Sometimes, not always, this just started within the last few months, when I accelerate hard, and get into the 4000 + rpms, my car will basically just stop working, but stay on. So for example highway toll booth. coming out of the booth I use first for second lightly, then put in 2nd gear and try and go to 6000 rpms. Well around 4000 it will stutter and not feel right and if I back off immediately, i can just change to 3rd gear and everything is ok as long as i dont accel hard or go past 4000 rpm. Now if when in 2nd i go past the 4000 mark and dont let up fast enough, it goes into some sort of safe mode. I dont know what the typical "safe mode" means really, but this requires me to basically glide (or put it in 3rd and have VERY little power) to the side of the road, where i can stop and turn my car off for a second and then start her back up and slowly get up to highway speeds without getting to around 4000 rpms.

Some of my thoughts: For 3 years I have had Nismo intake and exhaust, and a motordyne plenum spacer, and really thats it. So if this is a MAF problem, it has to be with one of those I would think. Is that was would be causing this? Also, its typically on colder days that this happens. Could that have anything to do with it? or help you all diagnose my problem?

Thanks for any input you guys. As always, it is much appreciated.

~StillAlive2029

 

"Safe" is a ECU function. Running lean at, for example, 6,000 RPM, is un-safe so the ECU may put the car in a "safe mode." The safe mode is exactly as you describe. The problem with troubleshooting the un-safe condition is that OBDII may not show a fault: so you have no code to work from.

BTW did this problem start when you got new tires? Do you have VDC?

 

Are the tires spinning at all? What happens if you turn off the VDC?

 

usually the VDC is off and no the tires are NOT spinning. Just hard accel but keeping traction. Another note: I had terrible wheels on my car for the longest time. They were 7.5" wide, so an inch thinner than stock. I have just put on new wheels and tires that are up to 10.5" in the rear. I wouldnt think that could change anything going on in the engine, but my car has NOT done it since I put them on, so now I just dont know haha. And I have been running her hard to test out my new paws. They are AWESOME just in case you were wondering haha Much better than 7.5"!!!

 

ok well there is another symptom...it happens under hard accel in the rain very consistently...any ideas guys? I dont even know who to take it to for checking into something like this! Any advice is greatly appreciated! I know there are a lot of really smart guys on here, as someone out there fixes every problem I have had, so lets hear those solutions, or even who to take it to!

 

ok bro same happened to me when my tail lights went out
had no power at all after about 4k just felt like nothing there.
check to see if your brake lights head lights license plate light are lit.
did you ever switch to the led tail lights? people who have experiance the same symptoms some timesm something to do with the electrical my bet

 

wow, how would that affect the power of the engine? That seems pretty absurd. I will definately check them tomorrow, but I believe that they are all just fine. I think I would have noticed by now, or someone else would have mentioned it. Cant hurt to look though, and I appreciate the thoughts, as I am at a loss. So i mean I hope that this is what the problem is! lol, pray that my tail lights are out!

Question though, when u were havign the probelms tho, if you went over that 4k threshold, could u just go down in rpms and drive fine at those speeds? Cuz with mine, once I go over that threshold where it messes up, it makes it so that i can only kind of go to 2k or less, basically just zero power, and have to glide to a stop to turn her off and back on, then she is fine to drive at under that threshold. Then most of the time tho, she is just fine and i run her through to redline consistently

 

It's an ECU voltage issue. That being said, I don't think it's your problem. Have you experienced any leaks with the plenum?

 

How would I know if I have a leak in my plenum? I have always thought that might be the source of the problem as it was the most in depth install I have done on the Z myself. I don't know how to check tho so any insight would be nice there.

Would correcting this problem just involve taking it off, maybe even uninstalling it, and putting everything back on correctly?

 

You can try spraying carb cleaner, or a water bottle around the intake and see if the engine surges, or stalls. Maybe you didn't apply the RTV properly.

 

Can you elaborate on this a bit or point me towards a detailed instruction? I don't like the sound of doing something that will purposefully stall my car

 

StillAlive2029:

Are you still having this issue buddy?

I have been having this issue for the last few months. The engine *only* stalls if I accelerate hard. I've changed the spark plugs, cleaned the maf sensor, changed the TB, changed the oil and filter to no avail!

 

I have not been having issues lately. I did a couple of things.

Changed my NISMO CAI from the long tube near my wheel well to the short ram up in my engine bay. I believe water was getting into my already very dirty air filter, so I replaced the filter (with basic one from Advance auto parts) as well. These 2 things seem to have done the trick, although I miss the extra sound from the CAI when lower in wheel well, its definately quieter now, but at the same time, I added UR HFC, so it was louder overall anyways

 

Rain water is getting in your intake! Happens to me everytime I wash my car, until it dries of course.
If you stay on the throttle it is a violent jerking right?

 

Sorry I didnt see your post earlier. You don't have to necessarily change the airfilter. Water is most likely running down your hood directly onto your filter. Just improvise some kind of umbrella. Should be an easy fix.