V35 electrical engine issues

[tehmessiah]

Hi,

I have 2003 Anniversary edition v35 350GT skyline that I bought off a friend cheap (but not cheap enough I now discover). He had to stop driving it because of his knee and he couldn't use the clutch. He put fuel stabilizer in it but only 1/4 filled the tank and then left it sitting for 2 years and never ran it. He knows nothing about cars btw.

• I discovered the clutch slave piston was full of water and explains the heavy clutch, so I replaced that and flushed and bled it and its now good.
• I had to replace the drive belts as they were worn and cracked.
• I had to replace the Tank, fuel pump and fuel level sender as the tank was rusted beyond repair. Everything above the 1/4 of petrol corroded and everything in the fuel was gummed up with this black crap that I can only guess is a combination of off fuel and a high concentration of fuel stabilizer.

And to top it off less than a year before he stopped driving it he had already taken it to the Nissan dealers here in Darwin and they also replaced the fuels tank. They of course apparently replaced it with a genuine one from Nissan although knowing the history of this dealership it could have been second hand.

Now to replace the tank you literally have to remove the rear suspension, exhaust, prop shaft and bumper bar as well as the back seat and boot lining. Now when Nissan dealer did this and had to wait for months for the tank to arrive on a slow boat from Japan, they put all the parts they took off and placed them on a pallet in their warehouse. A month or 2 later some clown decided to do a cleanup of the warehouse and disposed of all the stored parts (I can only assume) because some clown didn't label them properly. So everything was thrown away including the rare white leather rear seats. 
When the tank finally arrived they call me friend and asked him to bring in the car to which there was a long argument about them losing the parts and him ending up getting a free fix on his car.

So that the brief overview of its life so far and now I am fixing all the mess that is left from him not taking care of.

So After I replaced the tank, fuel pump, level sender, Clutch slave, belts etc. I took the car for a test run around the block and OMG it was perfect.

I was in heaven, until... I drove it to work for 3 days last week and had to tow it home on Friday because the accelerator wasn't responding. The engine was idling at about 1200rpm and the engine and traction control light was on. Luckily because its got enough horses under the hood I was able to drive it out of the underground car park quite easily up the steep ramps.

So what could it be. I did some research and found it is likely either the accelerator pedal assembly or the throttle body, however there are a few other weird things going on that make me suspicious it might be something electrical.

• The drivers side park light has blown (could be coincidence since globes do blow)
• When you turn the head lights on and when you flick from low to high bean there is a delay of half a second (guessing) between the passenger side light and the drivers side light coming on and changing from high to low. The drivers side is the delayed one.
• The drivers side window winder intermittently wont work. (This was another know issue with the car when I bought it and I had fixed it by cleaning the brushes and contacts on the electric motor as they were clogged with graphite from the brushes and it worked fine for a long time until the last few months)
• The middle rear window brake light stopped working. I had to fix this to get it past inspection when I first got it working 12 months ago but now it has stopped again.

So I read that when testing the Throttle body, when you first turn the ignition to on but don't start it, the car does a prestart check and the butterfly valve in the throttle is meant to open and close as part of this precheck. With the help of my neighbor we discovered that it doesn't move at all. Is that correct info?With all the above information can anyone with good mechanical knowledge point me to where I should look.

With the bad reputation of our local Nissan dealer I am definitely not going to them. A new throttle body is $1280AU and the accelerator pedal assembly is about $350 not including postage from Japan and any local mechanic with the proper tools charges about $150-$200 an hour in Darwin and I know electrical issues are difficult to find.

[sonicii]

When you first turn the ignition on, the system learns the closed position on the throttle and the pedal.  As far as I know, it doesn't cycle the throttle butterfly.

As for the issue, you need to get the codes read.  there are many faults that can trigger the symptoms you are seeing. Randomly throwing parts at it and hoping to hit the right item can get very expensive.

[tehmessiah]

Finding someone with a computer that can read it properly is the next issue though as it’s so early odb2 that no one seems to get accurate answers or codes.

 Any suggestions on that problem too?

[V35_Paul]

those prices are to high. do some more googling.

Ask a mechanic to read the codes for you. some will do it for free hoping to get your work and fix ya problems.

[tehmessiah]

Well the Prices are from Nissan for the parts and I use Jesse Streeter to get them a little cheaper and the labour costs are normal for Darwin.

 When I needed a part for my Yamaha R1 the dealer up here quoted me $1k for it and I ordered it from Adelaide and got it for $500 inc postage.

 In Darwin we call this Darwin Tax. Not enough local competition to keep prices down.

 Where do you all get your parts from?

I got for a mechanic to read the codes and confirmed it’s the throttle body. Met a great guy and only cost me a 6 pack of Corona 😁

[V35_Paul]

https://www.autopartssupply.com.au/nissan-350z-throttle-body-3.5ltr-vq35de-z33-2002-2

or upgrade to a larger one https://www.z1motorsports.com/electronics/nwp-engineering/nwp-engineering-75mm-throttle-body-kit-350z-g35-p-8385.html

or used https://www.ebay.com/itm/223195817840?epid=1494614227&hash=item33f781e770:g:kdwAAOSw8lhbyf3p

Just google 350Z throttle body or G35 throttle body or Altima Maxima 3.5L throttle body they are more common

[V35_Paul]

you can install it yourself. 

Youtube will show you how easy it is 👍

[tehmessiah]

Thanks Paul.

I have a 2nd hand part coming from an Adelaide Wreckers Nisswreck for $195 plus postage. 
I already took the old one off to test it so I’m fine doing my own mechanics servicing. Just parts are the problem.

The mechanic who checked it said he would clear the codes for me too if I can’t.