The car is still available, but a lot has happened since I put it up for sale. I was just about to sell the car for a 2008 Mustang (for my daughter) plus cash, and the dreaded intermittent starting issue surfaced right at the test drive. Unbelievable timing! The potential buyer looked so sad and said "Maybe you can take it to a mechanic and they could figure out the issue" and asked me to hold it till Friday. If it were only that easy. Needless to say, it's been difficult to sell because of this issue.

So, I decided to tear into the engine and do my own problem solving. I took on the task of installing the Stillen 6-Rib Upgrade kit that I purchased for $500 sometime ago. This entailed taking everything off all the way down to the Fuel Injectors. I also replaced the bearings in the supercharger pass through Pulley. Those were fun to find, as they are an obscure bearing used in 1992 Volvo Alternators. I'm sure could've used an alternative, but I wanted to use the same fabrication that Stillen used, since the tolerances were so tight and specific with the 6 Rib Kit.

The process took a lot longer than anticipated. It wasn't because the work was that difficult, but if anyone has ever worked on cars, you know that things don't always come apart very easy after 100,000 miles and getting to what you need to take apart isn't always easy. After a few weeks, I finally got everything back together and the car fired right up.

As another step troubleshooting process, I decided to purchase a used ECU ($50) in case that was what is what was causing the intermittent starting/stalling issues. I went to the Infiniti dealer and have them "program" the ECU and Keys. After about 30 minutes and $165 later, The car started up, but had an O2 sensor code that was never present before. The master tech concluded it was because the Used ECU was a "bad", since he couldn't erase the code (and my time was up ;-). To the Master Tech's credit, he gave me 3 minutes to swap out my old ECU and reprogramed the keys for "free".

I felt like I was back to square one. I decided to try another used ECU. The seller of the first one was kind enough to send me a second replacement ECU. Needless to say, this was going to get quite expensive (and a pain) if I had to have the car towed to the dealer each time and pay $165 for something that may not work. So, I decided to do some research on how to get around this problem. Part of the fun of this process is finding work around, that most people don't think Is possible. I came upon the Nissan Data Scan II (NDS2) software, that would allow me to swap ECUs and reprogram keys whenever I wanted. I purchased the software for $50 and a used laptop with Windows XP on craigslist for $35. I can never reprogram keys for any Nissan/Infiniti from 1999 to 2007. Perhaps I'll start a side business on craigslist LOL.

I didn't have any luck with the second ECU either. Although it was the next revision after my ECU (NDS2 also shows the ECU part number which is the only way you can access it besides the dealer) and should've worked, it didn't. In addition, I had the Coil Pack in cylinder 3 go bad (Misfire Code C3 in the software, as well as blistered plastic when they go bad) when I was testing using that ECU. I Found 3 350Z used coil packs for $40 bucks on craigslist. Fried a second coil pack on C3 and then decided not to use that ECU any longer. In addition, I pulled the plug in cylinder three and it looked fairly worn. Since, I already had another set of spark plugs, I decided to change them just to be safe. I also Purchased a third used ECU.

After ECU install and reprogramming, I was ready for a road test. The car fired up and sounded great. I got into third gear in the car started to bog down and shake violently. I was thinking "Great something must really be wrong with the car, since it now ran even worse than it did with the cylinder 3 misfire". The car died halfway around the block and would not restart. After about a half an hour, the car started I got back to the house. I checked for codes and there was actually an error code for the crank position sensor. I had no idea the crank position sensor problem could make your car run so terribly or not run at all. I was very thankful there is not problem with cylinder 3 anymore or something worse.

So I swapped out the crank position sensor with an extra one that I had already replaced a while back. I figured that both of them couldn't be bad, right? That also did not fix the problem, so I needed to keep troubleshooting. As I mentioned earlier, that Stillen Black Piggy Back Tune in a Box intercepted the crank position sensor signal from the ECU and modified it.

I always suspected it was the black box (replacement no longer available), but to replace that is $525 for a high flow fuel pump and injectors + labor and $700 for an UpRev Tune. I don't mind spending $50 for used ECU, but that is a lot of money to "possibly" fix what might be the problem. I also didn't want to take it to Church Automotive, only to find that something else is wrong with the car and it wasn't that black box, but how could I do that without removing the supercharger in it's entirety?

I did some research, but there wasn't much on this problem. I knew how supercharger was installed from my various work with it, so I didn't see why I couldn't remove the black box and return the wiring the stock. The black box is a piggyback tune that taps into the two cam position sensors, crank position sensor, temperature sensor, a seventh injector for more fuel, power and ground. Finally, I removed the drive belt to the supercharger, leaving everything else in tact. The chamber the air flows through in the supercharger is similar in size as the stock Plenum spacer, so I didn't see why it wouldn't work. I fired the car up and ALL ERROR Codes are GONE and the car runs great. I forgot That a a stock has pretty decent power, but there is a noticeable difference without the supercharger. I know people knock the Stillen Supercharger, but it does add quite a bit of fun to the car.

The car is not in perfect condition and has usual wear and tear (e.g. Slight tear in driver's seat, likely needs new rear differential bushing). BUT, the Intermittent starting/shut off issues have been RESOLVED! The SC drive belt has been disconnected and the SC Fuel/Timing Tune Box was removed because it was faulty. The car currently runs as "stock" and you will need to install the PROVIDED upgraded fuel pump and injectors ($525 Deatchworks DW200 and 440cc injectors) and have it tuned by a UpRev ProTuner (I recommend Church Automotive Testing) to take advantage of the Stillen Supercharger capability. Therefore, the car would be best suited for an individual who knows how to work on and/or tune cars. I can work with the buyer on price a bit to offset the tune cost.

I also fixed the following things, since I first put the car up for sale. I replaced the door locks so they function properly now, fixed the driver window and did the reset procedure everything works great now, All new 6K LED front side marker, city lights, and turn signals and HID Bulbs and HID Fog Light conversion kit, since I had the bumper off and access to the headlights. Also replaced the ignition switch relay and several vacuum hoses.

Thanks for Looking.