Purchased used Z - have a question.
 

Hello, this is not a very good introduction post but i'll take care of that later. I purchased a 2009 370Z Manual with 40k miles from a local dealership on Saturday. The car has a few mods but the ones relative to this post are short ram intakes and cat back exhaust. Both items have no names or numbers on them so i'm clueless as to what brand they are.

The drive home from the dealership was uneventful. Sunday morning the SES light came on. I read the codes and it had a stored and pending P0300 which could be a lot of things. Sunday afternoon the light turned off but the codes were still readable using my scanner. Also Sunday afternoon, after 5 minutes of driving i could not go above 3500 RPM. I stopped the car and researched the topic on my phone. After turning the car off and back on, i was able to rev above 3500RPM's and got home with no issues (10 minute drive). That evening i spent a good bit of time on this forum researching and it seems most likely to be a faulty sensor. I took the car out again last night for a test drive and was able to reproduce the limp mode twice but could not determine a pattern. Sometimes i can go 30 minutes, sometimes 5 minutes before it happens - all normal driving.

The dealer set up a service appointment at their Nissan store for me Wednesday morning. They offered to cover the necessary repairs on their 90 day/3000 mile powertrain used car warranty (the car is out of factory warranty). I am hoping to meet with the service tech to go over my research in case they have not seen this problem before.

My question is, do you think the P0300 is related to the limp mode or a separate issue? Also, does anyone have any documentation relating to the limp mode problem besides the personal accounts posted on this site?

Thanks for your time. I look forward to enjoying my new Z but for now it sits in the garage.

I found this link which might be some help:
http://www.the370z.com/engine-drivet...whats-fix.html

Code : P0300 may also be accompanied by a 301-312. the number after the 3 indicated the misfiring cylinder

Definition : Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected

Symptom : Check Engine Light Illuminated and engine misfire, may also detect loss of power or hesitation while accelerating

Cause : The engine will set this code when a misfire is repeatedly detected.

Repair : Replace the failed component on that particular cylinder. Most commonly the Coil Pack

Damage if not repaired : Engine damage to the cylinders rings and damage to the catalytic converter from raw fuel not being burned, not to mention the poor performance and fuel mileage.

When you pull the check engine light codes and p0300 pops up you may ask yourself, What do I do now? See if there is an additional code such as p0302. The number that follows the 3 ( 02 in this case) identify's the problem cylinder. So the problem would be in the number 2 cylinder and in most cases can be cured by replacing the coil pack.

I suggest repairing the problem so in the future if your car has an additional problem it can illuminate the check engine light to let you know you need to fix an issue.

Someone else suggested that the MAF might be dirty too.

Another link to check out:
http://www.the370z.com/engine-drivet...peed-idle.html

1. Hello, welcome to the forums.
2. Sorry to hear of your troubles
3. Here are 2 threads that may help. The symptoms sound different than what you are getting but at least a possible starting point:
http://www.the370z.com/intake-exhaus...high-idle.html
http://www.the370z.com/nissan-370z-g...-searched.html

This last one may be able to lead you in a direction better than those 2 as it seems like it points out a few other threads:
http://www.the370z.com/nissan-370z-g...ly-ak370z.html


Hopefully something there helps

gbrettin's on fire! :tup:

anyone getting p0300 from the cracked L breather tube coupler thingie?

My money is on dirty MAF and throttle body due to the aftermarket intakes. Using too much oil on cone filters to recharge them will blow the oil back onto the the TBs and MAFs.

yah, that makes sense. people often times use waaaay too much oil when they clean them.

like watching a novice wax a car in blobs...:ugh:

or like girls in the 80's using tons of hair spray in aerosol cans. :ugh2:

or me using wasp killer spray on a bee hive.. :eekdance:

Thanks to everyone for the quick replies!

The last thread you linked was very helpful. I printed and highlighted a copy of it last night to discuss with the service tech on Wednesday.

I don't want to touch any of the sensors until the service people take a look in case they try to pin something on me. I also have a fear that the service tech will blame it on the aftermarket parts even though they sold me the car that way. I guess this was missed on the 120+ point inspection they perform on all used cars. Of course none of these issues occurred on the test drive and the cars runs perfect otherwise.

:happydance:Bee hive hairdo's of the '60's? Remember them?

:icon18:

Would be funny if you had a styrofoam cup stuck in there.. :ugh:

I can tell you that I had the 100% carbon copy issue you described with my previous 08 Altima coupe.

Took it in and they claimed "a huge bug" had some how hit the MAF sensor. I did have them show me and it looked pretty gunked up.

Were you running a Fram air filter?:rolleyes:

Walmart

Dropped the car off this morning at the dealer. The service "greeter" asks me whats wrong with it so i go on for about 2 minutes about what happened and what i believe to be the problem, etc. His reply is "so you have a CEL? - OK sign this." Now the vehicle is probably in the hands of a tech who knows nothing about the problem, when it happened, or how it happened and will have to start from scratch. I was told their service tech's do not talk to customers. This is why i hate dealerships and learned to do my own work. Sorry for the rant! I'll give an update when i hear from them.

And they'll take it on a "test" drive for lunch.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

so did you not check the intake tract for any contamination on the maf sensor or throttle body? :confused:

There was a lot of us guys in the 80's that kept the hair spray industry alive as well............Aquanet was the bomb! :tup:

lol i used gel like lots of it in blobs :ugh:

Service "greeter" did not call today so i called him. He says they were unable to read any codes and are diagnosing it the old fashion way. I wanted to say grab my $99 OBDLink out of the glove box because it apparently works better than your thousands of dollars machine but i held back. He said i will get a call with an update tomorrow. I am not holding my breath and will be calling them on my lunch hour tomorrow.

kenchan - I did not touch anything on the car for fear of them seeing a bolt that was freshly removed and blaming it on me. I would much rather have fixed this myself but am trying to take advantage of the warranty that i got. There are multiple "fixes" listed on the forums and some of them were pricey.

that sucks, ruins the new car experience.

btw, that's understandable about the freshly touched fasteners.

you're being a good sport. keep the cool as you have.

Best of luck.

Just called the service adviser. He said other than the a/f ratio's being all over the place (blamed on the aftermarket intakes) they have found nothing wrong. They have also not been able to reproduce the limp mode after 30 miles of driving. They said a tech would drive it home tonight with a data recorder. I'm not sure i like that idea. What if this guy lives in a bad neighborhood? Am i being overprotective? Is this normal for service shops?

I'm supposed to get a call in the morning with the results of the data recording. I fully do not believe i will get that call so i'll be calling them. Either way i'm taking the car back tomorrow. At this point it seems the risks are outweighing the reward.

:shakes head:

i would definitely ask where the tech lives and where the car will be. :mad:

id also give heads up to your insurance..just in case.

The AFR are all over the place because (most likely) there is oil on the MAF sensors. The MAF sensors heat up and then read how much air travels over the sensor. If there is oil (from the after market cone filter) then those sensors can not get an accurate reading which will cause your AFR to be off.

They were supposed to call me first thing this morning with the results but again did not. I went there anyway to pick up the car. I spoke with the service adviser who tells me they found nothing and were not able to repeat the limp mode. I asked for some paperwork detailing what they did just so i have it for my records. After some grumbling from them i got the paperwork.

I got in my car and looked at the trip meter - 112 new miles! As i was leaving, i saw one of the service tech's walking out to another vehicle. I asked him if he worked on my car. He said no but he knew who did and said they tried everything they could to reproduce the limp mode. He also informed me that another guy took the car home last night and that guy lives 26 miles from the dealership. I asked him if he thought 112 miles was excessive and he said with a problem like mine they have to get miles on the car to try and replicate the problem.

Interestingly enough he stated that since you (me) did not provide us with any information on what happened, how it happened, or when it happened they have to pretty much start from scratch. I told him that i told everything to the service adviser and pleaded with them to let me talk with a tech and give them the same information but i was told no. He apologized and i was on my way.

I put 28 more miles on the car since i left. The car did not go into limp mode.

At the very least i will inspect and clean the MAF sensors this weekend.

What do you guys think about the 112 miles? I'm a bit torn on whether it is excessive because if they only drove 10 miles, the customer may complain that they did not try hard enough to replicate the problem.

That seems like a lot but they were trying to help you. If the tires are bald I might have an issue, but really I can put 112 miles on a car around town in no time.

yah, especially if the tech lives 26miles from the dealership, round trip is like half of that 112 miles.

lessons learned... never trust the dealer. :ugh2:

They went out doing errands on your car. As they are not allowed to use their courtesy cars I learned a while back. Instead they use customers cars. Next time install a GPS tracking devices which maps and logs distance and speed.

Yeah most ppl here learn how to fix their own cars.

I would NEVER allow that. If they told me 'one of the techs will drive your car home' I would tell them that I will be there in 30mins to pick my car up. A reputable service place would never allow this to happen. From a business standpoint, there is just too much liability, plus it's just bad customer service. I understand they needed to test drive the car, but 112 miles and allowing an employee to take it home like it's his personal vehicle is out of line

I honestly would not go back to that dealer. Keep an eye on the car, and find another dealer for future service needs.

Get UpRev and tune your car professionally:tup:

This weekend i cleaned the MAF's and inspected for leaks on the aftermarket intakes. Did not find anything significant.

Drove the car yesterday both morning and afternoon with no limp mode. Drove the car this morning and afternoon with no limp mode. I finally ran the gas down to the point of -- range just to get a fresh start other than dealer filled gas. Topped off the tank with 93 from BP and left for home. After about 10 miles of highway and 2 miles of 45 mph the car went into limp mode. No CEL, no difference in my driving.

It got me thinking that perhaps it has something to do with a full tank of gas. I know that shouldn't make a difference but it is the only consistent thing at the moment. I drove it two more times this evening and was not able to reproduce the limp mode. I will see how tomorrow goes as i'll be putting 50+ miles on the car.

150 miles later and the car has not gone into limp mode. 65 miles ago the SES light came on and i read the code as the same P0300. The light has not gone out as it did the last time it came on. I'll be calling the Nissan service department tomorrow morning to see what they want to try next. The worst part about this is the car runs perfect other than the high idle associated with the P0300.

Its your CAI causing the problem. Put back to stock or get it professionally tuned. Bringing it to Nissan won't do anything except destroy your car.

Heading back to the office after lunch the car seemed to have no power. If i gave it more than 1/2 pedal, the SES light would blink. It felt like severely retarded timing. Hopefully when i get back in it to head home it won't be the same or my drive home will suck.

I bought the car with the short ram intakes so i do not have the stock pieces. Should i order stock parts or a name brand CAI? Any professional tuners around St. Louis, MO?

Even with the best name brand CAI u will still need it tuned. Your Z is sucking more air than fuel ratio causing it to act up throwing CEL.
It will run fine most the time however your ecu will act up temporary at moments at a time.
Im sure there is someone in St. Louis that can help with your tune.