Another usefull thread to check

BMW Hard Starting When Warm – Engine Temperature Sensor | BMW Tech Tips, How-tos and News - Bavarian Autosport Blog

I was dumb and started a new thread. Someone pointed me here on that one.

I am experiencing the SAME exact issue. Nissan had the car for 3 days because it was stalling after starting it when it sat over night. Did something with injectors and the stalling after overnight start went away. I now have this problem of rough start when I go to start after it sits for 2 or so hours.

Any word on this from you guys? I am cautious about taking it to my stealership because of not so good experiences in the past.

I have an 09' with 11,000 miles on it.

Welcome to hell buddy :) I've been living the Nissan dream for over a year now. No - there has been no solution in my case. Nissan has no idea, and has apparently given up. Good luck.

Gosh man....I am NOT looking forward to this process with the dealership..haven't taken it to them yet because I needed evidence. Which is what I am going to use your video for.

Did they try to replace the engine temperature sensor as suggested in the BMW article?

Nope - I just received word from Nissan (via telephone) that they have denied my request to relinquish me from the remainder of my lease; due to (get this) insufficient time/opportunity for them to correct the problem. It's only been a year? And 12 trips to the service department, and 8 or 9 parts replaced. Wonder what their definition of "sufficient" is? Anyways, they have assigned someone called a DTS (Dealer Technical Specialist) to me. He is the one that installed the data monitoring computer and has been analyzing the data they retrieved from my driving the car for 10 days with this device installed. He is supposed to be some kind of master technician that travels around the country solving problems...kinda like "House" the doctor I guess?? So - I'm now waiting on him. I took the video origionally because my service department kept telling me they "...could not duplicate the issue..." I've got about 15 more videos.

Man that is SO disappointing. Even after the videos you have for proof. I am afraid to take mine in because I don't want to be without the Z for a month.
:shakes head:

Wow, what a coincidence that I found this thread. I'm currently having the EXACT SAME ISSUE on my 1997 Nissan Maxima. Of course, one would expect such issues on an older car with >100K miles, not on a newer 370Z. But my course of action has been nearly identifical. First we thought it was a starter issue but it wasn't. Then we saw that fuel pressure was dropping when starting the car so my guy recommended a fuel pump replacement. Luckily it didn't cost me much in labor because in my Maxima the fuel pump is really easy to get to via an access panel under the back seat. I also had the strong smell of gasoline in my car for a few days after they did the replacement and I was assured this was normal, and just due to some gas splashing during the replacement.

So then I drove around for a few weeks and the issue seemed to mostly be gone. It didn't start 100% normal like I've been used to for years, but it also didn't have to crank for 10+ seconds to start. This seemed consistent whether or not I was cold starting or starting after a 15+ minute break.

Well guess what, now the issue is coming back. And just like everyone else that is having this issue, it mostly affects my starts when I leave the car for 15 minutes to a few hours and come back. When I start it in the morning it starts much easier and quicker, although not perfect.

I'm going back to my guy and letting him know everything that has happened but so far I don't have a fix either. If I find out anything I'll post here because who knows, it might be relevant.

I can't believe nobody has tried the engine temperature sensor fix as suggested in the BMW article posted here. Had it happen to me yesterday, with a guy who wanted to hear the car standing right behind it. Start it up and it cranks for 8 seconds before turning over...so embarrassing

Well I have an update on my situation. Yesterday in the middle of the day I drove to an appointment and 20 minutes later I came out and tried starting the Maxima. It cranked for a few seconds and then kind of died, and after that it made no noise when trying to start. Battery checked good, although there was a good amount of corrosion on the cables, so I cleaned that up first.

I took out the starter and tried cranking and the thing didn't budge, it seems to be completely dead. I also hooked the starter up to another car/battery with jumper cables and it wouldn't start moving so I'm going to order a new one and see if this fixes the problem. My gut tells me the dead starter is just a symptom of my rough starting for the past month and there might be something else wrong, but I don't know yet.

You've probably just been taxing the starter with all the excessive cranking and so it wore out prematurely. If the starter was the issue in the first then you would of had a slow crank speed, but from your description it sounded like the crank speed was fine, it was just the engine that wasn't firing.

It could be a bad sensor as hansoac suggested. If the ECU is getting bad data then it will miscalculate the fuel mixture making the engine hard to start. I had a similar issue with a 2001 Dodge. It would always start but it would run rough for serveral minutes after a "warm" start like this. First thing in the morning it would fire right up and run fine.

Finally figured it out. It was a bad starter. More specifically, the solenoid was getting stuck and I was able to test it by knocking the solenoid loose with a wrench while cranking. Replaced the starter and now it starts immediately. Drove it around today and had no problems.

So now - New Flywheel and Crankshaft Position Sensor
 

Well - Nissan's latest attempt at a solution to this hard start problem is replacing the flywheel and crankshaft position sensor. This is a recommendation of the Nissan tech that flew out to look at the car. I'll let you know what happens. I hate owning this car; it has consumed WAY too much of my time :(

Oh and BTW -- I would have no problem having Nissan replace the temperature sensor. Unfortunately I am at the mercy of Nissan's techs at this time. I don't think they are going to listen to me - they have not so far.

Crankshaft position sensor sounds like a winner to me. If they do fix it though i wish they would do one at a time instead of both of these so we would know which one is the fix if it works.

man bclarke..i do feel bad for you!! Sucks you have had such a terrible experience. I still have yet to take it to Nissan to get it fixed. I am afraid to go through what you are going through. PLEASE keep us informed as to what the fix is..I want to get the car to them before my warranty runs out!!
Thanks again for all the input so far...it is much appreciated.!