Nissan XTerra Forum banner

2002 Xterra, engine died while driving...

19K views 17 replies 6 participants last post by  kriswill727 
#1 · (Edited)
So I got it used from some buy here/pay here type dealership in Vegas and I've only had the car for 2 weeks. I get a 1/4 mile down the road and the engine just dies. Radio and stuff still working, but I've got no acceleration or nothing. So I pull over and try to restart the car and nothing. It makes the noise all cars do when you turn the key over, but the engine won't turn.

Now I do recall the guy at the dealership saying they were having the timing belt fixed and I'm beginning to think they have this one "go to guy" for their mechanical repairs and he does a bottom dollar job. Would the timing belt be a reasonable place to start? I'm still working out with the dealership getting it fixed, but I'm not above taking matters into my own hands if the works within reason. I found the repair manuals on another thread (you guys freakin rock for that), but are there any other common problems I should consider/be aware of?

It's got 123k miles, SE 2wd, V6 auto 3.3L

Also, is it normal for this year Xterra to have no get up and go? My wifes 06 grand caravan feels like driving a corvette after driving in this. The acceleration is pretty meh. Especially when trying to get from 40-45 to 60-65mph.
 
See less See more
#4 ·
Thanks for that tip Racer. That'll be a huge help instead of having to rip it all apart Thursday morning. I had my bro take the battery down to AutoZone and it came back dead and not holding a charge. Was from 2010. So I've got a new battery in there, but that's not solving the problem either.
 
#5 ·
Pull the distributor cap and have someone crank the engine while you watch the rotor button to see if it is turning while the engine is cranking. If it dies not turn while the engine is being cranked the timing belt has broken.
Hey Racer, is this the rotor that you're referring too in the distributor? The video clip is a guy replacing his distributor cap and the "rotor" inside it. That's what should spin when someone cranks the engine (trys to start the car?).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGN7bocJAjQ
 
#7 ·
Hey Racer, is this the rotor that you're referring too in the distributor? The video clip is a guy replacing his distributor cap and the "rotor" inside it. That's what should spin when someone cranks the engine (trys to start the car?).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGN7bocJAjQ
Yes that is it exactly. The distributor is driven off of the drivers side camshaft which is in turn driven by the timing belt. If the rotor does not spin the belt is broken.

I believe you said the belt was recently replaced? If so they may have set the tension wrong and it may have jumped timing on the belt and that as well could cause your issue. All you can do at this point is watch the rotor to see if it spins and move on from there.
 
#8 ·
Yes that is it exactly. The distributor is driven off of the drivers side camshaft which is in turn driven by the timing belt. If the rotor does not spin the belt is broken.

I believe you said the belt was recently replaced? If so they may have set the tension wrong and it may have jumped timing on the belt and that as well could cause your issue. All you can do at this point is watch the rotor to see if it spins and move on from there.
Hey Racer, so I gave that a shot this morning and the rotor turned so I guess it's not the timing belt after all. Any other suggestions?
 
#9 ·
If the timing belt stripped some teeth it will still turn but now the timing is off. Another thing to look at is the fuel pump. Turn the key on (dont' start) and listen for a high pitch wine or hum. Thats the fuel pump. If you hear nothing then check the fuses or it could be the relay under the dash. Hope that helps.
 
#10 ·
If the timing belt stripped some teeth it will still turn but now the timing is off. Another thing to look at is the fuel pump. Turn the key on (dont' start) and listen for a high pitch wine or hum. Thats the fuel pump. If you hear nothing then check the fuses or it could be the relay under the dash. Hope that helps.
I'll do a check for that as well Mike, thanks, however I did pick up some starter fluid and popped the top off the air filter and sprayed some into the tube to the engine and tried firing it up and nothing happened. So is that a pretty good indicator that it's the spark plugs?

I'm still planning on doing a check of the relay/fuses for the pump, just in case.
 
#11 ·
Spent all morning installing new spark plugs. The old ones were pretty shot looking, but I'm still not getting a spark, even with spraying in some starter fluid. When I turn the key to on, and can hear a whirring sound that I guess is the fuel pump. I'm wondering if the security system is a factor?
 
#13 ·
Is the battery in key foe dead ?
No, I put another battery in there, although, I've seen this keyfob mentioned, I'm guessing that's the remote to lock/unlock the doors, because that's what I've got with it.

I put in new spark plugs and still no start up, even with starter fluid. I called Nissan and the tech said there was an issue with the EFI relay (electronic fuel injection) so I'm trying to locate that now...
 
#14 ·
How did you check for spark? Easiest way is pull a wire off and stick a screw driver in the wire and rest the metal part near metal. Crank and check for spark between the screwdriver and metal. Could also pull the plug leave the wire attached set it down on metal and crank. Check for spark.
 
#16 ·
I'll have to look into the fuel pump thing, but I'm mildly happy to say I got the bank/dealer to make good on this and it was the distributor cap. It now runs again, although I took it in for an oil change and the alignment i was promised and Meineke won't do the alignment because the suspension is bad, which I guess I'll talk about on another thread since it now runs. Thanks everyone for the feedback and help.
 
#17 ·
So my car died again today. Just stalled out while driving. When I tried restarting it it wouldn't turn over, but after letting go of the key, the engine would sputter a little like it was trying to turn on, but nothing. I've pulled the rear passenger seat up and I can't hear the fuel pump engaging at all when I turn the key to on, even when I had my brother do it for me, with my ear directly above the plate, there was the faintest buz, when I'm pretty sure I could hear it engage a few months ago when I had the issue with the distributor. The check engine light comes on, but when I hook up my scanner, the only thing that comes up is the knock sensor code again.

Does this definitely sound like a fuel pump issue? Is there anything else I should consider replacing with the fuel pump if so?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top