Going on 5th week in the shop : 2015 NismoTech
 

10,500 miles
Automatic transmission

Backstory
1st occurrence of failure
After driving highway speeds for about 15 minutes, I stopped, car was not shut off, and then got back on the highway. After about 10 minutes, the car started up and downshifting, revving high, and sputtering. Basically acting like it did not know what gear to be in at the current speed. I coasted off the highway, car sputtering each time I tried to use the accelerator.

Turned the car off for about 20 minutes. Started back up and was able to drive home in light to light traffic with no issues..

Drove car to dealership service department and explained what happened.

They replaced the cam position sensor & I got the car back the next day.

The next day, my wife drove the car to work - no issues. Driving the car home from work, a 6.5 mile trip, the same symptoms re-appeared.

I drove the car back to the service department, about another 8 mile trip. The symptoms returned, so I am thinking GREAT - it's at least repeatable. I pull into service, leave the car running with the Check Engine light illuminated along with some traction control looking light. VDC maybe?

They had it for 4 weeks, never able to duplicate the issue, even driving it over 300 miles in the process. (To be fair, I said drive it until it happens again)

Took the car back from them. One week later, the symptoms return. Took car to a different dealership on Friday - have heard nothing from them since.

My question is - has this been discussed already somewhere in another thread? The issue where it seems to not know what gear it should be in?

TIA

Is there any "whining" noise associated with it? Is it just high revving and not catching gear at all?

These were issues I had when my clutch packs went due to poor tuning with the ECU/TCM and added power.

I will check with my wife and see if there was a whining noise... thx

Two words, LEMON LAW !!!
If your state has one.

maybe you should ask them, if you could drive a Tech around w/their most capable scan tool & they can record the data.....it's bound to glitch...as a passenger,they could also view all of the live data.

Also you noted VDC light,,,These car's have a hi-tech abs braking system,that will not only dis-able throttle,,,but apply brakes as needed to which ever wheel needs it to straighten it out.
They should have an idea of which direction to go with it-by it already having codes logged....also think about phoning a different dealership.....Maybe one that also sells GTR's,as they must have a certified GTR Tech on staff to even sell them.
You could eliminate the VDC all together & see if the problem still exist...but that will probably void warranty & is a whole different topic....

UPDATE!!

After 2 attempts at one dealership's service department, I had it towed to another dealership. It's a fairly new dealership with a prestigious name associated with it (here where I live, they also have a few luxury dealership locations)

2 weeks pass

They were able to duplicate the failure, but replaced the cam position sensor and reset the ECM (which is what the other service department did twice, so now we have replaced the same part 3 times)

I picked up the vehicle Saturday...... Almost made it home before the issue occurred again ... 1st to 2nd gear, rpm's rev high before shifting and clunks into gear, will also try to change gears in too low rpm range, causing car to lurch then it quickly downshifts, tires bark and basically makes it look like I am driving a standard and don't know how to shift gears - but its an automatic...

No discernible whining noise to speak of...

Plan on driving it up there tomorrow, having a tech ride with me and hopefully he will put a scanner on it - and hopefully it will fail again...

Thanks for the ideas, will keep you posted...

This is difficult to deal with, since we are a NISSAN family

2007 350Z
2008 Pathfinder LE V8
2015 370Z Nismo Tech

Lemon law in Texas is 1 year or 12,000 miles
Have had car for 18 months, 10,500 miles

What a nightmare! I hope things get resolved for you soon.

This sucks bro, hopefully you get it fixed!!

Isn't there a transmission computer on the autos? I would think that would be more likely the cause than cam position sensors.

Yep, I've done that before with Audi and nailed the issue almost instantly. Otherwise could have been long and drawn out like this one, unfortunately. I wood definitely try to ride with a tech that knows what they are doing.

Wish you the best. That would be frustrating to say the least.

Any common temperature it's running st when it does it?

Heck, could be something simple like the TPU or even the fluid. Abs sensors, all sorts of things like that. What code was it throwing when it tripped the engine/VDC lights?