NJ-Z

Hey guys, I'm new to these forums as well as new to owning a Z. I recently swapped cars with my brother over the holidays. In the trade I received a 2003 350z touring, auto trans, 83,XXX on the dash. Car is all stock. I picked up the Z in NJ, and drove it back to my current home in Columbus, OH. 3 weeks ago, all of the lights came on in the dash, and I was having hard starts. Had all of the CAM and Crank sensors replaced. Car was back to working order. Yesterday morning, on the way home from work, I was low on gas (Below 1/4 tank). I stopped at the BP and pumped a full tank of 93 octane into the Z. On the highway headed home, the SES started to flash, and the car began to stutter. The car also sounded more grumbly than usual. I recognize this as a misfire. Shortly there after I arrived at home, shut the car off. Turned it back on Sunday evening, it was idling fine. 3 mintues out from work, on the highway, the same thing happened again. The SES is currently off, and it's not consistently misfiring. I have yet to go get the codes read, and have checked out other forums on here for suggestions. I will take immediate action once I'm off from work today (work 3rd shift), and take it to my local shop for a full diagnostic. My main question is, is it possible that the fill up had anything to do with the car behaving this way? Could it be bad gas causing the misfire?

Thanks in advance,
Rob.

travlee

iTrader: (8)

once you get the codes it would be easier for us to lead you in a direction, right now it would just be a guessing game. sucks that you are having issues

NJ-Z

Will update with codes, as soon as I get them. Thanks, for the prompt response.

NJ-Z

Got the codes read, two codes popped up.

P0303 cylinder 3 misfire
P0327 knock sensor circuit low input

travlee

iTrader: (8)

change plugs, and that one coil pack or all 6 (rockauto.com), and that sensor.... then go from there

might want to read this

https://my350z.com/forum/maintenance...placement.html

NJ-Z

Thanks for that, someone over there had a similar issue and claims that replacing both the KS and the KS harness fixed his issues. Just another quick update, on the ride to autozone and then to my house the SES came on, and remains on. However, I didn't experience any misfires at all. I called the dealership and they have the parts, however they can't get me in until tomorrow. I know it's obviously bad to continue driving with any issues, but I still need to get to work tonight, and then to the dealer tomorrow, roughly a combined 15 miles of driving. How detrimental would it be to drive under these conditions?

travlee

iTrader: (8)

obviously the least you have to drive it the better, but i think you would be okay

NJ-Z

Alright, thanks for the advice Trav, and again the quick response time.

travlee

iTrader: (8)

if you are mechanically inclined, you can do all this yourself and save alot of money.

NJ-Z

I wouldn't call myself mechanically inclined and I have absolutely no tools, so looks like the stealership will be getting paid.

travlee

iTrader: (8)

that sucks... do you have christian brothers shops up there? i have used them in the past on my old trans am... cheaper than gm would have been and they are a faith based shop... you have to be a deacon in a church to purchase a franchise

NJ-Z

Interesting. They don't have an Ohio location, but that's a very interesting concept. I recently moved here, so I kind of have a guy that I go to around the corner from me, however he's always booked solid, and I need to get this taken care of quickly. This is my daily driver, and I do have somewhat of a commute. However upsetting these issues may seem to me, I know the car I traded to my brother has and will continue to have significantly more issues, and is equally if not more costly to maintain than this Z. (1992 VW Corrado SLC)

NJ-Z

Took it to the dealership on Tuesday, they did a full diagnostic, they said the coil packs seemed ok. I mentioned reading about the KS and KS harness, and having those replaced, and was told by the tech that in all his years there he's never recommended changing out the KS, and that the KS wont throw a SES. They replaced the spark plugs noting that there was a bit of oil in spark plug #6. SES went away, as well as the misfires. Car felt great, firing on all 6, power restored. Didn't do much driving since then. Today, (Friday night) I start the car, and the misfiring immediately begins again. It now seems worse than ever. Before misfires were intermittent, now it's a constant. SES is back on, I'll have those codes read once I get off from work.

legsr4lurking

What came of this? Just got an 03 last week. Been lurking the threads and mine came with every typical problem (transmission grind, window motor issue) and now a flashing ses. Car doesn't feel down on power but I really haven't had it long it enough to really judge since I just got it back from them replacing the transmission. It's a base model. I'm hoping it's something simple. Hopefully getting it to a dealership to have the codes checked. I hope I didn't make a mistake getting this.

Sorry for a noob 1st post

Spike100

Not to worry. You didn't give the codes for the SES, but I suspect (based upon the mileage you report) the problem is either crankshaft or camshaft sensors (or both). Neither is an expensive repair.

I have a 2003 that I bought new. I still have and love the car.
--Spike

legsr4lurking

Just got the code today. They said it only came up with "knock sensor one". I guess i should check my coils maybe? Car drove like a champ there and back no issues/no lights. Hopefully it's nothing major.

Also oil psi stuck maxed out. have to hit the gauge a time or two to get it to set properly. Might need a new oil pressure sending unit.

Spike100

My oil pressure sender went out at about 95k miles.

legsr4lurking

I'm currently at 85 and some change. I did some searching and ended up giving the gauge a nice tap and it's worked perfectly since then. Still gonna end up replacing it sooner than later though I suppose.

Also got the codes pulled and it was the knock sensor. P0327
Guy at the shop priced up the repair and came out to just under $500. Went to Autozone and ordered a new one for $40. Should be here tomorrow.

Spike100

I think you are on the right path... I have had a better experience diagnosing and replacing failing sensors myself or having the Nissan dealership do this, as opposed to having a generic repair shop do the fix.

legsr4lurking

Agreed. I just took it to the shop to have the alignment fixed and figured I'd grab the codes there. I wanna do it myself but I'm kinda absent minded so I'm gonna try to get to the dealer today. Thanks for all the help btw.