They don't lend them out down here. You have to buy it if you want to look up the code. I found this strange. I mean they lend everything else out...

Here's another suggestion. If you have a buddy with a G35 or know anyone with one, swap out the MAF and see what happens. It's a much better approach.

 

For $130 you could buy yourself a nice OBD2 scanner that does some extra functions beyond your basic read/erase. I have an Actron 9180.

I know Autozone loans them out, but i think i remember hearing Cali won't do that with their autozones. Don't buy them from Autozone...they are overpriced there


Anyway, i'm not too sure how the fuel system works on these cars. I know you have your fuel system with a return...and a returnless system. Not sure which this is. I do know there is a fuel filter inside the tank that does not have a recommended replacement schedule, however every time i've changed a fuel filter on other cars at 30K miles, black gunk comes out.

I'd start with your basic MAF cleaning/TB cleaning as well...just because it's good to do.

Beyond that, there's not much else I can suggest here from behind a keyboard.

I would at least put a real code reader on it and see if you have pending codes. maybe someone in the area can let you use their for a few mins? Hell..i know my own code reader has spent more time on other people's cars than my own

 

^ weird...hmmm, lol I though about trying that too but there are not a lot g35 by me, I think there are 5 in the whole city here anyway best luck to you.

 

I've called just about every auto parts store down here asking if they lend them out and they all said no. I'll invest in one though, that's for sure.

I appreciates everyone's help, that is why I posted a lengthy description of my problem so it's easier to diagnose it. This obviously sounds more complicated and without throwing money on parts I wont know for sure. I know one thing for sure and that is I have to start soon because I have until tomorrow evening before I fly out.

Here are my current options.

1) Clean both the MAF and TB and do a reset / learning process. Then see where that leads me to. I can only do this after work, but by then the dealership will be closed if I decide to bring it to them.

2) Buy the crank sensor and go from there. IIRC, you can't just buy 1 cam sensor because if the other goes bad, it will take out the one you just put in. Correct?

3) Bring it to the dealer for a diagnose. Go from there.

Unless someone else chimes in, I'll go by that order.

 

Yeah, time to buy one! I have my eye out on a nissan / infiniti because that's all I ever owned / will own. But might get a nice generic one. We'll see.

Wish us both luck!

 

Alright, here's what I did yesterday after work.

- Disconnected the Neg / Pos battery.
- Cleaned the MAF with it being still connected.
- Cleaned the Throttle Body and replace gasket.
- Swapped out drivers side cam sensor.
- Reinstalled TB / MAF.
- Swapped out passenger side cam sensor.
- Swapped out crank sensor.
- Changed the motor oil.
- Connected the battery.
- Checked for codes - P0507 (Idle Speed Control System).
- Relearned ISCS.
- Cranked the car - STILL THE SAME PROBLEM.
- Drove home w/ the SES on (noticed better power assuming because of the MAF / TB cleaning).
- Turned the car off and on multiple times. Started perfect each and every time!
- Woke up this morning to start the car - STILL THE SAME PROBLEM. LOOOOONG crank, but much better than before. Also NO SES.
- Drove to work. Didn't notice the loss of power like before. Power felt good!
- Got to work. Started it a couple times and its a hit or miss now.

I am going to give it a couple hundred miles for it to adjust and do it's thing. I'll be away, but have my gf drive it around and give me feed back. My next approach is taking a look into the fuel system. I'll have to check it out when I get back.

I also want to bring it to the dealership, but I feel like they will throw parts at it saying this part is bad, that part is bad, yada yada yada. I may have wasted some money on the parts, but I'm almost positive they would of done the same thing before attempting to do anything else. If this problem does persist while I'm away I'll have my gf take it in and see what they say.
















As you can see, this is most likely why the cars performance is better despite having it's problems. Before I cleaned it, I could not see past the butterfly. After I cleaned it, obviously it was much better. I could finally see past around the butterfly it being cleaned and all.

I'll keep you guys updated as to what happens so if someone else has this problem or something similar, it'll be another option to look into.

Again, my next assumption is fuel related or has something to do with the ignitor. I just have a hunch. Of coarse, anyone else that has a suggestion, please feel free to reply. Thanks!

 

So if the car sits for a while and then you start...you get the long crank? But if you start and stop within a short period of time it's fine??


I'm thinking fuel related...but that's a guess

 

Yes and no. If the car sits for a long time, its harder to start. If it sits for a short amount of time it doesn't always start. For example. If I was go out and start the car it could crank for 5-6 seconds before turning over, but if I was to turn it off and on multiple of times the chances are greater that it'll turn over within 3 seconds. I did however notice that it sounds like it's misfiring for the first 5-8 seconds of idling before setting down. I don't know if it goes into limp mode so it doesn't misfire or what. But that's what I'm dealing with now.

 

Unfortunately now I'm guessing...so take this all with a grain of salt.

So there are two fuel strategies usually programmed into a cars ECU. One is cold start, and the other is hot start. When a car sits for a while, it usually uses cold start which requires a bit more fuel than a warm start. So the initial few seconds the car is very rich

Sometimes if it's too rich, you run into issues where the car doesn't start. I've experienced this before. The car might stumble as well.

A faulty fuel injector can cause this. Sometimes you don't get a O2 code because the sensor looks at the bank of 3 cylinders and get an average. The ECU can then lenghten or shorten injector pulse to compensate. It's when the pulse width gets too short or long that the lean or rich codes get sent.

I have not heard of many issues with nissans and fuel injectors, but with 160K miles anything is possible. I used to pull 100K mile fuel injectors off my Mustangs and find them full of crap. Now, i'm not sure what you can do to verify this. Fuel injector cleaner might not work. If this was my Mustang where plugs are easy to get to, i'd do a WOT blast and kill the motor after the run, pull to the side of the road and check the plugs and look for one that looks whiter and hotter than the other indicating a lean cylinder. Since that one cylinder is lean, the ECU will increase fuel to the others to compensate and that can lead to starting issues. I know you recently did plugs. Do you recall any looking a bit "hotter" than the others?

A therory I know...unfortunately all I can offer right now

EDIT: bank of 3 cylinders..not 4

 

This all makes sense when you put it like that. I don't know too much about injectors and what the life expectancy is, but I've always filled my car at Shell since day 1 of purchasing my car. I have also been using V-Power 93 octane only and just in the past year of moving to SoCal I've used 91 down here in SoCal. I rarely fuel at gas stations I've never heard of or store brands because they are discounted fuel with higher water percentage. I stick with Shell because I can get 450 miles on a tank which some people on here will die for. I know our cars aren't great on fuel, so when I do try other brands the max I get is around 325-375.

When you say "Sometimes if it's too rich, you run into issues where the car doesn't start. I've experienced this before. The car might stumble as well." I believe this is the EXACT problem I am having because I can smell a strong fuel smell as if there are excess amounts of fuel being burnt (rich). Stumble is the correct term I should of used to describe my problem. Perhaps when I did use the injector it helped a bit as I mentioned before? Since doing what I did I'll give it time to adjust itself plus use injector cleaner and see what happens. It could also well be possible that a "faulty" injector is on it's way out. I'll have to keep my out on that as well. I've never really heard or read about injectors on cars going out so its probably uncommon that they do.

Thanks for another bright idea.

 

It's not so much the brand of fuel vs the cleanliness of the tanks they are kept in. I usually say if you see a truck there filling the tanks at the station, to not get gas that day because the tanks get mixed and any sediments at the bottom are now suspended up at the upper levels. There are tons of filters and such, but every fuel filter i've ever changed has had black gunk pour out.

I have seen fuel injectors die. They are electromechanical devices and the solenoids inside can sometimes fail. I've seen them fail wide open constantly spraying fuel inside the cylinder. I've also seen them fail and not spray at all resulting in a dead cylinder.

I haven't read many issues with G35/350Z injectors..but I haven't looked. But like i said before, with 160K miles, its possible to have some "end-of-life" issues with components that normally don't fail.

 

We'll see what happens. Hoping for a clogged injector that will clear itself up.

 

So was there ever a fix for this? Because I'm having the same problem

 

Sorry for the late response. My culprit was the fuel pump and fuel pressure regulator which Infiniti replaced. Soon afterwards I traded my car for a pick up truck. Hope this helps others.

 

I'm having the same problem. Do you know exactly which pressure regulator was changed? Apparently, there are two in the engine bay one on bank 1 and bank 2 ( some call them pressure regulators & others call them pressure dampers), and there is a pressure regulator inside the fuel tank. Do you know which one was changed, or were all changed?