08 Pathfinder stalling with VCD slip light

[BuddyC]

My 2008 PF was always a solid, reliable car since buying it used about 6 years ago. Had noticed for a couple months that randomly at mainly cold start up there was a very slight vibration that always went away fairly quickly. Eventually one day at a light it started shaking and violently and lost nearly all power to accelerate. Got a gasket job and plugs replaced. Still acted funny and was told that the cats were bad so had all four cats replaced plus an o2 sensor. Ran fine but I did notice that when I picked the car up after getting the cats done, I felt a slight vibration at start up. It only did this very randomly and seldomly. Car continued to drive fine over the course of a month but would still every once in a while have a slight vibration at start up that would go away in under 10 seconds. We drove out of town on a 2 hour trip and it drove great but at some point we were driving and making a left turn and the car died(air was on btw). Didn't start right back up initially, but after sitting for a few more seconds, it started up fine. Drove fine for few minutes more and at some again while making a left turn it died again. Went into a lot to test it out with air on and off while making turns and it never would die. I think I recall driving with air off and it died one more time but I'm not sure. Decided to leave air off for rest of trip around town and I don't belie it died again.. it for sure never died driving for the 2 hour trip back home.

Took it to a different shop and they said it was the crank sensor. Thought we had it fixed but guess what, the car is still not right. Very randomly while driving, you might feel a quick, slight loss of power and when it happens, the VCD slip light now comes on. It also died once and the VCD slip light came on after it died. What the heck could be going on with this car?

[mdmellott]

Something has failed in your braking system which is affecting throttle control. The chapter in the FSM that deals with this reads like there may be no way to identify the stored DTCs without special diagnostic tools. I couldn't find a manual means of reading the stored DTCs in this chapter. I thought there was a way to get the warning lights to blink on and off to indicate these codes. Perhaps you can find it written out in this manual section. https://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual ... %2Fbrc.pdf Failed wheel speed sensors are often the cause but there are too many other possible sensor failures in the braking system that may be causing your issues so it's better not to guess and start replacing stuff until you can get the diagnostic trouble codes identified.

[VStar650CL]

On an '08 there's a good chance the ABS has nothing wrong. Whenever an engine DTC causes the ECM to stop sending the engine speed signal on CAN, the ABS will throw a C1130 in response. The code is derivative, the real fault will be in the engine and the C1130 will disappear after the engine problem is resolved.

[ShadyMechanic21]

On an '08 there's a good chance the ABS has nothing wrong. Whenever an engine DTC causes the ECM to stop sending the engine speed signal on CAN, the ABS will throw a C1130 in response. The code is derivative, the real fault will be in the engine and the C1130 will disappear after the engine problem is resolved.

Having the same problem with my nephew’s pathfinder he is purchasing. They don’t want to fix it. You said the real fault is in the engine. Can you explain that further?

[VStar650CL]

Sure. The ECM is supposed to send out the engine speed signal continuously on the CANbus. Many DTC's will cause it to stop sending, either temporarily or for the duration of the DTC. If the ABS goes 2 seconds or more without hearing that signal, it throws a C1130 and turns on the ABS and Slip lamps. Most of the C113x codes are similar, for other systems like the AWD Controller. So the codes are basically "derivative", they all happen only because of something that occurs in another system.

[ShadyMechanic21]

Thank you for that breakdown. Since that still encompasses a variety of systems, where would you suggest starting to narrow down the root of the problem? Throwing parts at it while paying a note isn’t exactly a viable option right now. Everybody is trying to keep their heads above water these days.

[VStar650CL]

C1130 is specific to the engine, there are other C113x codes for other systems. So if it's the only code in there, it may be a leftover from an old engine DTC that cleared itself. I'd try simply erasing it.

[ShadyMechanic21]

Ok. Thank you so much for your help.