Bizarre problem; Acceleration when cold
10-05-2009, 08:02 AM
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Bizarre problem; Acceleration when cold
Hi all,
I hope I can get some feedback on this really bizarre issue I've been having with my Z. It's an '03 (thus all the headaches) Performance model. The car has started demonstrating this really odd behavior which I'll attempt to describe as accurately as possible. When the car is cold, it starts and idles perfectly--but when you pull out onto the road and begin to accelerate, it becomes apparent that the car is not accelerating to it's full potential (not even close). There is no sputtering or hesitation, the car even seems normal for the first few seconds, but then power just stops coming. It almost acts as if it is registering the first inch of accelerator pedal depression, but no more. Once you hit this acceleration 'wall', the car behaves as though you are not depressing the gas any more, even if you floor it. The result is very slow, steady acceleration you'd get if holding the gas pedal in the exact same position for an extended period of time.
As the car warms up, the problem manifests less and less. When the car begins to respond, if you floor the gas, you may initially get no additional power (as before), followed by sudden surges of power which start and stop, until eventually the car may seem to run normally besides the occasional lack of power. I took it to the dealer and they are having a hard time diagnosing the problem. First they replaced the throttle body, but that did not correct the issue. Now the tech at Nissan says it has to be either the main computer or the computer wiring harness--but this doesn't seem right to me...why would the behavior an electronic component change as the car warms up? Also, there is no Check Engine Light, and the computer is not throwing any codes. I'd hate to buy an expensive computer only to find the issue is not corrected. PLEASE HELP!
I hope I can get some feedback on this really bizarre issue I've been having with my Z. It's an '03 (thus all the headaches) Performance model. The car has started demonstrating this really odd behavior which I'll attempt to describe as accurately as possible. When the car is cold, it starts and idles perfectly--but when you pull out onto the road and begin to accelerate, it becomes apparent that the car is not accelerating to it's full potential (not even close). There is no sputtering or hesitation, the car even seems normal for the first few seconds, but then power just stops coming. It almost acts as if it is registering the first inch of accelerator pedal depression, but no more. Once you hit this acceleration 'wall', the car behaves as though you are not depressing the gas any more, even if you floor it. The result is very slow, steady acceleration you'd get if holding the gas pedal in the exact same position for an extended period of time.
As the car warms up, the problem manifests less and less. When the car begins to respond, if you floor the gas, you may initially get no additional power (as before), followed by sudden surges of power which start and stop, until eventually the car may seem to run normally besides the occasional lack of power. I took it to the dealer and they are having a hard time diagnosing the problem. First they replaced the throttle body, but that did not correct the issue. Now the tech at Nissan says it has to be either the main computer or the computer wiring harness--but this doesn't seem right to me...why would the behavior an electronic component change as the car warms up? Also, there is no Check Engine Light, and the computer is not throwing any codes. I'd hate to buy an expensive computer only to find the issue is not corrected. PLEASE HELP!
10-05-2009, 01:20 PM
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I know that voltages in the spark plugs fluctuate depending on engine RPM, but do you think they'd start working better after the car warms up? Also, the engine doesn't really misfire like I've seen before with bad plugs...but my experience is pretty limited
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try draining your tranny and diff oil too.
I was unaware we had one. I thought we just had that screen at the bottom of the tank....
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