Summary of issue. (not my Z)

Greddy kit installed, Utec installed, no tune

Z has been running fine, but rich, for approx 1400 miles with no issues

No abuse, just normal driving

A few days ago, arriving at destination, Z dies

Check spark, only left (driver's) side fires

Check plugs, change plugs due to them running so rich

Unplug Utec, same issue

Does anyone have any insight as to what may be causing right (passenger) side not to fire? No spark at all on right side, but left side fires.

 

are you sure its the whole passenger side, there is a subharness that controls the front two coils on passenger side. make sure after you get it situated, you bring me the car to tune

 

I'll double check that, but I believe it's all three.

 

Oookay. With confirmation, only the front two were checked. I've sent him back to check the third and confirm that the subharness is connected properly.


Just in case, is there somewhere where the subharness may be disconnected or any other issue that may result in it preventing spark in the front two?

 

ok, no spark on plugs 1, 3, and 5. checked thru steps 10 on IGN diag in the service manual. storm picked up outside couldnt continue to test voltages etc. so far everything has checked out OK, so im hoping im narrowing it down. with the luck ive had lately, im thinking its entirely possible, however unlikey, that i had a voltage spike that fried all 3 coils on that side. but thats a total shot in the dark at this point

 

Yes, you can take that little sub harness off. It's right on top of the valve cover. Disconnect and inspect for cuts/frays/etc. If it looks good then it might have just been loose.

 

You can swap your coils from side to side and then see if you get the same problem. If you do it's your coils, if not then it's the harness

 

havent made it that far yet. wanted to go step by step for what the manual called for.

 

so far, still no luck finding the issue. i have done every all the test shown by the service manual. i have continuity from the ECU to the coils so far as i can tell, (pin 1 on the coils to pins 60, 61, 62, 79, 80, 81..... one pin per coil) i have not been able to check the coils, i do not have the proper tool.

bump for advice

 

have you swapped coilpacks from the left side?

 

i ended up testing the coilpacks with a multimeter, they tested ok. its gotta be a bad connection somewhere, i just cant find it

 

is it possible my ECM crapped out??? i seem to be getting a good reading on all the test functions as described in the Service Manual. I might go back and double check some things tomorrow, but im at a loss at this point.

 

possible....

 

does anyone know of a way to test the ECM? i cant find such a procedure in the service manual

 

swap left to right. if it still is crapped out on the left, then you know it's not the coilpack for sure. you could ask a friend to swap in their ECU. I think you'll need their key to start the car. I would not plug in the UTEC or the UTEC harness in any way as that may have caused the issue with your ECU, if it is indeed the ECU. Then you may end up with 2 burned out ECUs.

 

Well, a few of my friends work at the local dealership that has a ford lot and nissan lot. One of the techs from the nissan side stated that a faulty knock sensor has been known to cause one bank to completely shut down.

I texted that to you earlier, but I'm not sure if you've had time to check that sensor yet.

 

have you scanned for codes? Scan for codes before disconnected the battery....

 

I doubt it, my sensor wiring melted through and all it did was retard timing to 10 degrees at WOT

 

^+1 there may be a stored code that has not set off the light yet

 

whatever happened to it didnt have time to set a CEL. that was the first thing i checked. i drove it down the road no problems, got to my parents house, pulled in the driveway, an it started to idle rough, then shut down. i immediately assumed it was the plugs since it has been running really rich since the turbo install. i pulled the plugs out and they looked pretty rough, so i swapped them for new, tryed to start, and it would run about halfway. went and pulled plugs on bank 1 (just b/c they are easiest to get to) and none of the new plugs had fired at all......

come to think of it, i never actually checked to make sure there was no spark when i saw that. i just assumed they werent sparking since there was no evidence of combustion on the plug. i guess technically if its not getting any fuel, i could have gotten the same results....... f*ck, now i gott go start over.