So every once and a while about every 5 starts or so, my car gives me a problem starting. At first I thought it was the battery, Ive had it replaced twice. Then I thought it was the starter(checked by autozone twice also)......I am going nuts trying to figure out what the problem is......mind you this has nothing to do with the weather.....if its hot or cold......it keeps happening, any suggestions.

The beeping sound in the video is my radar detector going off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJJRiWsY-A0

the Z is an 04 enthu. with no engine mods.

 

if its not electrical then i would check for a fuel problem

 

^^ +1 i dont think its electrical because even if it was firing on 4 cylinders it should still start. fuel filter/pump? does your car bog or hesitate wen you try and go wot? any other symptoms?

 

is the fuel pump something I could diagnose on my own

 

Did you check the cam sensor there is a technical service bulletin out for them. All have to be replaced. Bad cam sensors will do this.

 

That sounded just like my car for the past two days. I brought my car to the dealer and they replaced my cam position sensor. Is your CEL on? There was a recall on this for early Z models, but even my 03 Z wasn't included (although I am contacting Nissan corporate tomorrow, but I'm not expecting much).

 

Try another key sounds like a NATS malfunction if you dont have a cel.

 

the problem is if I take it to the dealership they will charge me $90 no matter what.

 

why??

didn't someone just say that this is a recall, and for recalls they shouldn't be charging you anything..

I went to replace my slave cylinder since it was recalled, and they didn't charge anything..

 

Tell the dealership to check if you had the recall done yet. If you hadn't had this done then they should do it for free.

 

there is no listing for a cam problem on the nhtsa website.......the fuel recall I see is for fuel leakage problems.....which I am pretty sure I dont have.....

 

bump

 

If you can hear the fuel pump turn on when you turn your key on, it's working. It may be your fuel filter that's clogged up. If you're not sure, take it to the dealer. They may charge you $90 to diagnose the problem, but that may be cheaper than spending money and fixing things that may not be the solution to the problem.

 

Its not a recall, its a technical service bulletin. This means that nissan has had enough of these problems reacurring that they have put out a bulletin stating what the problem is and how to fix this. I'll have to check for sure if its covered or not, I'm pretty sure it is since I had mine done and I don't remember paying for it. I can find out for sure tomorrow.

The cam sensors go bad on these cars and need to be replaced with a different unit. They look identical but are different sensors, and different part numbers.

 

I really appreciate....and was your Z still under warranty at the time.

 

Yeah it was. I did find out that unless under warrantee they won't do it for free.

 

does the check engine light have to be on inorder for there to be a problem with the cam......just trying to ID what it could be before I take it too the stealership

...reason being is that my check engine light is not on

 

sounds similar to a cam position sensor to me as well. The startup sequence has to fail like three times before the CEL will come on.

You have 3 sensors that could cause this, 2 cam and 1 crank. 1 cam and 1 crankshaft are the same exact sensors ( i think passenger side is the same as the crank).

Its either that our the immobilizer. If you try to crank you car up with a key cut from your original with no transponder your car will crank like that. You may need a new module. Reason it may not throw a code is that its you keys problem and not the senor. The car doesnt know the transponder may be bad.

 

thanks

 

turns out is was the BCM(Body control module)...which I replaced 2day.