2002 XTERRA SE SC
Manual, 6 cylinder

The short summary: I can start the car and it runs fine for about 20 minutes (including stopping and turning it off, then starting it again). Then, I can start the car, but I cannot go more than 5 mph, and it chokes, eventually dyiing - then I cannot start the car period after that. It turns, but doesn't catch. Battery is fine (a jump doesn't help). If I let the car sit for a while, I can start it again.

I've read some of the other posts and none of them seem to be an exact match, but it appears it might be the distributor. I am also wondering if there's something wrong with the fuel injector, pump, or some other part of the fuel system.

The long story - I didn't use my car for several weeks when the temperature was around freezing, and my fuel tank was very low. I drove the car for about 40 minutes, and then while on the highway, I heard a clunking sound (I believe from the back of the car) and the car slowed down and I could not get any acceleration, and it died. I assumed the car died from bad gas.

When I had a tow truck driver come to tow the car, he could not get it out of park, and instead of looking at the manual and unlocking it, he yanked at the stick, and the shift cable broke.

I was going out of town for a week that day, and eventually had it towed home. I replaced the shift cable a few weeks later (also added a can of HEAT to the tank). The battery was dead at that point, so I charged the battery. I filled the tank with gas I thought things were fine - but this is when the "short summary" above happened.

Any thoughts or suggestions of what I might be dealing with?

Thanks

welcome to the club....

sorry to hear about your X and i hate to say it but i dont know whats wrong but hopefully some of the others will be able to help.....

Hmmm... I have NO clue? I was gonna guess fuel pump or something to that aspect but... Im not even 10% sure haha. Complete guess! Good luck and let us know!

Welcome to the club!

Hope the dude paid for that cable.

Try replacing the fuel filter - how long has it been since that was done? Even if that's not it, it is probably due for it anyway.

Could be the fuel pump or any number of things really.

Could be that it can get started but when you try to give it more gas, you just aren't getting it because of a clogged filter. Shot in the dark but easy to replace and they are like $5.

Hope the dude paid for that cable.

No, he didn't - it was through AAA, and the fact that I didn't realize it until 2-3 weeks after it happened made it hard to convince them - and I didn't feel like wasting my time.

Thanks for the welcomes and suggestion. I will definitely look into the fuel filter.

The fuel-sending unit (aka fuel pump) could be a possible culprit as there tend to be some failures with it but I think most were in the '00-'01 models. You can access it under the passenger side rear seat.

Hope you get it figured out and welcome to CX!