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87 Pathfinder rough idle and stalls


August59
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I have a 87 Pathfinder w/ V6 and about a week ago it developed a water in small hose at thermostat. It was spraying a good stream of anti-freeze/water into fan and the fan was blowing all over my engine. Of course I didn't know this until it stalled out on me. I tried crank it back up and it spit and sputtered and backfired a couple of times, but cutoff again. Had to have it towed home and I let it sit for a couple of days

 

After a couple of days I checked ECM and it did not give me any codes, but the battery was dead (lights were working on ECM though). Repaired hose and had to jump it off because I had run it down trying to crank earlier. It started after awhile as it used to crank right up. After it started it was idling, but a little rough and if I hit the gas real quick it stalled. If I put on the gas real slow it is fine and if I put it in gear and attempt to drive it stalls out as well.

 

Any ideas are greatly appreciated?!??!

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It could that you IAC and or MAF sensor need to be cleaned, I am not a expert like alot of the guys on here. But Iam sure the experts will chime in, Just in case if Iam wrong

Edited by 918pathy
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My first thought is that you overheated it (it blew the coolant out through the hole, overheated, and warped something important). Since it's still running, though, it sounds more like it got coolant into a sensor plug. I'd open the plugs, clean them out, put some dielectric grease on the pins if you have it, stick 'em back together, and see if that helps. I suspect that the water/coolant is conducting a bit, giving the computer faulty data; so long as it's not out of the expected range, it won't throw a code.

 

You might also check your coolant temp sensor, seems like a lot of stalling issues are down to that. Then again, I'm not an expert either.

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Thanks guys - I had bought a cap and rotor and put them on yesterday. It starts better and now seems to be accelerating pretty good. It's idling a little low and probably was before this happened. It is idling about 600 rpm's in park, but about every 10 to 15 seconds it wants stumble a little bit and drops down to 400 rpm's for about 5 seconds, so it is pretty much a constant fluctuation between 600 rpm's down to 400 rpm's.

 

I've got a new set of plug's, air filter and gas filter I'm going to put on tomorrow. The Pathfinder burns about a quart of oil every 3,000 miles and the plugs have been in there for about 50,000 miles and 7 years.

 

I like the idea of cleaning some of the connections or plug-in's, which one's would benefit most from this and is there some I should just stay away from? I have a can of di-electric cleaning spray to clean them with, but don't have any di-electric "grease" to put back on them. Is the grease pretty available at auto parts stores?

 

This being a 1987 V6 and as I stated above burns a little oil, which I believe to be valve stem seals mainly as you can't see any blue smoke at tail pipe unless it idles for about 5 to 10 minutes and then pat the gas. There is no blue smoke during a cold crank, warm crank or during regular driving. The thing I don't like about the 87 is no overdrive and it turns around 3800 rpm's when your going 70 mph. I live in South Carolina, so winters are not very cold and what's the best oil weight to run in it? I have been runing 10w-30.

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D'oh, didn't even think of the cap/rotor. Good call, James. The low idle could be any number of things... I'd probably check the connectors for the TPS and MAF to start with, and maybe check the coolant temp sensor plug as well. If it's a little crusty, try the cleaning spray. I didn't know you could get a dielectric spray, but it sounds like it would work. If you want to get grease as well, an auto parts place should have the stuff. I think I got mine at Carquest.

 

I'd stick with 10w-30. That's what I run in mine, and it seems to work fine. It does tick a little in the winter, but then, it actually gets cold here. :)

 

Sorry about the late reply.

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If you haven't done it already I would replace every vacuum line you can see, even if the rubber looks good over time the ends where the hose slips over the plastic/metal nipples will start to crack, a couple of cracks in a few hoses say on the bottom that are not easily seen can add up and cause problems.

 

I would pick up what ever diameter hose that is used on the engine and replace one at a time with new, the hose is pretty cheap and as long as you do one at a time it is easy to do.

 

Have you cleaned the butterfly in the throttle body lately/at all? if not I would clean it as well, the throttle body butterfly when the throttle is closed is designed to let a small amount of air to get by, to allow the engine to idle, over time deposits will get on the edge of the butterfly and the gap that lets the air in will get smaller and will effect the idle.

 

I hear you about the high RPM's with no OD, the 87 hardbody I used to own (15 years from new), running 33's with the automatic and 4.62 gears would run around 4000K at 60 mph!! not cool getting 10-12 MPG, and no AC either !! I drove it for about 5 years down here in Florida it was to sy the least HOT !! !LOL

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