I have a idea what this may be but thought I'd throw it out to you guys for learned experience. Please note this is a UK Diesel 2.5 and not a petrol engine.

Ok so I have had the car a 2008 pathfinder now for nearly a month. When I got it I ran it about on Holiday towing a large caravan fine. Since we returned I noticed that when it was parked overnight when I came to start it the engine started, ran for say five seconds or so at tickover then stalled. The car is parked on a sloping drive way say at 10 degrees elevation and he nose of the car upbank. While we were away caravanning the car was always parked on the flat... we had no issues then. Then again it might be something that has began to fail since we returned.

I filled the car with fuel and it starts fine... until today.. the fuel has now got to just above the half tank marker and it did it again. Started.. ran for ten seconds and stalled.

If I crank the car over eventually it fires up... say ten seconds of cranking.. then runs fine. I'll let you know if it does it again overnight.

Any thoughts guys?

quality of fuel? fuel filter?

I was wondering if the fuel pump may be allowing fuel to run back in to the tank from the lines whilst parked. The reason I came to this is because it seems to happen more on a lower tank.. and also when parked on a hill. Hence the care then starts on whats left in the filter.. stalls and then has to have the lines purged by cranking before it can fire up again. Not sure though if there is a common problem with this and it may be something quite different.

elpeede wrote:I was wondering if the fuel pump may be allowing fuel to run back in to the tank from the lines whilst parked. The reason I came to this is because it seems to happen more on a lower tank.. and also when parked on a hill. Hence the care then starts on whats left in the filter.. stalls and then has to have the lines purged by cranking before it can fire up again. Not sure though if there is a common problem with this and it may be something quite different.

Fuel pumps may be defect.... I had some trouble with running the enginge at cold starts here in Norway during winter, but only after filling it up with diesel from Statoil. They blend the diesel with biodiesel... not that is your issue, just threw it out there

Thanks for the suggestion - I've only had the car a month now so who knows what it may have run on in the past.. I've put about 4 tanks full of fuel through it though so would imagine anything that may have been there is long gone.

I read today that the petrol learns it's idle airflow.. does this apply to the diesel as well? When we got the car from the dealer the battery was flat and every now and then the tickover seems choppy.. kind of lumpy 600-650 rpm.. normally it seems to tick over a little higher and less lumpy.

I guess a fuel filter is the first thing to swap out.

elpeede wrote:Thanks for the suggestion - I've only had the car a month now so who knows what it may have run on in the past.. I've put about 4 tanks full of fuel through it though so would imagine anything that may have been there is long gone.

I read today that the petrol learns it's idle airflow.. does this apply to the diesel as well? When we got the car from the dealer the battery was flat and every now and then the tickover seems choppy.. kind of lumpy 600-650 rpm.. normally it seems to tick over a little higher and less lumpy.

I guess a fuel filter is the first thing to swap out.

Well, I think it might be a faulty fuel pump (or diesel pump). When you turn the ignition to on both pumps go and generate enough fuel (probably) to start. However they cannot maintain the pressure and the enginge stalls. You crank it for a while and yet again enough fuel is in the engine to fire.

Changing the diesel filter and airfilter is a good idea anyhow. Mine goes down about .2l in fuel economy whenever I service it. Then slightly increases. However my fuel economy is bad, 1.9l 10km due to the big ass wheels

elpeede wrote:
I read today that the petrol learns it's idle airflow.. does this apply to the diesel as well? When we got the car from the dealer the battery was flat and every now and then the tickover seems choppy.. kind of lumpy 600-650 rpm.. normally it seems to tick over a little higher and less lumpy.

Shouldn't be the same issue. Normal diesels have no air throttling, which is what has to be dialed back in on the gas version during idle air relearn.

May have something else ECM related...but I'm liking the fuel pump as a potential culprit. Do you have access to a code scanner? I'd think that would tell you if you had low pressure somewhere in the system.

and in the excitment of meeting another diesel head on this board, check out the cat deleter the guys down under have made. It is said to reduce diesel consumption with 0.5L/10km!!! Mine is on order and on it´s way from OZ. When the cat is gone on the car I will have it tuned a well. 480nm and 220hp + the free extras from the cat delete. They put it on a dyno and they gained around 20hp and 40nm just deleting the cat!! I WOULD prefer a V8 charged with a blower However that engine in the car would have cost me 300 000 USD

It did it again last night.. had been parked up for 20 hours between runs.. fired up.. ran off what ever was in the filter and stalled... lots of cranking later fires and runs.

I have an EOBD cable for the laptop.. not used it on the Nissan yet.. should it be compliant being a 2008?

I like the sound of the extra power with the Cat delete.. though for now I'd settle with just staying running.

I wonder what the dealers will say if I try and get it sorted given that its intermittent and seems to require around 20 hours for the fuel to (or so I suspect) run back to the tank... Worth a punt I guess.

Come to think of it the first time I tried it at the dealers it had the same issue... then a flat battery due to being parked up no doubt. Once it was running again I just put it down to being parked up on the lot.

Anyone know where I can get the manual that covers the diesel lump? Also how many pumps does it have.. I'm very new to Nissans. I've found the petrol manual but all the bits I need to research are clearly absent from it

You have one by the diesel tank, and one help pump around the middle of the car.

OK great.. I'll take a look underneath later and check for anything obvious. I've got four days off now so I'll try and leave it 20 odd hours and see if its sorted its self out.

Yesterday I did some prodding about. I checked the clip on hose on the top of the filter..there are two O ring seals on this pipe that clips in but it appeared a thin rubber washer wouldn't go amiss to make sure it seals but there wasn't one there,,, wonder if there should be? when removed there seemed to be some air pressure that discharged but no apparent fluid. Next I checked the bleed screw at the bottom of the filter.. undid it until it was totally out and nothing came out.. I'd only been running the car half an hour earlier maybe the bleed screw wasn't screwed in tight enough and allowing air to get drawn in, surely it would have leaked... why would absolutely nothing run out of the screw until I re bleed the filter given it had been running such a short time before. I can see this is going to be one of those annoying issues to sort if it isn't the bleed screw.

I plugged in an ELM EOBD cable to the laptop and no fault codes were apparent. Is there any recommended diagnostic software for the 2008 Pathfinder?

elpeede wrote:OK great.. I'll take a look underneath later and check for anything obvious. I've got four days off now so I'll try and leave it 20 odd hours and see if its sorted its self out.

Yesterday I did some prodding about. I checked the clip on hose on the top of the filter..there are two O ring seals on this pipe that clips in but it appeared a thin rubber washer wouldn't go amiss to make sure it seals but there wasn't one there,,, wonder if there should be? when removed there seemed to be some air pressure that discharged but no apparent fluid. Next I checked the bleed screw at the bottom of the filter.. undid it until it was totally out and nothing came out.. I'd only been running the car half an hour earlier maybe the bleed screw wasn't screwed in tight enough and allowing air to get drawn in, surely it would have leaked... why would absolutely nothing run out of the screw until I re bleed the filter given it had been running such a short time before. I can see this is going to be one of those annoying issues to sort if it isn't the bleed screw.

I plugged in an ELM EOBD cable to the laptop and no fault codes were apparent. Is there any recommended diagnostic software for the 2008 Pathfinder?

Ok. First off. Did you open up the intake line on top of the filter (the one with arrow IN on it) before bleeding? Also, the bleeding screw is to let water come out of the filter, not diesel. You see in diesel there can be more or less water at any given point. The diesel filter often fills up with an unsignificant amount of water. It might just be that you did not have any water in it, which is great by the way. On the other hand, when I remove the hoses in and out on the top of the filter, they are filled with diesel. And the filter is at all times full with diesel. Most likely you wont find any "unusual" underneath the car.

When the car runs, does it run ok? You might get some help. Find the pumps and make your helper turn the ignition on. That way you should hear a buzzing sound in the pump. More and more gives away the pumps. As you dont have any diesel in the filter. And by the way, diesel engines are not verry happy running dry!!! If your not a mechanic, maybe you should get it in to the dealer and run a diagnose on it?

I'm not counting my chickens just yet but it started ok after 20 hours stationary on a low tank.

All I have done is bleed the filter as far as humanly possible and make sure everything fastened to the filter is nice and tight.

The car is new to me one month ago but I noticed that the jubliee clips holding the fuel lines on to the filter appear new.. i.e sparkly.

I don't think its had issues before as the bonnet hinge was quite stiff when I got it though its slackening up now.

Well. Change the filter. Not that expensive

Remyek.. it's running fine now. I guess the garage may have let it run out of fuel as it was real low when I went for a test drive. I can only guess they didn't bleed it.

Any links to the Cat deleter you have ordered. You have my interest