S-mode warning light
 

About 2 months ago my 370z Nismo S mode been acting up. Randomly when I start the car I get a S-Mode warning light, which pretty much tells you S mode is not working. If I drive the car about about 20 minutes then turn the engine off S mode comes back to life.

Does anyone have this issue? I have an appointment with Nissan tomorrow. Here is a picture of the warning light.

Also 1 more thing. Has Nissan released a bulletin for the high pitch sound coming from the car? That **** is annoying.

http://i54.tinypic.com/2hnotat.jpg

hmmm, maybe you have a faulty connection the d mode? the part under the 's' mode button near the shifter, maybe the connection to that is messed up? just a guess

High Pitch noise.... Were is it coming from?

not from the s-mode graphic. :shakes head:

Lots of info on the high pitched noise around. It's the ECU and I believe there is a recall or service bulletin on it.

yeah i saw that thread but no one has officially posted a link to the bulletin. can you direct me to the post on that thread?


driver side.

Just want to update. I took the car today. They told me to leave the car for diagnostics. Few hours later they called to tell me that everything looked fine but next time it happens to bring it in without making an appointment.

At first the guy that saw me said it might be tire pressure. What does tire pressure have to do with S-Mode? That is when they decided to have the car for a few hours.

From the sound of it I have a special 370z Nismo since no one else here has reported the problem.

Are you guys talking about the "whirrrrrrrrrrring" sound?

On my 22 hour drive I thought I was hearing things but it only seemed to make that noise after I would accelerate and let off the throttle. Sound pretty high pitched to me.. esp with the radio turned down.

Hmm....

You're right. I just did multiple searches across this board and google. There doesn't seem to be an official bulletin out yet. I could have sworn I read somewhere on here that there was one. My apologies. Looks like quite a few people have had success with getting the ECU swapped out at the dealership and having the sound go away.

Just go to your dealership and don't leave until you get SOMEONE to hear it. Once you do it shouldn't be an issue to get it swapped out. Looks like you need an "A model" ECU..

I'm not sure which thread you read so heres a few links. Hope this helps and I hope you get it resolved. I'm sensitive to high frequency sounds so I know how annoying they can be. Some fluorescent bulbs drive me crazy. :)

http://www.the370z.com/388761-post1.html
"If anyone has this problem, ask your service advisor to order ECU which has part number ending with A. I don't know what exactly the number is. If you have question or need service advisor's phone number, let me know"

370Z Report ECU High Pitch Noise and How to fix it!
"The key part that you must pay attention to when doing this is the ECU part number. It appears that only ECUs with part number ending in “B” are malfunctioning. ECUs ending in part number “A” are not. Since there isn’t yet an official TSB, you will have to have a Nissan technician listen for it and identify it. It may help to print out a few of the forum posts I have linked to below and bring those in along with a printout of this article."

The only time I get the high pitch noise is when im off throttle coasting. Ive read alot about this but seems to me like a ring and pinion noise.

If I notice it I will get it taken care of. My votech dormmate is a Nissan tech. I got my car with his employee price discount. I will keep my ears open. Can do what ever I want to the car and have warrentee unless a Nissan Corp sends out a rep to look at the car in person. Its good to have friend in the right places.

The high frequency noise can come from both the ECU and the fuel pump. The fuel pump is mostly noisy on a cold start and goes away, if yours is continuous it is probably the ECU. You should notice the noise is louder in the passenger seat.

The S-mode error is coming from malfunctioning sensors. Either the shifter position sensors need to be recalibrated or something else is going on. Tire pressures have nothing to do with it and the fact that the tech suggested this indicates he has little experience with the vehicle.

I got this S-Mode warning once before after doing a few doughnuts and drifts. After I was done killing my tires I heard the beep and saw the warning. The SRM did not work and the warning light stayed on. I turned the car off waited a few seconds and started it up again. Everything went back to normal. I was told that next time I want to be Ken Block just turn off the SRM and everything should be fine.

does the s-mode match the engine rpm to the drive shaft or one of the tire speed (actual MPH)? :confused:

if the speed sensor gave a werd reading from driving over a bump simultaneously when SRM was activated, would it cause the error?

:confused:

Yes there are 3 sensors that play a role in the SRM engine speed calculations, the transmission input speed sensor, the gear position sensor, and the wheel speed sensors.

You can definitely confuse the computer by going into a donut frenzy as the front wheel speed sensors are giving substantially different readings to the rear wheel speed sensors. In this case (takes a couple of minutes of donutting) the stability control, and SRM and any other system that depends on the sensors get shut down. The systems are re-enabled on engine restart.

In the OP's case he says it is happening on start up, which seems unlikely that it would be a wheel speed sensor or the transmission input speed sensor as neither of these would be producing any readings. There is a calibration procedure for the SRM netural position described on page EC-23 (the engine control section) that could be tried. But again as this is a startup failure one of the sensors has to be giving totally whacked readings and as all other systems are functional it appears to be directly related to SRM related sensors. The diagnostic procedure is listed on page EC-374. Code P0820 could be thrown.