New (to me) 1998 Nissan Frontier

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May 7, 2004
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Location
Nokesville, VA
I inherited my dad's 1998 Nissan Frontier. (It only took me about 2 hours at the DMV to transfer the title and ownership!)

It has about 89,000 miles on it. It's 2WD, not 4WD. It has the 2.4L 4-cylinder engine, and a 5-speed manual transmission.

So far I've replaced the shocks, both front calipers, pads, and brake hoses (front brakes were dragging for some reason), the coolant, did an oil change (Kirkland synthetic 5W30 and a Purolator Boss filter), put new tires on it (the tires had plenty of tread, but were from 2007!). I want to replace the fuel filter but the bracket is badly rusted (and no longer available from Nissan), so I'm waiting on a t-bolt clamp with mounting feet, since I'm sure the fuel filter bracket will be destroyed by any attempt to remove it.

Also plan to change the sparkplugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor. The sparkplug wires in it say SUMITOMO on them which makes me wonder if they are the original wires...

I aim to keep it. It's kinda handy having a pickup truck around, even if I only drive it once in a while.

Are there any known issues with this truck?
 
Timing chain and guides were problematic on the 2.4L, a start up rattle is the giveaway. I can't remember if there were issues with frame/box rot on those too, it's been awhile since I've seen one around here.
 
No rattle at startup. I do know that OHC timing chains in general are a bit more sensitive to lax oil change maintenance, and I do believe my dad always used Mobil 1 in it. There's some surface rust on the bottom but nothing major.
 
What a great truck. IMO Nissan always excelled in the small truck segment back then, though they somehow missed the Tacoma craze. The few times I’ve worked on or with them, they seem like their designers were pulled from commercial segments rather than passenger car segments. And I say this lovingly, for instance, with front brake hardware, dna of just big, chunky metal. They aren’t meant to go fast or perform, they seem meant to work.

it got weird when truck designers and car designers crossed paths on the pathfinder of that era. Under hood cable management, under dash ease of access, and maintenance packaging kinda got all left behind. was it built like a car? Was it built like a truck? Both.

but the frontiers back then, super-utilitarian to my eye. Nice to keep that one around. that 2.4 can run forever. Nissan designers sort of lost their way a bit in reading what the population wanted as we got into the 2000s.
 
Nice truck :)

Consider rustproofing so the rust doesn't get worse.

The original spark plugs seem to be NGK V-Power, so if you don't want to spend too much, and the job isn't too difficult, simply upgrade to the G-Power. Pair them with NGK wires that come in a pretty blue color.

For the fuel filter, get the Bosch. Could you get a bracket from the junkyard? :unsure:
 
For the fuel filter, get the Bosch. Could you get a bracket from the junkyard? :unsure:

I got a Wix filter a while ago, the filter says it's made in Japan so it maybe the Nissan OE filter.

For the bracket I ordered one of these off of Ebay. The OE bracket just has a single threaded stud coming out of the bottom to secure it to a bracket bolted to the frame rail. I can't find a picture of it anywhere.

1644809329374.jpg
 
I got a Wix filter a while ago, the filter says it's made in Japan so it maybe the Nissan OE filter.

For the bracket I ordered one of these off of Ebay. The OE bracket just has a single threaded stud coming out of the bottom to secure it to a bracket bolted to the frame rail. I can't find a picture of it anywhere.

View attachment 88874

Glad to hear the Wix is made in Japan now :)

I used to have a Nissan, though not a Frontier, that took the same size filter. The Bosch was made in Japan, the Hengst in Germany, and Mahle from Mexico (though I found another Mahle part number made in Germany to fit). Bosch ended up costing the least and being the most easily available. The Wix was Chinese at the time

My 4th gen Maxima was rusty too, very rusty, but not at the fuel filter bracket :eek:
 
I was mistaken, the filter I got for the Frontier that's made in Japan is a Carquest filter. I have a Wix filter for another vehicle I was getting it confused with.
 
I had a 1991 and 1997 Nissan. VERY reliable. Rust is their worst enemy.

Sold the 1991 at about 265,000 miles to a guy at work, still running great. He drove it a couple more years, until the frame buckled due to rust. Still have the 1997, but quit driving it last year, the brake lines rusted out and the body has cancer badly. Need to call the scrap truck this spring to haul it off.
 
Agree with the rust comments. In my opinion, that 1st gen Frontier was not as good as the Hardbody trucks they replaced. Finding running examples is a little hard today.
 
I bought a new 98 Frontier when they first came out. Sales weren't that great and I got a 4wd SE for a great price. Agree with all the positive comments. Great truck. Rust was the only issue, and if I knew about FluidFilm then, I would have had it applied every year(live in New England).
 
lady-worker at my health food store has a similar pickup but a TACO, until it gets snowey she drives it everywhere, a 2WD manual in good shape + better economy than her newer 4-runner, says shes the family hauler!! i have a 2011 fronty + belong to that forum, good info there + section for older models like yours!!
 
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