WarthogWD21

check the distributor, there are two wires that go to it, if one is unplugged it will make the Crank Angle Sensor/Camshaft Position Sensor go off and throw off your engine.

How annoying. But as far as contaminents go, this pathfinder is full of sand, clay, rock, dust, and everything you can think of. I don't know why it still runs. Or how for that matter

Yes it did, this monster runs after sitting for 3 months. Yhe torsion bar on the passenger side is shot , belts sounds terrible, white smoke is coming from the motor/carb and when idling it goes around 550-900 rpm. So I have my hands full for awhile. I thought my Land Rover had problems Thank you very much. When I first had this issue I tried bringing it here and my ability to describe the problem was terrible so I couldn't resolve it. Thanks again

Welp, I didn't put on paintlines so that idea goes out the window. I need this thing to run, so what ever needs to happen.

Hey everyone, if you remember I was going to get rid of my Pathfinder because of lack of interest and no willingness to fix the problem but I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it and it has been sitting under my carport for a few months. Anyhow, I found some inpiration and I want to get the little guy running again. Here is the summary, the distributor was pulled and now the engine is out of wack and I can't get it back in the right position. I believe the cam shaft position sensor is shot but I would like to get the car running before I pay $200 for a new sensor (price is from O reily Auto parts, if you know a cheaper place that I can buy in person feel free to tell me). So my question is how do I align my motor? I know about the little marks on the distributor to drop it in correctly, but it wont slide it when lined up, so I'm assuming the motor isn't in the correct position. Some notes : I removed the A/C system and in the photos the alternator isn't attached along with the bracket that holds it for better access. Also the air intake is off, again for better access.

Well. Somewhere between the rusted out frame and body along with failing drivetrain (tranny and motor) I lost hope. I still have in sitting under my car port so I guess we'll see what happens. Maybe I'll hand it over to someone who wants to tinker with it.

Well everyone, unfortunately this weekend myself and a mechanic were doing some work on the pathfinder, trying to get it running again but with no luck. There are too many issues to mention and sadly, it looks like the end of the road for this 88 pathfinder. It has over 300k miles on it and if the odometer worked for @!*% I could give a more accurate number. This thing took a beating and finally quit. Thank you to everyone who tried to help me get it running.

please excuse the crappy pictures, that is just a small cylinder like object. I don't know what it is. But it isn't a bolt.

I assure you there are no more bolts unless the sensor comes off from the bottom

This is what I'm looking at. I removed the 2 screws over the brass cap but can remove the rotor to remove the cap to get to the sensor.

It looks like I'm way late to drop in on this conversation but I have done a 3" suspension lift on my 1988 pathfinder. Personally I don't like body lifts, besides I have an automatic transmission so it makes it a bit more complicated and I don't want to deal with that. Anyhow, I bought a kit from 4x4 parts that included longer coil springs and new upper "A" arms for $300. After doing the swap I had an alignment done on the front since the new "A" arms screwed it up and I worked with one of the mechanics at Firestone to use my torsion bars to there max without ruining the alignment. This gave it a really nice 3" lift but it was extremely limited. No articulation and things weren't working properly. So I ended up removing the sway bars, adding longer shocks and swapping out the stock tires for some 31's (cost me about $1000 for all of that) . This gave me amazing articulation and off road handling. But terrible on road performance, but that's ok for me. This isn't my daily driver. It didn't take long (maybe 2 trips out to Anza Borrego)for the CV boots to tear or slip off the half-shaft from the flexing. I replaced the half shafts for the hell of it, and it happened again. O well. So in my opinion the only sound way to go is a solid axle swap for the front. The rear however performs without any issues. Those are all the parts I replaced. The only thing I ever noticed being an issue is that the parking brake cable stops the rear axle from flexing at some point which is a big problem but only when flexed 18"+ from normal sitting position. Overall this lift has gotten me about anywhere! Only thing I'm missing is some lockers and manual hubs! I hope this helps anyone else who reads this!

How do I pull off the rotor head in the distributor? Give it a pull? 'Cause I don't see any screws or anything. Thanks again.

Ok thank you. That's a relief. I'm going to go ahead and have the sensor replaced this weekend and see what happens.

Does anyone know where the cam shaft position sensor is? Someone told me near the bell housing but I have no Idea.

Is there anyway to test it? would there be a visible way to tell if its shot? I have a multimeter ..

Well when trying to remove the valve cover i did open the distributor before realizing that the cap didn't help me at all. maybe i damaged it when i opened the distributor? I still dont know why the check engine light came on before it died.

Havent been able to swap out the sensor yet. I don't know if it is the crank angle sensor or the cam shaft position sensor. I still dont know.

Alright I think that the check engine light was originally the cam position sensor. I'm going to replace that sensor and see what happens. I will also try to re align the distributor again tomorrow morning after I get the new sensor in. If I'm correct if the sensor is bad it would cause the engine to fire incorrectly? Please say otherwise if I'm wrong. The symptoms also match. I'm in north county off the 78

It tries to turn over but it either pops or sends smoke out the carb. I haven't powered through it to get it to run. Nervous it'll blow or something will go horribly wrong. But it does turn over.

Alright I got everything lined up and put back together. When I try to turn it on it sounds pretty violent and wont run at this point. CPU is still giving me same codes (11) (13)

Ok I got the #1 pistol all the way up so I'm assuming this is TDC. Also found the dot (mine wasn't painted but there is a small dent) and lined it up with the small arrow on the distributor. When I try to drop it back in place it will no go in.

And sorry for all the questions! I thank you so much for all the help! It means a lot!

Clockwise while looking at it front the front of the car or from the drivers seat.

Which direction to I turn the pulley? When I look down spark plug 1's hole I dont see anything, even with a led light, so I'm assuming its all the way down.

I'm frustrating beyond belief I know but where is the crank pulley bolt? Is that the pulley that drives all of the belts?