First wrench fest on the new truck

[bullet]

I picked up a 2003 Frontier crew cab 4X4 with 145000 miles on it last week end and had my first wrench fest today. Nothing major, just cap, rotor, wires and plugs. The super charger made them a little more challenging. It was about 25°f today so I wimped out on #4 and #6. Maybe next weekend………………

[joefrontier2]

Has it had the timing belt done. If not you should get it done ASAP as this engine is an interfernece engine and if the belt breaks there is a good chance the pistons will hit the valves. You can read up on here on which parts to get when you the job.

I will also bet that there is a good chance the knock sensor is not working on your truck and that super charger is not giving you full boost. The KS is a known problem on the 1st gen. If you put a ODBII scanner on the truck and find out. A bad KS will not illuminate the check engine light.

Hopefully that all did not scare you off. However, the 2003 Frontier is a great truck and if you are good to it she will give you more years of riding.

Anyhow, congrats on your purchase. Spend lots of timing reading the forms and enjoy.

[bullet]

Thanks Joefrontier. The timing belt parts (timing belt, water pump and idler pulley) are in the garage. That will be next weekends project. The truck is grounded until the timing belt is done. Thanks for the heads up on the knock sensor. I am an aircraft mechanic so a little wrenching wont scare me off. I bought the truck from a friend so he adjusted the price according to the work that needed to be done. They go for around $8000 in my area and I paid $6000. Ill do a search on the knock sensor. Is it under the intake like my Toyota was?

[Cusser]

I did all six plugs on my daughter's Pathfinder Jan. 1st. Wasn't that bad, there's a good write-up on this site.

[jjs34748]

Originally Posted by bullet

Thanks Joefrontier. The timing belt parts (timing belt, water pump and idler pulley) are in the garage. That will be next weekends project. The truck is grounded until the timing belt is done. Thanks for the heads up on the knock sensor. I am an aircraft mechanic so a little wrenching wont scare me off. I bought the truck from a friend so he adjusted the price according to the work that needed to be done. They go for around $8000 in my area and I paid $6000. Ill do a search on the knock sensor. Is it under the intake like my Toyota was?

Sweet, another aircraft mechanic. How ya doin' brother? who do you work for?

[bullet]

I work at Triumph Gear Systems in Park City. We mainly do high speed gearboxes, actuation systems and gears.
Triumph Gear Systems - Park City
How bout you jjs, where do you work?

[jjs34748]

Originally Posted by bullet

I work at Triumph Gear Systems in Park City. We mainly do high speed gearboxes, actuation systems and gears.
Triumph Gear Systems - Park City
How bout you jjs, where do you work?

Ewww, dirty oily work. No that is cool. I work for a company called LiveTV Home - Live TV which is subsidiary of Jetblue airways. I am a Tech. Rep. and we develop, install and maintain inflight entertainment systems.

[bullet]

Not to dirty and oily. most of our stuff is smallish. Inside and 70 degrees year round. I love working in Park City. Mountain or road bike at lunch during the summer and snow shoe in the winter. I have been here 15 years and have 5 weeks of paid time off.

[joefrontier2]

The KS is under the lower intake manifold which is about 6 hrs of work (from what I hear). I did not have time nor the patience to do the timing belt so I had a local mechanic do mine. Other work I'll complete but this is my daily driver so I did not want to be without a truck.

Since yours is a SC you will want to replace the KS. If it was not an SC there is a spot to relocate to. I did the relocation on mine and had it that way till this year when the mechanic did the timing belt and KS together

That is a good price for an SC Frontier. Post some pics when you get some time.

BTW: Get some mass air flow sensor cleaner and keep that cleaned. Also, the bearings are know to go out on the distributor on the Frontier around 150,000 miles. Leading up to the failure the truck will run all weird. You may even have some work to do on the SC itself as they are known to have issues, but just keep an eye on excess noise.

Cheers

[Gregg the G]

Welcome aboard, This is a great place for all things Fronty (1st gens)