bf781 Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Hello! I recently purchased a 1995 Nissan Pathfinder XE 4WD with 163k miles. Prepurchase inspection revealed it to be in good shape, no fault codes, no leaks or problems other than a small leak around oil sender sensor and a cracked front left CV joint boot. In general, vehicle is running very well. However, I notice a slight, regular hesitation when accelerating, particularly on hills. It is very consistent and seems to happen around 2500 rpm (+/- a few hundred). Every 1.5-2 seconds, the engine sound drops slightly in frequency and it feels as if the throttle drops off for a fraction of a second. I don't see the tach noticeably drop down, but it feels like the engine is working, then drops a bit or encounters some resistance, working strong again, then hesitates for a bit, then works strong again, etc. It's pretty subtle but I can hear it slightly and also feel the resistance for a fraction of a second. A fair number of forum posts mention rough idle or throttle and recommend various options: cleaning the MAF sensor, throttle body, fuel filter, air filter, intake manifold, idle air control valves, etc. However, few of those posts mention the power dropping off slightly in a very regular way with a frequency of every 1-2 seconds. Might this indicate some mistiming or misfiring with the coil/plugs/wires? It's pretty minor right now, but I just want to correct in case it becomes a bigger problem later. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated -- thank you & Happy Holidays! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Manual or auto? If auto, when was the fluid last changed? This sounds more like a transmission thing than an engine thing to me. Other than that, plugs/wires/MAF clean are probably about due anyway. And welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle94 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 My moms montereo would jerk pretty bad going up hills. like it was losing power. turned out one of the coil wires was arching BAD. and another is still a little bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Sounds like it's related to one cylinder if it's that rhythmic, as in when that cylinder is supposed to fire it's not doing so fully. Injector, spark plug, wire, cap point, compression.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtroadpathy1987 Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 did you ever find the source? do you hear a misfire or smell gas in your oil by chance? hope it all went smooth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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