Power loss with VDC and slip indicator lights on

EMac0408 · 06-08-2025, 04:13 PM

Last night while I was slowly accelerating, I suddenly had practically no throttle response. I pulled the car out of gear and the engine idled normally, but with the pedal all the way to the floor, engine speed would very slowly rise to around 2,000 RPM and stop there. At the same time as the power loss, my "VDC off" light and the slip indicator light both came on and stayed on. I pulled the car into a parking lot, shut it off completely, turned it back on, and everything was perfectly normal for about 10 minutes when the exact same symptoms happened again slowly accelerating from a red light. Shut the car off again, fired it up again, and everything was normal for the next few minutes home. Today I replicated the problem going 300 yards in my neighborhood after disconnecting the battery for a few minutes.

I pulled engine code p1239 which points to an issue with the throttle body position sensor, but I don't see why that would cause the traction control system lights to come on.

It almost seems like the car thinks it has lost traction, so the traction control is cutting out the throttle. At the same time, the dash is saying that the VDC is off.

I haven't done any maintenance or modification to the car recently. It hasn't been in any accidents either. This just came up out of the blue.

Would replacing the position sensor be the fix for this?

Spooler · 06-08-2025, 04:42 PM

I had a throttle body go bad and do the exact same thing. I replaced them both. Issue solved. With the car off, unplug the drives side throttle body and plug it back in. If the issue is gone, that's your problem. You can do the unplug and plug back in trick to fix it temporarily.

EMac0408 · 06-09-2025, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spooler

I had a throttle body go bad and do the exact same thing. I replaced them both. Issue solved. With the car off, unplug the drives side throttle body and plug it back in. If the issue is gone, that's your problem. You can do the unplug and plug back in trick to fix it temporarily.

Thanks for the information!

How did you know the entire throttle body needed to be replaced and not just the position sensor? Did it cause your VDC and slip indicator lights to come on?

My car is Stillen supercharged. The problem might be with the extension used to relocate the driver's side throttle body to the passenger side. It causes the limp mode I'm experiencing, but I'm still confused by the traction control lights coming on.

Spooler · 06-09-2025, 05:18 PM

That is when my car was bone stock. I replaced them both when I went twin turbo. Never saw any lights come on.

Rusty · 06-09-2025, 06:16 PM

People have had issues with the Stillen extension cable in the past.

06-08-2025, 04:13 PM	#1 (permalink)
EMac0408 Base Member Join Date: Mar 2019 Location: GA Posts: 17 Drives: Supercharged 09 370Z Rep Power: 3362	Power loss with VDC and slip indicator lights on Last night while I was slowly accelerating, I suddenly had practically no throttle response. I pulled the car out of gear and the engine idled normally, but with the pedal all the way to the floor, engine speed would very slowly rise to around 2,000 RPM and stop there. At the same time as the power loss, my "VDC off" light and the slip indicator light both came on and stayed on. I pulled the car into a parking lot, shut it off completely, turned it back on, and everything was perfectly normal for about 10 minutes when the exact same symptoms happened again slowly accelerating from a red light. Shut the car off again, fired it up again, and everything was normal for the next few minutes home. Today I replicated the problem going 300 yards in my neighborhood after disconnecting the battery for a few minutes. I pulled engine code p1239 which points to an issue with the throttle body position sensor, but I don't see why that would cause the traction control system lights to come on. It almost seems like the car thinks it has lost traction, so the traction control is cutting out the throttle. At the same time, the dash is saying that the VDC is off. I haven't done any maintenance or modification to the car recently. It hasn't been in any accidents either. This just came up out of the blue. Would replacing the position sensor be the fix for this?

06-09-2025, 06:16 PM	#5 (permalink)
Rusty Ronin Samurai - Assassin Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Fayettenam,Pennsyltucky Age: 69 Posts: 35,442 Drives: 2011 Nismo GM 6M Rep Power: 2684438	People have had issues with the Stillen extension cable in the past. __________________ 浪人 - 殺し屋 "The Difficult Anytime, The Impossible By Appointment Only" http://www.the370z.com/members-370z-...o-journal.html

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06-08-2025, 04:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
Spooler A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Ga Posts: 14,061 Drives: 2013 Nismo 370z Rep Power: 2684393	I had a throttle body go bad and do the exact same thing. I replaced them both. Issue solved. With the car off, unplug the drives side throttle body and plug it back in. If the issue is gone, that's your problem. You can do the unplug and plug back in trick to fix it temporarily.

06-09-2025, 05:18 PM	#4 (permalink)
Spooler A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Ga Posts: 14,061 Drives: 2013 Nismo 370z Rep Power: 2684393	That is when my car was bone stock. I replaced them both when I went twin turbo. Never saw any lights come on.