Hey All!!
I have had my 2003 Nissan Pathfinder for about 8 months now, and have been having rather serious issues for 5 months.
When I bought the car in Feb 2022, I had a number of gaskets, hoses, and plugs replaced, namely valve cover gasket. It has thrown codes for VVT solenoid, Catalyst Efficiency, and Camshaft Position Sensor, which did not return after VVT Solenoid removed-cleaned-returned.
In May 2022 I was driving a mountain pass and heard a pop(not an engine sound, but more like a vacuum air seal pop), then lost some power, CEL came on but the rig continued to drive semi-normally for another hour to my destination that night, and another 4 hour to my next stop..
Threw codes for Camshaft Position Sensor, one VVT Solenoid, and Catalyst Efficiency. Was also completely out of Oil and Power Steering Fluid.
Refilled Oil and PSF, and removed-cleaned-returned the coded VVT solenoid. Engine running well, but with high idle, still loss of power, and massive mystery oil leak.
drove 800+ miles with 200+ pounds of gear. no issues but loss of power and oil leak and slight PSF leak.
Fast forward to Sept 2022, battery dies. Get new superstart extreme battery.
Drives 1.5 hours, New battery is Fried Car dead on hwy. dead alternator??
What could be causing these fluid leaks that are killing my rig? Does not look like Valve cover gasket is blown again. No smoke from tailpipe.
thanks for reading, and for the help!
-J
dead alternator?
probably.
batteries + alternators often die together, which is why you should always test them both.
You should probably fix all those trouble codes before taking the vehicle on long journeys.
What could be causing these fluid leaks
holes where they should not be.
Start with a cylinder compression test.
