1997 SE new distributor, still no spark

[posjapcar]

Hey everyone,
My friends 97 Pathfinder SE wouldn't start and we found that it had no spark. Everyone said that these year models were notorious for faulty distributors. So we installed a new distributor and it still has no spark. What elese should I be looking for? It has plenty of battery power, the motor turns over easily.

[posjapcar]

Really? Come on all of you experienced pathfinder owners must know something to help me out. Or is this forum limited to people who can give advice on the best air freshener to hang from my rearview mirror? Please somebody out there, help me out.

[mar1]

first of all, welcome to the club.
second, c'mon bro, play nice. your question hasnt been on for 24 hours yet even before your second post.

i'm sure you'll get some advice on what to do from some owners of the R50 (1996-2004 models). btw, you posted in the wrong thread, so i have moved it to the R50 forums where you might get better feedback.

Regards,
Marwan

[posjapcar]

Hey Mar1,
Sorry if I came off as snooty or pushy. Actually I am frustrated and getting desperate. Thanks for moving my post to the right place. As most of us know, being without a car is a major pain in the butt. What is even a bigger pain is not knowing exactly how to fix it. Just trying to help a friend out, I just don't want her to think I'm dragging my feet or blowing her off.

Again, my humble apologies for sounding like a jerk.

P.S. I prefer the Pine tree air fresheners

[tim73]

I am having the same problem. Replaced the distributor, but still no spark. I have 12V to the 6 pin plug(Cam sensor) and the 2 pin plug(Coil). I checked the resister, and best it reads 2.2Kohms, which is what the book says it should be. I am going to get another distributor, in case this one was bad out of the box. I am open to suggestions.

I do not have a good pinout for the ecm, as i was going to check the wiring going back to it. But, the diagram i have isnt right. The pin locations, do not match the actual harness on the vehicle. Says Pin 1 and two should be the coil, but both of those pins, have no wires on them.

According the paperwork I have, the distributor I have checks out(Coil has proper resistance etc) So, I am really not too sure what to do.

Finally, if this new distributor coming doesnt fix it, i will replace the ECM/ECU. The pathfinder is a MT, so, finding a box has not been really easy, as it seems most on ebay i see are from automatic cars. Oh, well, hope to hear some ideas.

[tim73]

Nobody?

[tim73]

So, got it fixed. I replaced the original distributor, and it didnt fix it. So then I just decided to start from the spark plugs and ohm out all the way back until I get to the ECM. Only made it back to the distributor cap. I had assumed that since the cap looked new, that it was good. Well, it wasnt. The coil on the distributor touches a pin on inside of the cap, which connects the coil to the button through the cap. And then as the button spins it touches each of the points on the distributor. Well, that circiut was open, the side pin and the center pin, inside the cap was broken. So, either both the distributor and the cap was bad or just the cap. I didnt take out the new distributor. Anyway, check everything:)