Supercharged XTerra

I know these get awful gas mileage, don't care.

How are they otherwise?

I have a line on one that runs well and looks good, but doesnt have rear seats (good riddance), has a noisy power steering pump, bad shocks, and could use a general steering freshening.

Dirt cheap.

How bad are they to work on? (Specifically ps pump)

Reliable trucks? It hasnt seem to have stranded him in the last 3 years. Basically be bought this instead of the Cherokee I told him to, he doesnt drive it anymore, and is offering it to me for $8k less than he paid for it.

Yes?

Why?

Tough as nails, but still a little underpowered even with the supercharger. PS pump isn't bad, I don't think the charger would change anything there. They leak a lot (valve covers, crank seal, rear main, etc), but if its nice and its cheap you can't go wrong. Good off road (although probably not as good as a Cherokee), and they have a good aftermarket and a big following. If you want a solid and capable camping buggy/beat around 4x4, you can't go wrong. I've seen those motors over 400k, even poorly maintained.

Change timing belt/water pump/etc, put some NGK's in it (#6 sucks to get to), keep a spare distributor handy, and drive it into the ground.

pres589 wrote: Why?

Because I need/want another suv type thing and this is about half what a cherokee i'd want to own runs these days.

Oh yeah, here ya go.

4x4parts.com

Did a good bit of research when I was Xterra huntin', the #1 thing is the knock sensor. On the NA motor it's nice to have, on the SC it is ESSENTIAL. That means make damn sure it works and the harness is in good shape, otherwise yes it can and will pop holes in pistons, particularly if you use mid grade gas. The KS is down in the valley, it's a bitch to get to. There are some people out there who are just sticking the KS on a separate harness and letting it hang down there just to turn the light off but obviously this is not going to tell the ECU fo' reals about knocking.

If I could have found an automatic SC I'd have bought it, there are a bunch of 5 speeds around but the tow capacity is only 3500 lbs, I need 5000 lbs. Unfortunately, the only 2wd A/T I could find the guy wanted $2500 over book value and while it was pretty darn nice it wasn't THAT nice.

I dunno where all this stuff about Xterra oil leaks comes from, my NA does not leak a drop. I had to replace the clamps on the power steering return lines and otherwise it's as dry as a chip. No one I have talked to has had all the valve cover leaks etc that I keep hearing about.

Oh look, it's Shocktober again. This is how I lifted the Jeep and rebuilt the entire suspensions and steering for like $700.

Could be fun.

I've enjoyed my 2000 NA a lot. I think they're a great alternative to the cherokee and they are a bit bigger inside, have better crash test ratings, plus body on frame so it's a lot easier to get big rubber underneath if you want. Mine's been real reliable although at 200k I do have a small oil leak and some other wear items I need to address. There's a bearing in the distributor that will fail around 150k miles. It's not too tough to replace the bearing to save a few bucks.

I'm having quite a dilemma about mine at the moment. Can't decide whether I should keep mine or get something that gets better mpg but sacrifices the truckness. Mine primarily gets used as a kid mover.

So basically.... at Challenge price, buy buy buy?

Yes. That's what im reading.

In reply to Curmudgeon:

Count yourself in the select few if your valve cover gaskets aren't leaking. There are just Phillips screws on the valve covers, and the gaskets turn rock solid hard after a while (they will break into pieces when you take them off). Not the worst job to do, and you are halfway to getting to the knock sensor once you're there. It's a VG motor, I guarantee there is a knock sensor code (it won't turn on the CEL, so you'll have to have a code reader or something). If it's that cheap, and it's pretty nice, then get it for sure! Commence the SF1 Xterra Challenge build! (maybe we need an off-road/4x4 challenge?)

I dont understand why someone would be uncomfortable towing 3500 with an Xterra but suddenly ok with 5k just from adding a less reliable transmission.

The factory tow ratings for the manual are 3500, the automatic 5000. Dunno why they are rated different, don't care, just prefer the extra cushion. Saw the same M/T vs A/T tow capacity thing with Isuzus etc. and the Trooper towed just fine for over 140k miles with a slushbox, a big add on cooler and ~40k service intervals.

Maybe I'm anal, the Jensenator and trailer weigh in close to that magic 3500 mark and I'd just as soon have the extra cushion the A/T specs give instead of sitting on the side of the I waiting for a tow.

The KS is the same on both motors, the difference is the supercharged motor will need it to prevent damage and I'll be darned if I can find anyone with a leaky Xterra, in fact my younger brother had a 2001 with the 3.0 that he absolutely loved. It was as reliable as the sun and never leaked a drop, its only drawback was being underpowered, he constantly grumbled about that. He sold it to buy a Mercedes SL500... and that car almost immediately puked a transmission.

There's a fair number of people complaining that the '05 and later Xterra trans cooler will fail, thus contaminating and destroying the transmission. Local trans shop confirmed that.

Oh, yeah: all VG's are interference motors! Do a timing belt chop chop. Member of the step fambly bought a Pathfinder (same basic motor) for cheap, kept putting it off, putting it off... yep, belt let go. Motor lunched. He replaced it with a 2000 Xterra and replaced the belt immediately.

That dude is finally crawling out from under that pig, eh?

Curmudgeon, i think if you buy an auto you are more likely to end up on the side of the road waiting for a tow in general, towing or not. It doesnt change anything about how that vehicle tows other than Nissan not having to warranty clutches for towing dimwits back when the trucks were new. At this point you would be way better off with a manual for reliability reasons.

I know of the trans cooler issue you speak of but i didnt think trucks as old as what Swank is talking about suffered from it?

As far as making it 140k with towing on a 4l30 Trooper, i suspect if you run THAT by your local trans shop they would be surprised. The auto trans in the old troopers is pretty junky in terms of reliability.

Trans cooler leaking and causing coolant/trans fluid mix didn't start until the new body style in '05. Totally different beast...different motor, trans, everything. The auto trans on the era that SF1 is talking about doesn't have any issues. Not sure about towing, I'm sure an extra cooler wouldn't hurt, but they don't have any inherent issues. And actually, the trans in the '05 and up is fine too, it just doesn't like having coolant in it (shocking!).

Vigo wrote: Curmudgeon, i think if you buy an auto you are more likely to end up on the side of the road waiting for a tow in general, towing or not. It doesnt change anything about how that vehicle tows other than Nissan not having to warranty clutches for towing dimwits back when the trucks were new. At this point you would be way better off with a manual for reliability reasons. I know of the trans cooler issue you speak of but i didnt think trucks as old as what Swank is talking about suffered from it? As far as making it 140k with towing on a 4l30 Trooper, i suspect if you run THAT by your local trans shop they would be surprised. The auto trans in the old troopers is pretty junky in terms of reliability.

Errr... you may not know this, but I worked for an Isuzu dealer as a service advisor for six years (till 2004) and also ran an AAMCO transmission shop in the late 1990's. Many of my customers had mid 1990's Rodeos and Troopers well over 200k miles still on the original engine and transmissions, a couple were approaching 300k.

I saw exactly ~three~ 4L30's fail under Isuzu warranty (the 10/120 powertrain), all three were wiring harness and solenoid related, the internal damage was done by the owners continuing to drive them with the 'SERVICE TRANS' light on; the line pressure dropped because of the wiring harness and solenoid failure, this roasted clutches.

The only other thing we DID see was corrosion in the 'wnter/power' switch harness, about $125 parts and labor. It would stick it in 'winter' mode.

I NEVER saw one at the AAMCO.

Truck in question is an 03.

How E36 M3ty is the timing belt job?

mndsm wrote: That dude is finally crawling out from under that pig, eh?

Yeah, he got an XL7 handed down for $ free.99 and is driving that instead.

For his purposes it's the right move, and maybe I get a stoopidcharged suv for peanuts.

Timing belt job isn't bad, although a little more involved on a SC one. They are cake on an N/A, so just give yourself some more time for this one. Of course do cam & crank seals and water pump while you're in there. Plenty of room with the radiator and fan out, and they come out super easy.

I had one friend with an early NA 5speed 4cyl version that finally sold it at 350k horribly maintenanced miles because of gas mileage, and another friend that bought a s/c five speed new. He loved that truck immensely and had good luck with it but finally sold it due to the mileage and a job that kept him driving all over Atlanta to job sites. I rode in both and they seemed like good solid trucks to me.

TB is easy. It helps to 'while you are in there' do a thermostat water pump etc. The kits are reasonable off Rock Auto (I used a GMB kit, no affiliation, just always had good success with their stuff) and even though mine wasn't leaking I replaced the crank front seal.

The 4 banger versions are slow and don't get any better mileage than the V6, in fact the same held true of the Rodeo. But they sold cheaper new, that's why there's quite a few out there now. FWIW, until Isuzu decided to start using that damnable Holden 4 cylinder in 1999 the Rodeo 4 banger/5 speed was literally the most unkillable vehicle out there, do a TB every 75k-ish, keep the oil changed and roll on. I still see a lot of them rolling every day.

I saw exactly ~three~ 4L30's fail under Isuzu warranty (the 10/120 powertrain), all three were wiring harness and solenoid related, the internal damage was done by the owners continuing to drive them with the 'SERVICE TRANS' light on; the line pressure dropped because of the wiring harness and solenoid failure, this roasted clutches. The only other thing we DID see was corrosion in the 'wnter/power' switch harness, about $125 parts and labor. It would stick it in 'winter' mode. I NEVER saw one at the AAMCO.

Interesting. I wonder if our summer temps down here had a hand in their relative lack of reliability. I r&r'd enough of them back in the mid 00's that I learned to dislike them. 4wd auto Isuzus are not the easiest thing to get a trans out of. Torsion bar Pathfinders were still worse, though.

The 4cyl Xterra is the only one I've ever really liked, but I think that is because I prefer to own the easiest version to work on regardless of how slow it is when stock. Same reason I like 4cyl Escapes and 4cyl Dakotas. But, like those others I don't think the 4cyl Xterra was available with 4wd.

Steering is a big weak point if you plan to go off road with bigger tires. Bigger here meaning 32"s. Get/make an idler arm brace at the very least. Gusset the centerlink and brace the steering box at the best.

The rear axle is strong and lockers do exist for it.

Front suspension is torsion bars, rear is leafs. You can't do much with the front suspension as a result. It's very, very close to Hardbody mechanically.

That said, my mom had two NAs (1999 and 2002(?)) and we liked them just fine. I got to take the 2002 to pick up my date for some high school dance which I thought was pretty cool at the time. I always liked that the back seats sit higher than the fronts so you can see out the front easier. The first aid kit in the back door was pretty cool too.

What lift kits are out there for these trucks that are worth a damn? I see that Rancho seems to have a 2.5" kit. I like the Rancho kit on our Cherokee.

If i do this, this would be one of those "Maintain-ify" deals. Suspension/steering is shot, prime time to just upgrade the whole deal.