Vehicle: 1997 Nissan Pathfinder 4x4


This SUV was used as a hunting rig for 5 years and then left untouched for 4 years. It was a gift from my future father-in-law to congratulate us on having a child 6 months ago. So far I have set the distributor to the correct timing, relocated the knock sensor back to its original position (spark knock from the advanced distributor was throwing a code so it was moved to the top of the intake manifold), adjusted throttle cable linkage, replaced sparkplugs, air filter, a wheel speed sensor, all 4 leaking calipers, both downstream o2 sensors, TPS, MPS, and MAF sensor. It will now go when I want it to go, and stop when I want it to stop. Almost.

Each of the above fixes I gathered form either reading the codes, reading voltages on individual sensors, or pulling ideas from previous vehicles I've worked on. But there is one more issue I can't seem to figure out and I have no clues on. I'm hoping the lack of clues and someone elses experience can help me out.

Dead stop, 5mph, 15mph, 55mph, or 80 mph or doesn't seem to matter. The engine will die. No codes will be thrown, Checking the TPS, MPS, MAF, O2 sensors, short term fuel trim, ignition timing and everything else I can think of at the time it dies there is not a single spike or drop on any of those sensors. I have not been able to purposefully recreate the problem either.

The engine does not stop rotating I feel like that is an important point, if I turn off the ignition then turn it back on (when at higher speeds and left in D) the engine will start itself back up. At low speeds or at a stand still it will start back up in N. It always starts back up with no hesitation.

Does anyone have a clue as to what can kill an engine at random, with no engine codes, and no irregularities on any sensor?

 

You're asking about a Nissan Pathfinder on a Ford forum?

 

Does it really matter? If I lied and said it was a 97 Ranger you would have never known. It's not like a Nissan engine uses a different magic than a Ford engine. Pretty sure Fords have O2 sensors, MAF, TPS, MAP, distributors, ignition coils, etc. Pretty sure suck, squeeze, bang, blow works on Nissan and Ford. This is the Misc section, for general questions. So if your done trolling a forum please move on. If not, please move on anyway.

For the record, not looking for someone to solve the problem either. Just figured someone else might think of something to check that I haven't thought of yet.

 

Yes it does matter!

With this sort of attitude anyone who even tries helping out now is a fool. While the concepts of internal combustion engines might be similar and whether or not you want to accept Ford is different from Nissan etc etc etc there are differences and specifics to each brand. If that were NOT the case FORD TRUCK Enthusiasts wouldn't exist would it?

Oh wait--does this make me a forum troll too? If yes then I'm in good company with Alloro as he's a well respected contributor here. Comparing his helpful advice posted over the longer term, comparing his seniority and sheer number of posts compared to your own paltry bits I'm not the least bit concerned agreeing with him is NOT a good idea.

 

Ford Truck Enthusiasts exist for people who are... wait for it... Ford... Truck... Enthusiasts. Meaning they like ford trucks, which I do. I spend most of my time here reading and posting in the 73-79 F-100 & Larger F-Series Trucks section. Because that is the appropriate area to read and post to find out more about my 1979 F-150. So here in the Misc>Electrical Systems/Wiring section which is in no way shape or form tied to a year, make, or model of vehicle I asked a Misc question about the electrical system that operates a vehicle.
If anyone could think of a reason why an engine would die, yet all the sensors read normal and the ecu throws no codes. A question that anyone who's run into this issue on any vehicle run by a computer, might have a suggestion for.

I first I chose a forum dedicated to Pathfinders, only to find out that this generation of Pathfinder is the least sought after. The only sticky was how to change sparkplugs, the most common question was, "Where can I buy a lift for this" and the most common answer was, "You can't, get a different Pathfinder." The most recent post was from 2 weeks ago with only 54 views. On the other-hand what I was used to was FTE, so I decided to try here, in the Misc section, out of the way of the more Ford themed threads, because many of the users on this forum are knowledgeable, quick to offer suggestions, there are lot of highly active users, and most importantly I've seen that many users here like to offer help. And that is what I need right now. I can't take my 6 month old son and fiancee in a vehicle that seems to at random for no reason shut off, because one day, it won't just start back up.

So to get back to the reason I started this thread.

Can anyone think of a reason an engine would shutoff but not show any signs of an issue? Other than that it shut off?