Curious New Owner

[Brew Sox 51]

Hello All,

I'm a new Xterra owner and have been driving it now for about 4 months and have noticed a few that are starting to irratate me.

The model type in question is an 02 Xterra SE/SC with no modifications that has 25,000+ miles.

1. The Sunroof is noisy. I thought at first that the cargo carrier that rest on the roof above the sunroof was the problem but after removing it the noise was still present. When the sunroof is closed I can pull down on the lever and the noise diminishes. It is almost as if there needs to be more tensions applied to the lever so that while the sunroof is in the closed position it will close tighter. There dosen't seem to be any adjustment in the lever, you get what you get. Any ideas??? I should note that the noise is irratating at highway speeds 55-80 MPH.

2. Vibration in steering wheel/front end. While driving at interstate speed 70-80 MPH I get a vibration. The car has never been in an accident and has new tires/alignment. Is this the nature of the truck?

3. Fuel noneconomy. I realize that I'm not going to ever get 30 MPG but I would at least like to get what the manufactuer stated 19 MPG highway. I'm only getting about 13-15 MPG on the interstate driving about 70-80 MPH. I also realize that I could drive slower to improve this but who wants to drive 60 MPH on the interstate? Is there anyway to improve fuel economy.

Any help with these issues is greatly appreciated.

[Schludwiller]

Can't help you with the sunroof as I don't have one.

Vibration? Bad tire, bad alignment, bad ball joint, bad shock? I know you have new tires and a new alignment, but I'm just throwing out ideas I can think of for the front end. Maybe you should get the tires/alignment checked again? A tire defect and/or bad alignment does happen to people.

Fuel Economy - Increase the tire pressure (although this would probably make your front end problem worse). Don't go above 3500 rpm's when driving (Ha! This kind of negates the SC doesn't it. ). Don't go over 70 as this is point when fuel economy really drops. Nobody gets 19 mpg, especially SC models I would think.

[pnwbeers]

The sunroof just needs to be adjusted. Open the sunroof and you should see a screw in the middle of the black plastic shroud. Remove the screw, pull the shroud down, and there are a couple of bolts. Loosen them up and if you slide them back it will tighten the handle. You'll need to fiddle with it a bit to get the adjustment right - all the way back was way too tight on mine. Here's a pic

[chubbybubba1]

It's Worth A Shot To Get The Tires Rebalanced.