My 370z Crapped Out on Track
 

Hi guys,

I took my car to track January at Thunderhill. And less than 15 mins in the first session coming out of the last turn before the straight away my engine completely shut down. Prior to shutting off, the Service light flashed, then the LED display flickered (like Fast & Furious 2 when the car got hit with that EMP gun). The oil temp was reading just 220 degrees and it was relatively cold outside. I have a TRU COOL oil cooler and followed MODSHACK DIY in installing the oil cooler with the Ports facing downwards.

Now I'm curious as to why my car shut off and didn't go into Limp Mode first. My car also showed no error code when my friend plugged a portable unit to the ECU. I had to tow it back into the bay and I tried cranking it and it did not turn over. I kept trying it throughout the day and ended up flooding the engine and made things worst. I tried taking out the fuse to fuel pump and dry crank to air out the fuel. It took a total of 2 days before my car started back up and ran fine.

Anyhow, I'm not sure why and was hoping someone might have an idea. I'm thinking oil temp overheat? But why did it not go into limp mode? Now i'm thinking could it be oil pressure instead? I did install the Oil cooler with the port facing downwards, could it be the oil won't reach to the top of the core and if I take a turn too fast (last turn) the pressure could change and disables the car?

BTW:
I'm gonna take it in the dealer to check it out and I also already ordered the Setrab 34 row oil cooler as i know this might help with the issue.

Fuel starvation, how much gas did you have in the car?

It's not an oil temp issue if you didn't even go over 220. No need to jump the gun and spend extra money on the 34 row just yet. As Brazilbro said, it could be fuel starvation. I don't think it gets all that hot up in Norcal. If you start running a 34 row cooler, you're going to have the reverse problem with oil temps not getting high enough in your daily driving.

I'm no expert, though, so do a search on fuel starvation and read up on it.

Long right hander? If so, it's likely just fuel starvation. Odd that it took so long to get it started again. What was your gas tank level at?

Just curious, why did it take over a month to post about it? How has the car behaved since this happened? It was more than likely fuel starvation. When mine died on track the first time I experienced it, it took a long time before I could restart it. I think that once the car senses it is out of fuel, it won't restart until something internally resets.

I had a little under half a tank

that turn is a pretty tight double right..

like everyone is saying... its either fuel or electrical.

+1 for a fuel issue.. thats what it sounds like to me

I did post something but it was awhile back and it was under oil temp overheat. I just assumed it was oil over temp because I researched and found that the reading on the 370z gauge was the return line so I'm thinking there is a possibility that although it's reading 220 it could be running hotter, which led me think it could be an oil temp issue. I am pretty sure it was reading 220 but even if it’s reading 240 degrees, it shouldn’t be oil temp issue right? Cuz it should still put it in limp mode first. I thought I read somewhere that some people didn't get put into limp mode until it reached 260. (FYI, it was a pretty cold morning and it was the 1st session after 15 mins of driving around following the instructor in the beginner's group.)

After I towed it back home (2 days later) The cars been driving fine as a daily driving. I’m surprised everyone say it could be fuel starvation because it had over a quarter tank of gas inside.

The reason it took so long for it to boot up again is because I think I flooded the engine by none-stop cranking my car to start after the ECU disabled the car. I believe the Fuel pump was still providing fuel even though the ECU didn’t allow the car to restart.

I will take my car in to have this checked out, I believe the Nissan techs could see what kind of error code it put into the car before it crapped out. However I’m not sure if I should take the oil cooler kit off because Nissan might give me crap about me voiding warranty. Any advice here guys?

As for the oil cooler, none of you guys think that flipping the ports downward could create an issue? During installation, I didn’t fill up the oil cooler core with oil because I’m installing it upside down so I’m relying on the Engine’s pressure system to push oil through the core and circulate. I checked the oil dip stick to ensure there’s enough oil. But now today got me thinking, what if the core never filled up completely with oil? Will the oil pressure inside the core while undergo a turn fluctuate so much it will affect the ECU to shut off the car?

so how to prevent this from happening in the future? i'm guessing the cheapest way is to keep a full gas tank.

We get fuel starvation at 75% full........

It's easy to starve with a half tank, tracking with a quarter tank almost guarantees starvation.

Fuel starvation problem sounds to me more aligned with Fuel Pump going out, or like what most people right now are telling me, not enough fuel or fuel not reaching to the pump due to the hard turn I'm making.

I'm still not inclined on believe that's the case because I am taking my car to track April 6th and I like to hope my car will not crap out because my gas tank wasn't completely full. I don't think this is a common problem on the 370z and I like to think the car should not crap out (like the way I did) on the track just because they take a couple of twisties in a track at a half tank of gas. My car's engine completely shut off after that turn. Can you imagine what will happen if someone was going through some Cayon road and the same problem occurred? (Okay, I realize I'm totally over-reacting here)

I thought fuel starvation problems presents itself when a car is ungoing such a huge turn where there's enough lateral acceleration (G's) to cause the fuel to shift leaving no fuel to the fuel pump - which should happen only if there's really that insufficient amount of fuel where a car can undergo such a scenario at even at a half tank of gas.

I'm not denying the fact that fuel starvation can't happen even at a 85% amt of gas. I'm just saying I'm not sure if right now I'm incline to believe that was what happened to me. The car didn't start right after I restarted it. The fuel pump seem to work as the whole car smelled like gas after I kept trying to start it. If it was a fuel starvation issue, shouldn't the car start right back up?

I can somewhat relate this issue to a motorcycle i own which needs manual switch over for reserve tank. And this didn't seem like the same case.

I don't know exactly how your car died, but I had a complete shutdown with ~7/10s of a tank, where I could not start the car until the next day.


Your issues also sounds like it could be electrical.

Perhaps a stuck thermostat? I'll have to take in my car, but it's fair to say that there's something not normal with my car right?

I like to hope it's not because I didn't have enough gas or even if I did have enough gas this will happen again.

Unfortunately I think you have to believe that Nissan did put in a crappy gas tank (they are not as good as some of the fanboys think). It is a stupid design flaw and they haven't fixed the problem yet as I have a new gas tank and I still get the same problem. You have to fill up after each session, two if you really push it. Trust us on this, most of the time it will occur at mid turn or after the car comes out of the turn. If you are lucky, you will get a stutter and the car will start back up. If not, you might have to wait a little bit for the gas to get back into the right place to start it. Two days do seem a little extreme, but it doesn't surprise me if your tank is that low. Do a search on people having the car dying after long highway on ramp and how the car starts back up after they get to the dealership or when the tow truck arrives. There are more problems related to that than limp mode from oil temp too high.

It's happened to me once on the track at half a tank, and that was my first experience with it. I fueled up and now always run a full tank there.

A few months later I had the car starve and die on the street with two ticks under half a tank indicated. It was a long right hander (180 degrees, right turn from freeway offramp to 45mph road) and I came close to holding the speed limit, so I was cornering near the limits of the tires. About the end of the corner, the revs slowly drowned down in each gear, and the car died when I left the clutch for a moment. I didn't get it, forced a restart by putting it in a gear, and the revs again slowly drowned down in each gear. At this point I realized it must be fuel (strange with so much in the tank!). I thought I would have plenty of gas to restart, so I tried several times to no avail. I ended up bringing back a 5 gallon gas tank. I put in a gallon or two in, and between the time and the extra fuel, the car started with no issues.

I also had the car fuel starve climbing a steep grade mountain/canyon road with 1/4 tank. I flat out had to to turn around. When going up, the car wouldn't get gas because gravity was pulling the fuel away from the pickup. It didn't matter how slowly I climbed. I turned around, filled up, and had no issues after that.

The car has a lousy fuel pickup design. And the oil temp limp mode initiates at 280F, no sooner. Although it's far from proven at this point, I would consider fuel starvation at the top of the list for possible explanations of this problem.

Serious? WHY!? We were tearing it up at Spring Mountain in C6's with the "low fuel" indicator flashing in the HUD and didn't have any issues. Weird.

I have also heard my G20 has starvation issues. I never encountered it, even on LOOOONG right-hand on-ramps with 2 gallons in the tank.

Why?

172 Fuel Tank :: Fuel & Engine Control :: Genuine Nissan Parts :: 370Z Parts (Z34) 2009-2012 :: Nissan Parts, NISMO and Nissan Accessories - Courtesyparts.com

Ask freaking Nissan, the engineer who designed the pump should be fired

OP, read this: http://www.the370z.com/track-autocro...-who-else.html

Is this just an issue on road courses are at the drag strip as well?

Unless you are making hard right turns at the drag strip, you should be ok.

So I should be good on a Nascar track......another left turn!! :stirthepot:

Not in a Z unless it was a really short track... you wouldn't be able to pull enough G's to keep the fuel on the right side of the tank. :roflpuke2:

Nissan wanted to be like Toyota :icon17:

Japanascar

I've heard rumors that there are some aftermarket options to help fight fuel starve. I can't remember who was doing it or if their solution worked out.

But I have to start looking into this, as I'm aiming to hit the track this summer! :D


Looking to go from bench racer to real (slow) racer

Phunk was/is working on something.

Phunk has something that is still in process

LMAO, well let's hope I don't do that!

On the Challenger, they have the fuel pump in the driver side of the tank. They have a "venturi pump" in the passenger side that pump fuel back over to the driver side to avoid this issue.

Does the Z not have a similar system? The diagram posted earlier looks like it may have something setup like that, but maybe the pump is underpowered in the passenger side and can't keep the driver's side bucket filled?

Any resolution op?

:agree: Would like to know if anyone has had any luck resolving this as I am supposed to start tracking in May?


'09 F.I. CBE/HFC-Stillen Gen3,Setrab+, SpeedBooster, Tune +ModBod

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