2003 Pathfinder intermittent stalling *SOLVED*

[Lunkster]

I have a story to tell (kinda long, sorry) in the hope that it might help somebody down the line with a similar issue that I was experiencing. I have a 2003 Pathfinder SE that I drive when I'm in Florida (snowbird) for a few months. This year I had a CES light come on the first day I drove it. Stopped and had it scanned. I was told that it was EVAP canister purge control solenoid. Not an emergency to fix so I decided to check online for a better price. I found one on Amazon and two days later I put it on. After a couple of days the light was back on. I drove over to a different part store and had it scanned. This time they told me it was p1448 evap canister vent control valve. On the way back home I had the car stall on me as I was coasting up to a stop light. I'm thinking great now what?! It started right back up and ran fine the rest of the way home. Again, I found one on Amazon and changed out the old one a few days later cussing the whole time. This valve sits on the charcoal canister and after snapping the first bold off I ended up having to drill out the bolt and retap the threads. Long story short, I got the new valve on and hooked hoses back up. That lasted a couple of days and the CES light was back on. I had it checked and was told p1448 - the part I had just replaced. Pulled the valve off when I got home and sure enough the coil spring inside the valve was bound up. I got it straightened and put back on hoping that it was just a fluke. Nope - happened again so I returned the part and got a replacement. The replacement part started doing the same thing! By now I was getting really good at canceling my CES light via the accelerator pedal procedure. I remembered that I still had the original canister vent valve but I had checked it originally when I took it out with 12v and it hadn't worked. I took some contact cleaner and sprayed and cleaned it up and got it working again - it had just been sticking. I put the original back on and NO MORE CES LIGHT! But was still dealing with intermittent stalling. It always seem to happen at low RPMs when I was coasting at low speed up to a stop. I replace the fuel filter - no help. I pulled the MAF and cleaned it - no help. I cleaned the throttle body - no help. Replaced cam positioning sensors - no help. Replaced crankshaft positioning sensor - no help. Every time it would act up it would never trip the CES light and it was driving me crazy! I decided to drive it over to a street one day that wasn't traveled much and see if I could get it to act up. After about 15 to 20 minutes it started to do its thing and finally... FINALLY... the CES light blinked on!! Drove it over to have it scanned and was told evap canister purge control solenoid - the valve that sits on the intake manifold - the one that I had already replaced about two months earlier the first time my CES light came on. I drove home and luckily I had saved the original. When I originally swapped it out I hadn't tested it - I just assumed it was bad because that's what they said the scan showed. I tested it on 12v battery and it worked fine. I put it back on the car and that solved my stalling issue. NO MORE STALLING! The NEW part had been the source of all my pain and it never dawned on me that it could be bad, after all, it was brand new. I think the parts guy that originally scanned the code got it wrong. That part never needed changed. I think that the problem had been the EVAP canister vent control valve all along.

I guess the moral of the story is just because you replace a part with a new one doesn't mean it can't fail. Best use original OEM parts. I learned my lesson the hard way. Stay away from Dorman. My pathfinder did not like them. Also the parts guy can be wrong. Hope this can help somebody also experiencing similar problems.

[Mike W.]

Don't expect much from the scans at parts stores. They're worth just slightly more than you paid for them. In my experience, coming from the BMW world, OBDII scans are a valuable tool, but are often cryptic or just point in the general direction of the problem. Reading a code off does not a mechanic make, nor does working in a parts store qualify you as a mechanic.

[EdBwoy]

Thank you for sharing your experience. Glad you're back in business

[PathyPop]

Not quite the same but similar because the original part wasn't bad - friend with CEL goes to AutoZone and gets an O2 sensor code, so they sell him a new sensor and turn off the code. A little later, CEL on again, same thing, new sensor. In fact the original sensor was just doing it's job indicating the cat is marginal. I've seen this in the forums too, O2, cam sensors, etc. Before buying sensors, I'd swap the left & right to see for sure before wasting money.

[Lunkster]

Yeah in hindsight I would have done things differently but isn't that usually the case. I tried to educate myself on forums like this and others but could never find exactly the same problem I was having or a solution to it. I guess sometimes the answer is right under your nose. A little Common Sense goes a long way.