[JoshCampbell]

Well I purchased a new TPS, MAF, PCV, AIC, manifold hoses, throttle body cleaner, and Iridium plugs. $486 and nine hours of labor later and the fu--ing erratic idle and stuttering was still there. So after nine months and nearly $8000 I decided I'd finally had enough. Pulled into the driveway, put it in park, and revved it until the engine was so far gone that all desire to salvage this worthless truck was gone. Monday I'll have someone tow it to the scrap heap where it belongs.

Farewell you POS Frontier!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ceHLSLJpZy0


Note: I honestly do feel relieved. Now I can start putting money into the Pathfinder.

 

[Hertz]

That is certainly one way to get rid of your problems.

 

[kevinjohnson3216]

Can you take off your console lid first ? I really need one, have been looking for one. It's only 2 or 3 screws and it's right out there in the open. It's the lid thats in between the two seats where you could sometimes put your elbow. All I need is the lid.

I'll pay you for it

If you're going to do it then I would appreciate if you take off the hinge with it instead of take off the lid from the hinge

 

[JoshCampbell]

It's gone. Sold it to a neighbor for two cases of Red Bull. Personally I think I got the better end of the deal.

 

[joefrontier2]

Did you replace the whole distributor? My guess is that is where your problem lied. The Frontier engine is no POS, slow, but no POS. See these engines go for 170+K.

 

[JoshCampbell]

I didn't replace the distributor. That and the O2 sensors were about the only two things I didn't replace. I did however replace the wires, cap, and rotor. Thing is it was running fine until I messed with the TPS and Fast Idle (per the manual) a few months back. After that it just slowly degraded until undrivable. I followed several idle relearn procedures I found, to the letter, and not once did I ever get the MIL indications they said I should, so who knows.

To be honest I didn't intentionally mean to destroy the engine. Well I did and I didn't. After I got everything back together this last time I notice the oil pressure light was illuminated. It turned off when the engine was revved. The oil was good, and I had been blindly fishing around atop the oil pan and trans earlier retrieving a lost screwdriver, so I assumed I'd just nicked the oil pressure sender unit. Apparently I was mistaken and it was actually the oil pump going out. I'm assuming anyway. According to research it's easy to spin a bearing from overreving an engine with low oil pressure, so too much of a coincidence there. In any case, one more failing part on that POS was more than I could take. Couldn't have replaced the pump even if I wanted to anyway. Too many stripped bolts and bolt holes. Engine wouldn't survive another tear down.

Lastly I do agree with you whole heartedly regarding the engine being strong. In fact it's the exact same engine in my 95 Pathfinder. Unfortunately the similarities end there. Everything attached to the motor on the Frontier (and I mean everything) is pathetically subpar by comparison. Even the connectors are of a much lower grade. But still... I can't help wondering what kind of a rough life it must have endured to be in the shape it was in. All the masked problems I found and repaired... I'd be lying if I said it didnt sadden me. Still glad to get back to restoring the Pathfinder though

 

[mfoley412]

A barely broken in engine on eBay is only 700 dollars...

Sent from my GameGear using Dial-up

 

[kevinjohnson3216]

Wouldn't be surprised to see your neighbor driving around in your frontier running better than your Pathfinder in less time then it takes to get your Pathfinder top shape. Haha just kidding, that would be sickening

 

[JoshCampbell]

Wouldn't be surprised to see your neighbor driving around in your frontier running better than your Pathfinder in less time then it takes to get your Pathfinder top shape. Haha just kidding, that would be sickening

I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered that. Even now it fires right up and idles steady and silent until reaching operating temperature. It possible the oil pressure issue is intermittent and the bearing only seizes once starved and warm. In the end it may be all that was needed is for the relearn process to be done correctly. I can't really say.

I had also considered purchasing a newish JDM engine for it, but not enough information could be obtained for a novince such as me to blindly risk wasting more money on a truck I didn't much care for from the start. Had it been a manual the story would be much different. In the end a great deal was learned from the experience, so I certainly don't feel empty handed. If he is able to bring the truck back to perfect and gives it a good life, then it's win win for everyone.

Note: I still plan on owning a Frontier in the near future, but at that time I'll make sure it's both older and manual everything

 

[JoshCampbell]

The revival of this thread brought to mind an overwhelming curiosity regarding the truck's oil pressure issue. I still have complete access to the truck, so I decided to check the oil again. Assuming it is checked on a cold engine, when it's all settled in the pan, then there's no oil in it!

I misjudged it last time I checked (soon as oil light came on) because (a) The dipstick seems stained and gives off the impression of new almost clear synthetic oil (b) I had flushed and filled it with synthetic oil less than three months ago and (c) at no time has this truck ever leaked a drop of oil. This leaves one huge mystery... Where the hell did the oil go!?

* I rarely drove it, yet no oil spots on the ground.

* Valve cov, cams, and crank seals all replaced

* Engine's exterior clean and free of oil.

* Air filter looks white and new (6 months old)

* No oil or discoloration on plugs

* Exhaust smoke never blue or discolored

* Never smelled oil

* Still running distilled water in the system (for diagnostic purposes) but it looks normal. I did perform the coolant test on it a few months back (expensive blue fluid) never turned green for blown head gasket.

Note: The engine pressure issue began the moment I reinstalled the intake plenium after installing new Hoses, IAC, and PCV valve. Likely a coincidence though, as It surely didn't blow 4 qts of oil out of the PCV during the 5 minute test drive. Unless it was the old PCV that caused it.

I'll get a gauge tomorrow for compression test, and troubleshoot the PCV.

 

[kevinjohnson3216]

Wait so you're saying there's no oil on the dipstick? There's your oil pressure problem guaranteed

 

[JoshCampbell]

Wait so you're saying there's no oil on the dipstick? There's your oil pressure problem guaranteed

Hahaha... It's 100% the cause of the oil pressure problem. Like I said before, figuring out how 4 quarts of oil disappeared without a trace over a two month timespan is the real question.

 

[JoshCampbell]

Nope, I was wrong. Changed and filled oil. Still getting oil pressure light. $50 down the drain.

 

[JoshCampbell]

Must have just needed some time to normalize. Neighbor said oil light hasn't come back on since it was filled. Compression test revealed around 150 psi on each cylinder. I'll be dammed if the truck isn't idling steady now. Still studders at times, but much better than it was.

In other news I'm not entire confident that the engine has a spun bearing. Seems to me it would be something very obvious if it was. I notice a rattle in the Catalytic converter. Can't have my eyes and ears in two places at once to confirm, but it's at least possible the rattling is not coming from within the engine. You may have been right after all Kevin... neighbor may have got one hell of a good deal

 

[kevinjohnson3216]

Must have just needed some time to normalize. Neighbor said oil light hasn't come back on since it was filled. Compression test revealed around 150 psi on each cylinder. I'll be dammed if the truck isn't idling steady now. Still studders at times, but much better than it was.

In other news I'm not entire confident that the engine has a spun bearing. Seems to me it would be something very obvious if it was. I notice a rattle in the Catalytic converter. Can't have my eyes and ears in two places at once to confirm, but it's at least possible the rattling is not coming from within the engine. You may have been right after all Kevin... neighbor may have got one hell of a good deal

That's great compression. Engine is healthy lol

But I thought you had far less compression before?

 

[JoshCampbell]

Last time I did compression on a cold engine. Got between 60-90 psi. One thing about this compression test though is a couple cylinders I really had to crank on for a good while before they reached150 psi. Not sure if that makes a difference or not. Does the psi top out regardless of how long you're cranking on it or will it slowly continue to build? I'm assuming they all topped out at 150.

Now I just need to figure out what's causing the white smoke and water leak from the exhaust. The air suction noise around the IAC. And the engine rattle at RPM. The exhaust smells like eggs, and there's the rattle in the CAT, so that could be it. I'm still running the distilled water though, so that could be what's coming out too. I'm 90% sure it's not a head gasket, but I'm wrong more than I'm right.

Guess it didn't do too much good giving the truck to my next door neighbor... I still can't stop working on the damn thing. It's like a sickness

 

[kevinjohnson3216]

Last time I did compression on a cold engine. Got between 60-90 psi. One thing about this compression test though is a couple cylinders I really had to crank on for a good while before they reached150 psi. Not sure if that makes a difference or not. Does the psi top out regardless of how long you're cranking on it or will it slowly continue to build? I'm assuming they all topped out at 150.

Now I just need to figure out what's causing the white smoke and water leak from the exhaust. The air suction noise around the IAC. And the engine rattle at RPM. The exhaust smells like eggs, and there's the rattle in the CAT, so that could be it. I'm still running the distilled water though, so that could be what's coming out too. I'm 90% sure it's not a head gasket, but I'm wrong more than I'm right.

Guess it didn't do too much good giving the truck to my next door neighbor... I still can't stop working on the damn thing. It's like a sickness

I just want my console lid

 

[JoshCampbell]

Center console assembly complete, in mint condition, for one working VG33E engine. Let's deal