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.

How much brake fluid do you have currently? Judging by your description, it seems like brake fluid. Edmunds.com recently wrote in their 370Z blog that their Z (@6300 miles) indeed were low on brake fluid.

Lol, engine break in has nothing to do with his problems... betting on brake/caliper issue.

Break-in is across the board on all parts, engine, transmission, brakes, suspension. Just how much is required for each component is a different issue for a different thread.

Judging by the clear fluid and such it does sound like the caliper seized and the seals failed from the heat. New rotor, new caliper, new pads, full bleed. Probably US$500-$1000 in parts depending on if just one side failed or both front calipers are trashed.

I understand the small window where it could potentially happen, but I still very much doubt it. Everything should seat properly within the first 20 miles of driving. I'm leaning towards faulty brake line... and glad it didn't happen on city streets for the owner.

Guys, whether or not insufficient break-in had anything to do with the root cause is beside the point. If Nissan finds out this happened while he was driving hard on the track with only 500 miles on the car, they may use 'failure to comply with break-in procedure' as an excuse to deny the repair under warranty. That was my only point. Hopefully they won't find out that this happened on the track. Or if they do, hopefully they won't be dicks about it. But I won't be surprised if they do is all I'm saying.

hi guys, thanks for all your inputs, opinions and comments...the engine still revs when i step on the gas pedal, but it still wont go forward even if we cooled it down..i didnt hear any clacking or grinding sound, we were thinking if my tranny got busted...i dont think its brake fluid because it would have definitely damaged the paint on my door and rear fender...we had to tow my car to the pit and the brakes were working fine while they were towing it, no locking or whatsoever....the fluid sprayed on my car because this happened while my car is still running fast on the track, btw, my friends Z had no problems and he is even driving harder than me...he was also driving in drive mode...he has around 700 miles on his car...i cant claim warranty since my car is not bought from a local nissan dealer since nissan philippines doesnt carry the Z here, i bought mine from the gray market who had it imported from las vegas....anyway, ill know in a few hours whats the real problem. its 5am here, will keep you guys posted. thanks again..

just to add, i wasnt even really driving it that hard i think, never revved above 6k rpm for sure...

yea i agree...totally forget to mention anything about tracking or racing your car to the dealer when you bring it in.

those guys wanted $50 to reset my Airbag lite, cuz i had a head unit installed...but they did it for free, all it took was 3 mins and a laptop.

Poor, poor z... :<

Wow, this is turning into a real mystery. Well, good luck man, I hope it turns out to be something very simple (and inexpensive). Keep us updated. You don't suppose it might just be radiator fluid, do you? Like maybe there's some sort of failsafe in the ECU that prevents you from continuing to drive it when it detects that the radiator fluid is low?

I also did not mean to turn this into a break-in argument Semtex, I was just messing with you.

And I agree whether or not it has bearing on warranty and whether or not certain parts need break-in etc. doesn't matter. It's just a good idea to do it anyway. Better safe than sorry.

If that were the case, it shouldn't let you rev it if there's no coolant either. I'm suspecting it's a catastrophic failure of one of the tranny coolant lines.

OOUCH..if its that...the tranny might lock up and die. i agree if the brakes were fine the only thing that would stop you from moving has to come from the drivetrain.

did this happen during the brc trackday of emperor this past weekend? which shop did you bring it to?

hi guys! the leaks came from my tranny hoses, its located near the front left wheel. the fluid that spewed out was my transmission oil, its reddish in color. i thought it was clear when it happened that day. maybe i just got color blind that noon...hopefully my transmission is not damaged from it. the mechanic concluded that maybe the clamps on the hoses were not that tight and pressure was building up so boom..factory defect? we still havent tested anything yet as we are still waiting for my transmission fluid..can i use 350z tranny fluid? importing 370 matic s fluid from japan is very expensive...i hope my trannys not busted or anything. is there a safety cut off when things like this happen? thanks again...

.

The transmission has a failsafe, hopefully that kicked in before any damage was done. Very unusual for a hose failure to happen on a new vehicle unless it had already been slightly damaged.

From the service manual:
Recommended fluid Genuine NISSAN Matic S ATF*1
Fluid capacity 9.2 liter (9-3/4 US qt, 8-1/8 Imp qt)*2

CAUTION:
• Use only Genuine NISSAN Matic S ATF. Never mix with other ATF.
• Using ATF other than Genuine NISSAN Matic S ATF will cause deterioration driveability and A/T durability, and may damage
the A/T, which is not covered by the NISSAN new vehicle limited warranty.

350Z used Nissan Matic J ATF as opposed to NISSAN Matic S ATF.

Don't know if there is a real difference or it's just the name. :(

It's a conspiracy. But be safe and get the proper one. Call the parts department of the dealership and ask what's the diff.