button, it will downshift to 3rd in .1 sec and then gun it. Better response.

I discovered the great uses of the O/D button last weekend while driving on some country highways. Great when driving some some fairily steep hills.

I have a Short 'Ram' air filter thats brand new. Oil changed a few weeks ago. The plugs are original and the fuel filter may have never been changed from what I understand. It has 178,000Kms (110604 mi) on the clock.

I had a new MAF put on when I was having some issues that turned out to be the TPS. I took it off thinking it was the MAF that went bad again. I went to put it back on after several months of no use and now the truck idles and mis fires with it on. Runs fine with the old MAF but it had more power with the new MAF when I first got it put on. Kinda pissed me off that it stopped working properly for some reason.

[Towncivilian]

I believe this part is the fuel filter bracket.

I followed the steps on page FE-3 of the FSM to adjust the accelerator wire. The steps are the same for the cruise wire, except to turn back the adjusting nut 1/2 to 1 turn after the throttle drum starts to move (vs. 1.5 to 2 turns for the accelerator wire). You'll need a 14mm open-end wrench (1/2" works too but 14mm is preferable) to loosen and tighten the nuts. Adjust the accelerator wire, then the cruise wire. Just follow the steps in the FSM, it's very easy.

Definitely change both the spark plugs and fuel filter, you're absolutely due at 110k miles.

[miamiheat3332]

Can your provide link to fsm section town? Thanks

Pathfinder3.5, make sure you use ngk's for plugs.

Edit: Town nevermind, just saw you posted what section.

[Towncivilian]

I am mistaken. The cruise wire has different instructions - the 2001.5 FSM says to turn back the adjusting nut 1/2 to 1 turn after the throttle drum starts to move (vs. the accelerator wire's 1.5 to 2 turns), then to tighten the lock nut. I corrected my previous reply.

[SBK03SE]

STICKY THIS THREAD!

1) Accelerator cable- Where is it? I find my Pathfinder is very light on the pedal, when I drive other people's cars I feel like I have to floor their pedals. (Perhaps mine was adjusted?)

2) Overdrive is my makeshift "Sport" mode. Always a thrill getting onto the highway and passing. Is there any detriment to leaving OD off all the time? MPG loss?

3) Knob dial on the wiper stalk, the manual says it adjusts speed, but I find it does nothing. What does it actually do?

[Chris.m]

STICKY THIS THREAD!

1) Accelerator cable- Where is it? I find my Pathfinder is very light on the pedal, when I drive other people's cars I feel like I have to floor their pedals. (Perhaps mine was adjusted?)

2) Overdrive is my makeshift "Sport" mode. Always a thrill getting onto the highway and passing. Is there any detriment to leaving OD off all the time? MPG loss?

3) Knob dial on the wiper stalk, the manual says it adjusts speed, but I find it does nothing. What does it actually do?

1) If you have an 03, you have drive-by-wire rather than a cable.

2) Yes OD off reduces mileage. It says it somewhere in the manual.

As I understand it, OD is like a secondary transmission. It effectively fills in the space between each gear so that you don't actually have to have a gear in each one of those spaces (one OD gear vs 3 separate ones between 1,2,3,4th) This reduces the RPM at times, thus improving fuel economy.

Originally OD was added to cars so that at higher speeds, the wheels could actually turn at higher RPM's than the engine - hence overdrive as they were overdriven.

3) The knob on the wiper stalk is only adjustable when you've gone one "click" down on the whole stalk. This is the intermittant setting (gives a pause in between motions). The other 2 or 3 options are constant (no pause) but just incrimentally faster moving.

-Took me a while to figure that one out.

[miamiheat3332]

Yeah with O/D off you will be at higher rpms cruising.

[Chris.m]

Another thing I have learned over the weekend,

Wet-sanding the clearcoat to remove scratches works amazingly well.

When I removed the window-visors that my Pathy came with 2 years ago, I scratched the clear-coat badly.

They always bothered me but I could not get them out just by polishing.

Then I remembered about wet-sanding...

I used 2000 grit following by a lot of buffing with first a corse scratch remover, then a fine polish.

*Note, It's crucial not to use just your fingers as backing for the sandpaper - I wrapped the 2000 grit around an old sanding sponge I had laying around

*Also there is a chance that if you sand too much, you'll go through the clear-coat and ruin the panel.

Since I have only done one side, I can take comparison shots, but I have to wait until it stops raining.

This really is something to look into, the results are very nice and the paint almost looks brighter and more defined.

[miamiheat3332]

I wouldnt recommend that unless its in a once and done spot like your doing. One too many times or too hard and your clear coat is goodbye in that spot.

[ferrariowner123]

I found out that i was part of the very limited run of "adjustable" suspension. I guess they only put them in pathy's built between October 95 and December 95, sure enough i checked the door sticker and said 11/95, but the adjustable button was a dead give away as well.

The funny part was i bought my car with 105K (has 122K now) but i was using the switch, hearing a click and it was only untill i started performing my own maintence that i had noticed that the shocks had been replaced with the NON-adjustable structs and shocks.

Town probably knows more about it than i do. Do you know why they stopped producing the adjustable suspension? or why they only featured it for 3 months?

I hope there is an interesting story behind it, lol

Thanks

-Kyle

[Towncivilian]

I wasn't aware any R50s had the adjustable suspension option like WD21s. Maybe they just wanted to use up the remaining adjustable suspension components.

[ferrariowner123]

I wasn't aware any R50s had the adjustable suspension option like WD21s. Maybe they just wanted to use up the remaining adjustable suspension components.

Yeah its a little switch next to the rear wiper control, that video i posted about my trans whine, you can see the switch.

But i thought WD-21's had torsions up front?

[ferrariowner123]

I found two things today on my 96 pathy.

The hand brake light doubles as a low brake fluid warning light!!! (SO AWESOME!!)

and if you hold the wiper trigger just right, between any of the different settings, it completely freezes the wipers in place.

There is my actual contribution.

[DAiNiUS]

On my TL the handbrake light lit up when the pads were wearing low. Interesting differences between Honda and Nissan. You'd think that these things are universal.

As for the wiper thing, that's more of an exploit than a feature!

[ferrariowner123]

On my TL the handbrake light lit up when the pads were wearing low. Interesting differences between Honda and Nissan. You'd think that these things are universal.

As for the wiper thing, that's more of an exploit than a feature!

HAHAHA touche, but bored in traffic, i dont too many of us will care, lol

and what year TL do you have? my Dad has an 02 Type S, frickin love that car.