Sputtering During Warm-up
 

Just noticed a on-going problem with my Z that occurs, when you start-up after sitting for a while. In any gear, while barely tapping the gas pedal, it will sputter around 2,000 RPMs. The car has 8700 miles on it. I am currently using Mobil 1 0w-40 as of this oil change. Previous was Penzoil 10w-30 full synthetic. Has anyone experienced a similar problem during warm-ups?

I go by what Nissan recommends 5W-30. After 10K miles I'll go with the Mobil 1 full synthetic.

Yes I have, and it didn't start until 14k miles or so. I've had it to the dealer once, last week...of course they could not duplicate it as it was already warmed up. I'll let you know what I find (if I find anything). FWIW, the engine is not throwing any codes, so can't figure it out that way.

John

I've had my performance mechanical do it once when we were testing it and he responded wtf was that.. lol. I'm change out the air filters this week to see if its that.. by chance.

likewise, I have the filters on order.. I'll let you know. Strangely enough, my car hasn't done this since I had it at the dealer...after doing it almost every time for a while. Still, it doesn't seem to run as smooth until it's warmed up good.

John

are you referring to like the first 5-10 minutes of driving city streets. When you excelerate the car starts to jerk and bog jerk and bog? I experiance this as well. I let my car idle for about a minute or two. Then go. I try to keep it under 2500 RPM until the motor is fully warm and oil PSI is normal but like i said, for the first 5-10 minutes of driving stop lights my car acts up.

yep, that's kind of it.. although warming up won't stop it. and it doesn't happen for me above 2500, it seems to be around 1800 -2000 most of the time...and at light throttle. Interestingly, if you change the throttle position it seems to go away quickly.. most of the time not to return. I almost suspect something with the TPS, except that it's limited to the "warming up" period.

TPS? I have a base model and i have this problem as well.

note, i had this problem before i did ANY of my mods too.

tps - throttle position sensor.. all models have this

I have base too.. started doing this in the summer time.. I had the exhaust since I bought it.. so i know its not that. -Thanks

hm, no problem here.. 07 manual.. I let the car warm up for 30 seconds and thats it.. and drive off while being easy on the car. Only thing different on startup is higher rpms, so the car tends to pull itself when I release the clutch.. so I apply light throttle. And the manual transmission is a stubborn one when it comes to getting into gears smoothly when its cold. More notchy.

my car does that too, i never thought much of it. funny!

does anyone else notice that when the car starts to go into *sputter mode* the exhaust sounds different too? I realized the other day that when my Nismo sounds different...it sounds more throaty, that i know the sputtering is coming, and sure enough it does. I give my motor a quick rev to like 6k and it gets rid of the problem. So i guess this narrows it down to a mechanical issues.....

anyone else wanna chime in? I'd like to take my car to the dealer to get it fixed but i would have no idea where to tell them to start looking to solve the problem.

It's funny, I was just about to post a thread before i saw this. I have about 9k miles and it just started happening about 1k ago. I'm not sure what it is but its really starting to piss me off, atleast I'm not the only one. I was gonna get it checked out during my next oil change. It seems to happen just like you said, I usually wait about 1 minute or so before I get going after startup. It'll happen in any gear after you let up off the gas then when light throttle is applied, it'll start acting up, then immediatly going away with a harder application. I can't stand it, I hope its an easy fix.

check your oil and oil psi at startup, im not having this probelm, but what yall are saying can be caused by too much oil.

mike

PS- does it happen at all after its warm?

Sounds like you have spark issues. Pull a plug and check it out.

man... the problem happens consistently after cold starts. Really starting to get annoying...

Someone should really call up their local Nissan dealer and see if there is a re-flash for the ecu to improve cold starts. You might also try switching gas stations, it may be as simple as a bad tank of gas.

Dont have that problem here.But I do use Shell gas.

yeah i'm ganna go to the dealer this weekend. I consistently use 91 octane from chevron.

wow i haven't encountered that problem (knocking on wood). i already went to the dealer due to clutch problems.

Hey guys,

mine comes up once in a while...i warmed up my engine, drove it a few metres ahead with light throttle n it starts, wen i put on more acceleration it goes away. Had this issue even b4 i installed my exhaust. Check my plugs at the dealers n it was fine. They even opened up my filters to check any clogs. Still investigating whats goin on. If you guys have anymore info on why this happens let us know please.. thanks...

Cheers,
D

Odd, I get the sputter thing when my engine has warmed up totally. No codes and the techs just scratch their heads. Also happened before any mods added. They suggested a different brand of gas even though I've only used 93 octane from day one at different stations already. HMMMMMMM

I still get it, I think it's the throttle position sensor. For me it tends to happen when I've had my foot completely off the accelerator, then back on lightly (as in adjusting speed in traffic, or between gear shifts ). Seems to be the same throttle position every time. The only thing that doesn't make sense is that it only happens after driving for the first few minutes. I'm not sure how operating temperature would affect it.. but it seems to.

Same with me, its still going on. Change wieght of oil, air filters, cleaned the MAF sensors... nothing.. always during warm-up..

i have a 07 with 1,000 miles on it and i didn't really notice this before. When at idle its starting to vibrate allot more noticeably is that normal?

Depends on what you mean by vibrate I suppose. I don't think what you're describing is this problem however.

This issue isn't even a "missing" issue, it's actually shutting fuel and/or spark off to all cylinders the best I can tell. Feels exactly like the traction control/vdc coming on when it shouldn't.

John

This thread sent chills up my spine!!! I haven't noticed this happening on my Z (yet)... However, I recall going through this with my 2002 Maxima.

After reading the symptom, I immediately pulled the TSB I saved back when my maxima was doing exactly the same thing.

Attachment 167525

Even with this TSB in hand I had to jump through hoops to get the dealer to act on it... They claimed they couldn't replicate!!!! After going to three different dealers, I finally found one who took action finally resolving my problem.

I'm not insinuating this will fix the problem with our Zs, but at least it provides some history for a possible sollution.

Exclusively used Shell gas... and I am in Florida where 93 is available. Switch to Chevron now.

Service Advisor here, for maroone Nissan of Delray... owner of a 2007 base model myself.... haven't experienced that issue yet, and I'm surprised to hear that so manny people are experiencing this issue. I checked NNaNet and there are no bulletins regarding this issue.... If you had a mysfire, the ECU would throw a Check engine light...now the fact that you are using a thicker oil could have something to do w/ it... I would stick to 5w30 and change gas stations for a start. Any spark plug/coils/ etc issues would be picked up by the ECU... I check further into the subject to see if there are oher cases like these in other dealers...

Appreciate you checking in. In my case it isn't oil, fuel, etc. I REALLY have a feeling it's something to do with the throttle position sensor. Periodically I feel it "hiccup" when just getting back on the throttle after shifting. This is after the "sputtering" at warm up. It seems to ALWAYS be at the same throttle postion (physical position) which is not far off the idle position.

Incidentally, if you hold the throttle steady once it starts it will "cut-out" indefinitely. It's only when you apply more throttle that it will go away..generally to not come back until next time the car has sat for a while.

I want to be clear in saying that the issue is not what I would describe as a misfire. It feels to be a complete fuel shut-off and/or spark shut-off (all cylinders. It is something electrical/computer related as in a sensor not reading correctly all the time.

John

We have had this problem before and the only thing that would fix it would be replacing the throttle body. Unsure why this happens or what actually fixes it. Im not sure that the oil weight has anything to do with it i use mobil 1 0-w40 in my car and as long as i dont drive the hell out of it when its cold no problems.

How long have u had the car for? maybe we can do an Idle Air volume Learning procedure. It will be free on the first 12months/12k miles of owning the car... that would be a first step.. if the TPS is bad it won't accept the learning (we got 2 on the 07) so it will need to be replaced... complaint about a erradic iddle and ask for an IAVL - if you're outside 12months/12k miles you should have to pay around 100 bucks (b/c adjustments are only covered on 12/12)

8 mths and 18k miles. The issue started at 12.5k. I have had it at the dealer but of course it did not do it that day (at least when they had it). I've considered going through a couple of procedures I've seen on here to see if it helps but haven't yet.

Strangely enough it hasn't been nearly as bad lately as it was at one time. In fact it seemed to get a lot better right after my last trip to the dealer although they didn't do anything. :) I still notice it from time to time.. just not every time I drive it like before...which is why I haven't had it back again. It's definitely the same issue however.

Replacing the TB with an OEM TB..?

Cheers,
D

Ok, so I experieced on mine as well... I scanned using consult ii and there no abnormalities.... the fuel ratio is good and car is rich (normal during warm up). This is so little (on myne at least) and only happens for the first minutes while at iddle that I dunno if I would be concerned about it... Thank god we all got 36months/36k miles warranty

Bump.. still experiencing it... seems to be a little worse now during the colder weather in Florida.

how bad is yours and how long does it last??

when it's there, it's terrible. Imagine constantly having smooth power (albeit very light) and then... NONE. It's a completely cut-out that happens 2 times a second or so until you change the throttle position.

So it only happens if you keep the gas pedal depressed at a constant speed?

That is correct. I think I said it in an earlier post, that it is at a very very light throttle position. I would estimate at about 3-5% throttle although it's very difficult to gauge that. It only happens there as far as I can tell, and it will continue to happen until you change the throttle position then it seems to go away.

I really really think it's either the throttle position sensor, or possibly the decel fuel cut-off switch not turning off correctly when you get back on the throttle. I say that because it seems to happen after a gear change and/or when getting back on the throttle after coasting.

I HAVE seen it happen periodically when first taking off after the car has set for a while as opposed to 2-3 miles down the road. The car will buck like crazy when it happens (you're in 1st gear with no momentum to speak of).

Damn dead on to what I am getting, I can replicate it 100% of the time. The problem I have is that I have to wait at least 4 hours+ to do it. So, its hard to say, how I feel about going to the dealer with the HFCs installed.

Hey I met you at the dave and busters meet, 07 with volk GT-M wheels. If you think you can help resolve the issue I can bring the car down to show you, It happens to mine all the time.

My car does the same thing occationally but Its only if you give it light-medium throttle around 2-3K in every gear

This happens on a daily basis now...getting pretty annoying. I've noticed it happens after i go up or down a hill too... (within the first 5 minutes of driving)

I think my NISMO is having a similar issue. I start the car, put it in 1st, and take off out of my spot, when I am barely giving it any gas, the car bucks real bad, like it's coughing. If I give it more gas, it goes away. It just started to do this like 500 miles ago. I only have 3100 miles.

the more i read the more i think i should have gone for the mustang GT (which i had) or a Evo/STi.

Just started getting the clutch/cylinder problem.

Mike

Didn't see this thread yesterday so freakin glad to see that other people are having the same issue and I'm not alone, it sucks cause it's audibly noticeable because of my exhaust, I have to rev at a light and it seems to go away, but ya, what I do now is when is start up I just let it sit there for a while before I go anywhere in the morning, I wait till my RPM's level out and then I go, I tested this morning to see if it happened on my way to work and not nearly as bad as yesterday, I'll keep testing throughout the day and keep everyone informed, I work for a bunch of dealerships, if the issue persists I'll bring it over to Nissan and see what they have to say, funny thing you said something about the throttlebody though, I was looking at that today, wondering if it wasn't opening all the way or something.

I always let my car warm up and let the RPM's level out until I go (18,000 miles)...I use Mobile 0-40 and Chevron 93 and I can say I never had this issue...Like John mentioned, it sounds as if it's a TPS issue, but if a data logger can't record the problem, what can be done??

I'm nailing it down and taking notes. If need be I'll let my car sit at the dealer over-night, go back the next day and take the mechs out for a drive so they can see/feel the issue.

I'm starting to believe the root cause is present all the time, just doesn't occur to the same degree except for that first 5 min. window. You can almost feel the throttle response "hesitate" when getting back on it.. IF you do it very lightly. This is a problem I may not have noticed at all if I didn't have to put around through town everyday.

You changed exhausts Chad?