rbaum94 Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Just started my day like normal, drove it for a couple hours in traffic, ran some errends, no overheating or anything like that, and then on my way home out of nowhere I come to a stop sign and the engine startes surging from the 1rpm tick mark to about dead (0) and then back up until it eventually just died. I pulled over and parked it waited a good 10 minutes for it to cool and checked the oil, it was about halfway from the full reading so I poured in the rest of my quart that I had left and started it. Still surged but I was in the middle of freaking no where and am currently unemployed right now so theres no way I could have it towed so I started her up in neutral and easily gave it some gas and drove the rest of the way home Eventually it stopped surging but it is very hard to get up and go like it lost power or something somewhere but once it gets up to 2-3rd gear it drives fine. 220k miles Any help guys? Would really suck if my pathy is dying now... Got a job interview tomorrow morning.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stabworthy Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 i had a few similar things a few years back , case 1:highway speed , hit uneven pavement , truck lost power. pull to side , surged for a bit then stall , wouldnt start = distributor cap popped loose case 2: in BFE , pull in for gas , when to take off, make it 10 yards , rpm drop and jump to 2000 a few times,died, started but wanted to die have to give to run = bad wire at one of the two connector battery ( the bottom one below the headlight power) probably no help, but proof small things make big panic moments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Check the plug for your coolant temp sensor. I had a stalling when warm issue that (near as I can tell) came down to corrosion in that plug. Clean it out and use some dielectric grease (if you can) when you put it back together so it won't corrode again. Wouldn't hurt to check your MAF and TPS plugs as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbaum94 Posted May 30, 2014 Author Share Posted May 30, 2014 Thanks for the info guys, I'm gonna check the connections to the batt and the coolant temp sensor, but I seem to have fixed my problem. I asked for advice from the previous owner (my dad) and he said it could be that the maf sensor was dirty, I pulled it out and cleaned it off and seem to have fixed my loss of power and surging issues, but I still have a really low idle, about 400 rpms (just bareeely above that first tic mark from the 0 tick mark) so I'll check those things you guys suggested and see if I that fixes anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94 Pathy Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 My Pathy was doing the same thing a few weeks ago. Crept it home and has been parked ever since. I REALLY don't want to get rid of it. LOVE IT! Can't afford the nickel & diming. Actually looking into a 2009 Titan. This way, I can keep Pathy for extra vehicle/off-road toy. Then I'll have something to pull the Pathy places for off-roading also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txpath4x4 Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 If it's surging at idle could be the idle air control Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 The idle air system might be surging the motor in an attempt to keep it from stalling, but if the motor's warmed up, the idle air system can't kill it. I still say clean out the CTS plug... when mine did this, I cleaned the MAF and TPS plugs with no results, then wiggled some wires, and it went back to running properly for a year or so. Then it did it again. When I finally got around to checking the CTS plug, it had a bunch of blue copper in it. I cleaned the contacts, put some dielectric grease in there, and the engine hasn't stalled since. Basically a free fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txpath4x4 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 The idle air system might be surging the motor in an attempt to keep it from stalling, but if the motor's warmed up, the idle air system can't kill it. Had a 01 exploder, iac stopped working and it surged at any temp, at idle; haven't had the issue on the pathfinder so I can't speak for how'd it act on a Nissan . I noticed y'all generally refer to it as the iac motor, on the fords and Chevys it's an iac valve just spring and diaphragm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 I meant the motor as in the engine, not the valve itself; IIRC it's solenoid driven. I can see how the idle air valve cycling would make the engine surge, but unless the whole assembly fell off and caused a massive vacuum leak, I don't see how it could cause the OP's stalling issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txpath4x4 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Guess that is the bad thing about us being all over the earth we can't run over and help them figure it out, or bring a 6 pack and a lawn chair to watch them j/k Maybe I Miss understood him it said that when he came to a stop it started surging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gv280z Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Usually when this happens, it's one of the two, either the MAF ground wire is loose and requires a giggle...or the iacv is on the fritz, like what mine did a couple years ago, same exact deal and how many times have we seen this rear its ugly head on the forums now, atleast 2 or 3 a quarter. For me it was the 3 step fuel treatment at my local kwik car with the iv vacuum line drip for 20 minutes, tank additive and tb spray clean...after that it's gone, history and never came back. In this case, I think it really was the IV drip that actually did the work and must have knocked out the sludge blocking the valve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manik Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 I have a similar issue, except for the fact that it won't start at all now. Checked spark, good there, fuel is good, 45 psi at the rail, and just set the timing to 15* BTDC. Am I missing something? All this started two days ago, driving home, busy interstate and it won't get past 35 mph. I made it off of interstate 30, then she died. Any assistance is appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 Check the ECU for codes, and check to make sure the rotor spins when you crank the motor. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manik Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 Will do, but, the check engine light is not on and I know the rotor is spinning, that's been checked already. Have some othe things that I'm going to check out tomorrow, probably, er hopefully something simple. I did see the earlier post on the corroded wires, I know there's one at the positive battery cable that is going to get fixed tomorrow. I also noticed some corrosion on the TPS connector, all else looks ok. But, as we all know, looks can be deceiving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gv280z Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 Manik that's pretty wide open man, could be any of a hundred things not good that I can think of. I think I'd start with a compression check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manik Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Looks like the bolt on the harmonic balancer backed out just enough for the timing to slip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manik Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Not the only issue. I'll upload pics later. Don't know how this happened, well I know, I've never seen it before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manik Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 The key that holds the crank gear in place sheared off. Wallowed out the key in the crank a little bit, hopefully won't be an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gv280z Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Which timing is it do you think slipped as a result of the harmonic balancer coming loose? Is that only ignition timing that would be affected, and not valve timing? At first when I read this I was thinking the valve timing got screwed, which would mean bent valves, but now I'm thinking it's only ignition... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manik Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Darned if it isn't fixed. There was some pretty good wear in the key slot on the crank and a fair amount on the gear, luckily I had all of the necessary parts to get the job done right (without replacing the crankshaft : since there's 140-150 ft lbs + of torque on that retainer bolt and with the gear being "sandwiched". As long as I don't get crazy with it, I think it'll be fine.. Any thoughts/opinions?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manik Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 280, I think I got lucky, this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Darned if it isn't fixed. There was some pretty good wear in the key slot on the crank and a fair amount on the gear, luckily I had all of the necessary parts to get the job done right (without replacing the crankshaft : since there's 140-150 ft lbs + of torque on that retainer bolt and with the gear being "sandwiched". As long as I don't get crazy with it, I think it'll be fine.. Any thoughts/opinions?? Unfortunately it isn't unheard of for those keyways to be damaged. Did you take a picture of it before you put it all together? Hard to comment otherwise... Hope it holds together for you though! B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manik Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Ugly as hell, but, she's still runnin like a champ!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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