Major Track Faults of the 370

Sharif@Forged

I've never had the pedal stick on track, but i have had it stick in the pits. How about you all? The engine and transmission produces an enormous amount of heat, and when you bring the car into the pits, that heat can cook the system.

The heat is the killer, and Nissan hydraulic systems have always been prone to issues with this. I would suggest a stainless line, heat wrap with the best warp money can buy, Motul RBF600 fluid and give that a shot.

This is not a very widespread issue, but it can happen.

Fuel starvation...now that IS very much a widespread issue.

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FricFrac

Good point on the stainless/heat wrap. Stainless will hold heat and transfer it down the line from the metal couplings though. ....but it will also radiate heat from inside the line as well. I think you would have to experiment with both to see which had the greater effect. I personally would go with a heat wrap on the stock rubber line if the intention is to keep heat out.... heat wrap and rubber is going to be the best insulation from heat.....

Another thing that would help a lot is a heat shield and some heat screen matting... I really like the DEI matting as it has both fiberglass insualation and a reflective mylar layer.

I used the DEI matting on the bottom of the heat sheild for my 240Z with tripple Mikuni 44's. Use to boil the fuel out of the floats all the time. Drove to Canby on a 700km drive in one day with the new heat sheild with the DEI and didn't have a single problem with heat! As you can see the heat shield is almost touching the unwrapped headers below.

Attached Images

Heat Sheild.jpg (464.6 KB, 100 views)

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Shamu

Are you guys sure it's fuel starvation issue based on tank? Hard to believe people are seeing fuel starvation with nearly a full tank. That sounds like something else? Is it lack of fuel pressure from fuel pump maybe?

Man I have run nearly empty and pitched the car with no issues yet? Is this a 2009 issue only?

Guess I pohang to get on track to figure this out. Can't believe no one has tackled this if it is truly an issue. I'd love to see video of it with video on fuel gauge.

ChrisSlicks

The fuel starvation is definitely tank related. Very reproducible depending on track layout. You probably won't see it on short tight track autocross as you need 2 things to make it happen. Sustained full throttle (or close to it) and a long sweeping right hand turn (up hill right handers are the worst).

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FL 4Motion

I thought I remember reading a while back that some folks were working on a fix for this issue.

Any idea if there's been any progress (short of dumping the oem fuel tank and moving to an aftermarket fuel cell etc).

ChrisSlicks

Travis had someone make a mostly fix. It let him get down to about 1/4 tank on track which is a big improvement. The tank has to be sent out and modified. PM him for his contact.

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Shamu

Just weird that factory, Nismo team on Nismo developed car and all magazines who drove this car on the track never reported this?

So all the cars we see with in car videos on the track never having any fuel starve issues are all running with more than 3/4 of a tank?

Wonder why so few people have dealt with this issue? Baffled tank certainly would help.

Pharmacist

i had one experience with fuel starvation this summer. it was at shannonville motor sports park. It was near my 3rd 20 min session. It was between turns 2 and 3. The 2 turns are usually taken together as a single turn at a speed of about 70 or 80 km/h in second gear at about 60 or 70% throttle. Fuel was about quarter of a tank, so 4 dots. As I was between the 2 turns, I lost all drive to the wheels and the engine went down to idle. The car coasted to a stop on the short straight right after turn 3 and the engine just wouldn't rev past idle. I thought it was limp mode but my oil temp was ok. Also limp mode cuts rpm at 5000. Tried shuffling through the gears but the car still wouldn't rev past idle. A couple of cars went right past me at high speed and I was in full panic mode. Eventually after a few seconds I managed to creep onto the grass at the side of the track. After a few seconds of pumping the throttle the engine finally came back to life. Fuel gauge was showing only 2 dots.

Then on that same lap at the hairpin (turn 10) I also experienced the same thing. This is a slow high-g hairpin taken in 2nd gear at 40-50 km/k and exits into a very long straight, so you floor the throttle as soon as you exit. At the exit of the hairpin I floored the throttle and experienced no acceleration for about 3-4 seconds before the car finally responded again. I pulled into the pits after this lap, and slowly after a few minutes the fuel gauge went back up from 2 to 4 dots again. I let the car cool down and then went home.

Here is the track map:

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cossie1600

Once you get on the track, you are going to feel it if you do a right hand sweeper. I am going off memory here, but I recall 6 gallons from full is the least amount I could do without fuel starve. I basically have to fill up after each session. It's annoying, especially when there is no gas at the track! You have to reset your odometer, remember the car gets 6-7mpg.