Zthirty4NISMO

So now some background on my ‘towing’ post earlier. Last night I was out cruising around in the Z and was also going to take some camera shots of it. It was a leisurely cruise, hardly any spirited driving at all. I came to a stop at a stop sign and when taking off again in first gear, the car acted like it was misfiring/missing. I could not hardly give it any revs as it just had no power and was not running right at all- pretty much like a cold-blooded carbureted engine at start-up. As this was happening, I was glancing around at all the gauges and dash from instinct and noticed the SES light was on as well as my voltage had dropped to 13, which is odd because I never see that move from 14. The engine started running smooth again after a few hundred feet which then I decided to pull into a parking lot. I sat there letting it idle smoothly for a minute or two and then made a quick trip down the road and was able to put it to the floor for the first couple of gears. I then came back to the parking lot and had been sitting there for a minute or two then it started running rough again (voltage was down to 12 now) so I went and popped the hood. The engine definitely seem like it was running hot (my oil temp was around 200-210, water temp normal) and there was a bit of brief smoke that came from the drivers side of the engine. Not long after looking at things under the hood, the car died under idle. At this point, the car would not start again..not even attempt to crank. I thought maybe it went into a limp mode from being too hot or low voltage. So I started checking things..fluid levels, ground connections, fuel (completely full)..all of which were fine. Car still refused to give me the slightest indication that it was trying to crank so I first tried jump staring it, but no change. I then pulled the battery to get tested the next morning. Took it into CarQuest this morning and they threw a tester on it which also applied loads..came out to be fine and 100% charged. Went to work and was searching the forum up and down for similar problems, but couldn’t find any that matched my situation. After work, I threw the battering back in and tried starting again now that the engine had cooled overnight. Still nothing. At this point I noticed that when the ignition was in the ‘lock/off’ position, the Intelligent Key System waring light was on (I know, here we go). This was likely there last night also, but I was mostly looking at the dash when the ignition was in the ‘ON' position, which had multiple lights on. Anyways, according to the owners manual, if this light is present, "the car may be impossible to start"..great. This is in fact true at this time. Ended up getting the car towed home. Now it’s my understanding that the Steering Lock issue went away on the mid-2011s? I tried searching for later model years with that issue but have found nothing.

Additional things I’ve tried: spare key fob and inserting the fob into the slot, re-check fuel, oil and ground connections

Have yet to: scan for codes, listen for fuel pump prime, look at clutch switch. Maybe start solenoid related? Fuel pump/system issue?

Things to note: I can still lock/unlock the car with the fob, dash lights up and am able to roll windows down, listen to radio, etc., the fan runs continuously when ignition is in the ‘ON’ position

Ideas and input welcome, thanks.

__________________