P1320 & P200 Engine Misfire Problem

[petersedivec]

I have a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder SE 3.5L(VQ35E) with 156,000 miles that has been great, but in the last few days the engine has been running rough, lacking power and needs to get fixed. The DTC that are coming up are

P1320 Ignition System MalfunctionP0200 Injector Circuit Malfunction

The first time I noticed the problem was about 3 days ago when the MIL started to flash and the car seemed like it was weak on power, but the light stopped flashing and it drove fine after about 30 seconds. Two days ago the engine seemed to struggle a little more not running smooth and the light came on solid. Yesterday I had to drive a little more and the MIL was continuous flashing for about 30 miles, only at idle would the light go to solid and stop flashing. There was one good hill I had to go up on the freeway and the engine was very weak and struggled. I live in Southern California and I don't believe the problem is tied to weather like some other posts I've read.

There's a lot of info on people with pathfinders/maximas with P1320, but I haven't found any information really on P200 from my searches. The flashing MIL indicates a misfire detected that "can" damage the Three Way Catalytic Converter.

While I was driving yesterday I was monitoring the MAF sensor, ignition timing, O2 sensors and they all seem to be normal while the car was running poorly. I have previous had the P0159 (rear O2 sensor problem) check engine light was on for about 2yrs and I finally replaced the sensors about 2 months ago. I installed new O2 sensors for both of the rear ones. I went with cheap sensors that I spliced in because it seemed like the easiest option. Check engine light hasn't been on since and has been running fine.

I have the full Nissan Manual, I've looked through the TSBs and I've tried following the steps to check the random misfire:- No physical damage to exhaust that would be blocking it- No air intake leak that I could hear (as suggested by the manual)- Spark plugs were changed 65,000 miles ago and I pulled out #1 plug and it looks fine- Ignition coils seem to all work (unplugged each one while engine was idling and noticed each cylinder dropping out causing a problem.

Not sure what else to check or where to go from hear, any suggestions? I initially thought the problem was only when the car was started and idleing but after yesterday that's definitely not the case, it was struggling at all RPMs up to 3000 (I purposely was trying not to put much strain on the engine)

[MX3ze@7psi]

Hey I just posted the same problem up. I don't know what to do anymore I pretty much did everything you did too. My car is pretty bad right now. I can't even back out of the drive way without it dying on the street. I don't drive it anymore cause it will slow down in traffic for a bit and then go. Going over hills or bridges are the worse. I get people beeping at me all the time when its not even my fault.

[Pwnin O'Brien]

If the SERVICE ENGINE SOON lamp starts flashing, that means pull over and turn the vehicle off and take it to a mechanic ASAP. The flashing SES light indicates a major issue which could result in more issues if you continue driving the vehicle.

EDIT: Also, I can't find P0200 in the 2001 FSM. Are you sure it was P0200?
Modified by Pwnin O'Brien at 5:53 PM 3/20/2010

[nnorton44]

Probably P1320 and P300. Thats what I had. Random cylinder misfire. Replaced all the coils and plugs from partsgeek.com. About $75 a coil, get all six. Make sure you check your MFG date for instance my coils for my 2001 QX4 were up to the date to 08/00. Fixed the problem!