Engine Dies Randomly

[darylmarklim]

Good day guys..

I recently sent my car in to install some audio systems, I also rewired the entire audio system as the previous owner's setup was very messy

The audio system was installed and working perfectly the day before, however yesterday, my car's engine began to cut off randomly (as i was in gear, the engine started back up immediately thus i just felt a jerk) Today, i nearly crashed as i was in a turn and the engine died off with clutch in, losing my power steering.

The symptom was pretty much similar to the one experienced by this dude: http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/282545-engine-cutting-out-randomly/page__p__4757195__hl__engine+dies+off__fromsearch__1#entry4757195

Besides the above i have been searching the forum but i can't find 1 similar or with explanation

Did an OBD check turned out the following:

017 camshaft position sensor memory condition, ecm not received related pulse signal from sensor when engine working at certain rpm. possible cause sensor fault or circuit voltage / starter motor or starting system supply abnormal

038 turbo sensor memory condition - ecm received voltage signal from sensor paranormal - minority outlet voltage difference from sensor under voltage high possible cause: turbo charger, sensor, circuit - intake air system - exhaust system.

OBD Reset with 038 still showing and symptoms persisting

Did a DIY ECU Fault code reading: http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/266512-reading-nissan-fault-codes-ecu-fault-codes-how-read-them/

11: Crank Angle Sensor/Camshaft Position Sensor

26: Boost Pressure Sensor

Checked the service manual,

For the crankshaft position sensor: instantaneous break: symptoms vary with the break time and the vehicle's driving conditions. Light shock or surging will occur while the vehicle is being driven and the engine will stall at idle speed. (which is somewhat similar)

For the turbo pressure sensor, it will be judged at zero, no remarkable malfunction will be detected.

What i have tried:

I have not been boosting the car at all. Also, the boost pressure (038)sensor only came up after i reseted the OBD, however both 11 and 26 came up when i did the diy. As such, this should be of no reason why the car dies off.

A postulation from my tuner is that the previous owner had connected the secondary power source for the ECU (which should be direct to the battery) through the cable that ran for the audio. As such, after i rewired the audio cables, the ECU may not have its secondary power source anymore. (checking it out on sat)

I have tried running the car with and without the audio turned on to no avail.

I have recorded the voltage when the engine dies off and there seems to be no loss of voltage (with or without music)

I am at a loss as to how to fix this, will be sending in to workshop this weekend to see if they can diagnose the problem.

My question is, does anyone have such an experience and any idea how i can fix it?

Thanks for taking the time to read my lengthy post, as a token of gratitude, please accept this picture for your amusement

borrowed from thechive.com if your dont already know this awesome site.

Cheers!

Daryl

[darylmarklim]

tried resetting ecu, does not help as well, managed to find a thread about it, if anyone can share some advice will be greatly appreciated. cheers

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/233229-car-randomly-dies/

Edited April 7, 2011 by darylmarklim

[Nanogrip]

Does the engine die when you are in slow traffic or when you are at low revs or when changing gears? If so, then might be worth checking the idle air control solenoid valve if it needs cleaning. Same with the air flow meter. There is an excellent tutorial somewhere in the forums.

My randomly dying engine became a lot worse after installing a Blitz Sonic Power Intake, after checking in the forums here, I tried the idle air control cleaning, problem never returned.

[darylmarklim]

Does the engine die when you are in slow traffic or when you are at low revs or when changing gears? If so, then might be worth checking the idle air control solenoid valve if it needs cleaning. Same with the air flow meter. There is an excellent tutorial somewhere in the forums.

My randomly dying engine became a lot worse after installing a Blitz Sonic Power Intake, after checking in the forums here, I tried the idle air control cleaning, problem never returned.

Thanks nanogrip. My air flow meter is dirty but as I just got my Z32 AFM, i didnt want to remove it till i swapped them both. However it has not been cleaned since i bought the car a year ago, would such symptoms as engine dying occur out of the blue? There was no gradual engine dying once a week perhaps, it was fine 1 day then started dying every few minutes now.

The engine dies off at random RPM, as low as 1500+, also happens when changing gears, even when cruising i can feel a slight jerk followed by engine light on. Now when i start my car, the engine light will remain on immediately until i start driving for a few minutes.

As for the idler air control solenoid, is it the 'variable air intake control solenoid valve'? (trying to find it on service manual) will find the tutorial and give it a try.

Also, my car is a R34 RB25DET, last modification was to upgrade fuel pump to a 255l walbro pump which was operating normally for at least 2 weeks prior to this incident.

Edited April 8, 2011 by darylmarklim

[darylmarklim]

I have sent car to workshop, turns out it is the turbo sensor wiring that is loose thus causing the engine light to come on.

But now my car is even more undrivable, below 3000 rpm, the throttle response is weird. Eg. I can be full throttle but RPM crawls its way up to around 3000 then resumes normal operation.

Also, moving off is hard because the car wants to die out at low RPM.

Workshop said it had to do with my air intake pipe, which is made of some plastic springy tube, which allows air in through the circumference of the pipe and not only through the air filter and afm.

This is because when throttle is pressed, you can see the circumference of the pipe getting smaller (air sucked in through the sides) and when you shake the pipe, the RPM fluctuates at idle.

Any thoughts on whether this diagnosis is accurate? I have to wait till next week when im free to change to a metal pipe

[scotty nm35]

It sounds like your airflow meter has a bad solder joint, there is a how to for repair if you do a search.

[darylmarklim]

cheers mate, will be sending car in to fabricate intake pipe, see if that helps, if not ill be opening that afm tomorrow.

just changed AFM only, to z32.

[EurasiaN!]

had this same problem coming around a corner last week mate, loss of power steering, all dash lights came on, no brakes (hardly) almost sent me into the gutter until the engine decided to kick back in last second and luckily enough I managed to yank her back.

Scared the s**t out of me! But problem hasnt come back since .. *fingers crossed*

Let us know how you go mate, and what you do to resolve the issue!

[darylmarklim]

Hi everyone, the new Z32 AFM is working fine, as well as the stock one.

Workshop suspects its the turbo sensor wiring that was loose and intermittent, coupled with the springy plastic air intake pipe (which was previously glued onto the turbo and had come loose over time) that caused the random engine dying.

With regard to the rough driving, was just a tuning issue. So far car is sorted out, engine light still comes on (14 - Speed sensor) but that's another issue.

It still dies when boosting and then clutching in without shifting gears. Tuner said it has to do with bov or stock waste gate not opening up in time thus the backpressure.

However quite seldom at low RPM, grandma style driving, the RPM also wants to drop and die out when i clutch in and come to a stop. Thanks to Nanogrip for the solution, will try it out.

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions and input!

[darylmarklim]

Does anyone have the part number for the turbo pressure sensor? I cant find it online or on forum, could anyone help? Thank you

My local nissan dealer had a replacement but it looked totally different from the original one.

Edited May 9, 2011 by darylmarklim

[stimps]

Found it very hard to think about your problem after being distracted by your the chive link

Lemme try again......

Nup sorry, can't help.

[R34 4 Door]

Does your problem happen now & then or all the time?