Fuel delivery issue

[BIGFINDERMAN]

Whats up guys. My buddy just bought a 88 pathy. Has 260k on it but is in awsome shape. Guy he bought it from said he was driving down the road and it just lost power and went dead. He had previously done a full tune up, installed a new clutch, fuel pump, and a few other things. My buddy got it for $800 bucks. My buddy said it is getting fuel up to the throttle body, but not through. He is getting 12 volts on one injector and 8 on the other. Not sure which injector is getting what. I didnt ask him. I lost my repair manual to my 88, but does this voltage sound correct? Thanks for any advice.

[Slartibartfast]

First off, make sure the timing belt is okay, if that goes out it'll stop the engine in a hurry. (I'm assuming it's the V6.) Or, it might just have a bad ground somewhere (snapped wire at a plug).

 

There are factory service manuals (http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/pathfinder/) online but only back to 94 I think. Amazon's got the paper version.

[Tungsten]

Check the rear fuel sender for corrosion. They tend to corrode and short out. Then check/replace the fuel pump fuse.

[BIGFINDERMAN]

I thought about the timing belt, but if it broke, wouldnt you be able to tell by just turning the motor over? Also, he said it is getting sufficient gas up to the throttle body and has voltage from the coil. He tried pouring a little gas in the throttle body, but it still wouldnt try to start. Not really sure what is going on with it. I havnt been by to check it out personlly, but im going to go by there tomorrow and check a few things out. Thanks again for the replys guys

Edited August 7, 2011 by BIGFINDERMAN

[adamzan]

A good way to check the timing belt is to take of the distributor cap and see if the rotor turns when you turn the motor over.

[BIGFINDERMAN]

A good way to check the timing belt is to take of the distributor cap and see if the rotor turns when you turn the motor over.

 

So i finally got a chance to go check out my buddys pathfinder. I didnt have a fuel pressure gauge but it seemed to have sufficient pressure when i took the line off of the throttle body. I checked the coil, wires, plugs, dis. cap, and button. All were good. It is getting good spark and what looks to be good fuel flow. The timing belt is not broke. When you turn it over, it wont even attempt to start. I sprayed some starter fluid in the tb and still nothing. It did however seem to cough or backfire a few times. I havnt done a compression test yet either. Any thoughts?? Thanks in advance.

[Alkorahil]

Lost power and went dead

 

I am thinking:

Distributor, Mass Air Flow, Ignition Coil, Fuel Pump.

Seems you have partially ruled out fuel pump, based on your other descriptions I would zone in on the distributor being bad.

[sewebster]

So if you pull a plug and hold it near ground it sparks? because if so that basically means your distributor (and the crank angle sensor inside) and ignition coil are working right?

 

Kinda sounds like a timing problem to me from your description. You're sure you didn't lose some teeth off the belt like someone else posted a picture of recently?

[BIGFINDERMAN]

Yea it has a good spark when you ground a plug. I didnt take the cover off and actually look at the timing belt. Just took the dis. cap off and made sure the rotor was turning. Might need to visually check it out tho.

[sewebster]

I'm just guessing based on your description. I guess there could be some electrical problem to the injectors, like if the ECU died, that could cause this too, but that's pretty low down on the likelihood list. You need 3 things, gas, air, spark. I guess you could try opening the throttle a bit when starting (push gas pedal down a bit) but that also is not likely the problem.

[BIGFINDERMAN]

I checked voltage to the injectors and it was good. I also checked the diagnostics codes and got a code 21. Kinda seems like it might have jumped time or something but i would think that would have caused some noticeable damage.

[sewebster]

Well, code 21 is "ignition signal" so that sounds like it could be an issue. I'm wondering if this is a distributor problem of some sort. If you are getting spark, but at the wrong time, it could cause your symptoms. This would be a "timing problem" (ignition timing) that would not cause significant damage. You haven't removed your distributor have you? Maybe it just rotated? But usually that wouldn't change things enough to stop it from starting... maybe though I guess.

[Mauitrailguy]

I would pull the timing belt cover and get the timing to TDC and check all your markings. This would rule out timing. seems like we keep coming back to that. If you rule that out I would verify you ECU is functioning properly. then move on to bad grounds. This is just what I would do.

[89path]

I had an issue once with mine where it would run, but very poorly. Everything looked great, new fuel filter, all sensors were working and by chance one time i grabbed the fuel filter canister and it started running normal!!! Just I just let it hang out of the little clamp, it was an invisible kink in the line or something. Fuel pressure seemed just fine to me, but that must have restricted it just enough. Sounds stupid, but it may help.