Help!! My 1990 300zx twin turbo has been recently fully serviced but totally shuts down without warning intermittently. No engine, lights including blinkers and hazards as if the battery has been disconnected. A total system shutdown. It is only able to be started after hitting the remote cutoff switch and turning the ignition key. Has this happened to anyone else? Can anyone recommend an auto electrician that knows 300's on the Gold Coast? Thanks in advance.
Yes it is. Apologies for the delay in replyimg. I have had an auto electrician look at it but they say they can only find the fault if it happens at the time and it's too infrequent for that.
intermittent electrical fault diagnosed over the internet - ok ill try the chances of this being a nissan problem will be next to nil, unless a plug or battery terminal or ground are loose I googled remote cutoff switch and saw a $13 device that hooks to the battery and a key fob, throw that in the bin, or a least change the battery in the fob, check it for damage ect nah throw it in the bin. If its still not fixed do the same with your alarm fob. The most import thing to do when taking your car to a mechanic for a intermittent problem Is take note of everything thats happening at the time, think of it like you have witnessed a crime and the mechanic is the detective. all though a good detective would have asked you the million questions when you dropped the car off, them saying they can only find the fault if it happens at the time show incompetence so don't go back.
If you have a remote cutoff fitted, that might be a good place to start. Sounds like it could be faulty and cutting power.
thanks to you both for your advice. first of all, I just wanted to let you know that I am a female who knows nothing about cars and this was my late husbands so thanks in advance for your patience with any dumb questions. ryzan is that the immobiliser that is linked to the alarm on the fob? morboost I'll change the battery in the fob to start with and see how it goes. If this fails is it possible to disable/disconnect the whole Immobiliser. I appreciate the advice re the auto electrician as I asked him re the alarm and he said no. After 2 hours they found nothing and wanted to charge per hour until they found it. thanks to you both and I'll let you know how I go. Kerrie
I thought that would be the case with the sparky, get the tab rolling indefinitely. We need to clarify if it has this fitted remote cutoff switch, series 1 z32 have a lot of parasitic loss which I think is due to constant power to the injectors and somebody may have fitted one it they got frustrated with constant flat batteries. Even take a pic of the battery and post if unsure. It would be a lot easier to remove than removing the alarm as once a time imports where so expensive to insure that people fitted high end alarm systems to lower insurance and yours could be quite intergraded plus you will loss central locking.
@voodoo2 When you say remote cutoff switch, are you referring to the alarm/fob you use to lock and unlock the doors? Or is it a battery isolator like Morboost posted, as they are two different items. As suggested a photo of the engine bay and battery would be good, along with the key fob too might help reveal some further information. Also, curious why the auto elec. thought it wasn't the alarm? While it's unlikely the alarm would cut all power (they usually only interrupt certain critical circuits) it's possible someone has done a dodgy install. How many times has it cut out and lost all power as you mentioned so far? Were you able to successfully regain power on the side of the road each time and if so how long did it take to work (ie. did you have to wait 15 minutes, try several times etc.)
This is the fob pretty basic. I can check with the guy I bought the car off if he installed it. It's really weird as it had never previously happened until after it got serviced coincidence maybe or has something been knocked loose but as they are not auto electricians I don't think I will have any luck. We drove from the Gold Coast to Casino nsw and back no problems. Then not long after it cut out 300 metres down the street and the next time was on the M1 at 110kms an hour from Brisbane to GC and then 10 mins from home, it's inconsistent. Each time after coming to a complete stop with a total engine shut down including hazards it was a case of hitting the button on the immobiliser and restarting with the key literally once it came to a stop. It always restarts straight away.
Considering that you are able to restart the car straight away each time by the fob, I'm inclined to think the issue likely lies with the alarm/immobiliser. If it were some other sort of ground or electrical issue, I wouldn't expect it to be able to be restarted straight away each time just by using the fob. Also, looks like it's an older Mongoose unit, they weren't known for being the most reliable immobilisers on the market. As alarms/immobilisers are not easy or quick to remove by design, you probably won't find any cheap fix short of having it removed and possibly installing another one.
I had a similar problem with my engine cutting out, however I tracked it down to a fuel lock causing the fuel pressure to drop to the point where the injectors wouldn't crack open and flow fuel. Car would stop after a few minutes of driving, sometimes 1/2 an hour or more. I'd hop out of the car, pull the hood, check for issues, couldn't find anything wrong and then crank it again and it would start. Had me stumped for a while and really worried about driving too far. Too many mods with mine tho. Most engine imobilisers work in tandem with the alarm and are usually wired in series with the starter solenoid so you can't crank the engine until the alarm is disabled. If you are convinced the issue is caused by the alarm engine imobilser then the imobiliser relay must be wired in series with your coils or injectors to cause the engine to stop running. This in my view would be a very strange installation however not beyond possibility. It might be worth trying to identify the system you have and try to find the wiring diagram, work out where the parts are fitted and then remove the imobiliser relay or bypass it. The engine imobiliser part will be just a simple relay mounted somewhere that turns on / off power to.... in your case I guess the coils or injectors.
Some good points you make, however if it was a fuel issue the car wouldn't lose all electrical power. In Aus, most insurance companies deem a suitable immobiliser to have at least 2 or 3 separate points of immobilisation. The starter circuit would be most common, but then usually also the fuel pump circuit and also ignition wire or crank sensor. Often they also are wired in to the hazards to trigger as a signal when armed/disarmed. Wiring diagrams for most immobilisers are extremely difficult to find online, and manufacturers go to great lengths to keep this information private and only available to approved installers so as to keep thieves from reverse engineering their alarms or finding quick bypasses. I recently had the pleasure of removing a Viper system that was only made easy by referencing the factory service manual to identify Nissan's wiring. Ironically the installer had wired it in to the passenger door sensor to trigger the alarm assuming all the door switches were wired in series (since there is only one door open light on the dash) but since the Z32 runs parallel switches with the boot and both doors, this would only trip the alarm if you forced entry through the passenger door and not the others. Most good alarms made in the last 2o years have internal relays that are not easily replaced or bypassed. This is a good thing from an anti-theft perspective, but makes things painful when trying to diagnose a fault.
Thanks, I didn't pick up on the power failure, however it can sometimes appear like a power outage when the engine stalls. Was just trying to help this member out but it sounds like you have all the answers. Good Luck
Apologies if my message came across the wrong way, there was no negative sentiment intended. At the end of the day that's what this forum is all about, members helping each other out with their Zeds. And it is always good to get differing opinions and perspectives.
I appreciate everyone's input and time thankyou. I think I will look at either replacing the fob or disabling the immobilser and alarm system. Can anyone point me in the right direction to buy a new fob or for an auto electrician (?) that is able to do this on the Gold Coast? Thanks, everyone.
