Can't go past 2500 RPM! Help!
 

My car just got dropped off yesterday here in Germany and I felt great. Took it for a drive today as I am still looking for a house to move into. All day it was running great, up and down the mountain, on the autobahn, and slowly crusing in the towns. Then at the end of the day the Service Engine Soon light came on and the car will refuse to go past 2500 RPM on any gear and feels like it will stall. If I keep my foot on the gas it feels like it wants to stall then it releases the gear on its own(gear is technically still engaged) and its like I'm pressing the gas on neutral, no go. Has anyone had this issue or can tell what the problem might be? The car only has 11.5k mi on it and never had any issues before.

What oil temperatures are you seeing? The car goes into "limp mode" at high oil temperatures and limits the RPM to prevent damage. Chances are you just overheated the car. Let it cool down and it should be good to go again.

While you wait on it to cool, look into installing an oil cooler. The car really needs it if you are going to drive it hard.

Good first thing to check.



Are you still experiencing any problems?

Well it has been like an hour and decided to check if it was the temp that was causing the issue but its not. I turned the car on and the temp was all the way down so I decided to test it and in neutral, no clutch in, I pressed the gas and it won't go past 2500RPM. The needle looks like it hits a wall and bounces back and the car feels like it wants to stall, even in neutral. Thanks for the input though and I will look into an oil cooler pretty soon.

Is the ecu throwing a code? Can you read it?


I'd also check your oil/fuel/etc levels.

I did check all the fluids and I am not sure what you mean by the ECU throwing a code. Like if it's telling me something on the warning part by the fuel gauge, then no it says nothing. All it says on the dash is "Service Engine Soon" It sounds like it is some mechanical problem, Like the car can get me from A-B on any gear, as long as it's under 2500RPM

If you are throwing a CEL you wanna take it into a Nissan dealership. You're still under warranty so it should be no charge. It may be as simple as resetting the ECU or replacing some sensor. You are now in "limp" mode and since it is not resetting by itself, you need to have them check it out. If you are curious, before you take it in you could take it to a parts shops with a code reader and look up the code they give you.

Thanks everyone for the input, I will just have to take it to the dealership... Now I just need to find one in Germany near me.

Usually you can disconnect the battery for 20 minutes and reset the ECU however you should read the codes first so you know what caused the issue in the first place. Resetting the ECU only works until the problem occurs again, of course. Most part shops have an OBDII reader and will do it for free but not sure how that's managed where you're at.

Read the code first, most of the time it will allow you to pinpoint the issue rather than having to diagnose everything.

What gas did you fill it with at ESSO?

As far as the comment about warranty, NISSAN here won't touch it without NISSAN America approval. You have to get that approved before taking it to the dealer here. Any parts have to be shipped from the states.

I would check the gas cap. The car went into limp mode. Please let me know if you put e10 in it, so I can avoid it.

As far as high temp, it was not hot today. Irt was fairly cold, was snowing in some parts. It's not a temp prob. I would lean more towards fuel.

I have a great Nissan dealer here in kaiserslautern that knows the car pretty good.

I used the Super Plus, of course :tup: I didn't use E10 and don't plan on using it. After reading about it on some other threads.

You can try disconnecting the battery, but I don't think that will reset the CEL. You need an OBD to clear that. It sounds a lot like a limp mode issue, but you should check for any leaks. The intake for example, could have a vaccum leak or a faulty MAF sensor.

Check the fuel level. Spirited driving with less than half a tank sometimes causes the fuel starvation/limp home mode issue. Filling up the fuel level and cycling the car on and off will cure the problem. (It happened to me.)