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

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 ...

Be safe!

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.

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 :

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:

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.

Some of these.

Dual Catch Can Kit, Nissan 370Z

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 ?

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 :
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.

I have never heard of any issues of carbon buildup with these engines no matter how you drive. It’s just not a common problem. Every once in a while, no matter the distance travelled, drive the car like you stole it. You need to shift at high RPM’s regardless of your speed. Do not baby the engine. It is a high revving V6 designed to make power at the top end of its RPM range. This will help clean off carbon buildup. It’s called the “Italian Tune-up”.......Lol.

Thank you for your response. :D

I use SP98 of ESSO ( I think for you it's 91 or 93 octane). Maybe previous owner drive short trip. The owners of the 370z in Europa does not drive often due to the high price of gasoline, we drive it just for fun or track from time to time. I have another car for daily drive (diesel car) :D

But when I drive my Z, I take this opportunity to drive well. So that I understand I can remove driving with putting engine good load.
According with Spooler, I can also install oil catch cans but it's too expensive now (shipping costs are high because of COVID).

Do you advise me to remove the knock warning light by Ecutek ? Do you agree with my mechanic that I can destroy the engine if I go full load ?*
A t the moment, the Knock warning light only blink when I go full load on 4th gear. But after several minutes, I no longer have this problem.

According to this post (and my mechanic says), it could also come from a bad software:
http://www.the370z.com/tuning/124259...utek-tune.html

I assume you or previous owner did regular oil changes? Dirty oil getting back into intake is not a good thing.

What Octane rating of Gas do you use? I believe Europeans use a different rating system but it's same. Make sure you are on EU95 Octane at least.

Just easy stuff to check first.

zz

I edited my previous message.
Yes my previous owner and me (I only drive 1000 km since the purchase) did regular changes of oil with Mobil 5w30. I use SP98 (93 or 94 for you). My previous owner use SP102 (I don't know the equivalent in USA/canada )

Are you noticing performance loss or noises?

Sounds like you are maintaining vehicle and not getting codes or performance loss.

As for infrequent driving, oil that only goes 1000km and sits in the pan, for 9-10 months of year is not ideal. A lot of acid and water builds up and is not dissipated without high heat and regular Oil change interval.

This type of neglect can lead to sludge build up and other unwanted by-products of combustion. Even with Synthetic.

Car has to be driven, and/or oil changed more frequently.

Catch cans will alleviate some issues, but irregular operations require different mindset.
No different if you track your car. It requires a different maintenance schedule than a DD.

zz

I drive every weekend, I just bought the car recently and with lockdown cause of covid I can't drive a long time :/

Performance are good and I haven't noise except the tranny noise cause of light flywheel.

The engine blinking light is an option knock warning light by ecutek, it's not an error by ECU. The stock ECU does not have this option for knock warning.

There is the mechanic of the previous owner : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7YbvvYwp0w (you can check at 5min03 te carbon deposit and 2min06 engine light blinking).

Description of video in english by using google traduction :

It is very plausible you are getting pre-ignition caused by carbon build up. The video is grainy, but too me, it doesn't look too bad. Then again, I haven't seen others for reference.

Problem with the Ecutec solution is, you are masking the real problem. No amount of "snake oil" is gonna remove that carbon build up. It has to be removed mechanically! In other words, pistons out or head off.

What I'd like to know is, what codes did car throw on stock ECU when engine went into limp mode? If any at all.

Like others have mentioned, you may just need to burn the stuff off.

Go high revs, but low speed if you are afraid. get that engine temperature up.

Your statement: "Do you advise me to remove the knock warning light by Ecutek ? Do you agree with my mechanic that I can destroy the engine if I go full load ?*
A t the moment, the Knock warning light only blink when I go full load on 4th gear. But after several minutes, I no longer have this problem"

Does it do it in all gears? All revolutions? What is the knock warning light doing? Is it actually adjusting timing or is it just a warning?

I'm guessing this warning is very sensitive.

I have a similar story about airplanes, if you have time. ;)

The problem at the beginning was the engine light flashing without error on ECU in traffic jams (it happened to me once). I contact the mechanic of previous owner in Germany and told me that is a visual indicator if the advanced ignition will retard by 3 or more degrees regarding knocking. Car maintenance bills of previous owner mention the cleaning of the cylinders.

I asked them why they had to clean the cylinders, here are their answers:

I asked last week if I can remove carbon build up while driving at high RPM.
here is his answer :