I got a 2005 Nissan Quest van. My check tires lights were on, one of the tire have low pressure, I pumped it up, and was fine, then happen again, low pressure and eventually the indicator said flat tire 28 versus 32 32 32 other three tires. Apparently the 28 psi tire flat was one of the front tire, and this van is a front wheel drive.

One day, after filling up gas tank and drove away, and on my way to free entrance, it was uphill, I stepped on the gas a little bit and noticed the tire slipped, and then all kind of lights came on and the engine stopped. I was able to pull it to the side with emergency light on blinking, flashing. I put in park and tried to restart a few time, and finally it started again. However all the lights are still on; Service Engine, ABS, TCS Off, SLIP. I was able to drive home and tried to trouble shoot.

I checked all fluid, engine oil seems low so I added some, brake fluid I filled up to top, water coolant filled up, washer fluid filled up although it has nothing to with it, haven’t check the transmission fluid yet as it not really needed but will do later. After that I started the engine, and it started immediately, I took it for a test drive, all the lights back to normal now except for the Service Engine Soon light. I went back home and disconnected the battery for a good hour, and then reconnect it. Start engine, took it for a spin again, and now Service Engine light off, that’s good news, so look like everything back to normal.

So what’s the cause. I strongly believe that the cause to all these was simply low tire pressure for one of the front wheel. This is a front wheel drive vehicle, if one of the front pressure is low or flat, when stepping on the gas too fast too hard one of the wheel react slowly because it’s too low in pressure or flat while the other wheel operate normally. As a result, I believe there’s a sensor that detect slipping or not balance and shut off the engine as the computer might detect it slipping off the road or to prevent further damage to the engine or drive train (transmission), so I think it shut off for safety precaution. Why I think this? Because I filled up the air and now all four tires pressure are the same, the van runs smooth now. However I think I would need new tires soon, since of the tire keep on loosing pressure and I don’t see any nail or anything puncture. All four tires appears to be worn out at least 3 of them.

In generation, if you get Check Engine or Service Engine soon, might want to do a cold reboot see if that help. Take off the card battery overnight maybe, then plug it back in, see if that will reset it.