Hi all,
So we just bought a 2003 Nissan Pathfinder. Its an LE and the exterior is immaculate shape for a 20 year old car. The interior is definitely showing its age but its the first car that I remember in our family with so many bells and whistles most of which work
I have looked around on this forum and the NPORA forum and took note of the dreaded powervalve screw problem. The car had 196,000km but runs flawlessly but I was concerned that maybe the engined ingested some screws. So I took apart the manifolds and thankfully all the screws and valves where there. However there are also the swirl valves in the lower intake (all screws and valves also present) and I saw that it was mentioned that these should be locktited as well.
Has there ever been any record of the swirl valve screws backing out? Is this an issue like with the power valves? Or is lock-titing them more of a peace-of-mind thing?
Thanks
Luke

The thread locker compound is part of the factory assembly process and a critical step in keeping those tiny screws in place. Unfortunately, there was a considerable run of factory produced models where this step was missed on the power valves. Quite some time ago, I had read what models and years were affected by this oversight but I don't recall those details. The swirl valves were never an issue for this big miss. I had my '02 intakes off a few years ago and tried to remove the screws but they were rock solid and would not budge because they apparently had the permanent thread locker already applied at the factory. If you cannot remove the screws by hand, they are likely not affected by this issue and never will be.

Ok Thank you @mdmellott that's what I was wondering. For sure will do the power valves if we can unscrew them and will check the swirl ones. I just didn't want to remove the lower intake if I didn't have to.
Luke