The Grackle

General_Tarfun

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Location
Atlanta, GA
Look for a radiator shop who will replace the top tank. Usually not expensive to have done but a safer alternative. I'd be afraid of the crack extending back further than visible on that.

By chance do you remember around how much? These Koyos are so cheap it almost makes sense just to replace the entire thing although I'd have picked any other time of year to do it besides right now haha.
 

TerryD

Total Tease
Supporting Member
Location
Covington, Va
By chance do you remember around how much? These Koyos are so cheap it almost makes sense just to replace the entire thing although I'd have picked any other time of year to do it besides right now haha.
Been over a decade since I had one done. Under $50 IIRC. But it was on a recently obsoleted Jeep so the aftermarket unit was nearly $200
 

SledheadX

Wheeling
Supporting Member
Location
Rochester, NY
I think I've got it fixed. I started to try and epoxy the fitting back on and noticed that Koyo left a bit of plastic on each side for bracing the fitting. I cut into it and sanded it smooth/round and reclamped the hose back onto it without needed to epoxy anything. Test drove it 20 miles and 0 leaks so I hope that's the end of it. Pretty sure I broke it when I was changing the belt tensioner a few weeks ago because I remember the intake plastic thing getting hung up near the cap, must have pried on it and bent that T just enough to crack it.
I’d say that counts as your 1 repair freebie
 

General_Tarfun

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Location
Atlanta, GA
New window motor installed! Took about an hour to do and I left the regulator installed the entire time and just pulled the motor using a 90 degree drill attachment.
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General_Tarfun

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Location
Atlanta, GA
Trying to figure out a new problem that's come up. Starting about a week ago I noticed my instrument cluster went dead while driving for a second and then came back on, it was fine for a few days and then while driving I heard the blower fan start speeding up and slowing down over and over. Couple days later the instrument cluster went off again and the engine started losing power and the SLIP/VDC lights turned on. Now for a few days it's been flickering the brake/battery lights at me sometimes but the truck starts fine and seems ok otherwise.

I'm not sure if it could be the alternator I installed last month or maybe something else going on but I need to figure this out quickly.
 

General_Tarfun

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Location
Atlanta, GA
Well this is going to be expensive. Had to call Courtesy Parts to get the correct part number (284B6-ZE03C) which is $410 and you even have to order a new $14 plastic cover because the redesigned one apparently doesn't fit the old one. Hopefully the one @Mar10OR is sending will hold up a while because I'm not looking forward to having to spend that much on this thing.
 
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29erClan

Bought an X
Location
Meh
I'm confused, is that white one your old one or your new one? To me it looks like you got a ZC00A as your replacement.

The B version is also just fine. In fact it's what ol' JerseyParts sent me while selling it as a C version. Since then I've wised up and got 5-6 ebay junkyard pulls for the other vq40s in the extended family.

Here's a C version for $120:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nissan-Pow...019915?hash=item1a9da5844b:g:uwYAAOSw5FxfFcGs

And a B version for $70:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nissan-Int...867622?hash=item1f139a5526:g:smcAAOSwgZteLyOJ

The thing when searching is the first part of the number is different. Most junkyard pulls get listed by the laser etched number "284B7", while the dealer part lookup websites tell you "284B6". That 6-7 difference is the snap-on back cover making it "a different assembly". But the dealers that sell the "6" part number send you the "7" anyway because that back cover is what makes it slide in and click into the housing. Anyway, point of my rambling being, searching for the exact dealer number often won't find any junkyard pulls. You need to search for the "7" variant unless the junkyard knows and gets both numbers into the search list.
 

General_Tarfun

Sliders
Location
Atlanta, GA
I'm confused, is that white one your old one or your new one? To me it looks like you got a ZC00A as your replacement.

The B version is also just fine. In fact it's what ol' JerseyParts sent me while selling it as a C version. Since then I've wised up and got 5-6 ebay junkyard pulls for the other vq40s in the extended family.

Here's a C version for $120:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nissan-Pow...019915?hash=item1a9da5844b:g:uwYAAOSw5FxfFcGs

And a B version for $70:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nissan-Int...867622?hash=item1f139a5526:g:smcAAOSwgZteLyOJ

The thing when searching is the first part of the number is different. Most junkyard pulls get listed by the laser etched number "284B7", while the dealer part lookup websites tell you "284B6". That 6-7 difference is the snap-on back cover making it "a different assembly". But the dealers that sell the "6" part number send you the "7" anyway because that back cover is what makes it slide in and click into the housing. Anyway, point of my rambling being, searching for the exact dealer number often won't find any junkyard pulls. You need to search for the "7" variant unless the junkyard knows and gets both numbers into the search list.


Oh just to clarify this unit is a working spare that @Mar10OR sent me to try out and see if my problems went away with it swapped in, definitely not the permanent fix.

I have a B version lined up with a junkyard from the same truck I got the alternator from with 15k on it if this solves my problems. You're dead on with the part number issues, Courtesy Parts listed the one for my 06' as discontinued with no newer version so I had to call them and the guy tracked down the compatible part numbers for me, he let me know on top of the $400 for the module I'd need to separately order the $14 new cover for it too haha.
 

General_Tarfun

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Location
Atlanta, GA
Got it installed this morning and so far it appears the problem is gone! Hoping it holds up but I've gone ahead and ordered the B version of the IPDM for a permanent replacement.

Just in time for my new tire install later this afternoon, after 52,000 miles the Toyos are starting to get a little loose on wet pavement and Discount Tire is running a rebate/promo offer on Duratracs that comes out to $190 off so I finally pulled the trigger and put in an order. I wanted the C load rating instead of E1 so they had to special order them but I'm excited see them installed, they look really aggressive and have a beefier looking sidewall compared to my ATII's.
 
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General_Tarfun

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Location
Atlanta, GA
It's only been a few days but I'm a big fan of the Duratracs so far. They're pretty quiet on the highway, balanced perfectly, and are a fairly light tire for an LT. They don't pull into every rut like my old tires and bump steer is non-existent now, the ride is actually much softer but without the overly flexy sidewalls that the ATII's had. I'm glad I went with C rated because the balance of stiffness vs sidewall flex is perfect.
 

General_Tarfun

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Location
Atlanta, GA
Got the new IPDM in today finally, the layout is definitely different from the 06 version so it looks like the foglight mod I'm running now with the switched ground is no longer going to be a thing. Thinking I'll probably just relay them from the parking lights since I don't ever run the fogs by themselves anyway.

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General_Tarfun

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Location
Atlanta, GA
New brake rotors are installed now, I got the old ones covered in grease when I was replacing the front coilovers a while back and they never stopped pulsing afterwards.

I cleaned everything up this time around, washed the new rotors in the sink with a good degreaser and for once installed rotors without so much as a single fingerprint on them.

It's a minor thing but as much as I drive the little bit of shaking in the the steering wheel was driving me nuts. Also discovered that Discount Tire screwed up one of my lug nuts somehow, the end is uneven now and when I started to thread it on it kept wanting to cross thread on me so I left it off, thankfully I have a couple spares somewhere around here.

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General_Tarfun

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Location
Atlanta, GA
Got a new battery today at Costco, the old one was leaking acid out of the caps for a while now and I was starting to wonder how much was left inside of it. Their warranty is great, I took it in told the guy what it was doing and he said no problem we'll replace it. I only had to pay the price difference from when I bought it which was $4 so I'm not complaining.

After that I decided to reconnect my front foglights now that I've removed the IPDM mod and since I had the drivers side headlight harness available thanks to the relay harness I built for the headlights so I wired the high and low beams together and ran a wire to the positive cable for the foglights and left their factory ground intact. It works great, now I have the foglights on with high or low beams and since I never turn them off anyway this works out fine by me.
 

General_Tarfun

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Location
Atlanta, GA
Do they also work with just the running lights on?

Not with this setup. I'll prob go back and set it up that way again and use the fog light switch on the stalk as the trigger but I'm going out of town for a week tomorrow and just wanted them working again.

That said, it would be easy to do for running lights, just use the parking light wire as the trigger on a relay to send power to them. Just a bit more wiring to do but nothing overly difficult.
 

General_Tarfun

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Location
Atlanta, GA
I got back yesterday from a wee long trip to Rainbow River down in Florida, first time on the highway with the Duratracs and although they handle great they're pretty heavy. This was the first time I could actually feel how much the X loaded with gear was struggling on the interstate to get up hills. Aside from that they're not a bad highway tire considering the tread pattern.
 

TerryD

Total Tease
Supporting Member
Location
Covington, Va
I got back yesterday from a wee long trip to Rainbow River down in Florida, first time on the highway with the Duratracs and although they handle great they're pretty heavy. This was the first time I could actually feel how much the X loaded with gear was struggling on the interstate to get up hills. Aside from that they're not a bad highway tire considering the tread pattern.
You're 2wd AT, that's like 2.97 gearing. Go grab a MT rear axle. That's 3.54 and you only have to swap the one!
 

General_Tarfun

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Location
Atlanta, GA
You're 2wd AT, that's like 2.97 gearing. Go grab a MT rear axle. That's 3.54 and you only have to swap the one!

It's always something haha. Can I keep the same driveshaft with that one?

So yesterday I ended spending almost an hour prying the headlight bulbs off the housings after they melted so badly they became one part. Somehow this happened at the exact same time which was fun.

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TerryD

Total Tease
Supporting Member
Location
Covington, Va
It's always something haha. Can I keep the same driveshaft with that one?

So yesterday I ended spending almost an hour prying the headlight bulbs off the housings after they melted so badly they became one part. Somehow this happened at the exact same time which was fun.

You have the 6 bolt flange CV at the rear diff right? Should be able to. I'm running the stock C200K shaft with my M226 swap on less lift than you're running.

That sucks about the bulbs.
 

General_Tarfun

Sliders
Location
Atlanta, GA
So here's a weird one. The other day the X kept bogging down and the SLIP/VDC lights kept coming on, I was thinking great another problem I don't have time to deal with right now but did a quick google search to see if anything popped up. I noticed on the frontier forum a guy saying he had the same problem from a bad brake/taillight bulb. Only reason I noticed is that I know one of mine are out so I pulled it and swapped in a spare I carry and then started driving. Problem solved. I had no idea a brake light bulb could cause that much trouble but easy for the win is ok with me.

On a side note the X made moving my mattress across town really easy haha:
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General_Tarfun

Sliders
Location
Atlanta, GA
Discovered another crazy thing about the brake light bulb, with a properly functioning bulb in the socket my mileage is back to normal, around 19 mpg mostly highway. Starting to think most of what I was blaming on the tires was actually being caused by a bulb. Somehow.
 

General_Tarfun

Sliders
Location
Atlanta, GA
After searching the X and my storage unit about 10 times each I finally gave up on ever finding the extra set of Zevo brake light bulbs that I had, somehow I lost them during the move so I broke down and just ordered another set using my tire rebate money. I'm expecting the spare set to appear at any moment now haha.

Side note, rebates have become way better in recent years, it only took a few weeks for all the rebate debit cards to arrive which was nice. I can remember a long time ago waiting something like 6 months to get rebate money, only thing I wish they still did was just send a check vs debit card.
 
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General_Tarfun

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Location
Atlanta, GA
Was driving around today and noticed a few people staring at the X in a weird way and then noticed in a building reflection that my light bar was on for some reason. It's supposed to be triggered by the high beams so I'm not sure what's going on with it but I ended up just disconnecting it entirely until I can figure it out. I was initially thinking the relay is stuck but why would it only turn on when the IPDM fuse tap is connected?
 

General_Tarfun

Sliders
Location
Atlanta, GA
Sounds like your truck is haunted.... :)
It’s starting to feel like it haha, just in time for Halloween too.

I’m a serious fan of your truck. Hope you figure out your electrical bug.

Thanks! I’ll figure it out at some point, I need a day to get my multimeter out and test the ipdm fuses out. I might just rig the relay directly to the high beam wire to simplify it. Problem is we just adopted a puppy and she’s taking up ALL my free time haha

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General_Tarfun

Sliders
Location
Atlanta, GA
Haven't done too much in the way of mods lately but I did finally replace the passenger side window motor. It was getting so slow that I was expecting it to lock up at some point and it's a little too cold for that so I bought a new motor to put in. The regulator was fine so I just bought an OE motor and left the rest of it in place, Nissan made it pretty easy to do without removing a bunch of stuff you just need a 90 degree drill attachment or a 1/4" ratchet with a phillips bit to remove 3 screws that hold the motor to the regulator.

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General_Tarfun

Sliders
Location
Atlanta, GA
Finally went camping again and drove up to Tennessee to stay a couple nights in Cades Cove. A winter storm showed up the first night with wind gust that must have been near 70mph, sounded like a jet overhead all night and the tent was nearly destroyed and my pop up was completely destroyed after being thrown about 50 feet from where it was set up and tethered down.

We were able to do a 12 mile hike looking for bears and did about 4 hours in the dark which was a bit sketchy but overall they have awesome trails up there. The next day we went on a short hike and finally did spot a bear halfway up a burned out tree which was pretty cool to see from a distance.

Driving out we hit a snowstorm for a few hours and the tires I have performed better than I could have hoped. Never lost traction or slid even slightly while other cars were struggling. Only downside is my tent is frozen solid and the entire front of the X is a block of ice haha.

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