Nissan is in the business of selling new trucks and maximizing their profits. They're not in the business of designing vehicles for people who buy ten plus year old used trucks that may or may not have been beaten to death by negligent prior owners. It's that simple. They don't make any more profit by spending more money to make part replacement easier way down the road. Vic
Sorry to pick on you here, as you're not the only one to share this perspective, however quoting all who said something similar would be far too time consuming. While I can't say you're wrong about Nissan being in the business of making money, which is obvious, I will say that it's clear that you, and other, didn't really put much thought and or research into the rest of your answers. This is partially my fault though. I should have been a bit less ambiguous when creating this thread.
1. Nissan is about maximizing profits.
True.
2. They're not in the business of designing vehicles for people... to make part replacement easier way down the road
False
Which brings me to the very premise of my original argument, which was why Nissan decided to decline in the evolution of their once quality design in lieu of added complexity (and manufacturing costs). While there are easily dozens of examples available I'm only choosing these three for now, because they represent my most current headaches.
Fuel Pressure Test
1. Kevin was right about me unknowingly tapping into the return line with the pressure gauge. He was also correct about not being able to test fuel pressure anywhere other than the fuel filter without the need for special connectors. This surprised me for two reasons:
(a) Testing fuel pressure is supposed to be done close to the rail. Just because you get xx psi directly at the pump does not mean you're getting that same result after fuel is pushed through 10 feet of hose and
(b) Why did Nissan go from having the fuel filter next to the fuel rail to underneath the truck.
Here you see the fuel filter
(B) located near the fuel rail on my 95 Pathfinder. Which, BTW, is six years older than my Frontier, and also made by the "profit only" Nissan corp. Not only was (past tense) getting fuel pressure readings quick and simple (without special connectors), but the fuel filter was also swapped out within seconds with no mess. Also note the fully covered A/C line (A) just for GP.
Now let's look at the fuel filter for the 2001 Frontier, which took a step back in it's fuel filter design. Oh, and for those who said the Fuel pump access panel would be an added costs, please note the additional metal guard around the filter that wasn't needed in older models. And a side from that, please try to argue how much more convenient it is to crawl under the truck, unbolt the steel plate, and dump fuel everywhere wrestling the filter in/out of place.
And before anyone asks... yes there was plenty of room in the engine compartment (B) for the fuel filter to be mounted there. Also note the lack of covering on the A/C pipe.
Lastly, while I agree the fuel pump and whatnot are designed to last the life of the vehicle, in theory, how often is that actually the case? I doubt anyone would be selling aftermarket fuel pumps otherwise. And it just so happens that I'm in a situation where I need to access the fuel pump prior to my vehicles end of life, and I sure would love an access panel, so that I can do what I need to do in minutes not hours. Note that there is an access panel on my 95 Pathfinder. Which again, is made by Nissan.
The whole point of this thread was to get folks talking and possibly get some actual reasoning behind why Nissan decided to make things harder rather than smarter, as they once did. Perhaps there was a safety reason for burying the filter or forgoing the access panel? Maybe new regulations prohibited it? Could Nissan have done this purely as a profit driven decision to extend maintenance costs at the dealerships? Sure. There are many plausible answers that could have been given to these questions. Hell, I would have been fine with someone saying it's just Nissan's way of screwing people over
these days, but simply saying they're a profit generating company and this is what they've always done is just pure ignorant. So don't try and make people feel like idiots for expecting the same quality they once had simply because you don't remember it.