2005 Nissan Xterra

[JPolen01]

Edit: And then leave it unlocked with the keys in it in a bad part of town.

Do this but don't leave the keys. Insurance doesn't like to pay when you're an idiot. A friend of mine left the keys in his 4 runner at night and it was stolen and found with the keys in it. No money for him!

[RawrImAMonster]

I think the timing is off for one reason or another based on what I've been able to find today. I think it was at 0 at idle yesterday when we had it on the snap on scanner. It should be 15+/-5 BTDC according to the nissan service manual.

That would probably point to crank/cam sensors or it jumping a tooth at this point. If I remember right, it wasn't right on either side, so maybe the crank sensor is throwing everything off. I'll have to get the scanner again this weekend and see what I can figure out.

[RawrImAMonster]

Crank sensor wasn't the issue. It was $20 bucks and easy to get to, so I replaced that last night.

Both cams are at 0 degrees at idle when they should be 15 BTDC.

If the timing chain jumped a tooth, would they both off by the same amount? Maybe I'm thinking about this wrong, but since the heads are mirrored from one side to the other, wouldn't one be advanced too far and the other retarded too far?

[RawrImAMonster]

My grandad took this to an exhaust shop today to check things out just to make sure something stupid wasn't happening. Apparently something stupid is happening.

The rear catalytic converter on the side that I replaced the front cat on is completely clogged. The shop is going to weld in a new universal cat and I'll find out tomorrow if this thing is finally fixed between me putting in that timing solenoid and getting a new cat put in.

We asked my normal mechanic what he thought about that and he said if back pressure gets to be really high, it can throw off the timing somehow. I'm not really sure how that would work, but he worked in a machine shop for 15 years so he usually knows what hes talking about with these sort of things. I'm going to check the timing again tomorrow when I get it back and reset all of the learned ecu adaptations and hopefully this thing will run normally again.

[Senor_Taylor]

I hope it's simple like that, why did you never throw a PO420 code? I've always had bad experiences with shops telling me that my cats were bad.

[RawrImAMonster]

The rear cats aren't checked by any sensors. Only the fronts.

The exhaust guy in question is my parents neighbor, so I'm sure he's not bullshitting me. Also, my granddad was there when they did the back pressure test and saw the clogged cat when they cut it off.

[Senor_Taylor]

Well then, that's good! I've never dealt with multiple cats.

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[RawrImAMonster]

It's finally fixed. Between the timing solenoid and the putting a new cat in the rear drivers side, it's back to how it was when I first got it. Gas mileage is much improved and it pulls hard all the way up to redline.

[Jake]

It's finally fixed. Between the timing solenoid and the putting a new cat in the rear drivers side, it's back to how it was when I first got it. Gas mileage is much improved and it pulls hard all the way up to redline.

So when do you sell it? :wink:

Glad it was figured out though! That's frustrating... I didn't know a clogged cat could make something run so poorly, although it does make sense.

[RawrImAMonster]

I'm going to keep it until spring at least in case we get anymore snow. I imagine the M3 isn't the best snow car in the world.

If it doesn't have any other problems in the next few months, I might keep it a little longer. If I end up selling it, I'll probably get something like a pre-2006 WRX wagon. The 2.0 is reliable enough from what I've read. It's the 2.5 that scares me.

[RawrImAMonster]

Happy to report that this thing has been running great since the latest fixes. I'm getting 15-16 mpg on my short drive to work and 20+ on the highway now.

[RawrImAMonster]

Jinxed myself. It threw another code yesterday. It says a bad cat on the side that I've already replaced both cats on, so I"m guessing it's just the rear o2 sensor. Either way, I'm done fucking with this thing. It has just been one thing after another constantly the entire time I've owned it.

Plan is to fix this and sell it. Probably going to grab a 04-05 wrx wagon with around 100k if I can find one.

[Jake]

Jinxed myself. It threw another code yesterday. It says a bad cat on the side that I've already replaced both cats on, so I"m guessing it's just the rear o2 sensor. Either way, I'm done fucking with this thing. It has just been one thing after another constantly the entire time I've owned it.

Plan is to fix this and sell it. Probably going to grab a 04-05 wrx wagon with around 100k if I can find one.

Sounds like my Denali although given the collective experience surrounding Subarus, I would hesitate to say that would be a more reliable replacement...

[RawrImAMonster]

The 2.0's are fairly reliable for the most part from what I've read. I'll agree about the turbo 2.5's though. I wanted a 05 STi really bad, but I was too scared of that motor.

Either way, the Xterra is the only car I've owned that was supposed to be reliable and it has been the worst by far. Everything else in my list below has been one supposedly unreliable car after another and I've never had much of a problem out of any of them. Maybe I'm just better off with supposedly unreliable cars. At least enthusiast cars have a ton of information about them online.

[CaptainHenreh]

The 2.0's are fairly reliable for the most part from what I've read. I'll agree about the turbo 2.5's though. I wanted a 05 STi really bad, but I was too scared of that motor.

2.0's are mostly fine. 2.5's are fine...with new pistons. :dunno:

[ScottyB]

Either way, the Xterra is the only car I've owned that was supposed to be reliable and it has been the worst by far.

sorry man everyone I know with one had a good experience, sorry to have planted any false hope. it sounds like its been a lot of bullshit stuff with yours which i would agree just wears you down over time.

good luck with the subaru hunt. after 100k miles, there are some other things that you'll need to keep your eyes open for besides just the engine - wheel bearings, transmission/center diff wear and tear, hosed bushings and of course the 100k mile t-belt maintenance. it probably won't be an experience of jumping into a "no-maintenance reliable" one off the bat.

don't even bother with the 2.5's, it will end in quarter-and-dollars instead of the nickels-and-dimes you've been experiencing with the X. the 2.0's still need to be bought smartly but there's far less internal issues aside from fragile bearings.

[RawrImAMonster]

I'm ok with SOME issues and I fully expect that getting a 10+ year old turbo'd car, but I don't think the Xterra ever went more than 3 weeks where it was actually running 100% at any point in the time I've owned it. I'm just tired of constantly spending money on a car I don't want to spend money on. At least with a wrx, I'll enjoy it too. I'll probably get some sort of muffler or catback for the rumbles and leave it alone otherwise.

[Senor_Taylor]

I'm ok with SOME issues and I fully expect that getting a 10+ year old turbo'd car, but I don't think the Xterra ever went more than 3 weeks where it was actually running 100% at any point in the time I've owned it. I'm just tired of constantly spending money on a car I don't want to spend money on. At least with a wrx, I'll enjoy it too. I'll probably get some sort of muffler or catback for the rumbles and leave it alone otherwise.

Famous last words.

[RawrImAMonster]

What do you subaru people think of this?

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New clutch, timing belt and other recent maintenance. Price is a bit high, but I'm sure he'll come down some.


The Xterra has (I think) started randomly setting off the alarm for a second or two then stopping itself, so no idea what that's about or if I'm imagining it. I've only heard it do it once or twice at night. I'd like to find a replacement daily driver soon so I can sell this piece of shit before it sets itself on fire.

[JPolen01]

Are those really worth $8k today? Damn