copperhead

Guys check the battery.....It is probably the battery going bad.

Also check the alternator.

vdemon311

iTrader: (3)

I posted earlier with this problem. I couldn't get my car started at all the last time i posted. At about 5 pm that same day I got the car to start... drove it to the nissan dealer where a mechanic, from freehold nissan, seemed to have figured it out because for the past 2 months and about 10,000 miles my car has been starting up perfectly! Some of you guys ever notice the alarm LED on the top left of your dashboard. If you ever start your car and see it glowing solid red, the chip in your key is busted. This could happen from water damage, leaving near electrical equipment that could possibly harm the signal, or just have it baking in the sun on the floor all day while your playing basketball or something. Basically that was happening to my Z while I was having this intermittent starting problem since day 1. Sometimes, when my car started up in the first or 50th try, that LED would glow solid red and i would drive around with a red dot glowing on my wind shield.

Solution to this garbage: The guy told me to reprogram my key. Being an extremist I bought a whole new set of keys for 120 each and had them reprogrammed for 50 a key. Both keys work and now start up the car at any given time perfectly. i changed my battery as well, but it was about time. just about 90,000 on my 04 z now and FINALLY no intermittent starting problem.

Caliking350z

iTrader: (1)

Thanks vdemon311. I will get this checked by the dealer this week. My car is only 31,000 miles, so the battery is not the issue. I just checked the LED light, and it does not stay on. There is something else going on here. Wonder if its only related to the 05 35th Anniversary Edition Z's?

evanchandler

I bought my 04 350z about 3 weeks ago and have been having the same problem. I had my battery replaced, and it still won't start the first few times if it has been sitting a while. I have been putting the key in the ignition and letting it beep three times before I start it and that has been working pretty well. The LED light only stays on when it starts unsuccessfully, does that mean that it is my chip inside the key? I talked to the dealership and he said it could be my imobilizer?? not sure what that is or how much it will cost but the dealership charges $145 to diagnose the problem and they will put that towards the cost of repair. Once it is fixed I will let you know what the problem was...

Goodluck

gregom

iTrader: (3)

Well this just started happening to me today, and out of nowhere. I bought the car used with ~44K miles February 2008. I read these forums for months before buying the car so I was already aware of this problem. Now I think, maybe 6-8 months ago, this problem did occur maybe once or twice... but thats it. I did replace the battery with a standard lead-acid battery last summer because I started getting slow engine cranks during startups. Other than that I haven't had any problems at all.

It now has 66K miles on it and today, out of nowhere, on my way to work the engine would not start. Instinctively I took the key out of the ignition, opened the door then closed it, pressed the lock button on the keyfob, then pressed unlock, opened and closed my door again, then inserted the key into the ignition and it started right up.

Later in the day I went to lunch and I think it started on the first try (hard to remember), but after going inside to get food then come back it, it wouldn't start again. So I did the door open/close, lock/unlock trick, which did not work. I tried the same trick again, and then it worked.

Then when leaving work tonight it did it, I used my same trick and it started fine after that.

Now several hours later I decided to check these forums to read up on this problem some more. I read everything and went and started my car, which did so on the first try. I turned it off and on, several times without one failure to start. I even did the door open/close lock/unlock trick, flipped the key over, looked for a solid red LED on the alarm indicator, and everything acted normal, no problems.

I have a stock stereo and no aftermarket alarm. However the owner before me clearly had an aftermarket stereo installed, and possibly an alarm... so I will mention this to the Nissan techs when I take my car in this Friday (for several, completely different reasons than this though, lol). I have no aftermarket parts on the car at all except wheels, brakes, and tires. Everything else is stock...

So I dunno.... this imobilizer is annoying! I only have one key FOB and key, no copies...

gregom

iTrader: (3)

I took the car in and had them check the immobilizer. They read code P1615 - poor communication between BCM and NATS system. They didn't read any low voltage codes so it is unlikely the battery in the key is low. They didn't have any clue what the problem was but like everyone else, said it could be something interfering with the wireless signal between the key and the car, or the chip is going out. A new key would be the first thing they would try.

turfcat733

I have a 2006 Track which I bought 2 years ago and this starting problem started happening about 4 weeks ago. It's very random but seems to be happening with more frequency. After reading the threads I'll try a new battery first. I have noticed that the cranking over of the engine is not as fast as it use to be. Also, I will need a new battery anyway before winter. I'll try this and see if this settles the issue for me.

jpw

Newbie here... first post

My wife bought her 05 after years of research and picked the 350Z. It's a convertable and we're in Seattle - sat in a Subaru new dealership for a month.

About a month after we got it, we decided to drive down to Arizona for biz and stop in Vegas on the way there (and she wanted to stop on the way back , too !)

The used car dealer took care of us well. The car had only 1 key and it didn't have the FOB for unlocking the car. So we went to the Nissan dealer (paid for by Chaplain's Subaru) and they gave us another key and 2 FOB's - so I know all that stuff is new.

The day before the big trip she was at the bank and it took about 3 cranks to start it - same deal as this thread , turns over but doesn't catch. I thought it was just a one time deal..

She also put a double din Pioneer DVD player.

So the next day we drive all the way thru Washington and stop at a rest stop in Oregon - crap, wouldn't start.. waited about 20 mins and tried again. Nothing.... Luckily I brought some pliers and disconnected/reconnected the negative terminal on the batty. Started right up...

We were so paranoid we didn't stop the car one time all the way to AZ except when we spent the night in Twin Falls, ID..

So I took it to the idiot dealer and told him the problem happens about 3 times out of a total of about 600 starts. Worthless place... they called me and said "gee, it starts right up for us !" .. so much for problem solving skills..

Since we got back it's starting to happen slightly more frequently. The negative terminal connector on the battery was stretched beyond being able to be tight so I replaced that along with the battery itself.. Unfortunately it happened again the day after !

My brother, who's a Delta mechanic and works on all of his BMW's told her to turn the ignition on and wait about 5 seconds. It started right up after that...

Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread as I'm going to try the security on/off method and look at the red light next time it doesn't start but I just wanted to tell the list that I have keys that have been re-synced about 3 months ago and a battery that's about a week old and I'm still having the problem. I will also try the other key, too , the next time it happens..

I'll also be relieved when we can finally figure this out..

BTW, we live in the Seattle area and are looking forward to meeting with other Z owners in the area - any groups/clubs out there ? We live near Issaquah.

gregom

iTrader: (3)

Well it's been nearly a full week and it hasn't happened to me again yet... I'll definately keep track of it though.

Welcome to the forums jpw... BTW did you stop at a dealership in Idaho? If so, which one?

jpw

thanks gregom !

No, we just kept driving, although I DID get a speeding ticket from one of Idaho's un-finest. I was going 82 in a 75. *****.

He stopped us most likely 'cause we're in a loud-yellow 350z convertible. He
came to the window and I was going to try to do my normal "the cop is the God and say Sir a lot", but before I could open my mouth, my wife goes "You're seriously going to give us a ticket for going 7 over ????"

The dealer I was talking about is in Renton Washington..

vdemon311

iTrader: (3)

just want all you guys to know... Since I had my keys reprogrammed, I haven't had the starting problem. 100,008 miles and car starts up perfect everytime

gregom

iTrader: (3)

I haven't done anything with my car... same battery and everything, 72K miles now (8K miles more) and haven't had this occur at all.

350z4Smitty

03 Track WOW...I'm so glad I hit this forum!!! Ok...this just started happening to me YESTERDAY...right after I filled up. My warranty ended at 100K...I have 100,452 miles on it. Go figure...it always seems to happen when I'm in front of the most people. Yesteday it was a drive thru...right next to this fine *** girl about to order. DAYYUMM!

It was funny AFTER it started up...I noticed that the gas tank guage was acting funny before it goes. I honestly think it's something do to do with the fuel pump. The battery suggestions were also good advice. I unfortunately don't have a fix. The first time this happened was months ago when my gas tank was low and I parked on an angle. Ok...I feel a lil better...I'll call the dealerships and see.

VQ35deMax

iTrader: (6)

Bumping an old thread but I am now experiencing this issue as well. When it first happened, I thought the car was low on gas. I put some in it and it started right up. However last night the same thing happened and it has a half a tank of gas in it.
I plugged in my obd2 code reader and there is a code for NATS stored in there. So i took the fuel line off and cranked the car and there was no fuel pressure when cranking the car. So it leads me to believe that the fuel pump is not priming when the key is turned on because of this NATS issue.

It seems like the ecu can't recognize the chip in the key so it is not letting the car fire up.

VQ35deMax

iTrader: (6)

Bumping it again. It seems like the cold weather has something to do with this issue. However once the car is warm, it starts up fine everytime. But if it sits for a couple of hours or through the night, it does not start. It took my roughly 30 minutes after cranking it last night to start it. Then I drove home, got a full tank of gas, and parked the car. This morning it cranks but does not start.

e46330i

I had this problem for about 2 months. It got to the point where after days of trying I couldn't get it started. Purchased two new keys - and oddly enough found the problem when trying to program them. The system would lose the programming on the first key as soon as I programmed the second one. Ended up replacing the Immobilizer Control Unit (28590-C9965 -$120.75), and problem solved. It's been about 14 months and 10,000 miles and I haven't had a single issue.

neosolipsism

I had that problem and it ended up being an issue related to NATS caused by the battery being a little weak. Putting a new battery in solved it for me. Maybe try cranking with jumpers to see if that's it.

silverfox555

Has this problem been unresolved? I have the same issue where there is enough power for the engine to turnover, but it doesn't fire.

I've attached a video of the problem I am experiencing. The link below has the video attachment. The problem occurs at the 11 second mark - the car does not start on this attempt.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ok6xas

Does anyone have the solution to this? Out of 15 attempts, I only had 1 attempt where there was an issue. However, earlier that day, 3 out of 3 attempts to start the car failed. Based on this post, it sounds like the issue gets worse - I am hoping to get this issue fixed as soon as I can.


I want to replace the sparkplug; maybe this will fixed the problem? It "sounds" like an electrical issue, and not a mechanical issue.

silverfox555

Has this problem been unresolved? I have the same issue where there is enough power for the engine to turnover, but it doesn't fire.

I've attached a video of the problem I am experiencing. The link below has the video attachment. The problem occurs at the 11 second mark - the car does not start on this attempt.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ok6xas

Does anyone have the solution to this? Out of 15 attempts, I only had 1 attempt where there was an issue. However, earlier that day, 3 out of 3 attempts to start the car failed. Based on this post, it sounds like the issue gets worse - I am hoping to get this issue fixed as soon as I can.


I want to replace the sparkplug; maybe this will fixed the problem? It "sounds" like an electrical issue, and not a mechanical issue.

silverfox555

Initially, I had battery issues as well. The engine was not turning over; it sounded like how it would not turn over during the winter time. However, it is the summer right now. After I replaced the battery (which had a bad cell), I found out about this intermediate ignition problem. I replaced the battery about 1 week from today - it's the best battery I could get from the store.

In the video below in which you can download, you can hear the intermediate ignition problem. It is not the sound of a car that's not turning over - it's not a battery issue. As a result, the alternator is probably not the problem either because the battery is holding a full charge.



http://www.sendspace.com/file/ok6xas