Originally posted by zzzya
I do not recall the G35s being a part of that recall, anyone know? If that is the case then Gurgen's car may defunct that theory. I am still worried about the heat generated under the hood. It would be interesting if anyone had engine temp and oil temp readings when engine failure took place as heat could stimulate detonation or pre-ignition. Where does everyone live who has bent their rods? Hot climates? Which fuel? Larger oil pans? Better radiators? What about intercooler design? Maybe this is a stretch but this engine/ecu seems to react to heat more than any other car I have owned.

Engine Sensors Replacement Voluntary Safety Recall Campaign [Oct. 30, 03]

Background
Nissan/Infiniti will be conducting a voluntary safety recall campaign for engine sensors on certain model year vehicles.

Reason for Action
Vehicles are being recalled for replacement of the engine crank position and cam position sensors. Improper operation of the sensors could cause the engine malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) to illuminate; create a no-start condition or reduced engine power; or cause the engine to stop running without warning during vehicle operation. To this date, no accidents or injuries have occurred.

Nissan Action
To correct this condition, at no charge to the customer, the engine crank position and cam position sensors will be replaced.

Nissan/Infiniti plan to begin notifying owners of potentially affected vehicles in December requesting them to bring their vehicle to a Nissan/Infiniti dealer. In addition to direct customer contact (via mail), Nissan will post recall information on the www.nissanusa.com Web site at the same time owner letters are mailed.

Statement
"Nissan North America is conducting a voluntary safety recall of approximately 790,000 Nissan and Infiniti vehicles to replace the engine crank position and cam position sensors. On certain vehicles manufactured from January 2000 through July 2002, the sensors may not operate properly and could cause the engine malfunction lamp to illuminate; create a no-start condition or reduced engine power; or cause the engine to stop running without warning during vehicle operation. To this date, no accidents or injuries have occurred. To correct this condition, the engine crank position and cam position sensors will be replaced at no charge to the customer. Nissan and Infiniti are committed to a high level of customer safety and service and will be working with its dealers to promptly address this condition. Customers will be notified by mail if their vehicle is affected by this recall."

The company also recalled the following vehicles sold in the United States under its Infiniti brand: 2001-03 I35's, 2003 G35 sedans and coupes,

Originally posted by zzzya
I do not recall the G35s being a part of that recall, anyone know? If that is the case then Gurgen's car may defunct that theory. I am still worried about the heat generated under the hood. It would be interesting if anyone had engine temp and oil temp readings when engine failure took place as heat could stimulate detonation or pre-ignition. Where does everyone live who has bent their rods? Hot climates? Which fuel? Larger oil pans? Better radiators? What about intercooler design? Maybe this is a stretch but this engine/ecu seems to react to heat more than any other car I have owned.

Originally posted by G3po
As for underhood heat. It coudl contribute to dentonation issues.
But some thos the failures seen occurred very abrubtly. Detonation failure takes a a while to pound it's damage. Many of the early SC intalls were clearly tuner issues and engines were destroyed due to prolonged detonation. Ther is a whole other clasa of failures with the TTs that do not exhibit the exact same symptoms.

The higher the specific output (HP/in3) of the engine, the greater the sensitivity to detonation. An engine that is making 0.5 HP/in3 or less can sustain moderate levels of detonation without any damage; but an engine that is making 1.5 HP/in3, if it detonates, it will probably be damaged fairly quickly, here I mean within minutes.

Detonation causes three types of failure:
1. Mechanical damage (broken ring lands)
2. Abrasion (pitting of the piston crown)
3. Overheating (scuffed piston skirts due to excess heat input or high coolant temperatures)

Originally posted by KyleB
Detonation can cause very abrubt problems on a high output motor. Unfortunately a lot of detonation info is in in3 so we will just say that the 3.5l is approx 213.5 cu in.



Taking this information into account, a stock Z motor has a specific output of about 1.3 at the crank. If you consider a 400hp twin-turbo, it has a specific output of nearly 1.9 AT THE WHEELS! Detonation at these levels can easily damage an engine relatively quickly.

Originally posted by G3po
WRT
Detonation causes three types of failure:
1. Mechanical damage (broken ring lands)
2. Abrasion (pitting of the piston crown)
3. Overheating (scuffed piston skirts due to excess heat input or high coolant temperatures)

The damged longblock I have , has two bent rods and "none" of the symptoms mentioned. Hence why "pre-igntion" is being considered the cuplrit. Root cause is still a mystery..

Originally posted by ihatethatbobbarker
god im thinking so hesitently about forced induction now.

any PE Z's blown their motors or just gurgen.
perhaps single turbo is the way.

Originally posted by gq_626
I just started reading this thread. Very interesting. My car is a 2004, but I belive that all of the failures were on 2003 model 350Z's. ZRAYGO, JoeNismo, Fernandino, Bini2, Gurgen....just to name a few.


Wonder if we are on to something here.

No doubt if this engine in question has bent con rods then the mechanical limit of those particular con rods has been exceeded for sure.

Originally posted by Z1 Performance
or it just ran low on oil

Trust me guys, it will not matter if you go SC, turbo, twin turbo, quad tubro, NA...the trick is:

1. select the right components for the job - especially fuel components. To properly do high HP forced induction (400 +), the car needs a return style fuel system with a healthy pump and a properly sized set of injectors.

2. tuning...best components in the world are just paperweights if its not tuned properly. Invest in some good datalogging equipment (wideband, some osrt of datalogger for ignition advance, etc) is a must for those looking to get reliable 400+ setups.

3. It could be a production date issue, but I suspect such issues would be on the revisions they have done to the ecu. Mechanicals, as far as I am aware, have remained the same, meaning that no date would be more/less safe to go FI with than another. However, the ecu map has been revised several times already. Since this serves as the baseline from where all tuning is done, this is where we should be focusing our attention IMHO.

Adam