Nissan Pathfinder 1996 Problems

A measure of the change in the four-wheel-drive concept is the radical alterations the Pathfinder underwent in the move from the WD21 to the R50 in 1995.The old WD21 was based on the Navara one-tonne pickup and used the ute's separate chassis frame as its foundation, but the R50 was all new and boasted full monocoque construction like that of a regular family four-door. Monocoque construction results in a lighter body, but one that's more rigid. As a result, it provides a more stable and better platform on which to build decent handling, steering and braking performance.Nissan offered one powertrain in the Pathfinder, one that gives clear clues on the company's intention for the car.The engine was a 3.3-litre single overhead camshaft fuel-injected V6 unit. It was derived from the sweet free-revving V6 that powered the 300 ZX sports coupe in the 1980s, so it was a well-proven unit. Power in the Pathfinder was a maximum of 125kW at 4800 revs and torque peaked at 266Nm at 2800 revs. The only transmission was a four-speed automatic and off-road die-hards were horrified that Nissan didn't offer a manual gearbox.The four-wheel-drive system offered the choice of four-wheel-drive high and low and a new automatic option which chose the best drive option for the conditions.The Pathfinder rode and handled well and was quite competent off-road, with good gearing and ground clearance.There were two models in the R50 Pathfinder range. It began with the RX, which came standard with airconditioning, central locking, power mirrors, cloth trim, carpets and four-speaker cassette sound. In a 1997 update it also got power windows.The other model was the Ti, which was more comprehensively equipped. In addition to the equipment fitted to the RX, the Ti also boasted colour-coded bumpers, chrome grille, chrome wheels, roof rack, wheel arch flares, auto airconditioning, dual front airbags, remote central locking, ABS, CD sound, velour trim and power windows.Nissan specialist Jerry Newman says that little goes wrong with the R50 Pathfinder.While it has been developed over the years, the V6 engine dates back to the 300Z sports car, so it's a well-proven and reliable unit. It has a belt driving the camshafts and that needs to be replaced every 100,000km, and the spark plugs are difficult to get to, which makes replacing them time-consuming.The auto gearbox gives very little trouble. The same goes for the drive line, although Newman says he's had a couple of noisy rear diffs which he has been able to fix by using a higher quality oil. Servicing in general is more expensive. Wear and tear tends to be higher than that of a regular passenger car simply because the Pathfinder, like all 4WDs, is bigger and heavier. For the same reason, fuel consumption tends to be higher than a regular family car; Newman says 14-15l/100km around town is normal.The Pathfinder rated average for occupant protection in the annual survey of crashes.While the Ti model had dual front airbags and ABS, the RX missed out on these fundamental safety systems.The Pathfinder's handling and braking performance was better than most four-wheel-drives of the time, providing the driver with a better chance of avoiding crashes.

Nissan Pathfinder is a reasonably tough off-road station wagon that has gained a lot of respect amongst Australian buyers in the 25 years it has been on the local market. Pathfinder is chiefly aimed at the suburban user, though you will find a fair number in the bush.Whereas the first models had a separate chassis, the full-wagon variant of the Nissan Pathfinder used a monocoque body. Just to cause further confusion, the latest one, from July 2005, has reverted to a full chassis for added toughness and is again virtually a Navara with extra seats. Though this time there is a fair bit of work in the passenger comfort field as well.Pathfinder began its Australian career in December 1986 as a two-door wagon. Following the sales success of the then-new concept, in October 1992 it became a four-door. These older models may be near their use-by date, though we still see some good ones on the road. November 1995 saw the introduction of a virtually all-new Pathfinder that was aimed more at the passenger market than the ute-with-more-seats buyer.We have experienced some body movement on rough roads in the second-generation models, the ones with the monocoque body. This can get worse as the vehicle ages, especially if it has led a hard life. This probably explains the decision to go back to the separate chassis in 2005 Pathfinders. So it’s probably best to regard the 1995 to 2005 models as soft-roaders rather than off-roaders.The earlier Nissan Pathfinders had good ride comfort for their class and era and have a reasonably spacious interior. There is less headroom than you might expect in the pre-2005 models, and legroom in the back could be better, though it’s certainly not cramped.The 2005 Nissan Pathfinder is significantly larger than the previous ones and has seating that’s good for four adults, five without too much leg rubbing. Headroom is good and the front seats are well shaped. The rear bench seat is reasonably comfortable. Boot space is large and easy to load.Most older Pathfinder models have a petrol engine with a capacity of 2.4 litres. A smooth 3.0-litre V6 was added to the lineup in 1993, it is a punchy unit, though the revs do have to be kept up to get the best from it. The V6’s capacity went up to 3.3 litres with the 1995 model change. The 2005 Pathfinder uses a big 4.0-litre V6 that has plenty of grunt.Diesel engines, though common in the Nissan Navara, were not offered in Pathfinders until the introduction of the new 2005 model. The unit in this Pathfinder is a healthy 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo that punches out more that 400 Newton metres. As its introduction coincided with the start of fuel price rises in Australia it’s no surprise that many buyers have opted for this oil burning option and it’s already being sought out on the used-car market.Pathfinders with four-cylinder petrol engines have a five-speed manual gearbox. The 3.0-litre V6 can be ordered as a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic. The 3.3 engine comes only with a four-speed automatic as does the 4.0-litre petrol. The turbo-diesel again wins out, having a choice between a nice six-speed manual  and a modern five-speed auto.Early Pathfinders used an old style 4WD system, but from the 1999 Pathfinder it came with a sophisticated all-wheel drive system with the title of All-Mode. This 4WD layout offers the driver numerous choices: everything from rear-wheel-only drive for easy on-road use, to four-low for seriously tackling tough off-road terrain. The Auto setting juggles the amount of drive needed to each end of the Pathfinder according to conditions under the wheels.On-road the later Pathfinders are almost car-like in their refinement and general feel. There is more wind noise than you would get in a passenger car of the time in the 1995 to 2005 models. Handling is reasonable in all models, but the centre of gravity is relatively high so you can’t drive a Pathfinder as though it’s a car.Nissan's dealer network is widespread with spare parts, repairs and servicing available in most areas, even in some pretty remote locations. Insurance isn’t usually over expensive as befits a vehicle that is seldom driven hard.WHAT TO LOOK FORRust can get into the lower corners of the door and the tailgate but is not common in vehicles that have been correctly driven and maintained. Check also for rust in the chassis rails, especially if you suspect it has been subjected to beach use.Look for damage to the protection plates, the sill panels and the underneath of the bumper-bar corners, all items that suggest rigorous off-road driving. Four-cylinder engines can sound harsh even when they have a fair bit of life left in them. Worn engines tend to be slow at picking up oil when started stone cold, resulting in low pressure. So listen for bearing rattle and watch for an oil-pressure warning light that’s slow to go off.Check for an engine that smokes from the exhaust. It is usually at its worst when the engine is accelerated hard after it has been idling for a minute or so.  Severe engine wear is the most likely cause.Gearboxes are generally tough, but try some fast gearchanges from third to second and feel and listen for worn synchros. Automatic transmissions should be smooth and quiet in operation and not have too long a delay when going into Drive from Neutral.If driven hard in tough off-road situations Pathfinders may suffer from suspension mounting or chassis cracks. Get an expert to do an inspection as these can be expensive items to repair.CAR BUYING TIPFour-wheel-drive purists scoff at those who never take their 4WDs off-road – that is until they come to buy a secondhand model for themselves. Then they opt for used vehicles that have never been taken off road… 

It’s hard to say when the boundary that separated four-wheel drives and passenger cars was broached, but one thing is clear, Nissan’s Pathfinder was one of the first vehicles to do it. It wasn’t the first, but the R50 Pathfinder was in the first wave of a new generation of offroaders that were civilised enough to be at home in town.Before the new Pathfinder, and others like Toyota’s RAV4, arrived in the mid-1990s four-wheel drives were rugged vehicles that were heavy, noisy, thirsty, with handling more in keeping with the Queen Mary than a family four-door.Cars on the other hand were fast, agile, quiet and comfortable. The R50 Pathfinder was closer to the car end of the scale than the old style four-wheel drives, but still had the ability to dive deep into the bush.MODEL WATCHThe earlier Pathfinder was something of a trail blazer in that it was a compact four-wheel drive wagon that was more adept at handling city traffic than the larger, more ponderous four-wheel drive wagons like the Patrol and ’Cruiser, but it was the R50 that really lived up to its name.Before the R50 arrived in 1995, four-wheel drives were mostly built on tough, strong chassis, the body bolted on top in a separate unit with rubber bushes for isolation.The separate chassis construction was tough enough to survive the harsh conditions in which the big four-wheel drives were often used. But while it made a tough vehicle, it also made a rather clumsy, and less safe one.Nissan broke the mould with the R50 Pathfinder by using the unitary body chassis construction that was once reserved purely for passenger cars. By using a single body/chassis unit, Nissan was able to create a strong, stiff, vehicle that was a perfect base for a modern vehicle with the characteristics normally associated with cars.There are a number of benefits of the unitary construction that makes it a much better method of construction than having separate chassis and bodies.In the case of the R50 Pathfinder, the torsional stiffness went up by a massive 130 per cent over its predecessor, the bending rigidity by an even more miraculous 190 per cent. That means a much stiffer base on which to build an agile, responsive handling package, and that means increased primary safety.Unitary construction also affords engineers the possibility to design in crumple zones, ones that deform in a crash and absorb the energy released instead of passing it on to the occupants. More points for the Nissan’s safety package.It’s also possible to make a lighter vehicle, the R50’s body was 50 kg lighter than its predecessor’s.By comparison to previous four-wheel drives, the Pathfinder also brought more style to the class. Designers were able to bring more car type styling to the 4WD wagon than they had been able to with the older style, which was inhibited by its construction and rugged end use.The Pathfinder was a sharp looking wagon, with clean lines, toughened up with some aggressive wheel arch flares on the luxury Ti model.Under the skin lay MacPherson Strut front suspension, with a five-link live axle at the rear. Steering was by power assisted rack and pinion, and brakes were disc front and drum rear, with ABS for added safety on the Ti.Generous ground clearance, and steep approach and departure angles meant the Pathfinder wouldn’t easily be grounded in the heavy going.For power the Pathfinder relied on a 3.3-litre single overhead camshaft V6 with two valves per cylinder. Power peaked at 125 kW at 4800 revs, torque was tops at 266 Nm at 2800 revs, nice and low for offroad use.Unusually for a four-wheel drive wagon, Nissan offered the Pathfinder with a four-speed auto trans only. Shock, horror, there was no manual gearbox available!If the lack of a manual ’box sent a signal that the Pathfinder was not a serious offroader, a scan of the drive choices was enough to get another massage. In addition to the regular two-wheel drive high range, and high and low range four-wheel drive, there was the choice of an auto mode which did it all for you.Two models were available at launch, the RX and the Ti. The RX kicked off the Pathfinder range, and came equipped with air-conditioning, power mirrors, central locking, cloth trim, radio/cassette sound, carpets, map lights, cup holders, and a split-fold rear seat. In 1997 it also got power windows.The Ti was the one with the lot. On top of the RX’s array of features, the Ti had chrome wheels, colour coded bumpers and mirrors, roof rack, side steps, wheel arch flares, remote central locking, chrome grille, CD player, ABS, velour trim, and dual airbags.IN THE SHOPThe first thing to do with any offroader is to check for signs of offroad use. Look for things like bumps on the bumpers, scratches down the sides from brushing up against branches and other things overhanging bush tracks, and scrapes under the front and rear bumpers where it might have been caught up on banks and other obstacles.Having gone over the body, get down and take a look underneath. Take particular notice of scars on the underbody, brackets, fuel and brake lines, exhaust, and suspension components.Also look carefully for any splits or cracks in rubber seals and boots, particularly in the drive line that might have let water into vital drive line joints.Finally, open the doors and tail gate and look for dust in locks, hinges, and other hard to clean points. It’s hard to get rid of dust once it gets in, and it’s always a good indicator of off road use. If you like you could also lift the carpets and check for dust.Going off road is not necessarily a problem, but any vehicle that is used off road regularly should be serviced more thoroughly than one that is confined to the black top.Most Pathfinders spend their days doing duty in town, so there’s not much damage to speak of. These are the vehicles to seek out.Nissan service specialist Jerry Newman reports no major problems with the Pathfinder. The engine, gearbox, diffs are all virtually indestructible, he says.It is important that the cam belt be replaced at the recommended 100,000 km, he says.The only downside is that the VG33 engine is heavy on fuel.IN A CRASHAccording to the recent used car safety ratings issued by the Monash University Accident Research Centre, the R50 Pathfinder has average crashworthiness and is on the average in terms of impact on others.Generally it rates better than the traditional big four-wheel drives, and on a par with a large family sedan.The RX missed out on airbags, but the Ti was fitted with frontal airbags for the driver and front seat passenger.OWNERS SAYGeorge Nastevski rates his Ti Pathfinder an inexpensive, quality built mid-sized 4WD that has almost all the creature comforts you’d want in a 4WD. It is a fun car to drive, looks great, and the V6 is a sound performer, but he says it does tend to drink a bit.LOOK FOR• attractive wagon styling• responsive handling• good build quality• capable on or off road• plenty of standard features• thirsty V6THE BOTTOM LINEA well equipped, comfortable modern mid-sized four-wheel drive wagon that copes well on or off road.RATING65/100