Postby ShipFixer » Wed Feb 15, 2023 1:29 pm
A heavily discounted new radiator, to not much more than it might cost me to have a local shop cut out the existing drain plug bung and weld in a new one, etc. if it goes that far. I have a Duralast from Autozone in there now. I intended to have the CSF fixed so I could put it back in by summer, but this works for me. I didn't ask for it, I was just already talking to them about a new drain plug as this one was rounding, then asked them if anywhere in San Diego might have a VQ radiator in stock, or if they recommended any particular repair shops, etc.
So the irony is heater inlet, fan clutch, motor mount inserts, plus the stuff I did not too long ago (2nd go at timing chain repair in 2020) means the truck is solid for another 100K miles. I unfortunately got to verify the cooling system was pretty clean and is now really, really clean. I also have around 5,000 miles or so on some Michelin LTX tires. But I also don't see wanting to fix these things yet again.
Current Pathfinder doesn't do it for me. Pretty much everything before the current Explorer and really only the ST or Platinum big-engine models seem like a parallel move for the things I need (interior capacity plus some AWD, really). I no longer need any real 4WD capability for the next five years at minimum, and as it is, I did a bunch of things to make the truck better on the highway (stiffer sway bar bushings, Delrin steering bushings, Moog springs, etc.). The ST ticks a lot of boxes and has upgrade potential where the Pathfinder is kind of topped out...sway bars, intercooler, etc. And I've only owned Nissan products for three decades, so it's interesting to see a time where another manufacturer has something I might actually want and Nissan doesn't.
Well...I'd like the Armada, but it would be a tight fit in my garage and the Expedition smokes it for mileage if I went bigger. Which is not much of a concern for me, but it is a thing to think about. And the ST is waaaaaay fun to drive. (Regular four cylinder turbo is about like the R51, but sounds like a garden tractor.)
Don't get me wrong - I have stuck with this truck because I'm attached to it. I have had three deployments/overseas movements where this was the only thing waiting for me, it's been across the country five times and halfway even more, and I usually react very negatively to being told I need to get rid of it. But it would be nice to have something new that might not just choose to age out in the middle of the night in the California high desert someday, and has some of the newer things like the 360 degree overhead parking camera thing. So I will stick this out for at least another few months but I am looking at other things.