2000 Pathfinder SE suddendly sputters, loses power and crawls barely 15mph with full throttle

[Wraithen]

On way home from work my Pathfinder suddenly losed power and sputtered for a mile up hill ...thankfully to stall at a gas pump...only gas available halfway home...60 mile trip. She died. Thought she ran out of gas cuz gas hand doesnt move from the half way indictor...filled her up and tried to start...it would turn over and over and start maybe on 15th try...only to chug..sputter and die...after waiting for a ride home to pick up farm truck n hauler..bout an hour...decided to try starting it again...started like a charm...all normal for 1 minute...then same thing happened...tried it again...starter turned iver n over no start. So put a new fuel pump in...same thing happens...took distributor apart n replace button....same thing...checked everything with I can think...acts like no fuel...but when it sits for a day...starts up like a charm...2 minutes great and then back to issue...im at wits end...why run perfect...even up to 5 minutes then act like its got a potatoe in the tailpipe.Cant afford a mechanic.and now using farm truck to drive to work...60$ a day in gas ...literally working for gas to insure my job..air filter good...fuel injectors good...spark good...fuel pressure good..battery good...muffler good..distributor seems fuctional...where am I going wrong? Scrap it n buy a jeep 4 banger...4x4 is a must and thought Pathfinders have a great track record other than suspension and poor gas mileage for a v6...ive owned it one month...

[04pathse]

is the check engine / service engine soon light on?

[Wraithen]

Yes

[stustev]

My '05' Pathfinder has done almost the exact same thing. I checked everything on the motor. This happened within 100 miles of me replacing the spark plugs, coils and injectors. It was one of the two front cats. The honeycomb broke and was plugging the second cat. It would hardly pull itself down the road. Hit a bump and voila - running great again - for a few miles - then hit another bump and oh no - back to hardly running.
The throttle position sensor died right after I bought it but that was 10 mph max and never wavered.
HTH

[Bernadette]

1997 SE Manual 4WD 234k miles just did the same thing, in the rain, getting dark pulled over and popped the hood and the engine like to have tried to rock itself out of the compartment. Turned her off and checked the oil -it was low (not dry, low)- which is odd because I had changed the oil about 2 months before and she's never used that much that fast. Put 1/2 qt - all I had on me - and started up.
Go another mile up hill and she just lost all power, even downshifting and just cut out as I pulled over. I tried to start again and engine turned over but wouldn't catch. Sat for over an hour, started her up and 'limped' home.
Engine had been running perfectly, and suddenly started to "stumble" a little, then got progressively worse as I was going up hill. Borrowed a simple code reader and it gave me
P0325
P0440
P0446
P1336
P1447

The battery was old, someone suggested that might have affected the fuel pump performance, so I replaced it.

Now she idles rough, but seems fine when revved. The warmer the engine, the worse the idle. Using alternate transportation until I can get it figured out. I don't want to drive her and risk major damage.
I haven't changed out the distributor, have a new one to put in. Plan on cleaning EGR valve again, checking EVAP lines, and replace fuel filter while I'm at it.

Backstory: Owned for 90k miles, no prior maintenance history available. I had timing belt replaced about 80k miles ago (it was the original ), dealership spark plugs and wires 40k (?) ago. She sat having her front end *slowly* replaced for about 2 yrs.

I'm no seasoned mechanic, learning as I go! Love this old gal and want to see her hit 300k

Suggestions are welcome!!

[Niti QX4]

OP, what was the solution?

[Bernadette]

I replaced Bernadette's distributor and it fixed the problem.