2005 Altima v6 loss of power

Hi - I have a 2005 Altima 3.5 SE with ~30k miles. The other day I was driving along, about 20 minutes into the drive I took a left turn onto a street with a mild incline and my car was barely able to make it. I kept pressing on the gas but getting very weak response. I had to pull over.

I don’t remember now if the engine was revving when I did that (i.e. as if I was in the wrong gear) though I don’t believe it was. The car didn’t seem like it was stalling. I was able to get it going again. I pulled in at home, revved the engine and thought i heard a metal clanking sound. My gas was a little low so I decided to take a short test drive and go fill the tank. The car has been fine since.



That day was an extremely humid day. The AC was going full blast but I almost always have the AC on.



The previous night I had been on a camping trip and the car was parked in the dirt facing steeply uphill. I also had to drive over sticks, stumps, etc so I wondered if I had hit something but there’s no signs of leaks from under the car.



So I’m not sure if the high humidity, low gas, or what else caused this behavior. Any ideas?



The car is in excellent shape and has given me no trouble. I got it at 8900 miles. I’ve been pretty good with maintenance and always fill up with premium (recommended by mfr.)



Thanks for reading

I should also add that it has an automatic transmission - 5 speed

Wild theory time: a piece, inside the exhaust system --muffler, or catalytic converter – may have broken off and formed a blockage of the exhaust gases; thus reducing engine performance.
[I didn’t think that the Black Hole Theory would apply].

Interesting theory. It definitely seems to fit with what I experienced. At the time I assumed it was the transmission. I think I tried manually shifting but didn’t have any luck, it seemed like an engine problem. I thought perhaps it could be water or other impurities in the gas but from what others have told me it’d have been a lot more obvious if that were the case.

It’s been a few days now and there’s been no signs of trouble. I guess I’ll find out next time I’m in the shop.

Thanks again.