The Nissan Path

I have a 1999 Pathfinder Chilkoot that sometimes runs fine for varying lengths of time - other times it won't start at all or just quits on me when driving (as if it ran out of gas). I had a mechanic look at it who ran a diagnostic and identified the distributor as the issue, so I had that replaced. After the distributor was replaced, everything seemed to run fine for about two weeks. At this point, I started experiencing the same problem again. I brought it back to the mechanic who told me the diagnostic now said the PCM was the issue. The mechanic didn't have any PCMs available to him, so I haven't had any other work done.

I also had a similar problem about 2 years ago, which resulted in a new fuel pump and PCM. The fuel pump seemed to make no difference, but the vehicle seemed to run fine once the PCM was replaced, until now.

Does anyone have any advice? Should I replace the PCM (the mechanic doesn't seem very confident this will fix the problem)? If so, where is a good place to order one (I'll be shipping to Canada)? Is this a part I can service myself?

Nissan ECM's are usually pretty good and you don't usually see many problems with them, especially ones that are good for weeks at a time and then fail, so I'd be a little leary as far as the ECM being the issue. As far as replacement ECM's, you can always get one from Nissan. On the aftermarket, you may want to see if Rockauto.com has one for your vehicle as they do ship outside the US. There are also companies that will check your ECM and can repair it, if necesssary, but require you sending the ECM to them. A Google search should be able to turn up one. As far as you replacing it yourself, the main issue would be if you have an immobilizer system that uses "chipped" keys. If it does, then the keys will need to be initialized to the ECM or the vehicle won't start. This requires a Consult II or a capable generic scantool.