Pathfinder wouldn't start - SOLVED!

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gascan
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Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2016 7:13 pm
Location: calgary, alberta

Pathfinder wouldn't start - SOLVED!

Postby gascan » Sun Mar 11, 2018 4:27 pm

I was having a hell of a time trying to figure out why my 2009 Pathfinder wouldn't start. I went through the usual crankshaft/camshaft sensor, fuel pump, and battery issues and was starting to worry that it might be something major (read: expensive). But the damn thing would crank like crazy, and every day when I would go back out and try to start it the battery would be dead.

Electrical issues are always a PITA to resolve, but luckily I have a retired F18 tech for a father, so I bounced some ideas off him via Skype (4000km away). I also did a bunch of research on any site I could find. The answer was the same, check for shorted wires and relays that could be causing the problem.

I finally found one guy who posted that it was his ECM relay that had died on him. He said the fog light relay was the same specs as the ECM relay, and is in the same fuse block in the back left of the engine compartment. I swapped the two of them and low-and-behold, she started for the first time in 3 months! Went to Auto Value and got a new relay for $18, and took it on a 150 km drive with no problems. Not sure how rare a failure mine was, but I know it took me a long time to find any reference to it and glad I finally figured it out and fixed it myself.

Thought I would share in case anyone else had the dreaded " my pathfinder won't start and I have no clue what's wrong" problem I was having.


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palmerwmd
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Postby palmerwmd » Mon Mar 12, 2018 4:16 pm

Always happy to hear about happy endings!!! :D


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