[mickyboy]

Just had my car into Nissan for warranty work.
(1) Rattle in the head lining above driver
(2) Small 'misfire' noticeable at idle.

Well after 3 hours they fixed the rattle.
But the 'misfire' is now worse, you can hear a faint metallic banging noise when it misses at idle (it is now happening more frequently since driving back from Nissan). They said they could not find anything wrong.
They did however say the car was running a little lean (122%) if that makes sense to anyone.They tried to blame the aftermarket unifilter pod, said it might have damaged the MAF sensor( ie put oil onto it so that it doesn't function correctly anymore).They reset the ECU and told me to see how it goes???
I know it is not the air filter because I took it apart a couple of days ago to check if it was spraying oil. MAF sensor was clean as a whistle.

Any ideas would be appreciated?

I will be taking it to peter at Ruchcutters Bay at the 10K service and hopefully he will shed some light..

 

[mchapman]

I had a ruff idle after a month of having my HiTech exhaust and Panel Filter. I took it to Nissan and they reset the idle control and that fixed it for me.

If your engine is getting more airflow than it is programed to have it will run lean. A lean condition in the engine will cause pre-ignition (pinging) which is when the air/fuel mixture is ignited by something in the cylinder before the spark plug gets a chance to fire. This can cause severe engine damage and complete engine failure if left unchecked.

Low octane or bad fuel will also cause pinging, so you might want to put some octane booster into your fuel and fill the rest of the tank up with premium unleaded from another petrol station and see if that stops it.

What engine mods do you have?

 

[mickyboy]

MCHAPMAN: I only have a unifilter pod style air filter.
Reagsrding the fuel, I only run Shell Optimax or BP ultimate - both of which are 98 octane.
I will contact the F*&^^%^ at Nissan tommorrow and ask them about reseting the idle control.
I thought the ECU reset (which has been done twice now would fix it?)

 

[nang3]

hey Muzza my idle is as rough as hessian undies at the moment and my car is stock !!!

im about to put a hitech, hiflo cats and popcharger on it - do u think all of those will make it a **** of a lot rougher or only marginally??

 

[mchapman]

I only have a unifilter pod style air filter.
Reagsrding the fuel, I only run Shell Optimax or BP ultimate - both of which are 98 octane.

You can still get a bad tank of fuel when using 98 RON fuel. Some of the guys on this forum have had it happen to them.

How long have you had the noise?

I will contact the F*&^^%^ at Nissan tommorrow and ask them about reseting the idle control.

If they reset the whole ECU one would assume that it would reset the idle control as well. Maybe ask them if this is the case. If it is the case then I wouldnt bother taking it back to them, I'd take it to Peter and get him to locate the problem then you can always take it to Nissan and tell them what to fix.

 

[mchapman]

im about to put a hitech, hiflo cats and popcharger on it - do u think all of those will make it a **** of a lot rougher or only marginally??

It would depend on why you have a ruff idle at the moment and if the ECU decides to make correct adjustments once you have the mods installed. I wouldnt worry about it.

 

[studybuddy]

98 Octane! That's awesome! That would almost be considered race gas over here! All we get is 87 to 93 octane, and in some places it's even worse.

 

[mchapman]

98 Octane! That's awesome! That would almost be considered race gas over here! All we get is 87 to 93 octane, and in some places it's even worse.

Its actually 98 RON ie Research Octane Number, which equals around 93 regular octane if I remember correctly.

 

[studybuddy]

Oh, not so awesome then I guess... :lmfao:

I kinda got exited for you guys for a second there.

 

[mickyboy]

mchapman,
Mosie has been there for approx 2k. Cannot be the fuel as too many tanks now.
Will take it to peter and get him to locate.
Thanks

 

[scathing]

I can't believe that an NA motor can possibly run lean in this day and age unless its had some serious work done to it.

Its not like the injectors should be anywhere near 100%, and you'd think that the ECU would detect that its running a little lean and just pump more gas in, or muck about with the timing. They're supposed to be smart enough these days to detect a bad batch of fuel, changes in temperature, and a myriad of other things.

Understandably if you've done cam and internal work, and you're maxing out the injectors, that you'd lean out. But on something as basic as replacing the filter.....

 

[mickyboy]

Booked into Peter pilkington at sports car international.
He will be looking at it and servicing my car next week.
It was good to talk to someone that actually knows about the ZED..

 

[CAR]

The HiTech exhaust fixed the rough idle which I thought the Z had from the start.

 

[Perth 350z]

I'm feeling old - I remember when I wanted my car to have a rough idle to "show off" the lumpy cams I'd installed LOL

 

[zuffy]

If you plan to stay NA a set of agressive cams is the way to go. Nothing like a car **** bent on either going or stalling!

On top of that they sound bewdiful !

 

[mchapman]

They do sound nice but VTC on our cars makes them a bit more civil.

 

[mickyboy]

Just an update:
Took my car to Peter at SCI today. This man certainly knows alot about the zed. It was reassuring to get straight answers and his experience with the 350z (& other members of this forum) makes me feel less worried about the 'quirks' of the zed.

Was worth the drive to his workshop to see the bits and pieces from his racecar and to learn about different mods.

Finally, someone that knows about our car!!!! Nissan Australia, pay this man to train your service 'technicians'. The 350Z is your top-end sports car, it is not a Pulsar, train your people so we get the service that we have paid for!!!

That's it for my bitching!!!

Anyway, on my car, it is idling 150rpm or so too low which is causing the slight flywheel/drivetrain noise, which Peter diagnosed over the phone, but I wanted to go to his workshop anyway...

Top bloke!!!

 

[Lemanz]

Mickyboy, where is Peter at SCI?

 

[db350z]

Gary it's up in Sydney.

Unless you don't mind to drive up to sydney

 

[scathing]

Originally posted by mickyboy@Dec 5 2004, 11:59 PM
Finally, someone that knows about our car!!!! Nissan Australia, pay this man to train your service 'technicians'. The 350Z is your top-end sports car, it is not a Pulsar, train your people so we get the service that we have paid for!!!

The problem is that Nissan Australia's turned into the Pulsar and Maxima car company. They're only looking at flogging econoboxes and family hacks.

They've had no interest in motorsport since the R32 GT-R days, and from what I've heard they'd actually been actively blocking Nismo Japan from selling hop-up parts to the S15 and Z33 competitors in GT-P.

Sure they got burnt by the R32 back in the early 90's, but the Australian car market is far different to a decade ago (people will spend that much money on a Jap sports car these days, as long as it goes) and they "learnt a lesson", but maybe they should learn a lesson from Mazda, who decided to go similarly staid in the mid 90's and almost went under.

Now that they've revamped their product lineup and trying to stick some sporty Zoom Zoom Zoom into each of their products, the company is doing far better.


As I said, I'll be looking at changing the bodywork of my car soon and shaving all the Nissan badges off it. I've got my Fairlady Z JDM badge sitting here waiting to go on.