sticking throttle-bad ECM

[Slem]

Hey fellas! Newbie here. Wanna see if anyone has heard of this problem. Bought a 2010 370 in Feb. Wife's car but she started complaining about the throttle sticking. Yea, I know. Totally fly by wire stuff. I checked it out and experienced the same problem. If the car has sat overnight and it is cold outside the throttle will actually stick when driving. Doesn't matter if S-mode is on or off. The tach will run up to 4K RPM and stick there or try to run faster. If you stomp on the throttle it'll kick back down to idle or whatever speed it should be at. If you have ever driven a car with a gummed up carb that's exactly how it acts. Just like the carb linkage is bound up or sticking and punching the throttle releases it. It took me about a week of going to the dealer every day to get the car to recreate the prob with a tech. They thought I was nuts at first. Said "yea, whatever! Only Yotas do that our cars don't!" That is until I took the top service guy for a ride and it did it. Put both feet close to the seat took both hands off the controls, left it in 3rd gear and the thing accelerated to 4k RPM with S-mode on. It would've went past 4K if I had let it. Tech was freaking out. Stopped, took it out of S-mode and the thing drove itself again. I can clutch, shift up and the gas/speed/acceleration will just keep goin up. So they declared my car unsafe to drive and impounded it at the nissan dealer. According to the engineers my car is the first to do that. On record anyway. Diagnosed it with a bad ECM but the wait for the module is pretty lengthy. Asked them to take one from a car on the lot and put it in my car. They were gonna do that until the nissan engineers told them it wouldn't work because the ECM "marries" itself to the rest of the car.

Has anyone heard about any of this stuff?

Appreciate any info.

[6SPD_FTW]

I had a 2007 Altima 3.5SE and the throttle was sticky on it. Just because it is drive by wire doesn't mean that the pedal might not actually be sticking. The 370Z also does some very strange stuff on startup. If the throttle pedal is even touched during the first 10-15 seconds of running, the engine will rev VERY high. It's just part of the VVEL system operation to reduce hydrocarbon emission on startup.

Take it back to Nissan....they can tell you what's going on.

The ECM will throw an error code if the throttle plate isn't closing completely when it is suppose to. May or may not have a check engine light.

Late,
Trav

[Slem]

Thanks for the reply Tav.

The first go around the dealer had the car for about 2 weeks. It threw no codes and everything functioned properly. Except for the acceleration issue. No "check engine" lights, codes or anything. Nissan saw that it wasn't a made up story or a dysfunctional driver since the car recreated this prob in from of 3 of their service reps.

This is what the service guys found. After calling the Nissan engineers several times they concluded that the ECM was bad. They put the old ECM in a freezer and tested it with every 5 degree or so drop in temp. At around 30 degrees the ECM started "tripping." I can't say exactly what it did, the only info they would give me is that at 30 degrees it did not perform normally. They had a new one flown in Friday. They kept it overnight and the car functioned normally for them. I picked it up Sat and drove it with no issues. Sunday morning I went to work at 6AM. It was 32 degrees outside. The Z functioned normally until 6-8 minutes had elapsed. Then the stuck throttle started again. It tached at 4 grand and stayed. I upshifted and the car accelerated. Not just a little bump in gas. It started accelerating towards 5 and 6 grand. I Clutched it, tapped the gas and it went to idle. I continued driving but it kept doing it. Stopped at a light and remembered something the service rep said. At a full stop I put it in reverse for a second. Then went to 1st and continued driving. The problem went away. The next day I was going to work at 5AM and it was 31 outside. The problem happened again so I pulled over to the side of the road and calmed her down. De-selected S-mode and the problem went away. Cept noe the "service engine soon" light was on. Dropped it off at Nissan yesterday. When they hooked up the car they found no codes.

I guess they're stumped. The car is drawing A LOT of attention from Nissan for obvious reasons. They said something yesterday about flying a few engineers in analyze the car. They said this is the 1st reported case of this worldwide.

So, if your cruising the Z be careful and observant if the outside air temp approaches 30 degrees F!

[daisuke149]

Originally Posted by Slem

Thanks for the reply Tav.

The first go around the dealer had the car for about 2 weeks. It threw no codes and everything functioned properly. Except for the acceleration issue. No "check engine" lights, codes or anything. Nissan saw that it wasn't a made up story or a dysfunctional driver since the car recreated this prob in from of 3 of their service reps.

This is what the service guys found. After calling the Nissan engineers several times they concluded that the ECM was bad. They put the old ECM in a freezer and tested it with every 5 degree or so drop in temp. At around 30 degrees the ECM started "tripping." I can't say exactly what it did, the only info they would give me is that at 30 degrees it did not perform normally. They had a new one flown in Friday. They kept it overnight and the car functioned normally for them. I picked it up Sat and drove it with no issues. Sunday morning I went to work at 6AM. It was 32 degrees outside. The Z functioned normally until 6-8 minutes had elapsed. Then the stuck throttle started again. It tached at 4 grand and stayed. I upshifted and the car accelerated. Not just a little bump in gas. It started accelerating towards 5 and 6 grand. I Clutched it, tapped the gas and it went to idle. I continued driving but it kept doing it. Stopped at a light and remembered something the service rep said. At a full stop I put it in reverse for a second. Then went to 1st and continued driving. The problem went away. The next day I was going to work at 5AM and it was 31 outside. The problem happened again so I pulled over to the side of the road and calmed her down. De-selected S-mode and the problem went away. Cept noe the "service engine soon" light was on. Dropped it off at Nissan yesterday. When they hooked up the car they found no codes.

I guess they're stumped. The car is drawing A LOT of attention from Nissan for obvious reasons. They said something yesterday about flying a few engineers in analyze the car. They said this is the 1st reported case of this worldwide.

So, if your cruising the Z be careful and observant if the outside air temp approaches 30 degrees F!

are you sure they didnt just put a toyota engine/ecu in your car???

just kidding

keep us informed man. As you said you may be the first case of this and perhaps not the last so info = nice.

[ChrisSlicks]

There have been a couple of other reports, and the diagnosis is typically that the pedal module is bad. They can hook up a logger to the ODBII port and log the throttle voltage to see if it is sticking and see if the throttle off voltage needs to be recalibrated.

[Daishi]

It's been in the 20s Lately in jersey and I've had no throttle sticking problems.

[Megan370z]

I got the same problem today and its been like that since a little while ,, i do not have time right now to deal with a stealership .
Its quite dangerous in the snow when you are in a stop and go traffic .
It take more brake power to stop the rear wheel because of the sticking problem and the front are triggering the ABS , a few time being really close for an accident.

lets say I'm not very happy tonight.


since I have an Uprev flash on my ECU ,,, I'm pretty sure trying to pass the problem under warranty wont be easy !

[ChrisSlicks]

Originally Posted by Megan370z

I got the same problem today and its been like that since a little while ,, i do not have time right now to deal with a stealership .
Its quite dangerous in the snow when you are in a stop and go traffic .
It take more brake power to stop the rear wheel because of the sticking problem and the front are triggering the ABS , a few time being really close for an accident.

lets say I'm not very happy tonight.


since I have an Uprev flash on my ECU ,,, I'm pretty sure trying to pass the problem under warranty wont be easy !

The brake pedal should cut engine power to 15% max, I don't think there is anything in the Uprev flash that bypasses this feature. Still, in a low traction environment like snow even that can be too much.

Best option will be to re-flash with the stock program and then take it to the dealer. They won't deny your warranty claim after the whole Toyota scandal, believe me they will try to appease you as quickly as possible.

[Megan370z]

Even if by pressing the brake pedal , there was some power to the rear wheel
I was slowing down carefully then the front gets the ABS on and the car is still pushing slowly forward
It was like having understeer while braking , it was only when the throttle was sticking.
When it was not sticking , I never had problem to stop in the snow

[ChrisSlicks]

Originally Posted by Megan370z

Even if by pressing the brake pedal , there was some power to the rear wheel
I was slowing down carefully then the front gets the ABS on and the car is still pushing slowly forward
It was like having understeer while braking , it was only when the throttle was sticking.
When it was not sticking , I never had problem to stop in the snow

Take it in to the dealer when you can, the sooner the better. If they threaten to deny you tell them you're going to the local TV station. I would still put a stock flash in first, just so they don't have any excuse.

[Megan370z]

Originally Posted by ChrisSlicks

Take it in to the dealer when you can, the sooner the better. If they threaten to deny you tell them you're going to the local TV station. I would still put a stock flash in first, just so they don't have any excuse.

im gonna try tomorrow if having a stock flash does something ,, im pretty sure nothing will change .

[Slem]

Def take your car to the dealer if you're having the stuck throttle issue. Not that they'll be able to fix it but maybe it'll get the really high level engineers involved!

Talked to the service guys yeaterday. The "service engine soon" is a known issue with the 370's...so I'm told. The regional reps are saying that they've had a lot of reports of this light coming on for no reason. It's a "firmware" issue they're working on. My service guys seem to think that the light is tied to the stuck throttle/cold start issue but thats just theory. No one is really sure and they're not saying anything concrete.

ChrisSlicks...I thought the same thing about the pedal module. One of the times I was talking to service I mentioned this as a possible problem as well as it possibly being an S-mode issue. He had the same thoughts and checked both of those components and found no issues with either of them...ops normal. And in my issue hitting the brakes doesn't do anything. I mean the brakes engage and the cars slows but the motor still revs. Kinda like power launching an auto trans car or braking and gassing at the same time.

A friend of mine that I play hockey with is a lobbyist for the new car dealerships for the state of NM. I talked to him about my issue. He was on the front lines of the Toyota debacle. He in turn talked to the dealership owner who in turn talked to Nissan Corporate. The wheels are turning and there is high level interest in this car but they don't seem to have a solution for my issue...other then getting me out of this car.

So my wife named the car Christine (if you remember that movie) and I have nicknamed the car IRobot.

[Slem]

I figured that if anyone was keeping an eye on this thread that out of common courtesy I should share the happy ending. OK, Nissan had my car for a total of 41 days. Early on into this hole sordid thang Nissan offically "took" the Z and declared it unsafe to operate and would not release it back to me. On January 2nd the division that programs the ECM and other components in JAPAN sent an engineer in Phoenix a software fix. On January 3rd the engineer traveled from Phoenix to Albuquerque and uploaded the new software. The Z has run beautifully ever since. The "company" and the engineer would not divulge any of the program code or state specifically what the fix addressed other then "the program is to fix a cold start condition that we've been experiencing with a lot of our cars. We will be sending a firmware update to all of our dealerships and request that our customers bring in their cars for this update." I know, I know, it all sounds kinda hokey. But this part is interesting. When I was dealing with corporate Nissan about my Z I made a comment about proper restitution for the trouble that I had to go thru. They did not hesitate to monetarily reimburse me for my troubles.

[Xan]

Should be interesting to see if we get a recall on this...

Thanks for the update! Hope you were fairly compensated!

[ChrisSlicks]

Originally Posted by Xan

Should be interesting to see if we get a recall on this...

Thanks for the update! Hope you were fairly compensated!

They may decide to issue it as a TSB rather than a recall as it brings less press. It would be unfortunate if they do that because then the dealers won't perform the update until you show the car demonstrating symptoms.