Excited to be posting here. We owned a 08 Xterra S 4WD quite a few years ago. My wife needed something that got MUCH better mileage for her job. I've always missed the Xterra and having something to take camping and to do some mild wheeling in.
I've been itching to get a daily driver and turn my current daily driver (Evo VIII) into more of a track build. I had been searching sale sites for weeks and finally found a diamond on eBay. The seller had it listed for $1500. I messaged her back and forth and wasn't ready to sink $1500 into what I think needs quite a bit of work. It didn't sell and was relisted for $499. I ended up getting it for $627 and am picking it up about 2 hours away tomorrow morning! It needs a LOT. I'm handy with a wrench and like getting dirty. I'll post more pics when I get her home, and I'll be making a laundry list of things to do to get her roadworthy. She currently sits with a burnt transmission that slips after about 15 minutes. I haven't confirmed SMOD, but I'm sure it's the culprit. I'll attempt to change the radiator, hoses, and do a few flushes, but I may just be looking at a rebuild.
We have an agreed upon standard to help arrange the builds info into the first post as much as possible so people can get a quick overview of what you have done. It makes it nice when you see a mod on someone's truck and can quickly find links in the first post. Check out mine and the format in the thread Old Navy linked and once you get your first post matching that, he'll move it back.
It happens to the best of us! :grin:
Welcome aboard, I'm looking forward to seeing what you do. I do have to ask though, if it was listed for $499, why did you wind up paying over $600? Was it at a dealership or something?
Yeah, but that's not usually included in the "purchase price" of a vehicle though. I refuse to pay those fees at a dealer, I'll do it thought DMV where there's no markup.
Before you spend alot of cash and time flushing your trans fluids, I would suggest dropping your transmission pan and inspecting the insides.
Once the radiator fluid enters the transmission, it tends to cause rust which assist in the ultimate failure we know as smod.
No amount of flushing will remove this rust. If you find this has happened, I would be looking for a good used transmission for a swap. In the past , there has been at least one member which has resolved his smod problem by cleaning the rust and replacing components, but this fix dont appear very common.
Did a bit of cleaning yesterday. Vacuumed out about 50 drywall screws and a bunch of broken glass. Plenty of dog hair. Already smells better. I have to run to grab more cleaning supplies today. After I feel good about all the plastic I'll start cleaning the carpet and seats.
So, let's talk about the transmission. I assumed this truck had SMOD. It does not. As soon as I got there I pulled the radiator cap and checked the expansion tank. I found the coolant to be perfectly green. The problem is that the trans starts slipping when you drive it for about 5 minutes. I was moving it yesterday and had to end up coasting downhill to another street to park it. Cooled off for about 30 mins and then I was able to move it to my driveway. I'm going to get a filter, pan gasket, and some Valvoline synthetic. There were 2 bottles of auto parts store fluid in the truck. Hoping that it just has the wrong fluid in it. Worth a shot before I replace the trans, I suppose.
Haha, ok. Here's the evo. She's been my daily driver for quite a few years. Bought with a swiss cheese block and a bunch of bent valves. Currently running a bunch of bolt ons and a ported IX turbo. 350whp. Wanting to get something else to drive so I feel okay about a bigger turbo and e85.
This is a “flush” and fill without the machine. No risk of valve damage due to suction, cheaper, and will give a good start to diagnosing the tranny issues.
Just because the coolant is clean does not rule out SMOD. It could have been drained and filled at some point.
Looks like a the truck is in good shape, minus all that filth.
Pull the seats and carpet and pressure wash em.
Can’t wait to see some more results. Best of luck to you with the transformation!
Hi All!
I am came across 4" LED roof light in stock housing post recently and decided to try something similar
(How-to: Rough Country 4" LED Roof Lights in Stock Housing).
I decided I want something in the stock locations that would have a tighter beam pattern, more reach and less hood glare...
This is the new spot for discussion of producing a slip yoke eliminator kit ... that derailed TheNinjaX's SAS thread (35's psh...)
I will solicit the mods to move those posts over here.
I want to run water from the right plastic corner, a 3 gallon hand washing, 2 gallon/minute flow.
With an electronic pump.
Spout location: Blue circle 1 or 2
Reservoir: inside the spare tire cavity (chain runs through the middle) - 3 gallon capacity
Roof mounted reservoir for more volume maybe...
I just bought an 09 external that had a light damage from end hit. It bent the radiator support and driver side fendor. I have been searching for hours, but does anyone know the dimensions the fendors are supposed to sit at? Like across the engine bay, from fendor to fendor, and in a box pattern...
I've been around for a while but didn't have anything worth while to add until recently. Thank you to all the guides and helpful threads and of course, the all-knowing, all-seeing Pre-Runner Greg.
For sale thread for OEM take offs...
