I’ve doubled-down on my Pathfinder’s lifetime contract, and decided it needs a bunch of new plastic just because I’m tired of looking at faded, grayish to whitish plastic. I’m pretty sure whatever “fleet†owned my truck for its first four years of life kept it outside and towed boats or something due to all of the fade and the rust around the tow hitch. These days it’s garage-kept at both work and home, so new stuff lasts a lot longer.

New bumper cover tread went on first last night. I cleaned, polished, and waxed underneath. I was pretty surprised at how much dirt was under there. How do pine needles get there?!?





Surprisingly easy to pull up (carefully!). There are metal clips on the tabs in the tread cover that snap into the bumper cover. The tread cover comes out of the clips as you pull it up, then you remove the clips.

Next up is the cowl. Got all three pieces, and the new centerline one is the newer style with the externally mounted windshield wiper nozzles. (New nozzles and tubing are installed in the cowl FYSA.) Long ago i stuffed the new style nozzles under my original cowl with some pieces of rubber to keep them in place. While they are far more clog-resistant, obviously my jury-rigged install is not ideal.

Already did all three front “spoiler†pieces (air dam below the bumper cover), mostly because they were reinstalled poorly long ago following deer impact repair and were never really 100% fitted in place. I also replaced the little plastic corner pieces in the bumper cover intake area near the license plate holder. Mine were rattling a bit, also due to the poor removal/install during body work.

Lifetime contract, lol

Good to know about the cowl and washer nozzles. I’ve tried to find just the new nozzles themselves, with no luck. Do you have a picture of the cowl piece? Where did you order from?

I’ll get a before and after picture up soon - haven’t done this yet. Getting my parts from Courtesy Parts of course, unless they don’t have them.

The washer nozzle thing for 05-07 is a weird one. You can order the newer nozzle for 08 and beyond and make it work, which is what I did. The newer nozzle is far, far better as it doesn’t clog but sits on top of the new cowl, and clips in a little differently. The old cowl covers the nozzle and looks better, but is a PITA to change the nozzle as you have to remove the whole thing.

I’ve been running with the new nozzle in the old cowl like a lot of Frontier owners and it just doesn’t sit in place by itself. Have to wedge it in a little bit with foam or rubber or something.

Cowl grille plastic. This is my most sun-faded area. Over the years I have tried *every* restoral method including heat guns. None of it really works for a good long while!

Four parts under the wipers: the big piece in the middle that the nozzles mount to, the two little corner pieces, and a rubber seal that fits on top of the cowl and under the back edge of the hood.

There's a catch here as mine came missing some fasteners that I'm waiting on replacements for

Original plastic:





So my corner pieces were kind of loose and I never knew why. I figured I had a fastener missing or something. Turns out, there is adhesive in the corner along the A pillar on the paint. I scraped the original out, super-cleaned with alcohol, and installed the new corner pieces as tight against the new windshield as I could.

If you ever have to replace your windshield but want to re-use your plastic, I would plan on re-applying some 3M paint-safe adhesive strips here:

The corner where I cleaned the adhesive off:


Aaaaand new plastic, with plastic restorer/preserver already applied



Note new style nozzle mounts on top of the plastic.

Now for the bad part. The new grille (which was repackaged) came missing a couple of the plastic clips, and one was broken. A third was installed...backwards, rendering it broken




I was able to salvage enough clips to make it sort of work, but still need at least two, if not three to make it truly secure against my windshield. The supplier is sending me some in the mail, but just to make sure, I dug around on Frontier and XTerra parts diagrams until I found the clips. Ordered several from another source. Part number is 66820-AR010. How this is not a common part to support windshield replacements is beyond me! But anyway, if you're Googling around, find this, and it was the right clip, you're welcome!

Got replacement clips today - that is the correct part number 😎 This will work for 2005 through current Frontier, Xterra, or Pathfinder (R51) models.

ShipFixer wrote:Got replacement clips today - that is the correct part number 😎 This will work for 2005 through current Frontier, Xterra, or Pathfinder (R51) models.

How cool is that!

Thank you shipfixer for this great thread!

So those replacement clips are better than the ones I received with the original part...

Anyway, next parts to arrive are a front license plate holder (super faded and splotchy about it), hood leading edge seal (I've got lots of dirt above the engine these days and I think this is why), and...front mud flaps.

The front mud flaps will be a huge win if they're correct. They are out of production for 2005-2012 if you look in diagrams but just poking around with Google at other models (Frontier and XTerra) I think once again it's the same part but wasn't catalogued correctly. Will know in a few days!

Minor install while I wait for other things. Cup holder inserts!



Mine were missing when I bought the truck so I've never had them. Don't *need" them but it'll be nice to have a rubber surface in there for less rattle from little things. Don't know if these are OEM (probably not) but they fit perfectly. $14 from eBay!

Great post as always. Thanks for the info, looks awesome! I've had the cowl and step pad parts (as well as black trimmed new headlights) for a year now, and now that I've gotten through some major mechanical issues (amongst them T-chains the latest; priorites!!) I hope to finally install them. Still debating if the wiper arms get replaced (too$ IMO) or painted. (Finally getting to the fun stuff!). GREAT to know that I don't need to drop the rear bumper to replace the pad, been wondering about that. (Ahem, wait for it...someone before me really goofed up the rear bumper installation after a repair and I'm sure if I even fart near it I'll have to re-do the whole shebang. Familiar, huh!) I'd like to coat new plastic with UV protectant before installation, just need to research a little. Any suggestions? I'm with you on finding the right parts can be tricky, like mud flaps. Mine's an 08SE, the crossover year for the intro of the V8. That changes alot of part numbers, inside and out (even though the actual part could be identical). Also, my production date is 08/2007; which means I have to triple check that 08 listed parts will work. Been some discrepancies,such as the cabin filter cover. Fortunately a lot of plastic parts have the OEM PN molded on them, (if the part isn't missing) sometimes the 07 listing is what I need. When I had the interior dissasembled (long story, lets just say seller over did it with silicone ) I found that it can be a crap shoot sometimes. I'm staring to learn about Frontiers as their part #s seem a little more consistent for reference on some things.Nice how little things like a decent mug holder jazzes things up and works better! De-chroming the grill is coming when the weather breaks. Again, thanks for posting. Your very detailed posts have REALLY helped me this first year (of many too come, yes "the contract", HA!!!)

Almost forgot one. I replaced these lower grille insert thingies. They weren't faded, but they were a little loose and prone to rattle, either due to age or my bumper replacement post-deer impact back in 2011. Cost was super cheap so why not:



Here's the license plate holder. The body shop just used giant wood/plastic screws to put my original holder in the new bumper. The plate holder actually comes with anchors which are far better, which at some point I may go back and use. This photo doesn't show it, but the original holder was faded really badly and had a motled appearance. Old and new:





Next is the hood leading edge seal. Don't *have* to do this, but like I said my engine bay sure does get dirty fast. I need to do valve covers soon, and when I do I'm going to deep clean everything and I'd like it to stay tidy. Old seal (no photo) was pretty crushed and not really keeping anything out. New one is a lot fluffier; hood even sounds a little different closing. Need to go do the second seal strip under the hood but less worried about it.



Still waiting on my new mud flaps, to see if they fit the 2005. This is what the originals look like:

weaver wrote:I'd like to coat new plastic with UV protectant before installation, just need to research a little. Any suggestions?

I looked around on Amazon and forums and ended up getting 303 UV Protectant. In the end though, it looks and feels like high end Meguiar's plastic protectant, and I suspect they're not that different.

Wish there were something better that didn't need to be re-applied with each car wash, but it's just how it is I guess

Thanks for your reply. Ah, good ol' 303. I've used that for 20+ years on my CJ5, just the soft top, seats and vinyl dash pad as needed. It does need refreshed from time to time, but I've found it to be a great product if one can stay ahead of the vinyl-fading-UV- monster.. Never tried it on plastic though; for the rear bumper and nerf bars it might be too slick for me. I'm clumsy enough as it is! Perhaps a plastic formulated paint such as Rustoleum Painter's Touch 2x ultra cover from The Home Desperate like I use on outdoor junction boxes and conduit; I do know it won't adhere to PPE plastic though... also not sure how it would hold up to road wear and tear. I'll have to do some testing when the weather (and time) allows. I've used Forever Black with great results on plastics with small surface areas such as fender flares,mud flaps and siren speaker bells. It's actually a dye that penetrates the plastic; but it's tricky to get even results without bubbles or streaks over a large area such as a bumper. It too needs refreshed, just not as often. I'll test it on my old step pad after I replace it; it is what it is. Same as you on my front license bracket+bumper being gored by 3/8"SMS bolts. I ended up using expansion nuts when I replaced it. Auto body clips can be a major PITA. I been building up a stock of various clips, bolts, push-pins etc. because broken ones are inevitable; I call them my LEGO's and keep them in Plano storage bins from Menard's. (not sure if you have them in VA,which is a beautiful state BTW) An excellent site to check out is www.autoclipsandfasteners.com. They have a great selection of clips,retainers etc.,as well as automotive bolts. Albanycountyfasteners.com is my go-to place for affordable stainless steel general purpose screws, bolts etc. Zorotools.com also carries good priced bolt&screw packages. It's very frustrating having a few broken clips keeping the truck from going back together, especially when it can't be driven.

For the most part I’ve been able to source the generic fasteners locally. It’s all of these proprietary Nissan ones that get difficult. When I need one I buy three of course

Meanwhile...got lucky on another part again, looks like these are the correct front mud flaps after all! All of the sites show the part as discontinued, but these are genuine Nissan front mud flaps that match:



Matching set of rear mud flaps en route...

Next odd thing I want to fix is my wheel well liners. When the body shop “repaired†all of my plastic after a deer hit, I think they pretty much pulled these things apart rather than carefully unscrew all the fasteners. I’ve replaced the front underneath plastic they attach to already (no pics yet, called “spoilers†in the parts diagrams but really an air dam), and have one semi-permanently fixed with zip ties. But the right side has never sit just right in the fender edge, and I have to re-fasten it back in place every now and then.

The part is only $80 or so from Courtesy but the shipping is something nuts like $500 based on size. I could drive across town and have Passport Nissan order it for me, but instead I just ordered one for $60 from eBay with free shipping. Probably not OEM and could suck, but worst that happens is it doesn’t work out and I won’t order the other side that way.

Good job

In France i have "Polytrol", it's very good