1997 nissan pickup 2.4L auto OD .. check engine light stays on, seem to have a bad miss or stumble in OD at cruise speed 55 and up. when the engine stumbles bad the check engine light flashes, but they are all long flashes. All the info I can find calls for long and short flashes to determine fault codes. It dosen't seem to miss when the trans is not in OD. however at times the check engine light will flash, (number of flashes go anywhere from 3 to 60 common ones seem to 6longs 8 longs 32 to 35 longs,
anyone have any ideas or have had this problem
The check engine light can do two things, come on constant or blink. When it blinks it is more serious and probably a misfire. I've only had this happen once on a VW and it was misfiring badly. Check the owner's manual and I bet it has something like the following (from 97 Pathfinder manual):
Malfunction indicator light blinking — An
engine misfire has been detected which
may damage the emission control system.
To reduce or avoid emission control system
damage:
* do not drive at speeds above 45 MPH (72
km/h).
* avoid hard acceleration or deceleration.
* avoid steep uphill grades.
* if possible, reduce the amount of cargo
being hauled or towed.
The malfunction indicator light may stop blink-ing
and come on steady.
Have the vehicle inspected by an authorized
NISSAN dealer.
You would have to turn the diagnostic mode selector screw for it to flash any error codes (if your vehicle has one), otherwise it is just going to light up or blink.
__________________
1997 Pathfinder XE
Air Lift Air Bags, Warn Hubs
My 96 is OBD 2, your 97 is also. It can't be set to "flash codes" You need a code reader. Autozone did mine for free.
John
I don't know about the trucks but my 97 pathfinder has the diagnostic mode selector screw that I use all the time to flash the codes. Whether it is OBDII or not has no link on whether they included this feature on the PCM. I think they didn't discontinue that until the 2000 or 2001 model years on the pathfinder. If they had it on the pathfinder models in the same year I would bet the trucks had this feature as well.
__________________
1997 Pathfinder XE
Air Lift Air Bags, Warn Hubs
Thanks for all the information so far. As you can see I am trying to avoid
the dealer, as I am not rich. However on the model year I have, to get diag codes you remove the passenger seat, remove ecu, turn key on and the diag screw counter clockwise. this will flash the check engine light long and short. Which I did and came up with cyl four misfire. thats all. coming home tonight the check eng light starts flashing it flashed 3 longs, five minutes later 45 longs, then 18 longs. and so on. I called the dealer and of course you can't talk to a tech,( this ticks me off when I think of the times I spent valuable minutes on the phone with customers trying to fix their problems.) you have to talk to the service writer. who only knows what he has heard.
On the older models, up to 95,96 I think the ecu had red and green lights
red were long flashes, green were short or something like that. I left nissan in 1988 and went to mopar. I just recently bought the nissan truck
any info I can get will be greatly appreciated, if you know someone ask around and see what I am in for. I spent every last dime I had buying this thing. tks extech
I don't know about the trucks but my 97 pathfinder has the diagnostic mode selector screw that I use all the time to flash the codes. Whether it is OBDII or not has no link on whether they included this feature on the PCM. I think they didn't discontinue that until the 2000 or 2001 model years on the pathfinder. If they had it on the pathfinder models in the same year I would bet the trucks had this feature as well.
Yep that sounds like the same ecu mine has, ask around and see if anyone has heard of this problem it is weird
My 96 is OBD 2, your 97 is also. It can't be set to "flash codes" You need a code reader. Autozone did mine for free.
John
I th;ink u are wrong, mine can be set to flash codes, ign on turn screw counter clock wise, wait for mode and turn clock wise and check eng light will flash,,, does yours ecu have red and green lights??
Never heard of the Check engine light flashing while driving! Maybe the computer is stuck in diagnostic mode?
Heath
Nope ,,,can't get stuck in diag mode. even if it is, what does the number of long flashes mean, all the fault code info I can find calls for long and short flashes.
The check engine light can do two things, come on constant or blink. When it blinks it is more serious and probably a misfire. I've only had this happen once on a VW and it was misfiring badly. Check the owner's manual and I bet it has something like the following (from 97 Pathfinder manual):
Malfunction indicator light blinking — An
engine misfire has been detected which
may damage the emission control system.
To reduce or avoid emission control system
damage:
* do not drive at speeds above 45 MPH (72
km/h).
* avoid hard acceleration or deceleration.
* avoid steep uphill grades.
* if possible, reduce the amount of cargo
being hauled or towed.
The malfunction indicator light may stop blink-ing
and come on steady.
Have the vehicle inspected by an authorized
NISSAN dealer.
You would have to turn the diagnostic mode selector screw for it to flash any error codes (if your vehicle has one), otherwise it is just going to light up or blink.
your reply makes more sense, as I did get a cyl4 misfire fault code, whats the fix.???
My 96 is OBD 2, your 97 is also. It can't be set to "flash codes" You need a code reader. Autozone did mine for free.
John
The OBDII 1996 and 1997 will flash codes by moving the screw on the ECU, just like the earlier models. The codes may be different though... I have used this before. Works very much like my OBDI Q45s
Heath
__________________ 1997 Nissan XE Truck - 133,000 Miles
1990 Infiniti Q45 - 91,000 Miles
2005 Infiniti G35 Sedan - 34,000 Miles
Make sure you've turned the diagnostic mode selector all the way back (counterclockwise I think). I've seen mine not light up anymore if I leave it in between.
I think the key point here is not that it is flashing x amount of longs, but that it is registering a misfire and blinking the light for as long as the misfire is detected. For some reason right now it is intermittent but I bet it will only get worse.
Normally the first thing I would look at would be spark related, plugs, wires, distributor, ignition module but after rereading your post you are only seeing this at high end. Wouldn't that point to something in the fuel system? Fuel filter, fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator or a partially clogged injector?
__________________
1997 Pathfinder XE
Air Lift Air Bags, Warn Hubs
Make sure you've turned the diagnostic mode selector all the way back (counterclockwise I think). I've seen mine not light up anymore if I leave it in between.
I think the key point here is not that it is flashing x amount of longs, but that it is registering a misfire and blinking the light for as long as the misfire is detected. For some reason right now it is intermittent but I bet it will only get worse.
Normally the first thing I would look at would be spark related, plugs, wires, distributor, ignition module but after rereading your post you are only seeing this at high end. Wouldn't that point to something in the fuel system? Fuel filter, fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator or a partially clogged injector?
yes that very well could be. I have replaced plugs, ohmed plug wires and visually check dist cap a;nd rotor. Only thing I haven done so far is do fuel pressure test. I never thought of it before but maybe a leaking injector could be the fault, this would explain the miss at cruise speed. (not excelerating or decelerating. If I excelerate the miss goes away, or if I decel it goes away.
thanks for your reply.
Linear Mode
