2001 Pathfinder stalling

[Transtek]

I have a 2001 pathfinder XE with the 3.5 engine. Lately, and mostly when cold, the engine revs fall-off and it stalls coming to traffic lights. It will restart in park or neutral (not in drive) straight away, but the engine suddenly loses revs again until it is hot. Any ideas?I was looking to see any loose wires under the bonnet, and there is a type of sensor covered in a galvanized metal bracket right next to the battery on the passenger side inner-fender, which when moved prevented the engine from stalling. Does anyone know what that is?

[elwesso]

have you checked your codes?? Sounds like it could be the intake cam sensor, read the sticky above!

[jliaou]

I think I am the first to figure this problem out. About 1.5 years ago I ran into funny problem codes and this same stalling problem. I took it in 3 times to the same Nissan Dealership and they couldnt' figure it out. They kept giving me new "fixes" to try. I finally took it to an independent repair place and the guy figured it out. The Turbine Revolution Sensor on top of your Transmission is probably faulty and is leaking transmission fluid through it. Because of this leak, you will probably get funny problem codes down the road here. The transmission fluid flowd down the wiring harness of this sensor into a whole host of other harnesses, triggering Intake sensor issues, O2 sensor issues, etc. The stalling is due to the low transmission fluid. Check your transmission fluid. If it's low, then fill it up. Your problem should go away. Good luck. Let me know if this fixes the problem. BTW, the metal housing blocks the visibility of the transmission fluid on the ground until the leak gets severe, like mine did. Good luck and please repost to let me know.

~Blessings.

[Transtek]

Thanks for your suggestions jiliaou.

In fact I got this cured by:1) Replaced MAF sensor ($900 us from dealers, so got one secondhand for US$100!!) (This improved it somewhat, but still lost revs suddenly at traffic lights)2) Cleaned injectors and accelerot body (including AICS valve, etc.)3) Changed sparkplugs, and what do you know, hey presto problem solved!Probably a dirty AIACS valve.

[elwesso]

Good deal.. Sounds fairly straight foreward.

[bestdefense]

Did you ever have a problem with the SES light sticking on? I have had two expensive MAF sensors replaced in the last 3 months. the first was admittedly defective, and the vehicle now runs fine. But the SES light won't go off despite resets. No bad codes.

Did you / have you run into this problem?

[Transtek]

No, sorry, never had that problem. As soon as I installed the new MAF, the SES light went out. Have you checked to make sure you don't have any other codes? And that the memory of the CPU has been wiped, using the scanner and by disconnecting your battery for 24-48 hours?If it goes out and then comes back on again, maybe another problem.Hopefully this might help.