03 350Z Won't accelerate but idles fine - HELP!
 

Hi guys, I've always found this site helpful and have searched all day today for a solution to my problem I experienced today but cannot seem to find a definite answer.

I was driving at about 60km/h then had to come to a stop to turn right. Had the car in first gear and then as soon as I went to accelerate the battery light came on and the car wouldn't budge. The car was idling perfectly fine, just wouldn't let me accelerate at all.

I ended up quickly shutting the car off then starting it back up right away, and tada! The car took off like always.

My car has done about 206,000km (14 years old at this point) so it's pretty high up there age wise, and the alternator has never been replaced, and typically I hear the alternator has a life span of about 8-10 years. I have read through one thread on another site that the voltage regulator in the alternator could have turned to crap causing this issue.

I was wondering if anyone has experienced this exact issue and managed to fix it by simply replacing the alternator? Or is replacing the alternator not the fix I'm looking for? Is there a different issue causing this?

I do not have any engine mods at the moment, under the hood is completely stock. Sorry to start a completely new thread, just extremely desperate to have this resolved as this is my daily and only car at the moment.

Thank you (:

More than likely you hit 'limp mode' (common term- do a search). The cause is unknown, but you should use the sophisticated diagnostic system to read any codes held in memory. The code(s) will usually pinpoint the problem much better than just throwing parts (like an alternator) at it.

Thank you for the reply! This is the first time I've actually heard of limp mode. I have searched around and it appears a common fix is to clean the air sensor, which I will try tomorrow. I'm hoping this will fix the issue as I'm kind of scared to drive it at the moment haha. Unfortunately I don't have the tool to gather codes so I guess trial and error at this point.

Really not such a good idea, and you can easily do more harm than good, as well as waste a lot of time and money. Code readers are universal, so most any shop or parts store should have one.

You do raise a great point. I'll clean the air flow sensor and see how that goes. If the same issue occurs I'll try and get my hands on a diagnostic tool right away. Will be great for all future cars as well.

I'm going to bet that you have a failing throttle body, alternator, or battery. What is the battery voltage read-out at idle?...

These threads wear me out, take it to autozone or any other big box parts place and have codes read....then come back and ask questions if you are still confused

Bad Tranny? I replaced the TPS (BTW never buy the sensor. Buy one used with the pedal. ) so now it will run and drive but still misfiring. All lights are off. Only code that comes up is the po300 multiple misfire

I replaced throttle body and voltage is 14+. ,It seems like the coil pak I bought new was crap. we shall see I bought them all as well as new plugs again. Just in case... they all looked good.

2 years late to the party