V35 Problem :(

[xj265]

Brace yourselves for it is, a long read.....

I was driving along on Sunday when out of the blue the Engine light came on and the revs dropped to idle (Like I was in Neutral) a few seconds later the revs came back and the engine light went away. I pulled over turned the engine off and checked the engine bay for anything but couldn't see/smell/hear anything out of the ordinary. I started the car up fine, drove for another 20-30ft and lost everything had no power what so ever and had oil,engine and some other light come up.I tried starting it back up but it wouldn't start.

I ended up getting towed to my local mechanic. They checked it out on Monday and low and behold it started first time, they took it for a drive still fine but when they went to move the car again it died on them, they checked for error codes and apparently they got some kind of Immobiliser code error. Basically the car thinks there is no key and cuts of fuel/power to engine?

The mechanic is not to sure what's going on and said perhaps the aftermarket immobiliser is interfering with the stock immobiliser. He suggested to drive around without the aftermarket immobiliser fob near the keyring (that's where the aftermarket receiver is placed) and see if the engine still cuts out and try my spare key.

Well I picked the car up yesterday, it started up fine ( I used my spare key as well), about 10 minutes later, I'm about to go up a fairly steep hill, I put the car into manual mode so it goes down to 4th gear (to get higher revs for the hill) and then about 5 seconds later the engine light comes on and revs drop to idle. Fortunately that went away after a few seconds so I managed to get up the hill.

The whole way home, every now and then the car would feel like it was misfiring/choking and it felt like it would go back to neutral/engine light at any stage but it didn't.

I'm really confused as to what's going on here, the only thing I can think of is I gave the engine bay a bit of a clean on Saturday and perhaps I have moved something?

This has never happened before with the car and I've never had any problems with the car either.

Any help would be GREAT!!!

[SMOKEYV35]

I'd be taking it to an auto electrician - and just driving them around until the problem replicates.

I'd mention to them that you were in there cleaning things in the engine bay - as I'd say that's where your problem is (with trouble shooting always consider what the last thing you did to the car was before the symptoms displayed - it's usually the cause). You could have caught some water inside a connector, a terminal may have got wet and has now corroded over causing intermittent contact. Etc etc.

If you're not confident having a go at it yourself, you're better off going to a pro - because electrical gremlins will drive you crazy. Especially inconsistent ones.

[Ross]

If it happens again , disconnect the AFM and restart the car. If its idles fine and drives ok under 2000rpm I think you will have found the problem.

[xj265]

Thanks for the quick reply guys

I was thinking it must be something to do with cleaning the engine bay, like I said I've never had a problem with the car before...

But I only had a damp rag, it wasn't like the engine bay was covered in water.

To restart the car is that disconnecting one terminal on the battery?

[Seano350GT]

When i first started reading i was thinking it might be a belt, when you said you lost "everything" do you mean power steering as well? I once had a similar experience but it was just the aircon/power steering/aternator belt coming loose i just caught it in my driveway before it flung off (has happened to me before) and done mass damage.

Auto elec would be the go, also might pay to send a message to Chris Rogers in regards to the immobolisers interfearing if that does end up being the issue as he is the man to see about those things.

In saying that though, the way you explain it it does seem to be a bit of a mystery but as Mat said i would backtrack to what you did last but i have a feeling if you had knocked something loose when cleaning with your bare hands i daresay you wouldn't forget about it.

Goodluck!

[xj265]

Thanks Sean

Yep I lost power steering as well, basically it stalled even though its an automatic and then it wouldn't start up. It would just turnover no ignition, so no fuel I'm guessing.

I already messaged Chris haha first person I asked, he said he can't do much without seeing it in person.

I had another look at the engine bay today, even started the car up, let it warm up, couldn't hear/see/smell anything out of the ordinary however I did get a waft of fuel smell every now and then from the exhaust which would suggest a misfire perhaps?

I was going to book the car in for service soon anyway, so I've got it booked in next Monday. I'm getting the spark plugs changed so they might find something

[scotty nm35]

Sounds like the crank sensor. No engine lights?

[xj265]

Nope no engine lights, the only time something comes up on the dash is when I am driving and then the car goes into neutral and the engine light comes. This only happens for a few seconds and then disappears.

Wouldn't explian why there was an immobiliser error in the system though Does anyone know if the 350Z error codes are the same as the 350GT codes? Just a thought

[PN-Mad]

error codes are generic across the whole brand.

[Chris Rogers]

see if you can get a proper live scan done on it when it breaks. if I was near the car it would be the first thing I would do.

[xj265]

Just a bit of an update

I haven't had chance to get to the mechanics yet, hopefully next week now I haven't been driving the car.

Just took it for a very short drive (not even 5 minutes), seemed fine pulled up in the driveway put in neutral and revved it a few times and again was fine however I revved it to 4000rpm and as the revs were getting below 1500rpm I could feel it choking/stuttering and then it got to idling revs and the revs just kept dropping....bit of a stutter and then the engine died.

Tried to start it, would here it turning over but no spark happening, engine light and battery light were on. Took the key out, swiped the aftermarket immobiliser (not sure whether that would have made a difference?) put the key back in and started up fine but now I have the Engine light on all the time?

And everytime I revved it above 3000rpm, once the revs got below 1500rpm-idling, it would stutter, revs would drop very low, almost killing the engine but the revs would come back up to idling before the engine could die.

[Seano350GT]

Do you have insurance? Drive it off a cliff and buy a new one, problem solved!

[Magic]

My car had this same problem, and it's actually very common if you search g35driver etc. There's many things it could be but it's interesting that it pulled an immobiliser code, first I read of that.

May have misread but how is it at idle? When you pull into your driveway after it's been sputtering at low RPM from that drive, DON'T turn the car off. Let it idle and see if the revs drop and stalls. Check your oil, if it's burning a shitload of oil you have a bigger problem, but not necessarily expensive. Could be as simple as PCV valve, ECU, vacuum leak or your throttle body needing cleaning. Then it could also be misfire if you're saying it's sputtering. Uploading a video is the best thing to do.

Google things like 'g35 stall' and you'll find shitloads of threads. It's unfortunately very common.

My car is pretty worked and after various attempts I'm back into a 17k rebuild starting afresh (7 months down, about 2 to go). This is because I'm pedantic though and I wasn't happy with the route the old owner went with bore clearance on the block and supporting mods, so we've completely stripped the engine, bought a new built short block from America which arrived last week, and stripped that one to double check everything on that too.

Assuming your car is stock, The stalling/oil burning for me would more than likely be a different reason to yours. And the causes for mine were never definitively found, just probable reasons where we then decided to start again and do it right. It is sadly a trial and error thing I'm afraid, where you need to do attempt the cheap fixes first then look at your options.

Edited November 27, 2012 by Magic

[xj265]

Thanks for that Brandon

The funny thing is I checked the oil a few days before because I kept reading about problems with the G35 burning a lot of oil, on the facebook page but from what I could tell the oil level was fine, still hadn't moved from the last time I checked it. I will check today.

Why should I keep it running to see if it stalls?

[scotty nm35]

You should take it to a mechanic and get a scanner on it. Driving it like this will only cause you more problems. Definitely sounds like the crank/cam sensors...

[xj265]

Yep I don't feel safe driving it anyways let alone damaging it even more, hopefully it will be able to get to the mechanics on Monday

Thanks for your help guys, I'll keep you updated

[Magic]

Thanks for that Brandon

The funny thing is I checked the oil a few days before because I kept reading about problems with the G35 burning a lot of oil, on the facebook page but from what I could tell the oil level was fine, still hadn't moved from the last time I checked it. I will check today.

Why should I keep it running to see if it stalls?

Yeah should have added don't keep driving it obviously. Because if it does drop idle and stall when it's in park you have a similar problem to thousands of other V35/G35 driver's out there, and doing simple trial and errors like cleaning throttle body, checking vacuum leaks, replacing PCV valve or all sub $50 fixes but could resolve the issue.

From here if it still does it I would recommend to take it to someone who knows about these cars and common faults. If it is pulling an immobiliser code don't turn a blind eye to it, codes are there for a reason. It could honestly be a number of things and they all show the same symptoms. For me I think a magical reset of my piggyback when the car was off for 3 hours and ridiculous amounts of oil burning due to my bore clearance added fuel to the fire.

You'll read that literally hundreds of owner's with this problem get so fed up with the trial and errors and back and forth with mechanics, that's its more peace of mind (but more money) to drop another second hand or new block in there and start fresh, and I'm one of them. Sounds extreme, and I guess it is. If you are taking it to a mechanic just make sure they have a background in these cards otherwise they'll want to go the rebuild route straight away.

[xj265]

Alright update time

Took into mechanics, ended up getting slip, vdc and engine light on, on the way to the mechanics.

Crank angle sensor error plus immobiliser error, replaced the crank angle sensor and removed aftermarket immobiliser. They also cleared the errors.

Picked it up today, seems to drive fine (no engine lights, revs are fine) however now the aircon is blowing hot air unless its set to 18 degrees it blows in cold air but not 'air con' air. From what I have quickly looked up on the internet this might be the internal temperature sensor has not been plugged back in after the immobiliser was removed. You can hear the click in the engine bay when the air con is switched on and the fans as well.

Edited December 6, 2012 by xj265

[Seano350GT]

Sweet, that's good news.

Take it back and get them to plug it in if that is the issue.

[Chris Rogers]

sounds right. temp sensor is on your left knee. pop the panel dwon and plug it back in.