Nissan Frontier 4.0 V6?

Sp8

Ten Pointer
View attachment 45485Bought my 2016 lifted, has the equivalent to 33" x 11.50" tires on it. It is a crew cab with short wheel base. Bought it to be a hunting truck one day. It is my every other few weeks vehicle now. Gives my 2008 Tundra a break. Crazy thing is I get better every day driving mileage with the 5.7 in the double cab Tundra. Well, they are both around 15 mpg. I pull my 1756 Express, flat bottom and get 15 with the Tundra and 13 with the Frontier. I get 19 mpg with the Frontier on long trips if keep it under 2000 rpm which is about 63 mph. Same with the boat behind it. Tundra still gets 15 mpg with the boat attached. I got mine at a good deal, can buy lots of fuel for what I saved. From 2005-2010 radiator issues can cause trans fluid to mix with coolant. Only certain radiators plenty of info on the web if you need to know which ones. Other than that the trucks are solid. Other than fuel mileage I like mine, had it for 2 years now. Have a bumper to bumper warranty 100000 miles or Nov. 2022. I have put 20,000 miles on it to end up with nearly 60,000, at this time. I think it is one of the better trucks for the money and is why I bought mine.
Same here. I have 07 tundra 4x4 with iforce v8. I get 16.8 mpg just back and forth to work. Was getting almost 20 when we went to the beach the other week.

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Tarheeler

Twelve Pointer
Owned a 2000 4x4 and mileage was around 14 average/ still have it too been a pretty good pickup

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minuteman

Spike
I've had two, both 4.0 and 4x4s. Pretty basic trucks, low tech but dependable. Had problems with auto AC control operating erratic and dealer never got it fixed. I would buy another one. Both got awful mileage.
 

EMB

Ten Pointer
I purchased one of the first change over models in 2005, a crew cab LE 2 wheel drive, big 6 cylinder. I currently have 68,000 on it. It gets driven daily now but very low mileage to store and dog park. It was always my hunting and Lowes vehicle. As other noted the radiator was an issue, but they warrantied mine with the upgraded version and I have had no issues since. I did have the tail gate hinge brackets break on me, but again replaced by warranty coverage even though 2 months out of warranty. I recently replaced a front wheel hub/bearing set up, but other than that, the truck runs well. Has lots of HP and torque, all windows work well, A/C is cold. Slight high pitched squeal from AC compressor but been that way for 10 years and doesn't bother me. (common issue with these from what I have read.) It has hauled lots of deer, camping gear and yard material. Good vehicle in my opinion. Bought new for $21K so I have gotten my money out of it and still going strong. Some fading on paint from sitting in drive, but it's a truck and paid for!
 

josh

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Well I drove one and I like the truck but think the dealer is a bit overpriced and doesn’t want to deal , I walked away but I’m looking at two other frontiers ,maybe they’ll deal if not we just want to wait a few months to get a couple things paid off and just buy new for a better deal. (They still have new 2019’s on the lot before the drivetrain change )
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Thought I would bring this back up. Due to several things I decided to buy another one. Last month they were offering 0% financing on them and they said they sold like hotcakes. You cant hardly find one. Now they won't budge much at all on one. I have been looking for a few weeks and ran across a '19 that had 2K miles on it and I beat and banged on them for a while. Still not where I really wanted to be on it but it followed me home this evening. Sadly a new Murano followed my wife also. LMAO
 

stiab

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Thought I would bring this back up...
I had planned to bring it back up too, to discuss why some of you guys are not getting as good gas mileage as I am. I have a couple of ideas on that, but no hard facts of course...

Here is a dash board pic I took on June 24th at the end of a 369 mile highway trip, maybe 80% of it on interstates. In the bed I had two small outboard motors, a full gas can, and all the remaining space was completely filled with wood. Up front I had my dog, myself, a full cooler, and luggage, so the truck was pretty well loaded. As you can see I got 23.1 mpg for that one way trip. I typically only burn regular gas, but after about 2 hours I had a choice of regular at $1.69 or plus at $1.99, and I opted (for the first time ever) to get plus since that was less than I paid for regular in NC. I got a half tank of plus, and that probably contributed significantly to the gas mileage on the remainder of this trip.

mileage.png

On an standard basis, I suspect I get better mileage than some others because I try to burn only Top Tier gasoline, since a certified mechanic recommended that to me a few years ago specifically for this 4.0 engine. That pretty much eliminates Sheetz, Speedway, etc. Independent testing by the AAA has proved it does make a significant difference. And typically it is no more expensive than the high convenience stations that offer meals, specialty coffee, etc. For example, a Union 76 in my area is always cheaper than a Sheetz a few miles further down the road. Probably about 90% of my gas purchases are Top Tier, and it is not at all hard to find.

The other factors that may help my mileage are not having the truck raised (either factory or aftermarket), and keeping a bed cover on it. The bed cover is a tri-fold, which is almost always down. I know not all truck usage has that as an option, but mine typically does and I believe it really helps.

It does not take much disruption of normal air flow to lower my mileage. It drops noticeably with a canoe on top, or with 12 surf rods up there that I carry to the beach several times a year. That's why I believe the bed cover helps the mileage so much. I know a cover can't be used by everybody all the time. These are just some ideas, I may be wrong.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Fan clutch is one of the worst culprits on those engines, if you hear it roaring it is shot, expect at least 15-20% decrease in mileage on them if it is locked up. Also use NKG iridium plugs or mileage will suffer also. All this I learned the hard way. And as hateful as they are to get to you don't want a do over.

And one other thing in closing, don't trust those lyometers on the dash, check them the old fashioned way, by simple math. You will usually find they are off considerably to the vehicles side. In reality they aren't getting what they say they are.
 

stiab

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
And one other thing in closing, don't trust those lyometers on the dash, check them the old fashioned way, by simple math. You will usually find they are off considerably to the vehicles side. In reality they aren't getting what they say they are.
Not mine, have verified it multiple times, always dead on. My truck loaded does get 22 -23 mpg on a road trip.
 

stiab

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Never checked mine on my Nissan, mine on my Dodge is off at least 15%.
I keep vehicles a along time, and so have only had two with that feature, the 2011 Frontier and a 2012 Impala. I travel a lot for family and recreation, and keep up with my mileage pretty closely. Guess I'm lucky that both of them have proven to be accurate. For some reason I don't fully understand, I baby that Frontier when driving it, doing everything easy. But will floor the Impala with no hesitation.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
My fnl is looking hard at an 06
It seems to be a nice truck. Any complaints here?


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If it is an automatic I would make sure the radiator has been changed or the transmission cooler excluded if not do a coolant sample analysis to make sure there isn't trans oil already intermingling in the coolant, that is a $5500 fix.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Got a little education on Nissans yesterday. Hooked up the trailer tow package. Only had turn signals and brake lights. After about an hour of sweating and cursing I found out that they require a pigtail and three relays that is hidden over in the passenger side kick panel and you will not have electric brakes, nor running lights without them being plugged in.

Not hard at all hard to do but the days of just grabbing a meter or a test light and thinking you will simply trace out wiring on these new ones are long gone.
 

bigten

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Got a little education on Nissans yesterday. Hooked up the trailer tow package. Only had turn signals and brake lights. After about an hour of sweating and cursing I found out that they require a pigtail and three relays that is hidden over in the passenger side kick panel and you will not have electric brakes, nor running lights without them being plugged in.

Not hard at all hard to do but the days of just grabbing a meter or a test light and thinking you will simply trace out wiring on these new ones are long gone.

Tell me about it!!! I'm pretty good at electrical, was ASE certified earlier in my career. Couple months ago I lost turn signals and brake lights to my trailer plug, worked fine on truck. GM has cab lighting fuses plus trailer lighting fuses, with trailer fuses under hood. Everything seemed correct except no power to trailer fuses. I came to the conclusion the BCM was faulty and hated to do it, but went to the dealer as the new controller would have to be programmed anyway. Truck repaired next day. The culprit? Under hood fuse panel!!
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Tell me about it!!! I'm pretty good at electrical, was ASE certified earlier in my career. Couple months ago I lost turn signals and brake lights to my trailer plug, worked fine on truck. GM has cab lighting fuses plus trailer lighting fuses, with trailer fuses under hood. Everything seemed correct except no power to trailer fuses. I came to the conclusion the BCM was faulty and hated to do it, but went to the dealer as the new controller would have to be programmed anyway. Truck repaired next day. The culprit? Under hood fuse panel!!
Yeah, like you I pride myself and being pretty good on DC electrical stuff. I had already got an education on Nissan having two fuse panels, one under the glove compartment cover and one under the hood. The days of that single fuse panel right above your left foot or knee are long gone sadly.

I'll give you another example of Nissan's wizardry. I recently fond a guy that only works on them, he appears to really know his stuff. He was telling me that he switch a transmission (auto) up one year on a frontier. It worked perfectly, shifted like a dream drove out fine on initial road test. Went to pull it out of the shop after that drive and the truck would only idle and wouldn't move. Come to find out the computer for the trans is in the pan and that is a fail safe. When it starts reading from a different ECM and ABS module it shuts down. You have to flash the trans computer and clear it before it will take signals from the original ECM and other modules. They don't make them for everyday people to work on.
 

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
My dad has a 05 with about 40k miles on it....lol.
I will say it has alot more power than my 02 Tacoma.

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nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
My dad has a 05 with about 40k miles on it....lol.
I will say it has alot more power than my 02 Tacoma.

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Aaaaaaaaaaaaand most of them have much better frame integrity than most tacos during that time period.
 

stiab

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Finally found a deal on one, took a while.
I posted in this thread a year or so ago, will update it now. I have spent some money on my 2011 recently, for brakes, tune up, and replace bad crankshaft sensor. But in the first 6.5 years my costs were limited to oil changes, tire rotations, battery, and front end alignment. Pretty amazing I believe.
 

josh

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Only had it a few days so far but have been happy with it, it’s a 2013 sv 4x4 , new tires and clean as a whistle, trade in from an older gentleman that kept it in his garage.
 
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