chello

TLDR: 05 350z starts for a sec then dies. Mods: AEM Cai and kinetix V+ plenum please help!

Hey guys, just joined the club. I bought myself a non running 2005 35th anniversary 350Z from the auctions, But I'm having some issues as far as I know, the car has an AEM Cai and a kinetix v+ plenum. The car starts for a second then dies.
At first it was throwing codes for the MAF and TB and replaced both for new oem parts, and it cleared the codes but the symptoms are the same. I performed relearns via obd2 bluetooth adapter and ndsII and the pedal dance, Checked fuel pressure and it's good. It's definitely getting fuel so, I'm at my wit's end here. I also verified that the NATS light wasn't blinking or solid.

I've read before that the if the 6holes on the lower plenum were not plugged when installing the kinetix it'll stall. So I removed the plenum, and I noticed a few things. Some of the tabs where it bolts onto the lower plenum were cracked, and the cork gasket is completely gone the PO had put a **** ton of rtv instead. Also the the 6 holes were plugged. I bolted everything back up and no difference.

Weird thing is that if I unplug the maf it'll idle TERRIBLY, but it'll idle. So I really don't know. I'm leaning towards a vacuum leak. What do you guys think? However I did run my hand around the plenum and didn't feel any leaks and did spray soapy water on the intake and plenum and no bubbles or anything so UGH idk. Please help should I replace everything for oem and see if it does the trick?

SmoothZ

iTrader: (13)

Why was the car not running when you bought it? Was it in a flood?

chello

No, it was listed up as a repo, also carfax shows no record of flood. However, I think I may have found the issue. The Plenum. I spoke to jason over at Kinetix Racing and he's pretty convinced that the cracked tabs and the rtv for gasket on the V+ are to blame. I'm pretty sure he's right too. He says those are classic symptoms of an abused v+ plenum. He explained to me that the plenum does not function as designed once the gasket has been worn out and that Substituting it with rtv will not do the trick. I'm about to order another one soon. I hope he's right. any opinions?

SmoothZ

iTrader: (13)

That's a good start. If the plenum is in bad shape, there's no harm in fixing/cleaning it up and installing a fresh gasket and new hardware. At least you'll have peace of mind with that out of the way.