murphy wrote:
Yesterday I was able to spend a good part of the day in the driveway working on the Nissans. Unfortunately no pictures this time.
What I accomplished.
Frontier
PCV valve
Blower resistor
OBA relay
Driver CV shaft
Xterra
Checked rear diff level
Changed evap canister vent valve
Although not technically on a Nissan, on the Camper, I replaced the ceiling vent cover
Nick (masshole) came by and did the melt mod on his rig. It was more than necessary. He put in a 2” lift along with 285 MT’s and 1.5” wheel spacers. He needed to give attention to both the front and rear of the fender liners, trim a little bumper, and adjust some sheet metal.
I’ve been getting a squeaky vibration in what I think is the rear axle of the Xterra. It only happens while driving on surface roads after a ride on the highway. My thought process says, the hiway driving is slinging the diff fluid around and starving the axle tubes of fluid. After a few minutes if city driving, the oil level in the diff settles back to the normal fill level and replenishes the axle tubes. Re lubing the bearings.
I bought 3 quarts of 75w-140 anticipating changing the fluid. Unfortunately the drain plug is mangled beyond use. I have a PRG diff cover on the Frontier. It has a drain in the cover. I’m anticipating changing the covers so I can drain and fill the Xterra in the future. I’m going to order a Lube Locker gasket for the Xterra. The fluid level in the diff was right at the fill plug, and it was still a little purple. (It’s currently filled with Royal Purple)
I’ve had a slow fuel fill condition in the past. I swapped in an evap canister i had on hand. It cured the slow fill but I’ve been getting a P1444 lately. Evap vent valve malfunction. I was intending on blowing out the first evap canister with compressed air and swap it back in. Unfortunately I used too much pressure. I blew the canister apart and spilled about 3 quarts of charcoal granules all over the trailer. I recovered about 2.5 quarts. Thankfully I was able to remove the vent valve itself from the exploded canister and swap it with the one on the Xterra. The CEL went out immediately on startup. I’ll see if the slow fill came back at my next fill up.
Last weekend I replaced the PCV valve on the Xterra and added an oil catch can. It really woke up the Xterra. I’ve noticed sometimes it isn’t as peppy as it usually is. I’ve read that the oil blow by into the intake could be a cause of that. Especially if the PCV has failed open. So, for the $10 part I decided to do the PCV on the Frontier. No catch can. Nissan recommends a 12,000 mile change interval. I’ve had the frontier for 120,000+ miles and I’ve never done it.
The HVAC in the Frontier was acting up for a little while. No fan on the 1 and 2 setting 3 and 4 would work as usual. The AC compressor light would come on when called for and turn off almost immediately. I bought an open box genuine Nissan resistor card from Amazon for roughly 1/2 price. I ended up in worse shape than before. Only the 4 setting would work. I ordered a brand new card and swapped it in. Now the fan works on any setting. I forgot to test the compressor.
The on board air quit working some time back. I troubleshot it and concluded it was the high/low pressure switch, relay combo that had failed. The new one is installed. Now it works as intended. Unfortunately the air up solenoid for the air bags has failed. I didn’t have the patience to troubleshoot if its a wiring failure or the solenoid itself.
The front end of the Frontier has developed a vibration at speed. I thought the symptoms said the passenger wheel bearing was toast. There were no apparent issues on the front passenger. Turns out the driver outer CV joint was shot. I changed it with a spare CV assembly I had in the shed. I grabbed the wrong one at first. I didn’t understand why I was having so much trouble reinstalling the new shaft. Until I realized I had a Titan length assembly. Once I got the right one it went in like butter.
I have noticed a little more pronounced of a rake to the X. When I installed the travel correction brackets I was 1/8” lower in front. I put a tape measure on it. The front is now 7/8” lower. I didn’t have time to adjust the Radflos. I may just raise the adjustable shackles up to max and crank the Rads to match. I’d get an additional 1/2” from the rear and 1 3/8” from the front. I’d like zero rake on the X. After all, it’s not a pickup truck.
Overall, it was nice to get some time on the Nissans. I wouldn’t count it as a 100% success. But I tackled a good part of my list. And added some to it.
Appreciate the use of your heat gun, and a quick lesson on how fast you can strip down one side of your suspension and steering, to change out a cv.
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