Hey guys, I'm new here. Been creeping around and researching for a bit now before buying my G and it turned around to bite me. I've already searched for days but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for.

Bought a 03 Sedan on Thursday Sept 8, The car intermittently goes into limp mode. Slip, Ebrake, VDC off, Service engine soon, and battery light and sometimes abs light all come on when it revs. Car rev limits at about 2000 rpm and won't go over 20km/h. Had the codes pulled and it comes up with Bank 2 Oxygen sensor and power steering pressure sensor. It's at the dealership right now and they told me the alternator is good, and the battery is good too, and draw test came up good but he's not sure either what could be putting the car into limp mode.

I noticed the car on the 2nd day of owning the car and letting it sit overnight, it was just clicking meaning the starter didn't have enough power to start the motor, I boosted it and it was all good. Drove it around fine and then a couple hours later the battery light and ebrake light comes on and the car goes into limp mode. Take it home and let it sit for a few hours and the car is fine again, no more limp mode. The next day the car is fine all day and at night it goes into limp mode again. I reset the ECU and no good. I limp it to my friend's house and leave it until today (Monday). When I got there early this morning, the car battery was dead again. Ended up towing it to sunridge Nissan where it currently sits. Anyone have any ideas or experience this problem before? Thanks

 

i actually experienced this with a 2007 Jeep Patriot a month before lease was up, but didnt bother looking into it because, well, lease was up. I would stop the car, turn it off (since i couldnt accelerate otherwise), and just restart it and it would work. wish i could help more than that, but ur definitely not the only one..... maybe worth trying a new battery anyhow to see if that does the trick?

 

oh when I was limping home the accelerator would let me go up to 2000rpm and other times it wouldn't be responsive and the speed would drop to below 10km/h and just stay at that speed. I would shut the car off and quickly turn it on while I was crawling forward and press the accelerator and then it would let me bring it up to 2000rpm again and repeat. Very frustrating. Imust have restarted the car at least 15 times. The dealership called me earlier saying that the dipstick wasn't in fully and caused oil to spray all over my engine and they suggested an oil change and an engine shampoo. I'm not sure if that would cause the car to go into limp mode.

 

I had this same problem 6 months ago whereby the car would not go past 10-20mph even when the pedal was floored......I drove it in limp mode to my local mechanic who was 15miles away and the minute i got there he took out the sensor that is connected to the air filter. He then purchased a spray from autozone and cleaned the sensor..

The whole procedure took about 10mins and by the time he put back the sensor, my car was back to its full potential..I really wish i knew the name of the sensor he took out but am not sure, although i know it was connected to the air filter in some way...

Hope this helps ....By the way i have an 03 g35 sedan

 

DARLLL, were you throwing any codes before your car went into limp mode? I think the sensor you're talking about is the MAF sensor. I guess I'll give that a try after the dealership gives me my car back on Wednesday. Thanks

 

Yes...I had the Service Engine Soon, vdc and slip light on steady....When he cleaned the sensor, vdc and slip light went off and the SES LIGHT was still lit up....So he used a code reader to clear the fault from the ECU and my dash was clear of any codes thereafter

 

Typically if the car won't rev over 2000rpms, it's means the MAF sensor isn't working. It's a failsafe setup so that the car is still driveable (to an extent) if the MAF dies.

 

i have had several issues with cars not liking to start after sitting over night or a few days. in both cases they needed the ground to the battery taken off and scraped with a metal wire brush to clean off the corrosion. as well as scraping where the cable connects to the car. then I never had any problems with starting the car thereafter.
sounds like you need to get a can of sensor cleaner for your mass air flow sensor (maf) and take it home from the dealership before they charge you hundreds of dollars for pointless repairs and testing.

 

so a little update. Got the car back and the diagnostic said power steering pressure sensor was physically broken and Bank 2 sensor 2 oxygen sensor had a heater circuit open. $1200 later those parts are replaced and a few other things done to my car (non mechanical) and all was good for 4 hours. Then the check engine light comes back on, I continue to drive as close to home as I can and then the car goes into limp mode. I must have drove it a total of 30km in the 4 hours. Limped it back to te dealership which is luckily about 5km from my house. We'll see what the dealership says again tomorrow

 

hopefully the solution was included in that $1200. what a rip for a few sensors!

 

I had a similar problem but mine was the camshaft position sensor bank 1, the fix was $354.

 

go to the dealership this morning to give them my keys to take a look at the car. The battery is so weak that the starter just clicks. I'm not sure what's causing my battery to always drain but I'm assuming it's the bose head unit. Anyways the tech said that he drove my car for 3 days before and couldn't trip the limp mode, guess I'm just lucky. Keep you guys updated

 

Does the car have any aftermarket electrical systems like an alarm?

What about testing the MAF or replacing it? Like I said, fuel cut at 2000rpms is the indication that the MAF isn't working and it will throw multiple codes/lights, some of which make no sense. Not all MAF sensors just die. Some can be flakey and work and then not work. Simple tests with a voltmeter and inspection can answer a lot of questions. The part is only $90.

 

The car is completely stock. They think my battery is shorting out somehow, even though the battery test says it's okay. They checked the code but it was just for the gas cap apparently. They're keeping the car over night, I'm gonna suggest the MAF sensor tomorrow when I talk to them but a new MAF sensor is 600$ and I don't really want to replace it unless I have to

 

I think you should consider taking the car elsewhere because the techs seem clueless. They should be looking at the MAF, the throttle body, testing the battery/alternator, etc. Also, their prices are outragous. A powersteering pressure sensor and downstream O2 sensor should be less than $500 installed at a dealership and half that if you do it yourself. Plus, neither of those failed parts will cause your driveability issue or throw those codes.

A MAF sensor is $90 to $120. You don't have to replace the entire housing ($400+), just the sensor itself. Two screws and it slides out. Literally a 5 minute job.

The problem with today's automotive techs is that they lack the ability to trouble shoot. They're simply parts replacers now. That's why it pays greatly to get the Nissan field manual, a volt meter, and tools and do most of this stuff yourself. Your car's problems aren't anything out of the ordinary. The usual fix is one of the following:

New MAF sensor
New throttle body assembly
crank position sensor
vacuum leak


Lastly, have checked for vacuum? A mild vacuum leak, upstream of the MAF sensor can cause these types of problems. My guess if there was a leak, it would be in the intake piping. When you accelerate, the piping shifting around a bit and that's when the leak can happen. Let off the gas, the leak could disappear has the piping pulls back. Perhaps the previous owner/dealership installed a new air filter before the sale and put the intake tract back together incorrectly. I'd take everything out, disassemble, reassemble, and reinstall.