Nissan - Pathfinder :: 1998 - Dies Randomly While Driving
Aug 18, 2011
My 1998 Nissan Pathfinder dies randomly while driving. There is no consistency to when it dies. I will be driving down the road and then all of a sudden the car will not accelerate and it eventually dies. The other issue is it won't start from time to time. It sounds like it wants to go, but it won't. Eventually it will turn over. It has been to many mechanics. The crank shaft sensor has been replaced and the mass air flow sensor. Neither one of these were the problem. They now think it is the distributor possibly. There are no codes saved. It has been sitting at the shop now for 9 weeks.
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How to stop my Pathfinder from randomly spouting it's alarm? Happens about once a day, I think it only happens when the car is locked but not quite sure.
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So I'm driving and my headlights shut off! I flick the brights and the lights come back on instantly. 5 minutes later it happens again. So I'm driving around wondering when it's going to go out for good and flicking my surprise headlights. I should mention the brights are out and I haven't located a fuse for them. In any case it wouldnt be a fuse and probably not a short as the lights come on so dependably when I flick the switch. I'm thinking maybe a bad combo switch or maybe a bad relay.
1989 Nissan Pathfinder .....
Wiring or a switch. I looked in the shop manual and I couldn't find a relay. Maybe in finding the issue with the brights will relate. Also I'm not driving this car at night right now.
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I have a 1998 Pathfinder with around 160,000 miles on it. This week it has had some issues with stalling when I am idling. The first time it happened, I was at a stoplight and it cut out 3 times and I was able to start it back up and drive the rest of the way home (40 miles) with no problem. The next time it started stalling out I was at a stoplight and was able to put it in neutral and rev the engine and it stayed on. I have a 45 mile commute to and from work every day, and I don't want this to happen when I am on the highway going 65mph.
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(It has 220K miles) This started suddenly the day after a painless 450-mile trip -- It will run fine for a few minutes, then starts jumping like it's running out of gas (but it's not). Then the lurching stops and it runs fine. Repeat . . .etc. New fuel pump 2 years ago; yesterday mechanic changed spark plugs, distributor, crank position sensor . . . but still doing it.
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I have an auto transmission 98 nissan pathfinder that I bought brand new way back (in 1998 of course) that seems to have problems shifting into higher gears. When I'm going on a level hwy, I'll get going to 70mph and see the engine rev to 4000 rpm's. It'll stay there for a while (minutes to 10's of minutes). Then the engine will shift to a higher gear and the rpm goes to 2500. Then it shifts back so rpm is 4000. This happens back and forth unpredictably. When it's reving at 4000 rpms I tried letting my foot off the gas and the rpm's drop to less than 1000 like there's no load the transmission. Then I press the gas pedal again and the rpm jumps back to 4000 rpm's. I've had the transmission checked a few times and found nothing. I've changed the transmission fluid, had a major tune up, changed the timing belt, but it still happens. People keep telling me it must be happening on a slight grade but, no, it's on a flat road. There is no 'problem light' that appears either (like a check engine light). I've driven many other cars and they don't do this.
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All instruments on panel are going completely to the right. Sometimes they do not work at all. I was told the cluster under the dash could be bad.
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My Pathfinder has the license palate in the middle/center of the hatchback door, with one light on the left and one on the right. I cannot figure out how to change the bulbs and my manual is no dice; it shows the process for a different location of the plate on the door, maybe a different version of my year model.
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I'm trying to resolve a nagging brake problem on my 98 Pathfinder. In short, braking power is weaker than it should be, but I do not have sponginess in the brake pedal. I've bled the whole system a few times, and even changed the master cylinder - to no avail.
While performing a few tests lately, I noticed the following behavior: if I drive up a steep hill and start pumping the brake pedal with the left foot while keeping the right foot on the gas (to keep moving uphill), the pedal gets progressively harder to press and braking action diminishes accordingly. If feels a bit like when you switch the engine off with the car still moving (in neutral) and try to brake: as the vacuum in the booster gets expended, the pedal gets harder and braking action diminishes dramatically.
I don't think this is related to the act of going uphill; it's just that this is the only way the engine can develop enough vacuum for the symptom to occur.
This leads me to wonder if I have a vacuum leak somewhere (either in the line or in the booster itself) that only happens at higher vacuum pressures...
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1989 Nissan pathfinder. 6cylinder - VG30i - Manual trans
Engine was misfiring (running okay but putt, putt, putting) so I pulled be plugs to check for signs. Other than wear and wide gap the plugs looked okay, but I installed new plugs as they're cheap and I was already pulling them. I replaced them one at a time so didn't mix up the wiring. I went to restart the engine and now it turns over and starts but then immediately dies. If I really slam on the pedal I can get it to rev up a couple times, but it really wants to completely die right away. It'll start but won't run
- I took the battery lead (neg) off for a few days - maybe that reset something?
- I had a very empty gas tank - so low that I thought it might be out of fuel. I put two gallons in just to make sure. Because I can slam on the gas and get it to revving I'm not sure being out of gas is the issue.
- I removed the distributor cap to check for wear but reinstalled (picture attached).
- I sprayed some Mass airflow sensor cleaner into the throttle body to clean up, the throttle body valve blade was pretty clean.
- I'm doing this test without the air filter in. The old one was so dirty I removed it and didn't bother putting it back on. Going to buy a new one today.
- It cannot pass smog due to this misfire (obviously not detonating fuel so it's polluting)
- The engine was start up readily before I started tinkering. It would seem strange that adding new plugs
- I didn't gap the plugs.
Next steps :
- Look for any wires knocked loose or hoses disconnected.
- Pull the error codes (check engine light is on cuz, it's not running)
- Check Vacuum and diagram and hoses.
- Check ignition system wires.
- Check fuel pressure.
- Check Cylinder Compression.
Ultimately I'm trying to tune it up (and fix misfire) anyway, not just change the plugs, so doing more diagnosis is okay. It's also not my primary car. I haven't worked on cars in a while so I'm a little rusty and also needing to get necessary tools to complete the tasks. But it's fun I hope I can get this car running well again soon.
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My 2005 Nissan Pathfinder with approximately 150,000 miles has been losing power while driving. It's pretty scary. The problem first manifested one week ago when it stalled at a stoplight. It restarted after a few panicky moments of frantic key turning. My husband and his identical twin brother took a look under the hood when I got home and discovered the terminal on the battery was loose and had a screw in it to maintain a closer fit. They remedied that by replacing the screw with aluminum foil. Four days later, I'm driving away from a large big-box store, and it loses power again. I got it restarted and drove around back of the store to the tire center. They tested the battery, and declared it "bad".
The battery and the terminals were replaced. Hooray! I was safe. Or so I thought. The very next day, I drove out to the middle of nowhere to go fishing, and it lost power three times. I was an hour away from home and there was no cell phone service. I left the lake before dark and lost power once more on the way home. To recap, the first time it lost power I was stopped at a light, the second time (at the store) I was at a stop sign, the third, fourth, and fifth times I was driving but slowing down for cars in front of me and had to pull over to restart it, and the last time I was driving down hill and the power came back on before the bottom of the hill. A lot of lights come on in the dashboard when it loses power.
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What might be the problem with my 2001 Pathfinder 4WD. I notice steering wheel shaking/shimmy when driving but not all the time. The vehicle has 125K miles. Is it tie rods, struts, warped rotors, alignment? What it might be before going to a repair shop. Have had tires rotated and balanced.
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I have a 1999 Nissan Pathfinder. It's 4wd with a manual transmission. I was getting an intermittent problem with vibrations coming from the front passenger side wheel when driving on the highway. They recently got worse and I'd notice a slight burning smell coming from the wheel area. There would also occasionally be a metallic clicking/plonking noise coming from the wheel and a slight hissing sound. I took it into a mechanic (not my regular mechanic because he was gone for the week) and they said it has something to do with the transfer case. They said they took the front right tire off after putting it on the rack in neutral, and they couldn't get the to spin freely. They said it could be something with the drive train or transfer case, but they weren't sure without taking it apart. They said it could be something to do with the 4wd not disengaging, but again, they're not sure.
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1991 suburban randomly dies while driving..... I will only have headlights and interior lights.... no other power .....wait 5-10 minutes fires right up.
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My car (Nissan 1998) runs normally for miles. Then sometimes it just starts lurching while in motion when the gas is depressed and looses speed, as if not getting fuel. Previous times it dies after this. The last time I was on the highway going 70 and I pulled over before it lost power and died completely. Just had new brakes installed, new distributor, all new belts, and an oil leak fixed by a mechanic.
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My 2000 Volvo S70 just started stalling while driving: it completely dies while in motion. This has happened 4 times in the past week, both times (oddly) in the morning on my way home from the gym. Both times, it's happened we have had very damp weather, and it's the second start-up of the morning. It has happened at slow speeds, and it feels as though it is out of gas, but it is not.
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My 1989 Honda Civic engine randomly dies usually while driving. When it dies I hear a relay click sound coming from the area of the glove box. The tachometer and speedometer go immidiately to 0. The dashboard indicator lights all go out. The turn signals windshield wipers and electric windows all quit working, but the emergency flashers, radio, and comfort system blower continue to work. I think the transmission goes immediately into neutral too because deceleration is much slower than it would be if the engine were running and I take my foot off the accelerator. So far I have always been able to restart the engine and continue driving, though it often takes many tries before it will successfully restart and keep running.
In an unsuccessful restart the engine will fire and start to rev up but die again as soon as I release the key from the Start position. Occasionally the engine will spontaneously restart while we are coasting to a stop. We took it on a long trip this summer and it would almost always work fine until we stopped for gas, food or restroom break. After the break it would die one to three times in the first 5 miles and then would work fine until the next break. My mechanic says the computer is not storing any failure codes and he is having a hard time troubleshooting it because the problem only randomly occurs. I'm wondering if the problem might be a flaky electrical connector somewhere.
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My 02 F150 4.6 4x2 shuts off while driving - usually when I am coasting, but also at varied speeds, even highway speeds. The motor dies, the gauges all go to 0, and the odometer shows ------ I have to shift to N and coast...if I try to re-start it just turns over and over...gauges still all at 0.
I have determined that if I reach behind the fuse panel and wiggle the wiring harness, my gauges will come back and I will be able to re-start it.
I noticed yesterday, that after it did this and I got it re-started, the red 'Theft' light was blinking rapidly. A clue, perhaps?
I have tightened the 10mm bolt that holds the two wire bundles into the back of the cabin fuse box (by driver's door).
Where to start? I have crawled under the dash, looking for loose, chaffed or otherwise odd looking wire, but so far no good.
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I have just inherited my recently deceased father's 1992 Ranger with the 2.3 liter engine. He was a Ford Mechanic but got to ill to worry about fixing the Ranger. So, let me begin, the engine dies randomly, (at idle or in gear driving doesn't matter what gear or speed), turning key to off and then to on will allow vehicle to restart every time. No "Check Engine" light has ever lit, I do have an "Antilock" light that comes and goes. The engine codes I keep getting are: 10, 218 and 222.
Code 10 is a computer check code,
Code 218 is "Loss of Ignition Diagnostic Monitor (IDM) signal/left side, and
Code 222 is "Distributorless Ignition System - Loss of right side ignition diagnostic monitor (IDM) signal.
These codes were from my Innova reader. I have read where other similar problems were fixed with a new Crankshaft Position Sensor, replaced mine, no change. Another symptom I just noticed is my temp gauge stays near the cool end when it should be higher.
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While driving my car on the highway the engine died on me. I made several attempts to start the car again with no success. The mechanic has yet to find what the problem is. He has checked the timing belt, fuel pump, and everything else.
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I had my minivan stop running while i was on the freeway. My electrical seemed a bit off, the speed decreased and it slowly died. I tested the battery and it was fine, tested the alternator and it failed. I changed the alternator and still wouldn't start. I changed the battery as well and it worked for about 2 days and then it did the same thing. Radio started to flicker, all the lights turned on and the car decreased until it didn't run anymore?What could this be? Bad gearing? A faulty brand new alternator?
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