sipar69 Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 (edited) Went to the park for a run today and noticed the orange engine light was on solid - apparently its the malfunction warning light. Any ideas what might be causing this - car only has 6000 miles on it? I've booked in for diagnostics next week. Oh and some massive tanker has stolen my Z valve caps. Be off to buy some locking ones later. Edited November 15, 2014 by sipar69 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toon Chris Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 (edited) It could be anything, but if you buy a £20-£30 reader or do the pedal dance you can find out for yourself. Just remember that flashing means warning and solid on means don't drive. Yes, there are some tankers out there, connect the next set up to the mains Edited November 15, 2014 by Toon Chris 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhackyWill Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 These are quiet good. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-ZX300-Z350-Z370-Dust-Cap-Wheel-Locking-Valve-/281477744247?pt=UK_Cars_parts_Vehicles_Wheels_tyres_trims_Valve_Caps_ET&hash=item4189618677 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 Cheers Will - they look good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turboextreme Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Little feckers, hope the car is sorted soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 Thanks mate - no idea what the problem is but decided to play it safe and booked in at my usual service outfit next Friday. I'll post up the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 These are quiet good. http://www.ebay.co.u...=item4189618677 Cheers Will - they look good. They do look good but they'll probably get stolen again so I'd try these Richbrook anti theft valve caps if I was you sipar ~ no Zed emblem on them but they look great and the little sh*ts won't be able to steal them. Link: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RICHBROOK-silver-spinning-anti-theft-wheel-valve-dust-caps-/201216683583?pt=UK_Cars_parts_Vehicles_Wheels_tyres_trims_Valve_Caps_ET&hash=item2ed972ee3f Good luck with the Zed ~ hopefully it's nothing serious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 Cheers GM. Hopefully anything will be covered by warranty. I was wondering if having high flow cats would be causing an issue but they've only be on the car for about 4000 miles so it seems unlikely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Cheers GM. Hopefully anything will be covered by warranty. I was wondering if having high flow cats would be causing an issue but they've only be on the car for about 4000 miles so it seems unlikely. Hhhmm it could well be the HFC's affecting your 02 sensors, ...I know mines a 350 & yours a 370 but it happened with my Zed. Had the HFC's fitted and drove for a few weeks with no issues then all of a sudden one day the EML decided to say hello. Cleared it a friends garage & then it was fine for a few days before coming on again. Checked the code & it was the 02 sensors after the Cats. I used the pedal dance/ECU reset for a few months to keep clearing the code but it would always come back. Then had my UpRev and no more issues after that. Clark Motorsport sell 02 spacers which I believe have helped stop the issue for a few people. Only £12 odd last time I checked so could be a cheap fix especially if you're not getting an UpRev done on your Zed. I'd have the code read first & then go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The G Man Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Cheers GM. Hopefully anything will be covered by warranty. I was wondering if having high flow cats would be causing an issue but they've only be on the car for about 4000 miles so it seems unlikely. My HFC's eventually caused the same light to come on periodically on my last 70, it's a simple reset but the chances are it'll happen again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 Cheers GM. Hopefully anything will be covered by warranty. I was wondering if having high flow cats would be causing an issue but they've only be on the car for about 4000 miles so it seems unlikely. My HFC's eventually caused the same light to come on periodically on my last 70, it's a simple reset but the chances are it'll happen again. Thanks guys - will see what they say about it when I go to the garage next week. GMan - did you get the 'check engine' message' or just the solid orange picture of the engine? I've got the latter. I'll be pretty fed up if it's the cats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 (edited) OK bit of an update - ordered a cheapo wifi dongle that plugs into the port in the car and downloaded a free diagnostic app for my Ipad. Might not work but it was less than a tenner and got quite good reviews. I'm going to see if I can find out what the problem is myself before I have to take it to Nissan. If its the HFCs, there's no point in me paying them £100 quid to diagnose that and then tell me to bog off because it's not a warranty issue. I might as well see if I can check the code myself and then look into sorting out the problem if its the HFCs. If necessary I'll revert to the stock cats. If it throws a different code I'll take it to Nissan and hopefully it will be fixed under warranty with no charge for the diagnostics.......we'll see.... Edited November 15, 2014 by sipar69 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 I might as well see if I can check the code myself and then look into sorting out the problem if its the HFCs. If necessary I'll revert to the stock cats. For the £12-£15 odd they cost I'd try O2 spacers first before reverting back to standard Cats if it is the O2 sensors at fault. The spacers just move the O2 sensors backwards out of the direct flow of exhaust gases and in some cases this is all it takes to stop the sensors throwing a wobbly with the HFC's fitted. Example's of O2 spacers: http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/86743-sold-o2-sensor-decathfc-spacers/ http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/81229-o2-sensor-90-degree-spacers-x2/ http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/78224-02-spacers-for-berk-hfc/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 Nice one mate - I'll see what the code says and take it from there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Nice one mate - I'll see what the code says and take it from there. No worries. Hope all goes well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhackyWill Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 These are quiet good. http://www.ebay.co.u...=item4189618677 Cheers Will - they look good. They do look good but they'll probably get stolen again so I'd try these Richbrook anti theft valve caps if I was you sipar ~ no Zed emblem on them but they look great and the little sh*ts won't be able to steal them. Link: http://www.ebay.co.u...=item2ed972ee3f Good luck with the Zed ~ hopefully it's nothing serious. The Z ones are anti theft as well Gareth. http://www.ebay.co.u...=item4189618677 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Mcgoo Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Just to repeat what toon Chris said above, as it seems to have been missed... The solid EML on the dash means it's probably in limp mode and you should not drive it. It normally points to something a little more serious. I doubt that will be the post cat o2 sensors as that would give a flashing light. Read the code asap and definitely before you drive it again, just in case. It could still be nothing major but there is a two stage warning light for a reason. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 The Z ones are anti theft as well Gareth. http://www.ebay.co.u...=item4189618677 The thing with those ones Will that I don't like is that if someone tried to turn them off forceably they'll damage your valve threads. Also all a thief would need is an allen key & they can steal them whereas the other ones need the little pin tool that Richbrook sell so a little bit more anti theft imo. Either way both better options than the standard Zed valve caps that any little scroat can just take off & steal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted November 16, 2014 Author Share Posted November 16, 2014 Just to repeat what toon Chris said above, as it seems to have been missed... The solid EML on the dash means it's probably in limp mode and you should not drive it. It normally points to something a little more serious. I doubt that will be the post cat o2 sensors as that would give a flashing light. Read the code asap and definitely before you drive it again, just in case. It could still be nothing major but there is a two stage warning light for a reason. Cheers - hopefully the code reader dongle and app will give me an idea. If I do have to take it to the dealer it's only a very short drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted November 18, 2014 Author Share Posted November 18, 2014 (edited) OK - the results are in! Thought you folks might be interested in this update and I'd be grateful for some advice, as usual First off, I'm very glad I had a go at DIY diagnosis. Nissan were going to charge me £114 for an hour of diagnosis. I would have lost that money because it's almost certainly not a warranty issue. It's cost me less than a tenner to find out that it is indeed a HFC related issue. Below is a snap of the error code which seems to be a fairly common one when test pipes or HFCs are fitted. I'm actually relieved it's nothing more serious! I'm not suggesting that what I've done is comparable to proper diagnostics, but the car was driving perfectly and not showing any other errors when I did the diagnosis. For anyone who needs this information in future, I've posted some links below to the free app and the dongle I used. It took less than a minute to plug the dongle in, start the car, pair the dongle with the app, get a diagnosis and clear the code. I know the code might return, but at least I know what the problem is now. My questions to you clever folks....... 1) The Cobra HFCS have only been on the car for about 4000 miles. I can't remember if the warning came on as soon as I started the car on Saturday, but I do remember that on one bit of the journey when the engine was probably still quite cold I accelerated harder that I should have done (I know that's a bad idea - I just overdid it a bit because it sounds so good - Could that have caused the warning to trigger? 2) Am I right in thinking that if this particular warning code comes back I won't do the car any damage by still driving it? 3) Am I right that there are three possible solutions if the code does keep returning? -Spacers for the 02 sensors (do these create any problems at MOT time) -Uprev -Revert to stock cats? Cheers and here's a snap of the error code and the links. OBD Car Doctor App IOS - https://itunes.apple...d652142348?mt=8 Android - https://play.google....doctor&hl=en_GB Wifi Dongle http://www.amazon.co...ailpage_o00_s00 Edited November 18, 2014 by sipar69 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Delete code and see if it returns. It's not something to worry about at all, and will do zero harm to carry on driving with that code. However, that would then hide the presence of another code if you get a more serious problem, so not great for long term. i would check your HFCs, as they might be breaking down causing this code. Highly unlikely, but worth a check. Either way, a couple of spacers for £30 would get this problem done and dusted 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark@Abbey m/s Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Really needs a Uprev remap so we can tweak the 2nd O2 sensor min max figures. Remember the stock car Cats has 2 bricks in one Cat so the rear O2 figures are pretty tight. The Cobra HFC's will pass the MOT no problems just the tolerance on the stock map is pretty tight on rear O2 efficiency thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will370z Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 These are quiet good. http://www.ebay.co.u...=item4189618677 Good call Will, may have to get some of those as someone pinched one of mine too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted November 18, 2014 Author Share Posted November 18, 2014 (edited) Really needs a Uprev remap so we can tweak the 2nd O2 sensor min max figures. Remember the stock car Cats has 2 bricks in one Cat so the rear O2 figures are pretty tight. The Cobra HFC's will pass the MOT no problems just the tolerance on the stock map is pretty tight on rear O2 efficiency thanks Mark - thanks - Uprev isn't cheap but I might just do it if I could be absolutely certain it would solve the problem once and for all - will it do that? Have you upreved any Nismos yet - good gains? Cheers Simon Edited November 18, 2014 by sipar69 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted November 18, 2014 Author Share Posted November 18, 2014 Delete code and see if it returns. It's not something to worry about at all, and will do zero harm to carry on driving with that code. However, that would then hide the presence of another code if you get a more serious problem, so not great for long term. i would check your HFCs, as they might be breaking down causing this code. Highly unlikely, but worth a check. Either way, a couple of spacers for £30 would get this problem done and dusted Thanks - I've deleted the code and will keep an eye on it to see if it returns. I will definitely look into a longer term solution though. I couldn't be doing with it keep coming on and clearing it - shouldn't have to do that in a nearly new car. Do you think the over enthusiastic acceleration when not fully warmed up could have tripped it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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