Blitz Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 (edited) Hi everyone! I'm new to the site and I'm posting here to seek some advice on an issue that I'm having. I own a 1995 Pathfinder LE 4WD Auto with 88K miles. The car was running fine with no problems with the exception of two codes 33 - Heated Oxygen Sensor and 14 - Vehicle Speed Sensor. I installed a new aftermarket sensor, reset the ECU and took it for a 20min test drive. The car ran great, no CEL. Next morning it started fine and my wife took it to work. Then came the problem, after work my wife couldn't get the car start, it cranks but doesn't start. So I told her over the phone to keep trying and after 5 seconds of cranking the car finally started, it ran rough and the CEL was on. I found out that the center pin on the distributor cap was damaged and gone. So I installed a new OEM cap and rotor and started the car. No change, after 5-6 seconds of cranking it finally starts, CEL is on but the car is still running rough and missing. Checked for codes and got 55. Checked the timing with a timing light and the timing is all over the place. The weird thing is when I rev the car the tach shoots up to 4k . I can drive the car and it shifts fine but it's missing and running rich. Here's a video of the car starting and revving. Parts that I replaced: New OEM cap and rotor New aftermarket engine coolant temp sensor New aftermarket heated o2 sensor New ignition coil At this point I'm totally stumped. I can't keep throwing parts at it and hoping it will get fixed. I'm thinking it might be a distributor problem. Has anyone ever experience this before or known anyone that had this issue? I love the car to death and I miss driving it. Thank you all for reading! -Gil Edited March 20, 2016 by Blitz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blitz Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 (edited) Here's a vid of the tach shooting up to 4k while pressing on the gas pedal when the ignition is on the "ON" position. This only happens after I shut off the car and turning it back on within seconds. I'm not sure what to make of this, I've never seen this before. Edited March 20, 2016 by Blitz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuong Nguyen Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Sounds like a bad distributor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blitz Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 Thanks for the reply Cuong! I hoping it's just the distributor and nothing else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Does sound like a distributor problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpecialWarr Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Wasn't there a guy who posted on here in late 2014 with this same problem? I recall it was his VSS wiring that was at the root cause, maybe I'm confusing a couple of posts though. I guess the first thing to check is that the rotor is tight and keyed to the shaft, after that I would check that the hold-down bolt is snug with some play in both directions. After that there is a procedure to set the base timing from the download-able FSM. After that I can't help ya! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverton Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Did you enter mode 4 after seeing it flash 55 in mode 3? That resets the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blitz Posted March 21, 2016 Author Share Posted March 21, 2016 Did you enter mode 4 after seeing it flash 55 in mode 3? That resets the system. Silverton, no I didn't enter mode 4 after it flashed 55. Once I saw 55 I turned the key to the off position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blitz Posted March 21, 2016 Author Share Posted March 21, 2016 ***Quick update*** The problem has been solved! It ended up being a bad distributor. Thank you all for your help! I really appreciate it!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpecialWarr Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Good man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuong Nguyen Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Good stuff Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al_BsPath Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 I know this question was answered, but I had the same problem a few years back and mine turned out to be a faulty wire on the MAF Sensor connector on top. Glad you figured it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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