The Nissan Path

well, my rodeo is sold.. i think i have my new r50 picked out.. here it is..
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2001-NIS ... 047wt_1100

looks like a 1 owner car. it is listed on ebay, cars.com, and autotrader.com. doesnt look too bad and has just over 100k miles.

i was wondering tho. from the research i have done, i understand that the 2001 with the 3.5 has the 250hp. what is the big difference between the 01 and the 02-04? the 02-04 are going for almost $3K more than the 01. all i can see is a dif steering wheel, and a dif grille. is there something else? should i stay away from the 01?

i love my 2001 pathfinder. i have an 01 LE with 179k miles i love it so much. It drives great on the road and in the mud. i have had three offroad SUVs and i dont think ill ever buy anything different

I could be wrong but other then different trim packages, I was led to believe that from 2000-2004 there were no changes. I have an 04 LE. I just got mine in January. You can do a google search and get a more definitive answer. How did you make out? Did you end up buying it? Also, since I am new to ownership of these vehicles, can I be nosy and ask what you ended up paying? I too saw it listed before you posted, I kind of stalk Pathfinders for sale.LOL. I bought mine for my son who will be driving and got rather attached to it. If the right one comes along again I may get another. Only thing is I have to have automatic due to a bad knee injury, shifting and clutch would be too much on it. Elaine. Ps I had the Honda Passport cannot remember what year, but got it fairly new. loved it, but traded it in on a mustang covert. They are the same as the Rodeos. Izuzu made them for Honda. Elaine

"...I was led to believe that from 2000-2004 there were no changes."

2000 Pathfinders had the VG33E engine. In 2001, it was replaced by the VQ35DE.

i ended up buying the one up in rome for 6700. it had a few issues but nothing major. the bose radio wouldnt play cd's but it wasnt a problem since i swapped it out the day after i got it. the black trim under the windows has rust bubbling under it which from what i hear is a common problem. also the black area over the rocker panels on both sides has a very small amound of surface rust bubbling under the paint which i will hopefully get taken care of when it gets warmer out. it shifts real good altho i think the syncro between 3rd and 4th is wearing out because if you try to shift it in any kind of hurry, it will grind. shift slow and it's smooth as silk. it only came with 1 key to start it but thanks to ebay, i spent about 20 bux and got 2 transponder keys and 2 keyless remotes. programmed the remotes myself and the nissan dealer charged me 42 +tx to program the keys. while there, they ran the vin for recalls and it had the strut mount recall still open on it. i think they said it was a level 1 kit since it wasnt bad. i still have a noise in the suspension up front and i'm not sure what it is. sway bar links are tight and so are the wheel bearings and ball joints. thinkin maybe has somethin to do with the strut top bushings. like i said, there's no major issues. my rodeo that i had b4 hand was fantastic. and if it werent for it's lack of power while towing and rough ride, i'd still have it. the 4cylinder rodeo/passports used an isuzu engine, but the 3.2v6 was a honda engine. the rodeo/passport was never intended to be an off road vehicle when it was conceived so when honda put their v6 in, it didnt have the low end tq that trucks like, however it was happy to rev to 5-6k rpm. very not truck like. the only off roading they thought would be done would be dirt roads or snow driving. reguardless i loved my rodeo and it owed me nothing. i ended up getting 1800 for it when i sold it. it had 171k miles, v6 5spd, almost un-noticable rust spots about the size of a quarter, and it was a 97.

The 3.1 V6 used in early Rodeos was a GM engine, but the 3.2 used after that was made by Isuzu.

festerfm wrote:it shifts real good altho i think the syncro between 3rd and 4th is wearing out because if you try to shift it in any kind of hurry, it will grind. shift slow and it's smooth as silk.

I would suggest you change the gearbox Oil ASAP to synthetic made for Syncro boxes.
I used Redline MT90 in my other Nissan's and my IS300, but my Pathy is a 2003, no manual in 2003!!!
Good news is the manual did NOT have the power valves in the intake , but still have swirl valve same as the Auto box engine.

what exactly is a power valve or swirl valve?

festerfm wrote:what exactly is a power valve or swirl valve?

The power valve is in the intake, consists of six butterfly's.

The Nissan engines Pathy, Altima maxima etc have had an issue with the power valve screws coming out and damaging the engine. You WILL NOT have that. If you want to know more there are stickies on several forum devoted to this issue.

Swirl valves are similar and below the power valves, these are not recognized as having a problem.

The power valve improves torque and HP both by varying the intake runner length.

The swirl valves swirl the intake charge at part throttle to minimize pre-ignition and allow a leaner mixture.

so u'r sayin that since i have the manual tranny that i dont have to worry about this power valve screw issue thingy??

festerfm wrote:so u'r sayin that since i have the manual tranny that i dont have to worry about this power valve screw issue thingy??

Yes !!

festerfm wrote:i ended up buying the one up in rome for 6700. it had a few issues but nothing major. the bose radio wouldnt play cd's but it wasnt a problem since i swapped it out the day after i got it. the black trim under the windows has rust bubbling under it which from what i hear is a common problem. also the black area over the rocker panels on both sides has a very small amound of surface rust bubbling under the paint which i will hopefully get taken care of when it gets warmer out. it shifts real good altho i think the syncro between 3rd and 4th is wearing out because if you try to shift it in any kind of hurry, it will grind. shift slow and it's smooth as silk. it only came with 1 key to start it but thanks to ebay, i spent about 20 bux and got 2 transponder keys and 2 keyless remotes. programmed the remotes myself and the nissan dealer charged me 42 +tx to program the keys. while there, they ran the vin for recalls and it had the strut mount recall still open on it. i think they said it was a level 1 kit since it wasnt bad. i still have a noise in the suspension up front and i'm not sure what it is. sway bar links are tight and so are the wheel bearings and ball joints. thinkin maybe has somethin to do with the strut top bushings. like i said, there's no major issues. my rodeo that i had b4 hand was fantastic. and if it werent for it's lack of power while towing and rough ride, i'd still have it. the 4cylinder rodeo/passports used an isuzu engine, but the 3.2v6 was a honda engine. the rodeo/passport was never intended to be an off road vehicle when it was conceived so when honda put their v6 in, it didnt have the low end tq that trucks like, however it was happy to rev to 5-6k rpm. very not truck like. the only off roading they thought would be done would be dirt roads or snow driving. reguardless i loved my rodeo and it owed me nothing. i ended up getting 1800 for it when i sold it. it had 171k miles, v6 5spd, almost un-noticable rust spots about the size of a quarter, and it was a 97.

Congratulations. I just got my first Pathfinder. It's an '04 LE. It had 105,000 on it but pristine condition. Really looks brand new. Since I'm pretty new with this, can I be nosy and ask you what year this one that you bought was and how many miles it had on it. I think I got a good deal on mine. I paid $8,000 for it, but it's loaded with the heated leather seats etc, Auto Trans. And as I said it looks brand new. Also, had tons of maintanence things replaced. I still put some money into it. We had the trans fluid flushed, and we changed out the oil pan as it was pretty worn. Very common, in this area, as it's the shore and salty. This truck if I didn't mention yet, was for my son who will be driving next month, but I don't know I'm in love. I'm already searching for another one. I offered up my 2012 Elantra if he'd let me keep the truck. LOL. We have som flaring when it's cold, but it stops after about ten minutes into driving, nothing major, and I see quite a few have the same. I had a very good transmission shop check it out as I was nervous it was a bad trans., but it checked out fine and they also ran the diagnostics with nothing. We also changed the fule filter and that I would reccomend you do on yours. It made a huge difference in response and gas milage. Someone also mentioned cleaning the MAF sensor which we will also do, but the fule filter was cheap to do and it really helped greatly in the mileage we get out of a tank of gas, and it's peppier now. Was a big sluggish before. Elaine

PS What radio did you swap your original out with. I am thinking of doing the same. I"d like one that has the aux. for the iphone / ipod and I'd love to have it with blue tooth so I can use my phone also sirius radio or xm ready. I think someone metioned a Pioneer, but not sure. Thanks. Elaine

Hey does anyone know how to post pictures on here? I'd love to ad some of my Pathinder. E.

mine is a 2002 and had 113k miles. i used a pioneer deh-p8400bh for the stereo. i actually bought the stereo for my wifes car last summer just because she wanted a stereo with a pink display. however, the bluetooth function got me liking it and it has like 20 different screen colors so i ended up buying a second stereo for me. i will say however if u have an 04, make sure u get the correct dash kit for u'r stereo. the one i bought was for an 03-04 and i assumed it would be correct for my 02 and i was wrong. it mounted up good but the dash bezel of my 02 didnt fit over the 03-04 dash kit. and my dad has a 2012 elantra gls. bought an 05 elantra gt 5 door brand new and gave it to my lil sister last year with about 160k miles when he got his 2012. he used to be an american car guy mostly sticking with gm. he traded an 01 buick regal for the 05 elantra, then in 09, traded his 02 trailblazer for a brand new santa fe. he's hooked on the hyundais now.