So i paid around 25+ or so grand new for an xe loaded in 00 with all the cool accesssories and crap. ...hey they were hot then. I traded in a loaded convertible 300zx for it.

Hit 90k on my 2000 X this week, Anyways...i dont sit in daily traffic, highway to work 1 stop light no traffic, 100 miles / day. Mostly highway trips. I bought the X because I do alot of diving for work and needed something for my gear, the no frills interior seemed a good choice. Heck for the first few years my X sat mostly in my garage with highway trips as i was working from home. Point is my rides dont get beat to crap in a daily commute like most people..I have 2 camry's in the household I've gone through 1 with 265k miles, 1 with 190k miles...nothing but o2,s and cats replaced. Impeccable maintenance. My tires & brakes last over 60k+ miles a time...i just recently put my first set of tires on the X about 10-15k ago!

Anyways only problem I've had until now (90k) was the common ac hose or condenser burst.

Anyways my wife drives it now it have a few cars so haven't read up anything X in few years, and i hear to me what sounds like an exaust manifold leak. So i say wierd..log on to the net and SURE AS $HI% the net is loaded with cracked exaust manifolds.

i say hey...no biggie right 2 problems, every japanese maker is having manifold cracks these days including toyota on the tacoma and tundras.

But then i start reading up on all of these rear main seals leaking....and i've never noticed a drop on my driveway & hopefully this wont happen....as I want to get 3 more years out of this ride.

But i got one thing to say. If i get a rear main seal leak before 150-175k that will be the LAST dollar i ever give nissan. This kinda crap under 100k in 2006 is unacceptable and nissan needs to step to the plate! Avg milage these days is 20k or so a year in alot of places. Was looking to get a minivan next year as we got kid on the way.

Look man its 2006, cars are 30 grand and up. I want more than 5 or 6 or 100k reliable years out of them and i drive LOW easy miles/year or maybe i just need to stick with the toyo 4's...

Man seriously...if they're going to blow rear seals at 100k or under hell might as well save the bucks, buy american + extended warrenty and dump em at 100k...I'm begining to wonder if japanese quality is hitting the $hitter

Sell it.

ok so maybe that was harsh its a utility vehical right, 1st gen stuff....and my main seal is apparently hopefully not leaking. And hey i know V6 not going to have the lifespan of reliable 4's made for longevity.

Not distubed about the manifold..

But reading up on these main seals is a little distubing as the first things i read when i did a search on the net after the manifold leak developed was three problems on these have developed (ac - check had that, manifold - check now have that, rear main seal???.....ummm hope not)

My point is sure the back inside gets beat from tanks, wetsuits, gear, but for the most part my X has had it easy. Maybe i'll get 50k more out of it with no main seal problems. And hey i've done my share of rebuilds and tranny drops in my day and it happens.

All i'm saying is if i do at 100k ...did i buy a POS blazer or a nissan. Thats all.

opps and mines an xe not se

I would be less concerned with the reliability of your Nissan and more concerned with your command of the english language.

Chill the fuck out. Every vehicle has issues, period, and you have the first year of production of the Xterra.

So many other things but I'm done.

So you are complaining about a problem that hasn't happen yet? Look around this website and you will find owners with 100k-200k miles on there trucks. You have had two Japanese cars lasting over 100k and 200k and then go on to say Jap cars are going down the shitter? If you are so worried about all these problems happening to you then go too www.autotrader.com and sell your X before anything happens to it and buy whatever else you want. Sorry if you aren't getting the responses you were looking for but this board is made up of thousands of happy Nissan Xterra Owners. Oh and at 90k you might want to look into replacing your timing chain before it's too late.

Ummmmmm.....OK.

Swade, chill out, dude...

Do a search on steering gear seal leakage, then call the local Nissan dealer to inquire about the price of a replacement steering gearbox. I guarantee you'll be selling your Xterra in no time.

Just fanning the flames a little.

Edited to add a couple of issues that have struck me before I switched to Nissan:

Do a Google search on sun gear 4l60e

Or: 3.8 head gasket

Just a couple good reads that should keep one entertained for hours.

Have seen a number of VG series engines go 300k+

Something else that's not always factored in is how well owners take care of their vehicles.

hehe right whatever makes you guys feel good....just kidding, i can take it =)

After reading that common problems list last night I crawled under today. Yep. Rear main seal leaking....just like the photos on the web, drip. How bad does it get with milage? No telling how long its been happening. Looks small but still like i've said RATHER IRRITATING FOR A 90K mile nissan!

So lets see...common x problems from automotive.com

ac hose- check had that. No biggie
manifold - check have that. Moderately irritating
leaking rear main seal - OK i bought a ford bronco...i accept that now.

So what else is common to go out on this overpriced suv before I decide to either pull the tranny & manifold myself or invest 50-70% of the residual value of the vehicle paying someone besides nissan to repair it? Or will i do like most with american cars and just drive it till it croaks and hope the leak doesn't get bigger.

I didn't overpay for a japanese car to be putting in the shop every month after 75k miles so i'd like to know what other things commonly go...

I'm not talking maintenance or normal wear items...i always replace those. Though I just found out it has a timing belt, which every dealer in 00 was telling me the v6's had chains which was a major selling point for me. My fault though fr not 2x checking never believe a car salesman.

head problems, rear ends, valve train, auto tranny, steering ?

Thanks,
shawn

The manifold is like $70 and you can change it in an afternoon to the new style that is much stouter and should never crack again.

Rear main? Ever think that maybe the fact that the truck sits so much generates problems? Vehicles are meant to be driven. The ones that sit around generally develop issues sooner. I am expecting all sorts of issues with mine because I drive it 5k or less per year.

The steering gear thing sucks, glad I got a good used one to swap out. No rebuild kits out there, yet.

Oh and it's not economical for a company that makes money selling cars to make them last forever. No one would ever want a new one. It's called "design life". Sucks, yes, but what the heck are we to do? Build our own?

I take real good care of my stuff. Head was machined wrong from the factory causing the head gasket to fail.

Can't complain too much, was fixed under warranty. Point is, stuff happens.

To any brand......

why does any one expect a gasket to last "x" amount of miles, rubber and silicone only last a finite amount of "time" no matter how well you take care of a vehicle. key word here is "time", not "mileage"

my father-in-law bought an 87 regal with 27,000 miles on it. when i asked to borrow it, it had 200 miles more than that, when i got on it and the gaskets where blowing out everywhere, it wasn't a big "surprise", that muther%^^&er is old, and that type of shit happens, regardless of "miles".

point being, no matter the miles, when it comes to gaskets, time dictates everything.

I'm gonna let the rear main slide, unless i notice it affect the dipstick not going to worry about it. gonna do the manis next week...can burn a valve with mani leaks. Hopefully the steering is not as widespread and i wont develop that..

Mines reliable, no engine problems which is the main thing....but hell it should be at this milage and the engine is close to 2 decade old design practically. Still though 3 toyo's without this rear main seal, steering box type stuff..who knows.

and now im going to get a real good laugh down from my neighbors with fords and tahoes when they find out i need, exaust manifolds, pull tranny for rear main seals, if the steering starts leaking give it up...i'll surrender.

Dude, why do you care what your small-penised neighbors who bought cars that have fewer American made parts than your Nissan does (did you know it was assembled here in the United States?). Their chosen brands have issues too, what's Ford stand for? Fix Or Repair Daily, yeah that nickname was derived from super reliability.
What would you like to bet that your neighbors have had similar issues from their vehicles that they've had serviced @ the dealership because they can't tell the difference between a wrench and a wratchet?

But whatever, you're bitching about a 7 year old vehicle needing maintenance. 7 YEARS, jesus get over yourself.

So wheres a good place to get new manifolds online? Any difference in quality? i only want to do this once =)

My rear main is not from sitting, gets driven highway regullarly. Theres no shortage of people reporting that at 30,40,50k, multiple years, seems nissan should have beefed up that oem seal some time ago. Maybe V6's just are more apt to do this due to vehicle weight, load on the shaft, towing,etc..i dont know.

Hopefully the auto trannys are bulletproof.

keep your eyes out on ebay and on all the xterra boards. you want the ones made for after 2002, thats when they finally beefed them up, i believe. i picked up a set with the o2 sensors for $50 including ship.

So am I looking for new or ones parted out? Parts for 2002+ be readily available right?

thanks

Check out my post on exhaust manifold replacement (and the post it links to) HERE

There are tons of pics as well as part numbers, prices, where I bought the stuff etc.

either/or

'03 and '04 are the ones that you need. I have an '02 (granted mine is a very early '02) and mine was cracked.

please, reread my previous post.