Howdy all. I've got a question regarding my Nissan Armada. Since there are quite of few people with good mechanical knowledge on here, I figure I could try asking here even though its not my WRX. I thought about posting on ClubArmada, but my experience there hasn't provided me the confidence to ask. Car: 2005 Nissan Armada LE, 4x4 Automatic Pertinent Modifications: Bully Dog GT Tuner (its a piggy back tuner thing where you can preset some ecu parameters like fuel octane grade, pedal response, rev limit, speed limit etc. It also pulls diagnostic codes from the ECU as it connected via the ODBII port) I have it currently set to 87 octane with a slightly more sensitive pedal response. Also have a K&N panel filter. I've had the Bully Dog on the truck for over a year and half and haven't had any issues. Most of this time, I had it set to 93 octane for the extra power boost according to my butt dyno. Description of the problem: My wife was driving home last night and the car shut down on the highway. She said the gas pedal became really hard to depress. No check engine lights or any other indicator lights. When I got to the truck, I pulled the spark plugs and they all still look good, small hint of white on the iridium tip (NGK Iridiums). I checked and cleaned the MAF, checked and cleaned the air filter, checked oil and antifreeze. Everything looks fine. I checked for ECU codes on the Bully Dog but there were no codes. When I try to start the car, it will crank but won't turn over. The car has coil packs so there isn't a distributor. I had the car towed home and I pulled the battery to check the voltage using my boat battery charger, it was somewhat low (50%) and the voltage was about 12.1-12.2. I charged the battery anyways. I pulled the ECM relay (Engine Control Module) as it has been known to fail on these trucks, and swapped it with the fog light relay and it still wouldn't turn over. This morning, I hooked the battery back up after charging to 100% and it did turn over for a quick 5 secs, then it struggled to idle and died. I tried it a few more times, pumping the gas while starting but it didn't turn over anymore. It sounds like maybe spark or fuel related. Maybe the fuel condensation of sitting overnight helped it turn over? Also, could a fuel pump or alternator cause this? Is there a way to check the spark, fuel and alternator to determine what is the issue? There are no other mechanical issues with the truck. I did notice that a few months back, I started to smell a hint of burning oil while driving, no smoke though. When I swapped over to the Rotella T6 oil, no more smell. Also, I think the injectors are loud. They ticked loud, almost like a valve tick. Apparently this is normal and common. Any ideas would be awesome. Recent maintenance or modifications: Oil change 1k miles ago from conventional to Rotella T6. I don't think this would cause any issues. Thanks for reading this novel of a post.
Sounds like a fuel pump to me since you got it to stumble a bit. Get underneath and kick the tank while someone tries cycling the key.
I doubt it's your battery. Does the fuel pump make noise when you turn the key to on? You should be able to hear something without trying to turn it over. If not that may be the culprit.
Thanks guys. I tried to listen for the fuel pump to prime but I couldn't hear it, never really could in this truck. Its no where as loud as my DW or even stock fuel pump on my WRX. During lunch, I'll run home and pull the carpet and pump cover, then try to prime.
Nope, when I first got to the truck off the side of the highway, it felt normal. My wife stated that it became difficult to depress when the engine shut off, brakes were fine. When I try to start the car now, the pedal is normal.
This has to be the best "please help" style thread I've ever seen on mnsubaru, and its not even about a subaru. Well played sir, well played.
Do you have a way to check the throttle position sensor output? There really is no reason a DBW car would have a hard to press pedal unless the very unlikely situation where something in the pedal mechanism is damaged. If this is the case it could cause your issue (ie. no fuel if you try to crank it while the gas pedal is floored). Assuming that is working fine, I would agree that the fuel pump sounds like a good place to start.
Turns out the truck was just out of fuel. There was a recall on the Armada for the fuel gauge sending unit but Nissan stated my VIN wasn't part of the recall when I called them. The recall stated that symptoms of a bad fuel gauge sending unit would be that the fuel gauge never shows lower than 1/4 tank. My fuel gauge was right at 1/4 so I pulled the fuel pump assembly and the tank was basically dry. I added some fuel just to see if Nissan was mistaken about my truck not being part of the recall. Turns out this was indeed the issue. The truck fired right up. I'll be taking it into Nissan tomorrow to prove to them my fuel gauge sending unit is malfunctioning. Thank you everyone for helping out. You guys are awesome.
