Posted: Apr 08 2009 at 7:50pm | IP Logged

Greetings,

I have owned an ‘05 Titan LS k-cab, and have never had any reason to complain about it.  Even after 112K (and change) miles.  Late this last Saturday night, I went out to get some pizza, and the engine just died while driving. I was doing about 40mph.  The engine sputtered (like when a vehicle runs out of gas) a few times, the ‘check engine’ light flickered on and off, and that was all she wrote.  My first reaction was to give it gas thinking that I may have run out of gas, but was still unresponsive (the tank was ¾ full).  With some speed left, I managed to pull off the main road into a side street.  I attempted to start it, but although the engine cranked, it seemed like it was not firing.

I was not able to have towed to the local dealership because it was closed on Sunday and there was no accessing their facilities.  So I made a decision (which I now regret) to have it towed to a Goodyear close to where I live.  Their parking lot was accessible for a drop off, and I could at least walk there if I was left without a ride (I do not have a second vehicle).

Fast forward three days later…

They could not obtain any type of code to accurately diagnose the problem, so they proceeded with a ‘process of elimination’ approach.  They ended up ordering and replacing two sensors that they felt would fix the problem. First, they tried the camshaft sensor…and nothing.  They next installed the crankshaft position sensor…and viola!  It’s Alive!   Problem fixed! So we all thought. 

I left my rental car there and took the Titan home with the intention to drive it around a bit before the day ended.  Picked up my wife and baby to run an errand to the post office and had planned to pick up the rental car on our way home. 

Then wham! It happened again!  Right as I was pulling into the post office parking lot, the exact same thing happened.  Not even two hours after I had picked it up.  This time however, just seconds before the stall, I noticed something I had not noticed the first time this happened.  In fact, I was in the middle of telling my wife about it when it stalled.  I felt a slight erratic reving of the engine, confirmed by the tachometer needle slightly oscillating up and down (kind of like when driving a ‘cold’ car before it warms up on a winter day).  Again I was doing about 30-40mph. 

Given that I had just paid a big chunk of money to these guys, and they are committed with their parts and labor warranty, I just told them to pick it up and try again to retrieve some type of code and really fix it this time. 

I’m already anticipating that the're going to try and replace more parts at my expense, so I'm going to give them until tomorrow noon to figure something out, or I’m taking it to the dealership, even if it means taking a loss on what I already paid.  I’m getting desperate.  On top of that, the cost of a car rental is getting pretty high pretty fast.

Has anyone ever experienced a problem like this???????

Just looking for some piece of mind.

Thank you.

PS.  sorry about the long post.

Posted: Aug 03 2009 at 5:03pm | IP Logged

Hey!  Did you ever find out what was wrong with your vehicle.  My sister and brother-in-law is having this same problem with their Titan.  No one seems to know what is causing the problem.  They removed their crankshaft position sensor and thought everything was a go.  Two days later their truck went dead again driving down the road.  The engine light came on and then back off.  It is at the Nissan delearship NOW tring to figure out what is causing the problem.  So, if you have any insight please let us know. 

Thanks!!