It's sad. But I do agree with Chris, that guy is an idiot.

I do believe all of these problems could be fixed by ECU/VVEL programming but we have to get cars on the dyno with full diagnostics running to figure out exactly what is going on.

What is this "we" you speak of?!

I drive a 5.nism0 :bowrofl:

So far it seems like no one has had the MAF sensors diagnosed or replaced. How about the pre-cat O2 sensors?

on any other fuel injected car, i'd say no way would any of those cause this type of problem, but seeing as how the vvel system in the new z is very different, it could use these sensors in a different way that could create a problem.

dont forget too that this is nissans first attempt at this type of engine. they still will need time to work out all the kinks.

on pg 7 of this thread a couple of posters mentioned cleaning the MAF sensor. I believe someone said they cleaned it and the problem seemed to dissipate for awhile but then returned.

I cleaned them, but really it didn't fix anything.

Yep, same here.

I'm a new owner but also experienced few times this issue with VDC on.. and rarely when off. However not when switched into manual mode.. my car has only 4k miles!

Again, then you have a different or watered down problem. VDC does not affect the problem in the extreme cases like DIGI, m4a1, and myself. I dealt with the problem for almost 40k miles until I stalled out on a hill and tapped the guy behind me.

Is that embarrassing or what? Stalling out like a newbie who didn't give it enough gas, right? I've stalled 1st and Reverse in front of people on a hot day. A/C running wasn't helping either. It doesn't jerk the car... just dies. It's embarassing.

The only thing I notice about VDC OFF is the slightly improved throttle response (i.e., the ECU doesn't hold back as often). The power cut does feel like VDC kicking in, and as many owners (even G37) describe that slip lights don't come up. Plus, it's not full throttle acceleration.

Once my car is back on the road I may experiment with electronics cooling spray. There are so many variables with this car that may contribute to hesitation under acceleration: MAF, CAS, O2 Sensors, etc. It doesn't make sense since our cars idle fine. I think fuel economy is fine, but I don't know if it's running rich. The roughness seems like lean condition and fuel trimming.

I did some more reading about hanging revs, and I think it's to burn off excess fuel for reduced emissions. There's not much we can do there.

I'm honestly not much of a mechanic and don't know squat about this stuff... I Google all this stuff.

I've never stalled the car because of it that I can remember, but I have had situations where I go to near-WOT at a light and get beat by a Prius.

A while back I had my dad roll with me in our beater Buick LeSabre. We went from a 5 mph roll and he pulled nearly 3-4 cars on me before the car finally responded and reeled him in. :facepalm:

i know the solution, just never slow down!

:tup:

Considering the newer detailed comments, I don't think I ever experience anything like that in my 7AT. (Of course, my oil never hits 220 as far as I've seen, so my engine doesn't get too hot for some reason.)

The only lag I've had is when turning a 90 degree turn from a stop.

am almost 100% positive that this is a VVEL issue. Once the tuner or adjuster comes out i think this problem will be resolved. Its definatly not throttle position mapping, i think its a combo of VVEL, timming retardation, imho

One of the techs at Baker Nissan is looking into this issue especially since I'm worried about this issue creeping up with the turbos installed. He also has the link to this thread and my video. He says he never heard of anyone having this sort of issue. He says these engines run hot, which is not a surprise. As usual, he suggested an oil cooler, and I told him it didn't resolve it either for some owners.

The plan is to ship the car over there for them to get the turbos installed, but some extra time will be given in case they need to diagnose the car first before installing anything.

But why does it happen so inconsistently? That is what stumps me. Some cars do it, some don't, and even the ones that do it don't seem to consistently do it.

and again I have to reiterate... this doesn't seem to be happening to any of the NISMO models. I may wait to see what happens with your pre-turbo inspection, DIGI, before I move on trading mine in.

I don't think I've seen it on any 2011's either.

I forget where I read it but IIRC there was a revision to the ECU programming that no longer requires ester oil on the 2011.

I thought I also read that the ester was at first recommended because of valve noise, which could have been interpreted as knock.

If that is true, that would cause the car to pull timing and would definitely get better after an ECU reset (and come back.)

It's weird... G37 owners first reported a couple of things:

• Poor throttle response due to the choice of motor oil, which Nissan said they recommended ester oil due to special lubricants for the VVEL assembly.
  http://www.infinitig37.com/TSB/1SC21.pdf
• Valve noise from the VVEL assembly, which Nissan also recommended ester oil to reduce or eliminate the noise. Nissan later issued an ECU update that resolved the noise issue. The noise was diminished or eliminated, but owners started reporting laggy throttle response or loss of torque.
  http://www.infinitig37.com/TSB/1SB34.pdf

As for the car pulling timing, I don't know. However, the problem goes away for awhile after letting the car cool down for at least 1 minute. After several minutes of driving, it comes back. There are some days or weeks I've not seen the problem show up as well, so it's not really an everyday thing. However, it is definitely easy to lose power on a warm day (above 70 deg) after driving around for awhile.

[EDIT] WTF... I just saw the thread about 2011 models not requiring ester oil because of the ECM update. Hmm... wonder if I should test drive the 2011 Z for a day or two lol. Seriously... I might want in on this.

what oil are you guys using? rarely happens to me and im using motul 5w30, which is ester, and used nissan ester for my first oil change.

The dealership uses regular Quaker oil. I'll switch over to synthetic after getting the turbos. The only reason why I use the regular stuff is simply because the car isn't driven very hard 95% of the time. The 5% is getting on the freeway. Regardless, the only time I see 220F is on hot summer days from extensive driving (i.e., looking around for a house haha). Around this time 200F would be the most I see driving home from work.

BTW... what oil filter are you using? I'm probably going to switch to something larger like Purolator or something that most owners recommend over OEM.

This one, right?

http://www.the370z.com/nissan-370z-w...r-oil-wtf.html

I have not seen an actual TSB on it. But the attachment in the 1st post clearly states the '11 Z does not need ester (the weird thing is, my owners manual does recommend ester - but it does not say it is required.)

I think it's because ester is stable at higher oil temps.

I used Redline and Mobile 1, both Ester oils. I tried K&N, Purolator, and Bosch filters.

Not all ester oils are equal though, some use only a small amount of ester base and still call themselves esteroil. As far as I know, motul is the highest amount. I use the K&N filter btw. I could see the oil causing this problem.

I have a very very hard time believing the type of oil is causing this throttle lag issue. What do you think...the engine is partially seizing and having difficulty revving? I don't buy it for one second. This is purely a heat soak and ECU/sensor issue. Let's not bring the 'what oil do you use' voodoo witchcraft into this topic.

That's why I wonder about IAT bypass and relocate after reading some articles about owners doing the mod for their car.

As for oil, it was supposedly causing issues with the VVEL mechanism and delaying its response. That's why Nissan recommended their ester oil before following up with an ECU update. I don't think this is an issue anymore.

ester oil is not REQUIRED on the 2009 or 2010 either, just recommended. looks like we have alot of bad info flying around.

it isnt beyond reasonable to think that certain oils work better in certain motors than others. Sure they can can run fine, but not optimally. Its the same if you run 5w30 or higher in a hybrid, you wont get the best fuel mileage; or if you use a non-pag oil in an a/c compressor, it'll make a lot of noise and eventually explode inside; or how certain transmissions call for certain fluids.

You cant simply put off the idea because you dont believe it to be possible.

No, guessed that perhaps the engine is pulling timing because the valvetrain noise is picked up by the knock sensor.

Really, it's been over two years, and the only thing people have done so far is get runaround from Nissan and trade the car for something else, so, don't fault me for taking a wild guess. :rofl2:

I don't believe it's an issue of "what kind of oil do you use" either, in the sense you're saying, but the inconsistency in being able to reproduce the problem leads me to doubt that it is purely a heat issue.

Davey, how's your 2011 treating you so far? I've not driven the car in over a month, so I have not been able to test anything.

I've had no real bad experiences so far.

Twice on a hard right from a dead stop, I felt it cut power very similarly.

The first time it was after rain and about 60 degrees. I caught the VDC light flashing, though I did not feel any real wheelspin.

The 2nd time it was dry, but about 50 degrees out. I didn't see the VDC light, but it felt the same (I had 3/4 tank of gas so it wasn't fuel starvation) and I was definitely not being particularly gentle with the throttle so, I dunno, maybe I just missed the VDC flashing.

Since I've been done with break-in I've driven the car for a good hour or so and then tromped it pretty good and it feels about the same butt-dyno wise as my old HR 350Z, and it seems to get up and move just fine even when I've been in traffic and the oil is up to 220 degrees.

So overall I'd say I'm not seeing the problem, I mean, unless you guys are grossly exaggerating how slow the car is when this happens... I mean, if it feels "maybe a little slower" then perhaps I just don't notice it but if it should feel "a lot slower" then I definitely have not had the issue.

No, the car FALLS ON IT's FACE. It's terrible. Civic, Prius, you name it will take you for at least 2 car lengths before you can catch up.

Completely agree. I have a stock 2010 Z in which I've only used Mobil 1 5w30 synthetic oil. I've had the issue since last summer and have experienced the delay in almost all 6 gears at one point or another. Sometimes the delay has been brief and barely noticeable; other times it's very prominent and gets me stuck in the middle of an intersection.

Davey, these situations do not require full throttle. Let's say you're making a left turn, going across the street, or get the car moving through an intersection from the light. You get in 1st to get the car going as usual and give it the usual moderate throttle. The the car revs to 2k RPM and hangs for about 1-2 seconds before ramping up. Normally the car would simply rev up in a linear fashion. At this point you realize you have to give it slightly more gas than usual or it will bog 1st gear. It simply feels heavy, and it goes from slightly lacking power to having no power. It feels like starting out in 2nd gear. Better yet, it is a similar feeling to VDC/TCS kicking in. No difference with it disabled.

Your instinct tells you to give it more gas, right? So you'll go from 30% to 100% throttle the split second the car is hanging at 2k RPM, and it makes no difference. While holding down the pedal, the car will hang and start to rev up. It does not feel like 100% throttle. The exhaust sounds loud, but it does not scream and the car does not appear to move as fast as it sounds. Passenger would describe it as me lifting my foot and putting it back down. I'll even demonstrate with the foot down to the floor for a few seconds in 2nd to show them I'm really trying to floor it to their disbelief.

Normally the car is eager to rev, and it screams in 1st. Plus, it's easy to peel out from a roll in 1st past 3k RPM. When this power loss kicks in, there's no chance of breaking loose the tires from a roll.

There are cases where I'd like to get the car moving fast as traffic approaches, but it is scary to see it lag for a couple of seconds with the pedal to the floor. Even when it starts moving, it doesn't go crazy with the pedal to the floor. It feels like 50-60% throttle.

I've yet to hear anything from the tech at Baker Nissan.

:tiphat: :iagree:
GREAT description. Thank you, sir.

How is the installation on the Sprintbooster? haha im not very mechanical... I looked on the website and they make it look super easy. Is it really that easy?

Just talked to someone at Sprint Booster and gave me these instructions. Im assuming they are the same for the 370z. Seems simple enough...

http://www.sprintboosterusa.com/download/sbni0012s.pdf