Mr Kilmer,
How are you? I am a long time viewer and subscriber of your you tube videos. I know that you mentioned the 2002 Nissan Frontier truck is an exception in terms of reliability to their other cars since their merger.My dad just bought a new truck and has given me his old 2002 Nissan Frontier 4 door Long bed 3.3 L 3275 CC V6 VG33E automatic transmission. It has 104678 miles with not accidents. A mechanic has recommended that we (1) replace the timing belt as it nearing 105,000 miles, (2) Oil is seeping at rear main seal, (3) knock sensor causes “service engine soon” light to remain on, but admits this is not serious issue.
He says it will cost under $1000 dollars to fix. Do you recommend me to make these repairs at that price or can I fix it myself. I have a Haynes manual with not experience nor tools. Perhaps you know a mechanic near Atlanta personally who is an honest mechanic like yourself. In addition, are there any other problems that I should be aware of with this vehicle?
Bennie from Acworth , Georgia
The timing belt is definitely a professional-only job. And it will cost a significant amount of money. A lot of labor is involved. As for the rear main seal, try some AT-205 re-seal. If it's not seeping too bad, that could rejuvenate the seal and make it last longer. I don't personally know where the knock sensor(s) would be on that engine, so I couldn't tell you about that unfortunately.
If this be your first job, and you have only done oil changes, I would not recommend these be your first job. The knock sensors,maybe. But everything else, you require tools and experience for those. Especially timing, screw that up and your truck won't run until timing is properly set. Same goes for that main seal, it's a easy enough job but using just common hand tools might cause some issues especially when replacing it with a new one. Get it to a mechanic and it will we'll be worth it.
i have a 2000 frontier 3.3
getting to the knock sensor is a nightmare (buried under the intake mani)
fuel injectors on the drivers side are also buried
rear spark plug is a third problem (deeply buried at the back of engine)
distributor is an inherent weak point
they are sluggish
other than that they are supposed to be great vehicles
I do prefer the 3.5 or 4.0 over this motor (tho they are not easily swapped)
T
rear seal may would require an engine pull or T drop
Might be worth looking into a JDM at that stage (That maybe where im heading)
Also, you need to get tooled up
do the work you can then when something happens on the road u have a good idea what the problem is and may be able to fix it yourself
lastly get AAA or equivalent till u have a decent (positive) history withe the vehicle
The fee they charge for Premier is pittance compared to 1 tow (Premier offers 3x100 miles)
T