tips on buying a '87 pathfinder

[birdnerd]

Hi, Im looking at possibly purchasing a 1987 pathfinder with about 187k miles on it. He's asking $1000 and I'm going to go check it out soon. I've bought used cars before, so I know the basics to check, but im wondering if there's anything specific I should be looking for on an '87 pathfinder as I have no experience with these vehicles. Are they perhaps prone to any particular problems? Thanks for the help,Anton

[Chris92SE]

The only thing that comes to mind is broken exhaust manifold studs. When the engine is cold, you can hear "ticking" and if you look closely around where the manifolds meet the heads, you can see black from where the exhaust is slipping past. You can also notice missing bolts. This is fairly common for VG engines.

It's not an end-of-the-world kind of problem, either. For $1k and a 20+ year old rig, you have to expect some things to be wrong.

You should also try and find out when the T-belt was last replaced. If you don't know, I would highly recommend you have that done ASAP.

If the engine has good compression and a recent timing belt, it should be good to go for a long time.

[jimmyzzer]

WD21 info for Pathfinder from 87-95: Main problems.

Frame rust. Even on non-offroaded Pathys, the frame can rust out quite badly from the inside out, particularly in the rear over the wheels and above the gas tank. Tap on your frame with a small hammer or poke it with a screwdriver to see if you have more holes than you should. ALWAYS inspect any WD21 Pathfinder you wish to purchase before buying it in this regard. Other rust-prone areas are directly under the gas pedal on the floor (the catalytic converter is there and sometimes a leak can shoot superhot exhaust at the floor, which rusts it out badly), under the back seats on the floor (poor seam sealing on Nissan's part) and at the tension rod frame mounts up front. Tension rods are the short bars that go between the lower control arm and the frame in the front suspension. The tension rod mounts have a tendency to waller out and/or rust out, which can result in a broken tension rod and the need to re-weld some steel back into the mounts to fix the problem. Tension rods are also called compression rods or strut rods. I recommend using polyurethane bushings to replace stock rubber tension rod bushings whenever possible.

The stock transmission cooler for automatic transmissions needs replacement! On automatic transmission-equipped Pathfinders: failure of planetary gear set and loss of reverse or forward gears: the stock transmission cooler on WD21's is a far cry from adequate. The stock cooler clogs up over time and chokes line pressure to the transmission, which overheats it, reduces lubrication and RUINS the transmission. The stock cooler is located inside the radiator, which has line inlets at the bottom of the rad.

If you are reading this, have an auto 87-95 Pathy and haven't done so yet, GET AN EXTERNAL TRANSMISSION COOLER.

was posted by 88pathoffroad in the pathfinder faq forum

[Chris92SE]

^^

Nice post.

I had a 95 pathy, but it was a 5-speed. Plus, I am in the desert and there isn't much rust here because they don't use salt on the roads, so I never would have thought of those two. The rig I had carfaxed and it was eastern Oregon it's whole life.

Being in Portland (a lot more rain/moisture), the OP should be a little more concerned about possibly rust in the Pathy.

[moparvwfreak]

also on my 95 pathy the trailing arms off the lower control arms SNAPPED. i would look into those now that its happened to me. got it fixed and i dont know if thats a common problem but it was annoying.