Help!

[ebag17]

So far i loved my pathfinder without any serious problems so far but just recently it's started to act up. I mean i'm at 230,000 miles so i guess i've just kinda been waiting for something to go wrong. But just withen this week i've noticed a huge lack of power. Were talking pedal to the floor to just make it up hills around the neighborhood. It sounds like a cylinder isn't firing ( sounds kinda like a lawn mower). I pulled 2 of the plugs and they were covered in black. The timing seems correct but i guess i'll check it again with my dad. It's also way worse in cold weather and i'm averaging about 6 miles per gallon.... no bueno.... So what i'm having trouble diagnosing is what's causing all these things or whether or not it's a mixture of problems that have just ll decided to go bad at once.

 

-Lack of power

-Black residue on spark plugs

-Poor gas millage

-Worst in cold weather

 

Sorry i'm typing this on my phone if you have any questions i can answer them. I was just looking for some advice or maybe if anyone has had a similar situation. Thanks in advance.

[SunnyTK]

i would say change plugs and wires if you havent already

[packie88]

id say start to do a basic tune up, spark plugs, wires, dizzy, rotor, fuel filter, through some fuel injector cleaner in there, change fluids, just basic things that you can do to see if it helps. if that doesnt help then id go onto check timing and all that otehr jazz.

[ebag17]

Well i've already done that about 2,000 miles ago and when i pulled those plugs they were pink which is a sign of a good spark? So this has all happened recently i guess i could go ahead and try changing them again. I think it has to do with the mixture. My temp gauge recently stopped working so could my car just be thinking that it's really really cold all the time and causing my poor gas millage. But then again i don't have any problems with over heating... I hate not knowing what's wrong!!!

[headpeace]

check your air intake boot, could be split at the engine intake. Use a flashlight and check at the bottom of the boot where it connects at the engine

[Precise1]

It could be coolant temp sensor for the ecu, but that is usually accompanied by backfiring or engine bogging. I'd check your O2 sensor first.

 

http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=24592

 

Have you run the error codes in the ECU yet?

 

B

[MY1PATH]

if your tems sensor things its cold it will continue to foul plugs with a rich mixture, also if you gap your plugs too small they will not spark hot enough to keep clean. (gap= .032")

[nismothunder]

What kind of black coating,is it oily looking or just like it has a lot of carbon on it.It could be from rings(if oily) or a piece of carbon that has come loose out of the head...try bumping some seafoam in the gas and see if it gets better,could also be caused by a really low grade gas(that has a lot of water in it)Do you notice anything wrong,like a bunch of water coming out of the tail pipe(head gasket,a little water is ok,just condisation)

[ebag17]

Thanks for the suggestions. I won't be able to work on it until Monday. There is a what seems to be a split or what is about to be a split in the intake boot. there is a little bit of back firing but right now it's just running straight pipes. On the plugs it's certainly not oily but just carbon residue. I've had a problem with bad gas before in another car and the power loss was random rather that all the time. I also try to always fill up with shell gas( which i've never heard of a problem with) and it's been awhile since i've used anything else. I'm leaning towards thinking it has to do with the temp sensor. I also went out and found Haynes mannual and it suggested the ignition coil. I friend said i could test this by un-plugging it and fastning it to where it would arc to the engine bloc when you crank the engine? He said a good ignition coil should be able to arc 1-2 inches with a blue spark to as where a bad one will have a yellow park? Has anyone done this?

 

Oh! On the topic of gas. About a week ago i was trying to figure out just how many miles i can go on a tank because my gauge is way off. So i ran it empty and just had 5 gal. with me. I heard some people to say to fill up even with just a 1/4 tank left to keep from sucking up residues that may settle in the gas tank. Could it of sucked something up by running it empty? Could this effect the spark plugs and the gas millage? Thanks for all your help.

[adamzan]

Well first off. Running straight pipes is not what you want to do on one of these engines. It's not a barbaric 50's chevy, it needs back pressure to run right.

Edited December 25, 2009 by adamzan

[ebag17]

It's just a temporary thing as in no real driving. I got a list of things i have to fix Monday.