my Z broke down
 

Hi guys! I was wondering if any of you here experienced this...when i tracked my car, after 8 laps, my car suddenly stopped at the strectch with my engine still running..i stepped on the gas and it wont move forward. then i noticed white smoke coming out of of my driver side front tires with fluids spewing out. it was clear fluid then the whole left door was covered with it. my car is at some shop right now but i still dont know whats wrong with it since they are still closed right now, its sunday here. btw my car is automatic with 500 miles on it. i checked my oil temp and it was around 240-250. hoping you guys can put some light on this..im worried my transmission might be busted..or is this just hose leak due to the heat? thanks in advance.

just to add my engine is still starting smoothly, when it cooled down a little i tried stepping on the gas again but it still wont move forward, just a little budge but thats it. thanks again..

iw as in drive mode with the last 4 laps.

do a search on the oil temp problems on here. You went into limpmode my friend. Time to buy an oilcooler.

Not sure, shumby, he says the car won't move forward. sideburnZ, have you tried using the gear paddles behind the wheel to try a different gear? Does it change gears?

hi shumby thanks for the reply.
@ miguez, no i havent tried using the paddles to see if it will move. we cooled the car down for at least 15 min., it moved a little in drive mode. then after that it wont budge again.

When you depress the accelerator, are you hearing the engine rev but not moving? Or is the engine staying at idle with the accelerator depressed. If the engine is revving but no forward movement, it sounds like a transmission issue.

Actually, thinking about this fluid spewing out from a wheel well....check your brakes. Did the front left brake caliper lock up and blow out brake fluid? A locked brake caliper would certainly keep your car from moving easily.

OK. The "limp" mode shumby is talking about is activated when the oil temperature rises above just about 270ºF. The ECU will first limit your RPM to 5,500. Then, if the overheat continues or gets worse, to a lower RPM (I believe 3,000). So it is easy to check and see if you were in limp mode.

One important thing to understand is that the ECU will give you back full revs after the car cools down, but apparently you have to turn the car full off (ignition), then back on to reset this limp mode.

After saying all this, from your description, it does not sound like limp mode, since you mention the car was barely moving. Any strange noises coming from the transmission as the car struggled to move? Also, did you smell the fluid that was spilling? Finally, you say the left door was covered in this fluid. I don't quite understand where this was being sprayed from to cover the door?

Hang in there, we'll solve this!

agree now don't sound like limp mode to me.

Why are you tracking your car when you only have 500 miles on it? You haven't even broken it in yet (break-in is 1200 miles). Thrashing your car at the track without properly breaking it in first isn't wise. Don't be too surprised if Nissan refuses to cover the repairs under warranty.

^^ was waiting for someone to crack open the can of worms...lol...and you did

Oh no, break-in thread in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .

As stated above whether or not the engine is revving makes a big difference. If it is not then you may have an ECU malfunction but this is doubtful since fluid was spraying out. Since it was a clear fluid I would also be inclined to see if anything in the brake system is locked up.

Well, for the record, I'm not trying to start a tangential discussion on proper break-in procedure, whether or not it's really necessary, etc. The only point I was trying to make is -- why give Nissan an excuse for ducking out of their warranty obligations if you can avoid it? I mean, Nissan is already famously stingy when it comes to denying warranty claims. No need to hand them a excuse on a silver platter.

If you are loosing fluid, check all your fluid levels first and you should find the problem! It sounds like a seized caliper or a trans problem to me.