Questions and Answers

Nissan Pathfinder Check Engine Light Q. Hi Vince: I have a 1998 Nissan Pathfinder and have a slight problem with it. I have asked you for help before and you were right on, blower motor resistor, so I thought I'd try you again before I give up and take it into the shop for $$$ repairs. My problem is this: Three days ago I was doing my annual major cleanup of my vehicle and decided to clean under the hood with my power washer.

I didn't have the water on the engine for more than two seconds, literally, and had covered the battery and distributor cap with plastic to protect them. Everything was fine, I tried starting the engine to make sure it would work and it did, and nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.

However about three hours later, my son borrowed the truck and came back and said it was doing funny things. He said the "Malfunction Indicator Light" (MIL) was blinking and the truck was jerking violently when put in gear so he brought it back home. I looked at it about 20 minutes later and found that the MIL was on solid but the truck ran fine, I drove it around the block.

Since then I've had it sitting in the garage with the hood up hoping that something might dry out but the darn MIL is still on solid when I start the engine, it idles fine. I've looked in the owner's manual and all it says is that "It may indicate a potential emission control problem" and that it should be "Inspected by an authorized Nissan Dealer".

I've also tried searching the web for some ideas but I can't seem to find anything that might help. You are my last hope before I break down and get someone to find the trouble for me. I'd rather do it myself since I'm pretty handy with tools, although I am a little aggressive with power washers!! Do you have any idea what may be the problem or do I need to take it in? Here are my vehicle details:

• 1998 Nissan Pathfinder
• 3.3 liter V-6
• Manual transmission
• 110,408 kilometers
• Fuel Injection
• ABS brakes
• P/S, A/C, Cruise control

Thanks once again for your help,
Gerry

A. If the MIL is on, then there is a code stored in the PCM. In addition the MIL being on indicates it is a current malfunction. If the malfunction corrected itself, the MIL would turn off but the code would be stored for 50 key starts in it does not occur again.

You can pull DTCs from the PCM without a scan tool, but for a more exact code it's best to use a scan tool. Most large auto parts stores, Autozone for example, will pull the codes at no charge.

Long (0.6 second) blinking indicates the two LH digits of number and short (0.3 second) blinking indicates the two RH digits of number. For example, the MIL blinks 10 times for 6 seconds (0.6 sec x 10 times) and then it blinks three times for about 1 second (0.3 sec x 3 times).

This indicates the DTC "1003" and refers to the malfunction of the park/neutral position switch. In this way all the detected malfunctions are classified by their DTC numbers. The DTC "0505" refers to no malfunction.