First off, let me preface this by saying that I'm not only a new Xterra owner (just bought an 03 XE camo colored last month), but I'm also new to working on cars. I'd like to start doing most of the maintenance on my car, and from what I've been reading, it really shouldn't be that hard. However I do have a few questions.

The maintenance schedule says that it's time to lube the propeller shaft. I read about 75 various posts regarding this, and the general concensus is that the shaft either has a zert thing, a rubber plug, or nothing. Well, mine has a bolt with a mushroom shaped head...kind of like a carriage bolt. Any clue how I'd lubricate that?

Secondly, I was down at the OBX driving up north of Corolla this weekend, and I crossed a few puddles that were probably 2/3 the tire deep. Now, I was only in them for about 1 second each (literally), but I wanted to check the wheel hubs to see if any water got in there. Is there a way to inspect them? Do I have to follow that online guide and take them all apart? Can I just put a glob of lube in the hole of the hub and let it work itself in there, or is it really necessary to take the whole thing apart?

Third, I wanted to check the diff., MT, LSD, and transfer oil, just to make sure everything is A-Okay. Looks like I just open the fill bolt to check the level, and then dribble out a little from the drain to see if there's water in there. However, this may seem dumb, but I don't know where these things are under the car. Anybody have any pictures, diagrams, etc that I can use to locate them?

Finally, I'm supposed to inspect the brakes, steering, and suspension. Other than the obvious (visiable cracks, deteriation, etc), what should I look for?

Thanks a lot. This message board's a big help. I plan to get into a little offroading, so maybe I'll see some of you around.

--Jeff

get the factory service manual. It will help you a lot for doing stuff yourself. Crawl under and you'll see the transfer case, tranny and differential drains. But since we know you'll ask the differential plus are a 13mm pipe plug that you won't find in any stores and have to order online. BUT many people are having sucess using a 1/2 breaker bar (not me:( ). And always do upper filler before removing the lowerer drain just incase you can't get the upper one off.

Sounds to me like a a hard rubber plug perhaps even painted black ... If it were a bolt, you'd know it. Mine has a bolt it's tiny - like 8mm hex head simple to remove. Get something pointy and poke the "bolt" does it give like plastic or rubber? If it does, you can probably pry it out with a flat screwdriver. Then get a grease gun with a rubber cone tip (not grease zerk tip) and pump a little grease in there..

Good luck

just thought of something else.. that mushroom head may be a rivet... Try looking at the other end of the shaft for the grease fitting or bolt...

sorry, should've thought of that first...

The infamous front propeller shaft lube point...







The 1/4" 28 thread straight zerk worked like a charm.

I recommend Mobil1 Synthetic grease once you get a fitting on there...works great.



Hope that helps!

Thanks for the responses.

TJ/Saturday_Morning: You were right. What I was looking at was a rivet. I have a nut like TJ showed in that picture. So that problem's solved.

How do I know how much grease to put in there? Will it squirt out somewhere else when it's full?

And any clue if there's a way to see if water's entered the wheel hubs short of disassembling the whole thing?

Thanks!

When you pump in the (red) mobil1 synthetic grease, it squirts out (Ugly black stuff) at the shaft ends after a while....and then, finally, red stuff.

The first time you do it, it takes a lot of grease...after that, just enough to squeeze some good stuff in enough to squeeze the weathered stuff out.

Where can I find one of those?? And what are the service intervals.. Im about to hit 50K

Not sure if Nissan is still doing this, but for a while you were able to pay $20 and view the PDF's of the service manuals online. They didn't mention that you also could also save the files locally.

I just completed some repairs over the weekend. I was able to get a CD of the service manual off of eBay... and at a very good price. I would also suggest a second manual, such as the Haynes. The factory manual is good, but generally written at the professional mechanic level. Good to have both at hand.