New V8 pathfinder owner.... Eternal premium fuel debate...

[Sasquatchege]

New to this forum, as well as the world Pathfinders. Picked up an 08 V8 LE 4x4 @ 40k miles about a week ago. Aside from a rattle or two could be happier with it. It's a real upgrade from the 94 passport I had.... This is also the 4th nissan I've owned, one actually being a Datsun. Anyway, my thoughts on the gas. It came from the dealership with a full tank of regular. It's now on its second tank and seems to be driving fine. Several friends (fairly learned car guys) have ridden with me and said they heard no knocking. Should I experiment with a tank or two of premium? I just don't want long term engine damage. I'd like to make this thing last till about 100k or until the family runs out of room. Feel free also to chime in with any tips or things I should be aware of with this new glorious gas guzzling "mid-sized" suv

[skinny2]

You can make it to 100k on probably the shittiest gas-like substance you can find. Now if you want to make it to 300k....

I've mainly run regular but will use premium when towing. I've experimented with brands of regular and some will give light pinging when lugging up hills. So I stay away from those brands. My experience is that there's a slight performance difference with premium but no change in economy. There is a much more obviously difference when towing though because the engine will lug a little more and that's really where the pinging comes in. I don't believe there is much difference with the V8 as a friend with an Armada does the same thing.

I'm at 120k and it's running like a new rig. In fact, I considered buying a very low mileage 2012 awhile back. After driving it around awhile, I couldn't justify making the move as mine drives every bit as good as the newer one. In fact, the new one had warped rotors (at 10k miles!) and mine weren't even vibrating at 100k miles when I swapped them out with the second pad change. These are good rigs, just watch out for the radiator issue.

[Sasquatchege]

Thanks for the good information. I've read lots of things about radiator coolant getting into the transmission and basically frying them.... Nothing extremely conclusive though? Some say it's just the V6? Would I know I'm having problems by slipping/ hard shifts etc?

[skinny2]

Thanks for the good information. I've read lots of things about radiator coolant getting into the transmission and basically frying them.... Nothing extremely conclusive though? Some say it's just the V6? Would I know I'm having problems by slipping/ hard shifts etc?

I would disagree that there's nothing extremely conclusive...Nissan knows about the problem and extended the warranty on the radiator. It applies to all pathfinders from '05-'10.

There are several ways to figure out if you have a problem....but at that point it's too late. Bypassing or replacing the radiator is the only solution to guarantee you won't prematurely destroy the transmission.

The extended warranty is good for 8 years or 80k miles for full replacement. However, I would much prefer to NOT need to rely on this warranty. There are too many variables at play to hope this warranty will cover all the damage. The cost to bypass/replace the radiator in advance is a good investment in my book. It's possible it's already been replaced so if you search around here you can find the updated part numbers and compare to what your PF current has installed.

[Sasquatchege]

Was this warranty tacked on by nissan to the normal 60k powertrian warranty or is it something extra that must be purchased? I'm looking around to see what the part number of the new transmission is.

[skinny2]

It's an additional warranty that Nissan added. Mainly they were trying to curb a class action lawsuit.... here are the details from following link:

http://www.nissanassist.com/web/Radiato ... hp?menu=22

With the additional extension, the following warranty coverage and corresponding customer co-pays will now apply:

Up to 8 years/80,000 miles (whichever comes first): No customer co-pay
After 8 years/80,000 miles (whichever comes first) up to 9 years/90,000 miles (whichever comes first): Customer co-pay is $2,500
After 9 years/90,000 miles (whichever comes first) up to 10 years/100,000 miles (whichever comes first): Customer co-pay is $3,000


As you can see, it's horseshit once you go past 80k miles.

[NmexMAX]

I have 3 Nissans and all of them see premium fuel. VQ30DE 95 & VQ35DE 03 Maxima, and 08 VK56DE Pathfinder, combined mileage of 291k.

Not required but recommended. I've only had the 95 ping on me, but it was due to a bad KS since I had always used premium fuel in it.

Even though yours is low mileage, keep an eye on your exhaust manifolds. They tend to fail at the welds since the cat convertor is coupled/combo'd with the manifold. These are also covered under the 80k/8 year emissions warranty because of that reason (manifold/pre-cat combo). I had one of mine replaced completely under warranty.

[AZ_Path]

I've mainly run regular but will use premium when towing.

This is what I do as well. For regular daily driving the engine is not under a heavy load and the RPM's stay low so I don't feel premium is necessary. I have not heard any pinging either.

I tried running regular in the Infiniti and heard pinging when accelerating hard so I always run premium in it. The Infiniti manual says that if you have to fill up with regular keep the RPM low and fill with Premium ASAP. I've basically used that as my determining factor for the whether or not the Pathfinder gets premium. For daily driving the RPM stays low. I can't say the same for the Infiniti.

[AZ_Path]

New to this forum, as well as the world Pathfinders. Picked up an 08 V8 LE 4x4 @ 40k miles about a week ago. Aside from a rattle or two could be happier with it. It's a real upgrade from the 94 passport I had.... This is also the 4th nissan I've owned, one actually being a Datsun. Anyway, my thoughts on the gas. It came from the dealership with a full tank of regular. It's now on its second tank and seems to be driving fine. Several friends (fairly learned car guys) have ridden with me and said they heard no knocking. Should I experiment with a tank or two of premium? I just don't want long term engine damage. I'd like to make this thing last till about 100k or until the family runs out of room. Feel free also to chime in with any tips or things I should be aware of with this new glorious gas guzzling "mid-sized" suv

Congrats and welcome to the forum. The Path is a great mid-sized SUV that can get decent gas mileage if you can accelerate moderately. I get 19+ with mixed city / highway driving by just accelerating conservatively.

Regarding the radiator, my plan is to replace it with the newly designed radiator installed on the 2011 - 2012 models around 75K before the extended warranty is going to expire. I've decided not to do the bypass for now because I want the additional cooling since I tow in high heat.

Where are your rattles coming from? The only two I have had are the coin tray and the 3rd row seat belts. If you don't keep the metal portion above the clip that holds the belt out of the way, it will rattle.

[NmexMAX]

The VK56 in all 3 truck forms is just not MPG friendly. Best I ever got was 17, and that was only once.

Check the Armada & Titan forums and they don't get much better. Then again, I'm not sure about you, but I didn't get the V8 for gas mileage. At best I get 13.7 or so now.

[Path-Less]

I have a v8 model as well. I have always run premium. I discussed this with my friend (Nissan master tech) and as I understand it you can run 87 octane without any hiccups or knocking but you will notice a decrease in power. The ECU will adjust after a couple hundred miles and you will be all set. If you do happen to notice any knocking with the first 87 octane tank it should go away after the ECU makes it adjustments.

With that said, you will or at least should get better fuel economy on premium. Whether or not the dollar per mile value equal out is another thing and depends on your premium fuel costs.

I have all Redline synthetic fluids through my drive train and an OEM replacement AEM dryflow air filter and can average 20-21mpg on the highway @70mph.

[Sasquatchege]

Thanks for all the replies and info. No I didn't get the V8 for mileage, got it for power. The slight rattle comes from right behind the driver side temp adjustment knob. It really only rattled over bumps/ rough roads (aka all roads in NC....). It's faint and to be totally honest almost sounds like a Geiger counter, kind of a tick, tapping, metallic. Oddly enough if I push (put pressure) on the plastic around the knob when it happens it stops. Doubt it's hurting anything, just kind of an aggravation when I think about it.