I’ve got an 05 base 6MT with 13,000 weekend miles on it. The car was running perfectly normal (no power loss, erratic idle, or CEL) and I had just come to a stop before crossing over a 4-lane highway (with no stop light) of 55 mph traffic. As soon as the coast was clear I attempted to cross. As I got halfway across the first lane, the car started stalling, as if I didn’t give it enough gas or something, so I naturally put the clutch in and tried to keep it alive. However, it didn’t respond and it completely died despite trying to start it several times. The starter would run, but the engine would not kick over. Meanwhile, I’m rolling across the intersection at about 1-2 mph while oncoming traffic is coming fast. I think they saw my new car and assumed that I couldn’t possibly be having engine trouble, so nobody even slowed down until the last minute, and I mean their tires locked up and they were 5 feet from colliding with me. I had my girl in the car and we nearly shiat ourselves. I pushed it off the road and had it towed home a few nights ago and it still has the same problem, it won’t kick over when its being started, it seems like there is no spark or something.

I have a few mods and it has been carefully maintained:
full catback
resonator-less test pipes (with the spark plug non-fowler remedy for the CEL in the 05)
MAF adapter with K&N filter

Its still under warranty so I was going to take it to the dealer. I want to avoid them trying to blame it on my mods or something so I am going to take off my test pipes and my put back in my intake box.
I have no idea what caused this; there is absolutely nothing out of order under the hood and no previous indication so I am puzzled.
This is my first time trying to get warranty-fix, so I wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts on its cause or additional suggestions for my particular situation. Thanks.

Just for shiats and giggles: I made a poll.. I'd like to know your opinion if I should remove my mods before bringing it to the dealer, given my situation... I hate having to take stuff off, only to put it back on a few days later!

 

well i have no idea what happened but i say take it to the dealer to see whats wrong with the car.

 

close call good thing you and your girlfriend didnt get hit

 

+1 on you guys being safe and good thing you still have warranty, it sucks about taking out your mods tho. Here in fla there is a local dealer whose shop is a Z performance shop, they are straight to the point and ask you what mods you want while your car is all taken apart, lol.

 

That shop your speaking of wouldnt happen to be PalmBeachPerformance ? They built my entire car. I love dealerships who cater to car buffs

 

Keep us posted on what the resolve is. Mate of mine has a similar thing happen in his 350. Going up a hill at 100kms, and the engine died completely. Slightly different, but might have a similar contributory factor.

 

I'm curious as to the reason as well. That must've been scary.

Let us know what the dealer says.

 

Oh yes PalmBeachPerformance FTMFW! they are awesome!

 

Thanks for everyone's thoughts. I should have it in the dealer next week, and I'll definitely update once they've made a diagnosis.
It’s just so strange and shocking that it could have such a critical failure like that without any warning...

On a side note:
Its sort of funny and scary at the same time, but minutes before all this happened, I remember distinctly having the thought that I'd love to have a new '07 with the new, higher-revving engine. In fact, I kind of fantasized about it briefly while driving the Z, and not long after the thought left my head, at the WORST possible moment, the car catastrophically failed. I mean, I had this thought while entering the parking lot to pick up some Chinese food, and this all happened in trying to leave that parking lot ...Kind of like I hurt the car’s feelings and it lost the will to live! To make it worst, my girlfriend named the Z "Henry" when we bought it, so for the past two years we've openly referred to the car as "Henry" (I don't think the name "350z" has been muttered more than a dozen times), and everyone we know, knows the car as “Henry.” If I’ve ever had a car with its own persona (and possibly a spirit), this car would be it. I don’t really believe in stuff like this, but after this, it sure has me thinking! Not to go off on a “Herbie: The Love Bug” tangent, but this is just like something that would happen in a movie. My girlfriend honestly believes this is all my fault…
Just as fair warning for others… don’t fantasize about driving other cars while in your Z.

 

what year and how many miles are on the car?

 

Henry, more like Christine!
She tried to get ya murdered

 

an rsx passed by and the z felt humbled and lost its will to live. =] on a more serious note... good thing you guys are safe, that happened to me once but it was when I was learning how to drive a manual, pretty embarrasing to die in the middle of an intersection.

 

lol was the first thing he said

 

lol oops talk about selective reading

 

Sounds like you ran out of gas and your not reading the correct fuel.

 

Aww, that's sad. Poor Henry.
Glad your OK. I imagine the dealership will be able to fix that right up. We hope anyway.

 

I would check your MAF the oil of the K&N filter could have gotten your MAF all dirty check it out.

 

wow.. that's dangerous . glad u guys are okey.

 

I definately agree with what you are saying, I had a MAF connection problem before and the car died in the same fashion... I just finally got around to taking off my test pipes and k&n filter last night to put back on the stock ones. In looking at the MAF, I couldn't see any signs of oil residue on the actual inside of the MAF pipe, and its impossible to tell whether or not the little unit inside that measures the air is blocked at all by oil? I don't know how I am supposed to check it?
Well.. I was just about to call to have it towed to the dealer anyway.. I was just checking up here one last time to see if there was anything life-changing...
I hope its not the MAF, and something that is not my fault so they don't rape me!!!

 

Shiat... I just used the search function on oil in the MAF sensor and how to clean it with the CRC stuff... I'd love to try that.. only thing is, I called to get towed to the dealer about an hour ago and was looking around up here while waiting for him. Its a little too late I guess