Nissan 370Z Forum - 1st Gear shift -> Engine light Flashing

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Knock warning : 1st Gear shift -> Engine light Flashing or high rpm

Hi everybody,

I often have the engine light flashing just a few seconds when I shift to first gear (disappear when I release the clutch pedal) and it often happens in traffic or at high RPM.

My car has 99 000 km and the clutch and flywheel was changed at 92 000 km by Exedy clutch kit stage 1.

When I analyze with ELM327 they are nothing. Has anyone ever had this problem?

Thank you for your help :)

Edit : it’s also happens at high rpm, it's a visual knock warning a feature available on ECUTEK

This is when you are down shifting into 1st from 2nd?

1st Gear shift -> Engine light Flashing

No, I shift into first gear from neutral, when I released clutch pedal I see engine light flashing for 1 or 2 sec .... strange

Quote:

Originally Posted by brainrain (Post 3968074)

No, I shift into first gear from neutral, when I released clutch pedal I see engine light flashing for 1 or 2 sec .... strange

Maybe you are nearly stalling the car. Give it a little more throttle before letting the clutch out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sportsman2003 (Post 3968081)

Maybe you are nearly stalling the car. Give it a little more throttle before letting the clutch out.

Yes I try it but I still have this problem.

I will try to do a video but we have a new lockdown in France ...

Normally, a momentarily flashing CE light means you are getting random misfires. It happens often that these random misfires will not give any error codes until the misfires become more prevalent. So, I would take care of it ASAP especially if you still have catalytic converters. Misfires will destroy them.

Start by checking the easy stuff such as spark plugs and coils. Then you can move to the injectors and the rest of the fuel system. Also check for intake leaks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyber370 (Post 3968375)

Thank you :)

I will check with a mechanic. I'm waiting for the end of lockdown :shakes head:

Hi everybody

I can tchat with the mechanic of the former owner of my car.
The engine light is a visual indicator (by Ecutek) if the advanced ignition will retard by 3 or more degrees regarding knocking. The former owner had done a maintenance to clean the cylinders.

Here is the mechanic's response :

Quote:

if we did a cylinder cleaning, the car came in with a knocking problem. 370Z have a problem, that oil coal on the piston can glow and generates knocking. For that reason, we did a cylinder clean with chemicals and installed a visual indicator if the advanced ignition will retard by 3 or more degrees regarding knocking. We see it most on cars which run on low load and low rpm over a long time. It is hard to get the problem solved if you have it. It is important to change the driving style and use the best fuel you can get. short trips with 10km or less should be avoided.

Quote:

regarding the knocking problem, we have cleaned the cylinder. the problem is, that is not possible to remove everything of the dirt with the chemical cleaning. We made a video of this problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7YbvvYwp0w

If the advanced ignition will be retarded while the engine is knocking the check engine light don’t light up. There is a option at the ecutek tune, that you can make it blink if the ignition will retard more than 3 degrees. this is the visual indicator that will tell the driver, that the ignition retared by 3 or more degrees.

Is he right? should I be worried? Can the problem be solved otherwise?

I ask him if it's possible to remove this feature, because France regulation (french TUV) doesn't allow driving with an engine warning light:

Quote:

We can remove it you are here, but it is a safty feature, so if it blinks you don’t should accelerate full. This could destroy the engine if you have knock and go to full load.

Thank you in advance for your reply.

Sounds like you need to put in a set of Catch Cans. I would recommend Radium since they do not vent to atmosphere and should pass inspection. Not sure about your country though. Elmo370z had that problem and that
is what cured it.

Thank you :)

The catch cans it's for regulation and pass inspection ?

Should I be worried about knock warning (engine light blinking) ? The mecanic talk about engine knocking, can this problem be solved otherwise ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by brainrain (Post 3971872)

Sounds like you have oil contaminating the fuel. This will decrease that and cure you knock problem. I am not sure if it will be OK in your country. Talk to your mechanic.

I talk to my mechanic.

Here is his answer :

Quote:

i agree that it will be frustrating. if it stop blinking you can accelerate, but the power is lower than normal. if it starts the ignition is retarded by min -3°. mostly much more up to -10°. if you accelerate after the blinking stops, the igntion is still retarded. the knock sensor is listening. if it don’t hear any knocking the ignition will advanced 1 degree. if you accelerate again, 1 degree more. if it starts knocking again, the ignition will be retarded again.

it is hard to explain. much easier if you see that. did you have a ecutek connect? there you can see the ignition correction live.

we can solve the problem if the knocking will come from a bad software. but mostly we see the problem coming from dirt on the top of the pistons regarding a long time slow speed and short trips. so it will not be solved by software.

He is not talking about oil contamination, it mentions dirt on the piston even after cleaning the cylinders.

According to him, this dirt is from a long time slow speed and short trips.

Do you have this problem in the United States or in Canada? because you have very low speed limits compared to us (in France 80 mph and Germany no speed limit)

I think this car was designed especially for the North American and Japanese market (the biggest market share), it's weird this low speed argument.

In your opinion, Can I remove the dirt naturally while driving at high RPM ?

It is not dirt, it is carbon build up. It can be removed with a high quality fuel and sustained higher combustion temps. Putting the engine under a good load. It doesn't have to be high RPM. We don't have those types of issues here. Not sure why you are unless the previous owner putted around and did lots of short trips. It's not a common issue with port injected fuel injection. It is more of a problem with direct injected engines. Catch Cans that I stated will help with this issue. A 3 to 4hr trip should fix it. We don't drive short distances here. That is not the norm.