heres the story-
last night i was heading down the interstate with the cruise set at 75. a semi pulled over in my lane so i had to slow down to about 65. then after the truck got back in the right lane i gently pressed the gas to get back to 75 and the engine just stopped. i looked down and the RPMs are at zero with all my dash lights (brake, check oil, etc) on. it was as if the ignition was on auxiliary.

so i get over to the far right emergency lane and try to turn it over. it fires up strong and then putts at only about 500 RPM. if you try to give it gas the RPMs get lower and it just dies. i checked all the basic stuff like oil, coolant, and belts and everything looks fine. i wouldn't think it would be the fuel pump because it fires so strong. maybe a sensor? or fuel filter? i'm really not sure. its being loaded on to a trailer as im typing this. i'm just really really confused how it could one second be running so strong and still fire up strong but wont stay running. any help at all would be so much appreciated. THANKS!!

 

maf sensor come loose?

 

Do you have any mods?

 

it was raining or not? .. because it does that to me 2 times becose cai was full of water.. or just tchek if there is dust on it .. i dunno ..just get it a try

 

It seems like it should have thrown a code, but the likely sources would be...

MAF sensor
Crank position sensor
Cam position sensor
Throttle actuator or position sensor
or some general ECU failure

 

it was completely dry and i have no engine mods (suspension and rims are expensive! lol). now this is really gunna switch it up, my dad went to go pick it up while i was working and he called me and said that it was doing the same thing i described. so they were trying to push it up on the trailer. it wouldn't go on the trailer they brought because of how low the car is. so they had to wait about an hour till my other friend came with a trailer low enough. when he got there they got out and the car fired right up and ran fine. they drove it into the trailer and then drove an hour and unloaded it by driving it out and even drove it around the parking lot. im really really confused now haha. i work at a bmw and infiniti dealership so they have everything to work on g35's which i know you all obviously know are the same motor. they dropped it off at the dealership so tomorrow we'll see what it does when we try to get it from the parking lot to service. any more ideas given this situation? lol and thanks so much for all the help so far.

 

"...the engine just stopped. i looked down and the RPMs are at zero with all my dash lights (brake, check oil, etc) on."

It's not possible for the engine to completely stop while the car is in gear at that speed without massive mechanical mayhem. So, the engine simply quit making power, and then it stopped when you either put the clutch in or shifted into neutral.

My question is this: Did the tach show zero and all my dash lights (brake, check oil, etc) come on while the engine was still turning? If it did, I'd suspect some sort of electrical system failure. If the tach went to zero and the lights came on AFTER you put the clutch in or shifted into neutral, then it's probably what Dave said.

This may be one of those flukey things that never happens again, and it'll be impossible to determine the cause unless there's a code.

 

If he's an auto it can happen, but if he has a stick then it's impossible. It's plausible that the motor quit while in "D" and stopped turning, but if it did it in 6th then it's undoubtedly electrical.

 

Check the airbox.

This actually happened to me once, almost identical
The box was coming loose randomly, Maf was tripping, car was stalling.

I bet that's the problem.

Tighten it up.

Better yet, shoot us some high quality pics in different segments of your engine bay, right after it happens, so maybe we can see...

 

Wrong.

There have been many MANY threads about people stalling after shifting to neutral at highway speeds.

 

The AT has a lockup torque converter. It won't release until the speed drops below about 30mph, or the the control unit calls for a downshift for more acceleration. In lockup mode, it's just like a MT. Having the torque converter unlock along with the other symptoms would point to the electrical system.

 

correct, JWT intake people have this issue alot it seems.. but an intake leak anywhere can do it, stock box or not. Id say it sounds MAF related as well.

 

My car did the same thing and the probles was the little ground wire that its on your top left side of your engine thats was alittle bit loose and cause my car to act up just like yours did, and no code were on, and it die while I was running.
Good luck!

 

Wrong.

I said that if his car was in 6th gear and he didn't do anything (ie did not remove it from aforementioned 6th gear) then it would be impossible as the motor and the wheels still have an unbroken connection. Diagnosis = Electrical

Indeed, but would you argue that it's possible that if he is an auto that he pressed down on the gas and the transmission came out of lockup and stayed in the state after the motor died. The car won't enter lockup without the engine running, so if he pressed the gas, broke lockup, and the motor stalled it would produce the exact result that he explained. The thing that gets me is he said he gently pressed the gas pedal, which would very rarely beak lockup at 65, but it's possible. With our auto at highway speeds you can apply quite a bit of pedal as long as the motion is smooth and linear, but apply the same amount of throttle in a quick "kick" motion and the car instantly tries to downshift, thus breaking out of lockup. Just a theory...

 

"then after the truck got back in the right lane i gently pressed the gas to get back to 75 and the engine just stopped."

I took that to mean he hadn't gone out of lockup, but who knows...maybe Bricker has a heavy foot.

I like ANIBAL's explanation based on his own similar experience. I'm hoping Bricker checks back in with the results from the dealer visit.

 

Okay heres the situation. its my air flow meter and air filter which then lead to also making a random cylinder misfire. keep in mind my engine is all completely stock, on the bottom of the air filter the seal is cracked or coming apart from the filter, however you wanna look at it. so im assuming because of that it threw off my air flow meter which then created a cylinder to get out of place. i wish he could have explained in a little better detail cause thats just what i made of what he was saying. but i do know that what has to be done to fix it is the new air flow meter (which is like 2 inches long and only takes 2 screws to replace yet costs $198 even with employee discount) new air filter, and then him going in and resetting all my idle stuff. im not sure if i would've replaced the air filter sooner that it would have prevented it. im going to ask him tomorrow when he fixes it cause like i said he didn't go into much detail at all.

and my car is a MT and i would also think that if i didn't shift to neutral or push in the clutch something really bad could've happened but i tried pushing the gas a few times before i realized that i was not getting any power (only cause i kinda freaked lol) then i pushed in the clutch and coasted to the side of the interstate. but i do know that when i freaked after pressing the gas all my dash lights were on my heat temp was normal and everything else but the RPMS were dead, WHILE still costing in gear with my foot off the gas and clutch. idk how it happened but it did.

 

Ahhhhh. Sorry I misread.

 

I doubt it would hurt anything to leave the clutch engaged (pedal up). The engine had plenty of oil pressure, so letting it turn without any fuel or spark won't hurt it.

Putting the clutch in gives you more time to make a safe escape from traffic. Kinda like feathering the prop when the engine dies on a plane to give it a better glide range.

Was any debris from the bad filter stuck on the airflow meter?

I'm not convinced the car is really fixed. Having a leak in the air filter shouldn't cause the engine to stop completely with no warning. I can see it going into limp mode, but not just quitting altogether. Shame on Nissan if it's really that sensitive.