Pathfinder 1999 engine dies while runnin

[mikaka]

Hi guys.

I got a 1999 Pathfinder 3,5 v6 and recently I've been having some issues with it. Basically, it runs all smoothly and fine for shorter distances. Once I drive it for 45min to an hour, it just magically dies without a warning when slowing down or just cruising a steady 40mph. To me, it seems to be an electrical problem, as it doesn't stutter, it just shuts off...
It starts again without hesitation but as soon as I put it on gear, or rev it up, it stalls again. After letting it cool down for 25min or so, it works fine and I was able to drive back home. Also, no sign of check engine light... I am in Australia so reading the codes on my own is out of the question and mechanics charge quite a bit of money for it so I thought I'd ask here first.
Performance of the car seems to be normal to me and it doesn't hesitate when accelerating etc so it seems that the engine is getting enough fuel. Any ideas?

[smj999smj]

Are you sure it's a 3.5 V6 and not the VG33E V6? If it is the 3.3L, then I would bet on a faulty distributor as the cause of your problem. It's a very common issue after 100,000 miles.

[mikaka]

My mistake, it is the VG33E v6. Would those symptoms still point towards the distributor, even though it starts just fine after cooling down a bit? I did a bit of googleing and it seems that other people with distributor issues had problems of starting it...

[smj999smj]

That's consistent with a faulty distributor issue on the VG engines. They tend to fail when they get hot and they cease sending spark to the plugs, causing them to misfire and/or stall. As it cools down, often around 20-30 minutes, they start working again for a while. If you get it to stall, check for spark. If there's no spark, I would suspect a faulty distributor. I would also recommend getting a genuine Nissan remanufactured distributor if you do need one, rather that a poor quality, aftermarket unit.

[mikaka]

Cheers for your help. I was hoping that it would have stalled today so I could have checked for sparks but all went smoothy. I will keep on eye on it from now on though.

[mikaka]

Just to clarify my previous post... After stalling, I can actually start it straight away, and it will idle but once I put gear on and try to drive or rev it, it stalls again. After 20-30min of cooling down, it possible to continue driving again. So it starts without issues even after stalling. Just wanted to make sure that this doesn't change things... ?