Went to Cars & Coffee, Ended Up on a Flatbed
 

I went to car's and coffee with some friends this morning and it was a blast, there were some truly incredible cars as always! After watching all the cars pull out, we decided to leave so I led the way.

I was on the on ramp merging onto the 405 and was in 3rd gear around 60mph and acceleration stopped. There was no power so I started pressing the gas pedal and the car didn't respond at all. So I left it in gear and coasted into the emergency lane where as soon as I let the clutch out, the car died.

I tried starting it and it just cranked but no fire. Called a flatbed to bring it to the dealer and periodically tried to start, each time the car would catch or idle for a second then die again. After getting to the dealer, I went to start the car and it started up just fine.

Does this sound like the cam sensors went out? That was my guess after recalling many a thread about the car stalling while driving. They already said it would be warrantied but it was a bummer! First time that my Z was towed, and that it broke down on me. :(


http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/u...721_095151.jpg

- Taken with my SGS3

sucks

sucks

how do you like the s3? lol

Damn dude that is a bummer. Looks like it was a beautiful day though while it lasted. Hopefully it doesn't happen again!

Thats bad to hear but good to hear she's up and running :)

How was the oil temp? sounds like a glitch of a sensor or something

I hate when problems happen and they go away when you want it looked at. :shakes head:

Hopefully it won't happen again

Happy :driving:

Major suckage... I hope it doesn't turn out to be anything too serious. Doesn't sounds like it is. :)

Sorry to hear that man. Maybe it was tired. Did you try waking it up with some coffee?

Just throwing it out there but could this have been the notorious fuel starve? Sounds kind of similar from the descriptions of fuel starve that I've read.

It's amazing, easily the best phone out right now. Everything is so polished, smooth and feels finished which is great since most android phones always feel like they are still a work in progress. The camera and screen are amazing and it is crazy fast!

Hopefully! It just sucks I've had a clutch issue earlier this week, then this happens.

Oil temp was right around 180, I wasn't driving the car hard either! I know, it started up nicely when I got to the dealer but I took a video of it before the tow truck came lol. It's at the dealer, they are going to figure out what happened and replace stuff if needed. :hattip:

Me too, at least it's warrantied and they are pretty relaxed about the fact my car is modified!

Haha, well it did have a 50/50 mix of race gas and 91 octane so that is a nice shot of adrenaline!

The dealer just called back and said my car is throwing error code U1000 which gives them no information on the cause, plus a bunch of other codes. Has anyone had this happen before? I wonder if this is one of those random electronic freakouts that happen to some members, but never happen again. Their GTR tech doesn't even know what that code means. Weird.

Holy shat! At least they have their GTR tech on it.

But the Good News Is...
 

...at least the car is misbehaving for them, so they have something to work with. Please let us know what turns up!

:iagree:

Hang in there, Christian!

Possible causes
- Controller Area Network (CAN) communication harness is open or shorted
- Faulty Engine Control Module (ECM)

Funny the dealer has no clue.. LOL

When was your last oil change?

Did water get into your engine bay recently?

Sorry to hear, hope you get it up and running soon!

Sux Christian, had this random electrical freakout before, it did not die like yours but did idle high and ran rough, threw several codes, cannot remember which ones. Its posted on the forum here somewhere. Turned out one of the many grounds was shorted or in a better word rusted. Just my 2 cents, glad it's under warranty and the dealer will probably call tech support at NNA for solutions. g/l on fix.

Well that was a good thing for me until the dealer told me he didn't know what that code was at all... Then they said it was a PCM issue and that my GTR start button could be causing problems. LOL.

It's always good it's still having the problem! Seems like it's a rule that when you have a problem, the problem never shows itself when you are trying to diagnose haha.

I know right! It took me two seconds on google to figure that one out. Also, I found a ton of Nissan cars in the last ten years that have had recalls or TSBs out for that exact code.

50 miles ago at the same dealer.

Nope, water hasn't touched the engine bay in months.

Here is what nissan says it might be effecting the listed models according to a service bulletin, your dealer should teach their technicians how to use the internet.




OBDII Code U1000 NISSAN - CAN Communication Line - Signal Malfunction | Engine-Codes.com

Haha, yep! If you read the comments on that link or other TSB sites, most people say stuff like "after I had my oil change" or "after I had my battery replaced". Ever since I had my oil changed, I had a clutch issue and now the car died on the freeway. I've never had a problem before then.

So weird, your Z is babied too

Best of luck with the fix

How many miles are on it ?
Is it an automatic or manual ?

I had a similar problem on an old 87 vette with a standard, no error codes.

The car only had 30k on it and I had it about 2 months and just going thru the gears entering the thruway and once I hit about 70mph I heard a thump and the car was still runnig but lost all driveline power.

The car would start and shift thru the gears and the clutch even moved back and fourth properly.

Turned out the clutch plate disintergrated itself and upon disassembly only the center splined metal hub was left.

Note if its a clutch problem its about $750-$1000k in labor plus parts.

Thanks Wais, I definitely take the best care of the Z as I can. I hope to make it out to Cerritos one of these days!

I had 9,444 miles on it when I dropped it off at the dealer yesterday, the clutch was fine but I think it was a definitely electrical issue. I think I will ask them to clear the codes and see if it comes back.

That would be intense to have your clutch blow like that! Good thing nothing else was damaged when the clutch plate disintegrated.

You should get yourself one of the cheap scanners that reset and read the program codes yourself from harbor freight for around $5O and they have a 20% off coupon in most cycle magazines, this would allow you to clear the codes and reset the computer if you get stuck again, its a lot cheaper than a tow truck and cab fare back home

True, but what do you tell the dealer after you have cleared the only evidence of the problem?

If they don''t like the GTR start button (!) they really aren't going to like you playing with the computer! Can you say "voided warranty"?

I used to have an OBD2 scanner but sold it after I got rid of my last car, that's a good idea! They know about my mods, and know how well I take care of my car which is why they said it would be warrantied. I laughed so hard when they blamed the start button, I told them it is identical to the stock button minus the red and the 370Z start button is used in the Altima too.

Trying to clear the engine codes is not going to void a waranty, you can simply write down the codes, clear them, if there is a damaged or faulty part the error code will resurface on their own.

Then you can take it in for waranty repair, if the problem persists.

Thing is it's already at Nissan, they read the codes. :/

I still say bring a 5 gallon jug, fill it up first before you try anything.

Of course Nissan techs are probably too retarded to do stupid things like that. They will tell you it is normal and avoid to pay for any work

Actually you make a great point cossie, just before the car cut out I had just about a 1/4 or less a tank of gas and made a longish hard right turn on an on ramp before it cut out a few seconds later. Could it be fuel starvation? Would fuel starvation cause the starting issues and the multiple codes?

Fuel Starve
 

Had that happen with a boat I owned once. Would suddenly slow to nearly idle speed, refuse to go any faster. Checked fuel pump and everything else I could. Hard to do on the water, rocking around. Finally towed in. Then the dang thing would start right up and run fine again. Kept happening randomly. Finally punched out a screen filter in the top of the fuel tank and found a piece of astroturf carpeting floating around...

I seriously doubt that's your problem, but it does sound like a fuel starvation situation.

yup exactly what happened to me. The car didnt cut out in mid corner. It cut out after i gunned it off the corner when the reserve fuel from the fuel pump went dry. All your gas is now on the driver's side and the pump can't pick up anything. I never check for codes, but the dealer claimed I had over 1000+ codes on my computer and they said it must have been caused by my trailer hitch wiring and refused to work on it.

Please try to bring a 5 gallon tank, fill it up, start the car and tell those mofo they are idiots and Nissan sucks.

Oh yeah, I towed my car straight to the gas station 2 miles down the road. We filled it up before we lowered it. Of course as soon as I got gas in there, the car started right up

It was already dead, you were coasting in gear using the engine as a giant air pump. The RPM's dropped as soon as you clutched in but the engine had already ceased firing, and they would have come back if you clutched out while moving (still with no fire of course).

Definitely fuel starve. I think the weird codes get thrown when trying to restart with no fuel on the pickup side. Clear codes, add 1 gallon of gas (pickup is on filler neck side), fires right up. Rinse, don't repeat.

2 years ago I got rescued by road side assistance due to this. Fortunately it never came to a flat bed, just added the 1 gallon of gas.

Sounds a lot like fuel starvation to me. It's a known issue that Nissan refuses to fix and dealers are clueless about.

I knew about fuel starvation, I just didn't know it could cause all those codes or the long time to start up which is why I didn't think of it at first. Cossie, that sounds identical to what happened to me. Hard prolonged corner, gunned it out and then a few seconds later the car died. I kept it in gear since I wanted to keep power to the steering and brakes as long as possible. That also explains why when I tried to start it, there were zero dots on the fuel gauge.

There's a gas station right by the dealer, this is my first fuel starvation experience and will definitely be my last time letting fuel levels get that low. It's just weird it's never happened before since I have done canyons and turns like that with the same fuel level. Thanks for all the advice everyone, I really appreciate it! :tiphat:

my autox day always starts with a full tank of gas. people think i am crazy, there is a reason.

I explained the same thing to the state trooper, even he was laughing at how bad the design was.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I have never experienced fuel starve like you guys are saying. Just now, I took a turnpike on ramp (about 270 degree turn, slight banking) accelerating all the way to 70 through it, and my fuel meter was on one dot. I also tried the off ramp (opposite direction) and still no stutters or anything. Might this be an issue with older 370Zs?

nope it happens to everyone of them, you just didn't turn hard and long enough. OP runs on RE11s, he probably never even felt that he was turning really fast given how sticky they are.