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I tried searching for things left and right and nothing has given me a fix.. im going to try to give every detail i can so this may be a long post.
Let me first start out saying i bought this Z used about a year ago. It ran great, it was strong, it was how I always expected a Z to run.
'03 Silverstone 350Z touring package.. no mods, pretty unmolested, only have a K&N drop in filter. 106k miles when i bought it in april of 2014, now it has somwehere around 122k.. yeah i drive quite a bit.. living 55mi from work definitely sucks.
fast forward one day, about 3 months and 3k miles later after purchase, I was driving on the highway and one of those night and day storms hit where instantly it was pouring down rain, i couldnt see more than 5 feet in front of me. The car trooped along, or so i thought. i parked it out in front of my girlfriends work, about 20 minutes passed by and i went to start my car nothing was out of the ordinary, then after about 30 minutes of idling the CEL came on. this was the start of my worst nightmare, lol.
well i was like eh, sh** happens. then driving home the VDC, SLIP and CEL came on all at once and the car would not rev up or move. in first gear it went to 5mph and in second it jumped me up to 15mph so i was that guy waving people around and literally limped the car home making a 5 minute drive into a 30 minute drive.
anyways i went inside to blow steam off cause obviously cel = no worries but when it went into limp mode i freaked out. my new car, my baby was acting weird and i had no idea what it was doing. came out the next morning and the CEL was there but the slip and vdc were gone. so i drove 50 mi and the car drove fine, just as soon as i turned into my street the car did it again.
parked it and went back to google. people suggested it was the brakes the fluids, blah blah checked everything and everything was fine. last thing was reset and unplug the battery of course it wiped the CEL and the car was running normally. then went to work, as i work at a car dealership i got one of the techs to look into my car. he hooked up his scanner and said nothing was coming up at all. so i was like "eh maybe it fixed itself" NOPE.
as i continued to put miles on my car i would feel it sometimes bog and sometimes if i put the clutch in and put it in neutral it would just die or stall. if i slowed down too fast it would die. at first i thought i was possibly just being a noob and doing something stupid. but then i would pay attention to it and it did it very intermittently.. also in idle if i rev it up to any rpm and release the gas the needle drops to 800 then suddenly to anywhere from 500-200 rpms. it wouldnt stall on idle but still surging that bad is not any good.. still no CEL and no vdc limp mode. i know people that had this problem had a faulty MAF or crank sensor but had a CEL.. mine doesnt have a CEL or any codes..
still possible to have this problem with no codes??
4500 miles later i went to wash my car, of course when you try to treat a lady right she gets upet, and once i finished up i drove it around town, all highway (25-30mi trip) drove it semi hard (didnt redline it just made the car get to work a little) ran excellent shifted perfect but as i was coming up on my street about a block from home it popped up again. VDC, SLIP, CEL. I believe the ABS light came on too in this occasion but im not 100%. the ABS has come on before when these pop up. ill turn the car off and on and off and on. it sometimes turns the airbag light on and abs light on with it then when i kill and restart its gone.. this time i left it, it sat for a couple days until my buddy from work could bring his scanner over to my house and check out my car. once again he said its not giving me any codes that would fix the car instantly. he got a Fuel tank temperature sensor a voltage malfunction on the battery and something else dumb. he said he cleared the codes and then he left me his $6,000 scanner with me, said next time it does it to check the readings with the scanner and then maybe itll narrow something down a bit. returned his scanner after two weeks of no problems.
unrelated but will be a reoccurring problem later.. one day i was stuck in heavy heavy traffic and the HOV lane was zooming by so i decided to be an a-hole and cut into it, instant karma, i hit a nub from the lane dividers that i thought i could clear but apparently my car was too low.. drove about 30-40 miles and the CEL came on and after this day it STAYED on :/ ran codes and it was an o2 code heater something or other, bank 2 sensor 2 is all i remember tbh.. but thats the only problem i had from the above mentioned to 5k miles no issues... BUT THEN..
3rd and last time this happened, brings us to about 2 weeks ago. since he cleared codes the car ran tip top for 5,600 miles (except the 02 prob from above). then again went to wash it, this time i moved out of the bay and into the vacuum bay, cleaned the interior a bit. it idled for about 20 or so minutes and all of a sudden i heard the engine drop RPMS sure enough VDC, SLIP, and CEL on. car is not going anywhere. i bought a cheap scanner off amazon a bit ago to clear/read the codes and stuff just incase this happened again. but it didnt do anything. first time ive ever cleared codes on this car and they came back instantly like i didnt ever clear them. once again limped home.
this time when i read the codes 6 or 7 codes came up 3 of which were pending or whatever. 4 faults i believe. got the fuel tank temperature sensor, power steering pressure sensor, an 02 heater core sensor. and an ecu code.. left it parked over the weekend at my parents since they were easier to limp home to. lol
so i come back to their home on a sunday night and talk to my dad, he said "oh ill drive it to the mechanics tomorrow" i said "how do you plan on doing that? it wont go over 5mph" then he replied with "theres a CEL on but it drives great"
"**$*&$*%$@!&" was my response..
mechanic had the car for a few days, checked wiring, checked all grounds, nothing solved on my main limp problem.. replaced the fuel pump assembly since that includes the sensor that was throwing a code. and replaced the 02.. then said CEL is gone everything code wise is fixed.. drove it 20 miles and the CEL came back.. same 02 code.. car idles the same (surging).. car also stalls at times still. did battery reset and all the pedal smashing relearn crap this car needs but i have at this point given up hope.. want to drive the car off the cliff or hope someone steals it and limps into a chop shop somewhere so i can just get it out from under me. i owe money to the bank on it so selling it isnt really an option, plus wouldnt want to drop my headache on someone else because i wouldnt want that done to me.
car is sitting at the mechanics, told him i DO NOT want to see this car again until it is fixed. its now been a few weeks... LOLOLOLOLOL!
as far as i know, NO ONE besides me has experienced or witnessed the limp mode. so to everyone i tell its a myth because apparently my car loves to make me look stupid..
heres some fun facts or info on this car that i couldnt place in the main story...
sometimes my seatbelt light comes on even when im buckled in, abs light has flashed on with the vdc and slip light one time or two times but never stayed on while it was limping as if it was glitching or something.
i drove this car every day 100mi round trip and it ran strong except for the hiccups and the 02 light staying on.. but when it was pushed it ran hard.
on some occasions the cruise light flashes, my cruise never worked since i owned it. so i know its not affected by or effecting this glitch.
do any of you guys have any idea what could possibly be happening?
any suggestions? could it be an ECU problem? it threw that ECU code once but hasnt came back.. if i do need an ECU where do I get one? which one would work in my car?
about the 02 light staying on.. any suggestions? maybe the cats are bad? maybe the MAF or something is faulty? idk how that works, especially since its a heater circuit code.
if the mechanic doesnt figure something out im going to try and clean the MAF and maybe buy new crank sensors. kind of just take some shots in the dark and hope it gets fixed eventually.
any feedback would greatly be appreciated, ill also keep this updated if i figure anything else out on my own.
if you read all of this THANK YOU..
Last edited by JunkZ; 04-12-2015 at 07:35 PM.
Reason: left out a few important details
That was a big write up. My first thought was your catalytic converters were clogged. But if it runs fine one day and then acts possessed the next that doesn't make a lot of sense. The car seems to hate h20 is water getting in anywhere shorting out anything. If the current mechanic cant figure it out and your mechanic friend doesnt have any good ideas It might be time for the nissan dealership. If you work for nissan then im out of ideas. Good luck.
Yeah that's what I figured too about the cats but the cat systems are always ready when I scan for codes .
That's one thing I forgot to mention.. I can actually drive it through the car wash with no problems just as long as it doesn't idle and of course I drive through the rain every so often and nothing there either.
But small update.. Got the car back today and so far no CEL drove it 20+ miles scanners say heated O2 is ready which Is what usually threw the code originally.. Hopefully it's done but knock on wood with this car. All other systems ready for state inspection just need the last o2s. Mechanic said it was a stretched wire not making ground correctly he opened the harness and checked. Must of been that one HOV post I didn't quite clear
Still does the idle surge thing but hasnt died on me yet, I'll figure that out later just want to pass state as of now.
But in all seriousness, this is a very unique problem you're having. You probably won't find a generic solution anywhere on the forums, or on the internet for that matter. I suggest taking it straight to Nissan. Best of luck friend
Hahah I was just frustrated when I made this account. Always meant to join just sucks it had to be under these circumstances.
Now I'll just use the name to remember what my car has been through. Lol Just want the issue to go away so I can actually dump all my pennies into it instead of just solving mysteries Because honestly besides the issues I still love my car.
Anyways with time. All else fails I'll just do a v8 swap when I pay it off in the winter. Haha jk I wish.
This is far from a skilled diagnostic, but... this sounds to me like somehow, you're getting water into/on something important. First time you had the issue was in a heavy storm, the re-occurrence while you were washing. I'm almost positive someone posted something similar to this a while back with water as the main cause.
Make sure you look into throttle body relearn if you are going to clean it. As far as catch cans there has alot of debate. Do a search on them and see which idea you like the best. I was running a catch can but manage to not contain anymore oil so i just removed it for a cleaner engine.
Gl and welcome to the Z forum.
I had the same problem and no local mechanic could figure it out since it was very random. Worked well one day and not the next plus no check engine light. Turns out it was the electronic throttle body, pretty common problem and makes the whole system freak out when it’s not working properly. You can find them relatively cheap and super easy to replace. Make sure you do a relearn when you install the new one.
You could also try to look at your MAF sensor first as stated above because the problem with those drop in K&N air filters is if they are not cleaned properly and too much oil is applied it will be sucked up and gunk up your sensor causing similar problems to a bad throttle body. You can buy one of those compressed air spray cans at radio shack and clean it that way. Hope that helps.
Before going far, could you check the battery clamps and cables? Make sure the posts are tight, clean, and without white-green crust. Check if the hold-down is tight (not loose and not overtightened). Also, check the battery voltage when the ignition is turned off, it should be around 12-12.5V; a few tenths higher is ok.
When the warning lights came on, what's the reading for the voltmeter on the dash?
I reallly appreciate all the help you guys have been! Glad I joined the forums. And my Z and I have rekindled our love for the most part. Haha
Small update:
It's been about 400 miles since CEL has been off and hasn't come back. I haven't check for other codes yet but I will soon.
Car is running fine now hasn't had any hiccups except the surging and dying when I put the clutch in and Slowing down. Surging is constant and the stalling is very intermittent.
The other day here in Tx it rained pretty hard and I opened my passenger door the morning after to put my gym bag in and there was a small puddle on my rubber floor mat right under the dash. Windows were up so i checked all over the front right of the car to see possible entrances. Narrowed it down to the weather stripping right below the pillar under the windshield there seems to be a rip in the rubber. Never noticed it before. I believe this may be my ecu problem.
Hopefully I can visit a junkyard and replace that soon to see if that fixes anything.
Still plan on cleaning my throttle body and MAF when I can find some time. hopefully replacing the intake with a cold air soon as well and maybe all that will help those problems. Fingers crossed.
Also I know the rattle from the clutch is common in Zs when off the clutch and in Neutral but mine is ridiculous it almost sounds like it's loose and just clattering around in the housing. Pedal seems to squeak pretty well when I press it in and out. Any suggestions to fix this? Spray some lube in there or something? Idk
Kind of irrelevant to the main post but thought you guys may like a pic of my "Junk Z" haha got my spacers put on finally and I am now in love with my car all over again. Don't really think I'll lower it anymore since it already scrapes on things here and there and don't really feel like grinding my teeth down driving this daily. Lol
25mm spacers all the way around. Kind of wish I went with 30mm in the back but it's sitting pretty dang flush now with the fender. Not into the Hella flush scene tbh I like the more aggressive stance.
04-12-2015, 07:28 PM
NO ONE can figure out my Z
