so was driving a while back and all of a sudden my car basically lost power. it didnt happen all at once, about a minute before the car died completely i notice it got rough under acceleration and started to lack a lot of power" anyways pulled over and got a tow to the house. started up 3 times with a rough idle now it wont start at all.

i pulled a few spark plugs and they looked fine. but i havnt checked for spark yet. will update once i do that.
i can hear the pump buzzing so i dont think its that? unless it can still buzz if it isnt.
i also installed a new battery.
i have less than 2k miles on cam sensors,o2 sensors,crank sensor,plugs,oil,


before all this i noticed a raw fuel smell a few weeks before the car died comming from the engine bay towards the passenger side firewall. and after shutting off the car i could hear a leak, almost like air squeezing though a small opening. i couldnt figure out exactly where the noise was comming from and i checked the fuel lines and tracked them down as far as i could and didnt see anything out of the ordinary....i have a feeling this may have something to do with my car dieing....

any insight and what to look for will greatly be appreciated. thanks!

 

lost power electrically or actual power to the ground? Will the car turn over but not start, or just doesn't do anything when the key turns?

 

thanks for your reply! and the car turns over but wont start. has power,everything works as normal. only fault code is the intake temp or something like that but i dont think something like that would cause a no start. already tried disconecting the throttle body and other easy things. it is hooked up to an hks f-con ,going to pull the kick panel off tonight and make sure its getting power still. i really want to say its something fuel related...i would understand a misfire but for it to die on the highway...start and rough idle 2-3 times and only turn over after that i dont get.

 

Im thinking its either fuel or spark related. It could be a sensor or blown fuse but if it has started since then I'm doubting that. When I had issues like that I sprayed a bit of carb cleaner in the plenum while a buddy turned the key. The car started right up but then died. If it were a spark issue the car wouldnt have started. If its running rough enough to die either multiple cylinders have spark issues or its a fuel related issue. id give everything a once over and make sure all sensors are connected. Were you doing anything out of the ordinary when the car died?

 

fuses are all good. ill try grounding out plugs and see if i get spark. i was driving normal about a constant 70mph then noticed a lack of power. was still able to gas it a little more and accelerate "already rough at this point" but after a few seconds i was already flooring it going about 50 with no acceleration just a constant rpm, finally made it to an exit and that is when the car finally died. still had power steering up until it died. i need to add that the roads were wet too, wasnt raining but i thought maybe something got wet, i let the car sit thinking something just needs to dry out but still nothing.

 

Did you get any lights on the cluster when the problem started?

 

also within the last 2k miles i installed 2 new valve cover gaskets and plenum gaskets all torqued in order and to spec. guess i can double check the plenum ones again

and no no lights. just that intake temp one but ive had that one for a while now..lol

 

Update---
double checked fuses again,
Pulled a few plugs and checked different Coilpacks and I'm not getting any spark. Doubt all coil packs went out at once, checked 4 of them and no spark from each. What's next? Thought it was a fuel issue before because of the smell but now I'm leaning towards a wiring issue? Any ideas? Basically I don't think the cool packs are gettin any spark to begin with

 

If you have a multimeter you can check the coilpack connector on the wiring harness for power.

 

Thanks, think it can be the immobilizer still? Even tho I'm not getting the key light?

 

OP doen't mention what year Z or what sort of diagnostic equipment he has, but this problem sounds suspeciously like a cam position sensor failure I had two seasons ago. At Gateway Motorsports park in St. Louis, the Z began missing slightly coming off the banking and began running roughly through the infield section. Had to pull off on the backside of the circuit and retire from the race.

After getting pulled in, I used my UpRev Cipher unit to diagnose the CPS failure-left bank and spent the rest of that day searching the city for a replacement. The VQ ran perfectly after that. Just a thought.

 

This is similar to when I destroyed a rod bearing, lost all power, supper rough running and then it died. It cranked a few more times, and then would not start. I really hope its just something small and electrical or fuel related. You can drain the oil and look at it to see if its a internal problem though.

 

its an 03, and i was thinking the same thing but i just replaced them not too long ago...less than 1k miles along with new o2 sensors, both cam and crank sensor too. dont have much diagnostic equipment just basic stuff...nothing specific for the z...i know i need better lol.

 

im not saying its that but i know im not getting any spark to any of the plugs..i highly doubt all the coil packs went out at once...it has something to do with the ignition... i always thought the nats system would disarm the fuel only...but would it cut ignition also?

 

NATS antenna?

 

That's what I thought, but I thought NATS cuts fuel not ignition?

 

Everything I read indicated NATS cuts ignition and not fuel?

 

Have someone check codes with an advanced scanner. If there's a P1610 code, there's a NATS issue.