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2002 Pathfinder starting problem

Hi all,

My 2002 Pathfinder SE had no problems until today. After parking in the garage overnight, it did not start today. It is a warmer than average, rainy day here in Michigan. The battery was fine (headlights, radio were OK). The displays reported no problem. I could hear the cranking sound, but the engine wouldn't fire up. I then waited about 2 hours, this time, it is able to start, either in 'Parking' or 'Neutral' Positions. Could someone shed some lights on this? Should I take it to a dealership to have it checked out?

Thanks,

Ying C

Reply to
buckskin
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On 1/2/2005 2:56 PM US(ET), buckskin took fingers to keys, and typed the following:

Nah... Don't bother taking it to someone who can do a hands-on analysis of what the problem may be. We can give you 40 or 50 different suggestions on things to check or replace. One of them might work. Here's mine... Check the engine electrical system. Distributer, cap, rotor, wires, spark plugs, especially for moisture problems.

Reply to
willshak

An '02 Pathfinder does not have a distributor cap or wires. The plugs are good for about 100k miles. That is not likely to be the problem.

Unless it threw a code in the computer, you will just waste time taking it anywhere - they won't be able to reproduce the problem. If the engine light came on, take it in to Nissan and they should be able to track it down. Otherwise wait until (if) it happens again.

Reply to
E. Meyer

My 99.5 puppy was slow to start this year for the first time ever. I replaced the battery and following that, I saw that the battery fluid level was very low. If I had checked that sooner I would have gotten seven years out of that battery at least. Check your battery fluid level. Confirm that the battery terminals are tight.

After that it's hard to say. It needs three things to start and run. Air, Spark and Gas. Air gets sucked in by default, but you could change the air filter. If you tryed to start and it cranked over... Did you smell gass? If it flooded you should have noticed that. I have had trouble on occasion with dirty gas or water in the gas lines. I used fuel injector cleaner and both times it worked for a year. The problem was rough idleing not, will not start. If this happened again I would take it to the dealer. Yes it will cost you, but it's probably not something major.

Reply to
sme

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