stikky_p Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 Hey guys... Well i purchased a 1997 Nissan Pathfinder for the upcoming winter and have owned it for about 4 months. Recently I accidently left my window down and a bit of rain got in the vehicle. Ever since then i've had a strange issue. I'll go out to my vehicle and try to start it. Light and everything work with the radio and starter turns fine. No lack of starting power however it will not fire up. I left it for about 5 or 6 hours and came back.. Started up fine.. Then 3 days later it happened again. Leaving my stranded before work.. What could this problem be? Someone told me that it could be my Security/Alarm system. How would i fix this issue or check to see if it is the culprit? If not what other issue's are common? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick88ss Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 Hey guys... Well i purchased a 1997 Nissan Pathfinder for the upcoming winter and have owned it for about 4 months. Recently I accidently left my window down and a bit of rain got in the vehicle. Ever since then i've had a strange issue. I'll go out to my vehicle and try to start it. Light and everything work with the radio and starter turns fine. No lack of starting power however it will not fire up. I left it for about 5 or 6 hours and came back.. Started up fine.. Then 3 days later it happened again. Leaving my stranded before work.. What could this problem be? Someone told me that it could be my Security/Alarm system. How would i fix this issue or check to see if it is the culprit? If not what other issue's are common? I doubt it's alarm related. Sounds like a bad distributor. Is there any way you can swap it with a known good one? If not they cost about $250 for a new one with lifetime warranty at the parts store and about $180 on ebay but it takes longer if you have to do a warranty claim. Does it have fuel and spark when it's acting up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stikky_p Posted September 2, 2010 Author Share Posted September 2, 2010 Im not sure yet. Haven't dug that deep. When i go home tonight i'll check into the spark and fuel. Im going to try my other key first. Some people have said that the programmed keys might be causing the issue. I'll try my spare and see if it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esy Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 doubt it's the security feature. if it were, it wouldn't crank at all since it's typically a starter kill. possibly your ignition if you say rain got into the truck overnight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stikky_p Posted September 2, 2010 Author Share Posted September 2, 2010 Im not thinking its the ignition. The seat was damp a bit and water on the door cil but not soak. It would need to travel a long way to get to the ignition.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 It could be thefuel pump and related wiring. You can check to see if the fuel pump is getting power by checking for voltage at the fuel pump wiring connector (under the left rear passenger seat). If your carpet is damp, you may want to remove the driver's seat, door sill and kick panel so that you can pull up the carpet. Beneath the carpet are a bunch of wires. If you have corrosion or a short there, that could be it. Then again, if your fuel pump is working OK, it could be the ignition switch. You might be getting power to the ignition circuit at ON, but not at START. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stikky_p Posted September 7, 2010 Author Share Posted September 7, 2010 UPDATE: I tried the switching keys approach but that did not work either. It seems like it only happens in the morning when its 5-10 degrees or so. Doesnt happen all day or night until morning or after it has sat for an extended period. After the failed attempt to start it will start about 1/2 hour after the first try. I thought it may be a security issue but who knows. Any help would be great... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stikky_p Posted September 10, 2010 Author Share Posted September 10, 2010 Ok so it did it again this morning. I took another vehicle to work and left it at home. Havent managed to get back there. Why would the time of day have anything o do with this? It always happens after sitting for 12 hours or more and always in the morning.. Its hard to diagnose because when it does it i'm always on my way to work or busy so i cant spend time checking fuel pump and spark.. Whats a guy to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick88ss Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 Is your check engine light on? Did you check the ECU for any error codes? I would say it could be your coolant temp sensor. Test it and also look for a broken wire or bad connector going to the coolant sensor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhardison Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 (edited) I would say it could be your coolant temp sensor. Test it and also look for a broken wire or bad connector going to the coolant sensor. I had a 92 300ZX back in the day that acted like that and it turned out to be a bad temp sensor but I can't remember which one. Basically it was incorrectly reading the engine temp and outdoor temp as colder than it really was and it would full rich the injectors and flood out the plugs on a cold start, but only after it sat all night. After it sat about an hour and the plugs dried out it would start fine. I guess because the evaporation emission system is so tight you couldn't really smell any raw gas when this happened. And it wouldn't throw any codes because I guess to the computer the sensor was working. It drove the dealership crazy trying to fix it. Edited September 10, 2010 by dhardison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stikky_p Posted September 16, 2010 Author Share Posted September 16, 2010 Ok so i replaced the plugs.. They were black so i'm assuming its because it was running rich.. Dry fouling is what they call it i guess. Seems to run good and havent had the no start issue yet. I tested the plug wires resistance and got nothing under 6000-7000 so the readings seem to be ok. I know once a wire goes below reading 6000 its pooched.. Nothing was quite that low.. even the shorter wires.. No ecu codes come up and the computer has nothing stored. The thing that bothers me is my test in between.. I tested the voltage through the spark plug wire.. I got a snapon spark plug voltage tester that hooks up to the battery positive and negitive.. then another hooks up to the plug wire and reads out voltage of spark.. It was reading 4000 to maybe 6000 volts each wire... Thats on the low end of the tester so im wondering if this is normal? Someone told me that the volts should be 8000 low to 12000 high.. not sure whats correct.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick88ss Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 I still say it's the distributor or the coolant temp sensor. The coil,power transistor,and the cam position sensor are all built in to the distributor. The extra heat build up can cause any of those components to fail. If the coolant temp sensor gives the computer a wrong reading, it can cause it to run rich and foul the plugs. The coolant temp sensor is easier to check than the distributor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stikky_p Posted September 20, 2010 Author Share Posted September 20, 2010 Ok so it happened again this morning. I put a voltage tester on it while it was turning over and there was VERY LITTLE spark if any. It read "NO SIGNAL" for a bit then 4k cranking on some.. seems to be a very low voltage problem.. what to do next??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick88ss Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Ok so it happened again this morning. I put a voltage tester on it while it was turning over and there was VERY LITTLE spark if any. It read "NO SIGNAL" for a bit then 4k cranking on some.. seems to be a very low voltage problem.. what to do next??? DISTRIBUTOR! most likely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stikky_p Posted September 20, 2010 Author Share Posted September 20, 2010 A reman distributer is $550... cap and rotor is $65 total.. I'm gonna try the cap and rotor first then move to the distributer.. Hopefully maybe the cap is shorted or arcing.. If i'm on the wrong road please let me know.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick88ss Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 A reman distributer is $550... cap and rotor is $65 total.. I'm gonna try the cap and rotor first then move to the distributer.. Hopefully maybe the cap is shorted or arcing.. If i'm on the wrong road please let me know.. $550!? Where are you located? Try King Distributors on Ebay...$180 with lifetime warranty and it comes with a new cap and rotor. Also check out Advance Auto parts...lifetime warranty too but costs about $290 but they always have online coupons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stikky_p Posted September 20, 2010 Author Share Posted September 20, 2010 Im located in canada.. Medicine Hat Alberta to be exact.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick88ss Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Im located in canada.. Medicine Hat Alberta to be exact.. Go with King Distributors then. They have a Canada and USA address. You can also try a junk yard. I'm pretty sure all VG33 distributors are the same but do an ebay search for a 1997 Pathfinder distributor and it'll show what year and what models use the same distributor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sj081995 Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 Go with King Distributors then. They have a Canada and USA address. You can also try a junk yard. I'm pretty sure all VG33 distributors are the same but do an ebay search for a 1997 Pathfinder distributor and it'll show what year and what models use the same distributor. Does anyone have a "step by step" guide, pics, etc on HOW TO REPLACE DISTRIBUTOR on a 97 Pathfinder SE... I have replaced the distributor cap thinking it was just that, but we need the Actually distributor now & I want to make sure I install properly so the timing will be good... Any help would be appreciated ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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