Do it myself vs. take it to the dealer for a '90 Pathfinder

[ndpenner]

Hi all ,

Well, I bought a 1990 Pathfinder Thursday, and I love my truck. It needs a little tlc and I need to get it done pretty soon because our family just grew by an 8-year old (in the process of adopting) and my wife and I only had one vehicle up until we got the truck.

I was wondering, would it be less hassle to change valve cover gaskets and driver front cv axle myself, or take it the dealer. Dealer is going to run me about $800, and things just got a whole lot tighter around here budget-wise due to us getting the kid. The most mechanical thing I've ever done is change the spark plugs on a '97 Ford Taurus, but I have a buddy who used to work on/race muscle cars for a hobby who would help me out. My tools are super limited to your basic Crescent set and random screwdrivers and wrenches along with a 2-ton jack and jack stands.

Any help/advice/suggestions/been-there-done-stories would be greatly appreciated.

[Simon]

Hi mate,

Changing the tappet cover (valve cover) gasket is fairly straight forward, however first go and give all the bolts around the top a nip up with a ratchet (careful not to over-tighten though), then degrease the entire engine bay and give it a jetwash.. wait a week and see if it's leaked any more.

My Z24 (2.4 non injected petrol) leaked like a sieve around the top, I tightened everything up, jetwashed it and it's not leaked a drop ever since (and that was over a year ago!)

The CV Joint drive shaft requires taking the brake rotors off and so on.. you might be better to take it to a mechanic for that unless you've got a mate with experience with that sort of thing......... BUT - having just done my front end up - I'd suggest doing BOTH front CV joint drive shafts at the same time (cos if ones gone then the other will go fairly soon - as they've all done the same mileage!).. and at the same time get your brake pads replaced, and if needed the brake rotors replaced or machined, AND DEFFO get the front wheel bearings done (as they've got to come out and be cleaned and repacked with grease if the rotors are coming off..

SO.. if the front CV joint drive shaft isn't like hanging off then leave it as it is for a month and save the money to get the parts... having a bung CV joint on the front won't hurt as long as you aren't out 4wding.. And as said, I'd suggest getting the other parts mentioned and doing it all in one go. If you purchase the parts yourself it'll cost you less!!! (Mechanics make a fortune on the parts!!!)

If you need a hand tracking down the parts message me as I've just got all of these bits put in to my Pathfinder last month - mind you they'd all be shipped from Australia but it might still cost you less, or I can at least give you a heads up on the expected costs..

Let us know how you get on mate.

Oh, and you might find a few of the parts suppliers on my search engine (link in my sig)

Cheers,
Simon

[zuke66]

I replaced my valve cover gaskets a few weeks back and it was not that bad. The big thing to know is that the intake plennum has to come off to get to the driver side valve cover (also the distributor). While you are there I would go ahead and change spark plugs as the number 2 & 4 are a pain to get to otherwise.

So parts include:

1) Valve cover gasket set with grommets.
2) Intake plennum gasket.
3) Spark plugs gapped to .031
4) small length of fuel line (on back of intake manifold are 2 short pieces of line which are easier to just cut during disassembly)

Follow standard procedure of takedown just be carful to mark all vacuum hoses for reconnection.

Tools are fairly standard. Metric sockets 7, 8, 10, 12 with extension, Screwdrivers, knife, 7 mm hex drive for intake bolts, skip the torque wrench and just go by feel on intake bolts (12 fp is not much).

Before you begin take it to the car wash with a few cans of degreaser and clean off the engine.