HELP! 1997 pathfinder only starts when it wants to

[97pathy831]

hoping you guys can help me out, i have a 1997 pathfinder with 146,000 miles on it, last week one evening when i got in my truck and tried to start it, it just wouldnt turn on, it just cranked and cranked but didnt turn over, as if their was no fuel, left it alone that night and went back to it the next evening to see if i had any luck. it hesitated at first but it turned on and all was good for 'exactly' one week, went to start it up and no go, same problem , so i figure i'll just leave it their and come back to it tomorrow, it worked last time,.......... wrong, time to get the tow truck involved brings it to my house, i push it into my garage, thought what the hell, ill try to start it one more time, turned on right away, any help or ideas would be great thanks

[MaximA32]

There are 3 things you chould check first. Check for air, fuel and spark. By this I mean check to make sure your getting spark from the coil to the spark plug. The spark should be white in color, if the spark from the coil is orange in color, you have a weak coil. As for fuel, make sure your fuel pump is priming and is working to its full capacity. With the fuel pump, if you run it below 1/4 of a tank often, the pump starts to heat up as it is cooled by the gasoline that runs through it and could cause premature failure.

[97pathy831]

how do i check the spark from the coil to the spark plug?

[NISTECH]

I think he was reffering to the newer style pathfinder with the coil over plug set up.The 97 pathfinder has an internal distributor coil. So you will need to just check for spark at the plug wire. remove a wire from the plug and stuff a spark plug in the end of the wire[preferably a spare one and not one from the engine] lay that on the intake plentium and crank the engine over. observe the gap in the plug for the spark.

[97pathy831]

thanks for the all the info you guys have provided, i havent been able to diagnose the problem as my truck has been starting up fine ever since, however, today as i was driving i suddenly felt a loss in power, the engine wasnt turning off but when i gave it gas there was no movement in the RPM's just idle for about 30 sec. then the truck started responding enough to make it home. a buddy of mine suggested replacing the fuel pump becuase of these symptons, does everyone else agree with this? he also said to replace the fuel filter, can some one give me a general idea of where this fuel filter is located? Thanks!!!

[NISTECH]

I doubt its the pump or filter. But the filter is located right above the rear diff. The pump is inside the tank.

Before you do that stuff, start the vehicle and let it idle. Go to the air flow meter and wiggle the harness. See if that affects the idle quality.