I have a 2001 LE 3.5L, 4WD pathfinder with 205k miles on it. My automechanic skills are limited to brakes struts and a starter. Today on the way to work the A/T temp, ABS, brake, and Battery light illuminated and my front speakers stopped working. The back speakers continued playing the radio.Operation of the vehicle was unaffected. When I parked all the lights went out except the ABS. The front speakers momentarily faded back in until I shifted it back to drive then they faded out. After work I started the engine and the ABS light was on. I drove for about a quarter mile and all the previous lights came on. 3 miles later all the lights turned off and everything was seemingly normal. I went to pick up an alternator at the autoparts store, since my researching pointed in that direction. They tested my battery and alternator for me and everything checked out good. Im at a loss. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Did the a/p store run codes for you? Sounds like it might be a wiring or ground issue, but knowing the cause of the ABS light would help. If it was a "consequential" code thrown because the ECM or TCM stopped sending engine speed, it's one thing. If it actually had an operational issue, that's another. The latter limits the possible ground issues to the main chassis ground, since the ABS has its own thick ground wire with a separate attachment to the frame.

@VStar I just ran codes. The only one on there is a P1145(valve timing solenoid). I chased that code for awhile, replaced a few sensors, a few times and nothing worked. As it didn't affect the driveability of the car I let it go. That was three years ago. Looking under my hood I did notice a few drops of coolant on top of my battery and some other random drops in the front right area of the engine. That doesn't seem to me, to be a contributing factor. My dash clock did stop working about 3 weeks ago. If I tap it in the right spot it will come on then fade out a few seconds later. Im thinking some kind of wiring issue. Is causing this mess. Finding it is not going to be fun. Any chance a bad relay could be causing this?

I doubt it's a relay, nothing that affects the ABS should affect the radio and vice versa. The radio's main power is via the fusible link box and Accessory Relay, where the ABS gets power from its own dedicated fusible links. I'm afraid you're probably chasing a ground gremlin. For the right way to chase them, consult this post:

topic628130.html

In this case, I would pay as much attention to the chassis grounds as the engine, since the ABS doesn't share the engine ground bus except through the main cable. It wouldn't surprise me if your P1145 was coming from the same source, the cam sensors are both grounded to a bracket at the front of the engine.

Great information. Thank you. Ill be checking those grounds as soon as I get off work today. Part of me is really hoping thats the issue. It seems easier to deal with that then trying to find a ghost wire.

Alright so I don't have a voltemer, so I figured, find the grounds and clean them all off. I disconnected my battery and cleaned both ends of the negative cable including mating surfaces. I located 2 grounds on the passenger side of the engine attached to the frame. Disconnected and cleaned them as well. There was only one ground that I could see on the driver side of the engine. It was also attached to the body. It was disconnected and cleaned as well. I looked underneath as best I could without a lift and I could only find one ground. That ground ran from my exhaust to the body. That braided wire is broken. Could this be my problem? Also I am thinking there are other grounds that I am just not seeing. Thanks for the help so far.

There should also be one down on the RH shock tower for the ABS, and since that's one of the lamps that's lit, you should find and tweak it. The main ECM and engine sensor grounds are the two 6mm (10mm head) screws on a bracket at the front of the engine, and the bracket bolts can also get rusty. The ground strap you found on the pipe is usually inconsequential, it's an auxiliary ground for the HO2S sensors in case the pipe isn't making good contact with the engine.

Btw, a decent meter is $18~25 at Walmart or Harbor Freight, and it will save you a lot of poking-in-the-dark.

Now that I think about it, when you ran codes, was it a good scanner? Most cheap OBD-II's only pick up the engine and not ABS or transmission. If it was engine-only, it would helpful to get a better scan.

It was an OBD2 palm scanner. Probabky not the best one ever made lol

Is there a diagram of where these grounds should be. The car died at a redlight and it refused to start. Im guessing I missed the ground that was causing the problem or there is something else going on. Thanks for all the help so far.

I'm on the road and can't pull up the ground distribution, but if it's a no-start you can return to some old school diag. Try some Brakleen down the intake to see if it's fuel, pull a coil and check spark, etc. I'll see if I can dig up a diagram tomorrow when we're home.

I ended up changing the alternator. Just finished getting it in last night. Pathfinders have zero room to manuever your fingers in lol. While I was doing that I found a bracket connected to the back of the alternator that seems to hold the positive wire bundle from the battery in place. It broke. Do I need that? Also the fan shroud gave up the ghost and cracked in half while I was attempting to get it out. Is that necassary to have? I really appreciate all the help you have givem so far. All the warning lights are off again and the car is running fine....so far.