I gotcha. I realise its still a mystery for your car. But...your CEL isn't on. So I took it as saying that other people have had the same issue without a CEL. Very strange.

Maybe daft to ask at this point. Does your CEL work and are there any stored codes?

Are your plugs OK?
O2 sensors fouled or anything?

When you tip the throttle to a certain percentage, you go back into open loop. Does giving it more gas pedal and forcing it into open loop help?

 

By open loop I take it you're meaning full/normal power? No, it doesn't matter how much throttle I give. It's like it's in limp mode until it gets up around 3k rpm.

The CEL does indeed work, it shows up like normal when I start the car or have it on the accessory power/on without it running.


I don't know when I'll get around to checking the plugs, but I have seen threads wehre that has been at least part of the issue. I'll definitely check, but with a full time job, newborn, and a 14 month-old, I don't have much spare time lol

I haven't had any CEL or codes thrown for any of the sensors. O2, MAF, MAP, nothing.

Kind of as a last ditch effort before trying anything that will actually cost me money, I looked up how to reset the ECU to its factory settings. It was an older couple that had the car before me so I don't know if suddenly being driven "spiritedly" every day after 10 years of leisurly driving made it think something was wrong...? lol But hopefully resetting the ECU erases all its memory of how the car WAS driven and gets it used to the way I drive it without freaking out lol

EDIT - I forgot to mention that I checked with my OBD2 reader for codes and came up with nothing. I've had the car for nearly 6 months and it hasn't thrown any codes at all.

 

Closed loop meaning the O2 sensors are controlling fuel within some parameter in order to keep it as close to 14.7:1 as possible.

Open loop meaning you're bypassing that by asking for more power.

The car is in open loop when it first starts.starts.se its trying to warm up. During that time, you're saying it drives normal.

Leads me to think that the problem occurs due to SOME sensor telling the ECU what to do during closed loop. Or just simply that the car is having trouble with the closed loop's leaner fuel mix.

But...like you said. It just bogs no matter what.

How do these cars judge throttle tip in? Some cars have an accelerator tip in sensor directly associated with the gas pedal. This sensor tells the throttle plate what your foot is doing. The TPS tells the ECU how the throttle responded.

Maybe that whole link on a Nissan is worth researching.

 

I guess the only way to really compare this is by having everybody download Torque and physically looking at their throttle position angle and load while this effect is happening and see if you can pinpoint it that way and report here with the numbers. We could compare with other members here based off their findings.

Checking your engine monitors is the only way we'll fix this since it could be oil pressure related or emissions.

 

What's the best way to check if it's the O2 sensors? I did the ECU reset and it's still doing it.

The main two things I'm thinking it could be is a bad torque converter or failing O2 sensor(s).

I have my doubts about this being oil pressure related, since I'm seeing minimal oil consumption, no smoke in the exhaust and no other signs that there's any oil related issue.

My initial thought of the wheel speed sensors going bad was incorrect as that would cause multiple other issues that aren't happening (speedo not working, abs light on, traction control light on)

 

I've found several articles on how to safely clean O2 sensors. Has anyone attempted this before? I'm thinking about trying this. I'm prepared to replace them, so if it doesn't help then no harm done.

 

Best way is to buy a bluetooth obd reader and download TORQUE with the advanced Infiniti extras. You can monitor your O2 values that way.
Also an internal oil pressure leak wont consume oil nor will smoke, it just wont provide enough pressure to the higher systems like VTC etc.

 

Actually it does: The codes are: P0011, P0021 and P0524

I wouldn't worry about bank 2 always showing 127°.
On my car, both OBDFusion and Torque Pro show the same "static" value and the car runs excellent with no CELs. Bank 1 changes as expected.
It seems like there is a glitch in the ECU and it doesn't update the value when requested by OBDFusion or Torque Pro.

In the next few days, I will dig out my AutoEnginuity scan tool and see what it shows.

 

Good to know. My car runs great for the most part until it triggers cat codes and that's where I can feel the sluggishness that some here experience. A clearing of the code restores everything back to normal.
I included this due to the know issue with the phaser slipping, then seeing my cam advance is on bank 2 and the P0430 which is for bank 2 I assumed the phaser was stuck being the culprit for this.
However if I can't sufficient info on this reading then it will stay like that.

 

This is why I'm confused about my car... I'm getting absolutely no CEL. I'll check again, but with my inexpensive OBD2 reader, it's not showing anything because I don't have any CEL currently. Plus I reset the ECU erasing any previous CEL and codes but it's still happening...

Literally everything I'm seeing from others that are having this loss of power in low rpm are throwing codes, but my car isn't...

 

If you have a reader only you'll be limited to the amount of info you'll receive. Again, downloading Torque or OBD fusion will show your Airfuels and fuel trims along with loads throttle percentages while this his happening.
You can edit any phone or tablet to display all of these readings in the screen. Extremely important if you plan on pinpointing this yourself.

You have to remember that for the ECU to trigger a code the issue must be constant. Something like sluggishness at a certain rpm then it clears wont be enough to trigger a light since the system needs to constantly see this.
For example: A random misfire from cylinder 3 might not show until it becomes a permanent misfire and even then it will take up to 5 mins for it to trigger. A lot can happen in 5 minutes of diagnosis.

 

AutoEnginuity (with the Nissan/Infiniti OEM expansion) shows a static value -128° for VTC operation angle on bank 1 and bank 2.
BUT also shows the actual values of around 34° for bank 1 and 2.

I suspect the static values might be from some left over code from the exhaust cam variable timing on the HR engine.
Based only on observation, it seems like sometimes the diagnostic coding doesn't remove features that are removed from engines.

 

I plan to get one of the BT OBD2 readers and I'll probably use the Torque app to show the readings. Found a good one with good reviews for around $20.

That makes sense about the CEL not showing since it's not an issue 100% of the time.

 

My input in this thread is starting to influence my car. I've been noticing more and more some bogging in low end.
I noticed a week ago, where I started to hear more throttle growl between 2-3k and goes after 3k.
Looks like I'll be doing some digging.****.

 

Sorry to hear that, man. I'm hoping I get some answers once the BT OBD2 reader comes in. Not really sure what else to do at this point.