[IanH]

Any updates ?

 

[Grogglebob]

I know this is a super old post; however, I want people to be able to find this answer. Okay, so I have had a very similar problem like this that has been going on for the past year, and it was only getting worse. Whenever the engine would get up to operating temperature, the car would go into "Limp Mode," which is what is causing the symptoms of bogged down engine, slow transmission, loss of power, etc. This happens because the ECM detects codes that are essentially telling it that the engine has issues that could damage it if it runs under normal conditions, so it locks it in 2nd gear (I believe?), with the intent of saving the engine until a mechanic can look at it.

Anyways, back to the issue. I had this problem up until recently when I decided enough was enough, and I tore the engine apart. I took off the timing cover, removed the timing chain, sprockets, etc. in order to get to two gaskets that are located under the timing cover. There are two oil gallery covers in the VQ35DE that allow for internal piping of oil from the oil pump into a few places that require oil pressure. It turns out, that the last systems in the gallery lines are the VVT solenoids on both bank one and bank two, which dictate how the Variable Valve timing adjusts relative to rpms via oil pressure. It is typical that after a long time of high pressure use, the gaskets that seal the gallery covers have a tendency to break, because Nissan used a cheap paper gasket straight from the factory. This is a lot more common on the Z series Nissans with the VQ35DE in them due to pushing the engine much harder. I figured that this had to be my issue, so I took the covers off, and to my surprise, the gaskets were only leaking very slightly. It was certainly not enough to be the issue. Since I had started to replace the gaskets, I figured I may as well go ahead and replace the tensioners and timing chain while I was in there. This brings me to the fix! For the VQ35DE, the VVT solenoids are supplied by the oil from the oil galleries; however, the oil must pass through the upper timing tensioners for each of the cam timing chains, since the tensioners act not only as a tensioner for the chain but also a channel by which the oil passes through. As I went to remove the tensioners, I noticed that inside the head-side mating surface of the tensioner, there is a small thimble-sized filter that is recessed in the oil pass-through. This filter is supposed to be very fine, see-through mesh. Mine was completely caked with junk, and you couldn't see anything through it. I took some Brake Cleaner and a toothbrush and carefully cleaned everything out of the filter, and it came out looking like brand new. I put everything back together, and the car has worked better than ever, and I haven't had the "Limp Mode" issue yet.

I purchased this car back in 2011 with about 83K miles on it (Currently at 175K), and I do not know how it was treated prior to me owning it, and I was a high schooler when I first got it as well, so I wasn't always the best at keeping up with the oil changes. My guess is that over the years, burned oil and particles made their way up the oil galleries over time and eventually fully clogged the filters. It took a few months for me to figure this out, so I hope that in posting this, someone else will be saved a boatload of time and hop right to the issue. Sorry for the long-winded post, but I hope this helps, and I'm happy to answer any other questions.

 

[ultane]

I know this is a super old post; however, I want people to be able to find this answer. Okay, so I have had a very similar problem like this that has been going on for the past year, and it was only getting worse. Whenever the engine would get up to operating temperature, the car would go into "Limp Mode," which is what is causing the symptoms of bogged down engine, slow transmission, loss of power, etc. This happens because the ECM detects codes that are essentially telling it that the engine has issues that could damage it if it runs under normal conditions, so it locks it in 2nd gear (I believe?), with the intent of saving the engine until a mechanic can look at it.

Anyways, back to the issue. I had this problem up until recently when I decided enough was enough, and I tore the engine apart. I took off the timing cover, removed the timing chain, sprockets, etc. in order to get to two gaskets that are located under the timing cover. There are two oil gallery covers in the VQ35DE that allow for internal piping of oil from the oil pump into a few places that require oil pressure. It turns out, that the last systems in the gallery lines are the VVT solenoids on both bank one and bank two, which dictate how the Variable Valve timing adjusts relative to rpms via oil pressure. It is typical that after a long time of high pressure use, the gaskets that seal the gallery covers have a tendency to break, because Nissan used a cheap paper gasket straight from the factory. This is a lot more common on the Z series Nissans with the VQ35DE in them due to pushing the engine much harder. I figured that this had to be my issue, so I took the covers off, and to my surprise, the gaskets were only leaking very slightly. It was certainly not enough to be the issue. Since I had started to replace the gaskets, I figured I may as well go ahead and replace the tensioners and timing chain while I was in there. This brings me to the fix! For the VQ35DE, the VVT solenoids are supplied by the oil from the oil galleries; however, the oil must pass through the upper timing tensioners for each of the cam timing chains, since the tensioners act not only as a tensioner for the chain but also a channel by which the oil passes through. As I went to remove the tensioners, I noticed that inside the head-side mating surface of the tensioner, there is a small thimble-sized filter that is recessed in the oil pass-through. This filter is supposed to be very fine, see-through mesh. Mine was completely caked with junk, and you couldn't see anything through it. I took some Brake Cleaner and a toothbrush and carefully cleaned everything out of the filter, and it came out looking like brand new. I put everything back together, and the car has worked better than ever, and I haven't had the "Limp Mode" issue yet.

I purchased this car back in 2011 with about 83K miles on it (Currently at 175K), and I do not know how it was treated prior to me owning it, and I was a high schooler when I first got it as well, so I wasn't always the best at keeping up with the oil changes. My guess is that over the years, burned oil and particles made their way up the oil galleries over time and eventually fully clogged the filters. It took a few months for me to figure this out, so I hope that in posting this, someone else will be saved a boatload of time and hop right to the issue. Sorry for the long-winded post, but I hope this helps, and I'm happy to answer any other questions.

Great post Grogglebob, and welcome to the forum! (A little late, but…)

 

[IanH]

Great post Grogglebob, and welcome to the forum! (A little late, but…)

This is what I suspected my 2003 suffered with. The valves or screens would cause issues but only in summer and generally after a 20 minute to 40 minute stop.

 

[kevin.dancause]

I know this is a super old post; however, I want people to be able to find this answer. Okay, so I have had a very similar problem like this that has been going on for the past year, and it was only getting worse. Whenever the engine would get up to operating temperature, the car would go into "Limp Mode," which is what is causing the symptoms of bogged down engine, slow transmission, loss of power, etc. This happens because the ECM detects codes that are essentially telling it that the engine has issues that could damage it if it runs under normal conditions, so it locks it in 2nd gear (I believe?), with the intent of saving the engine until a mechanic can look at it.

Anyways, back to the issue. I had this problem up until recently when I decided enough was enough, and I tore the engine apart. I took off the timing cover, removed the timing chain, sprockets, etc. in order to get to two gaskets that are located under the timing cover. There are two oil gallery covers in the VQ35DE that allow for internal piping of oil from the oil pump into a few places that require oil pressure. It turns out, that the last systems in the gallery lines are the VVT solenoids on both bank one and bank two, which dictate how the Variable Valve timing adjusts relative to rpms via oil pressure. It is typical that after a long time of high pressure use, the gaskets that seal the gallery covers have a tendency to break, because Nissan used a cheap paper gasket straight from the factory. This is a lot more common on the Z series Nissans with the VQ35DE in them due to pushing the engine much harder. I figured that this had to be my issue, so I took the covers off, and to my surprise, the gaskets were only leaking very slightly. It was certainly not enough to be the issue. Since I had started to replace the gaskets, I figured I may as well go ahead and replace the tensioners and timing chain while I was in there. This brings me to the fix! For the VQ35DE, the VVT solenoids are supplied by the oil from the oil galleries; however, the oil must pass through the upper timing tensioners for each of the cam timing chains, since the tensioners act not only as a tensioner for the chain but also a channel by which the oil passes through. As I went to remove the tensioners, I noticed that inside the head-side mating surface of the tensioner, there is a small thimble-sized filter that is recessed in the oil pass-through. This filter is supposed to be very fine, see-through mesh. Mine was completely caked with junk, and you couldn't see anything through it. I took some Brake Cleaner and a toothbrush and carefully cleaned everything out of the filter, and it came out looking like brand new. I put everything back together, and the car has worked better than ever, and I haven't had the "Limp Mode" issue yet.

I purchased this car back in 2011 with about 83K miles on it (Currently at 175K), and I do not know how it was treated prior to me owning it, and I was a high schooler when I first got it as well, so I wasn't always the best at keeping up with the oil changes. My guess is that over the years, burned oil and particles made their way up the oil galleries over time and eventually fully clogged the filters. It took a few months for me to figure this out, so I hope that in posting this, someone else will be saved a boatload of time and hop right to the issue. Sorry for the long-winded post, but I hope this helps, and I'm happy to answer any other questions.

Around how long did it take for you to do the repair? How difficult will the repairs be for a "Regular Joe"?

 

[Troupnews]

I know this is a super old post; however, I want people to be able to find this answer. Okay, so I have had a very similar problem like this that has been going on for the past year, and it was only getting worse. Whenever the engine would get up to operating temperature, the car would go into "Limp Mode," which is what is causing the symptoms of bogged down engine, slow transmission, loss of power, etc. This happens because the ECM detects codes that are essentially telling it that the engine has issues that could damage it if it runs under normal conditions, so it locks it in 2nd gear (I believe?), with the intent of saving the engine until a mechanic can look at it.

Anyways, back to the issue. I had this problem up until recently when I decided enough was enough, and I tore the engine apart. I took off the timing cover, removed the timing chain, sprockets, etc. in order to get to two gaskets that are located under the timing cover. There are two oil gallery covers in the VQ35DE that allow for internal piping of oil from the oil pump into a few places that require oil pressure. It turns out, that the last systems in the gallery lines are the VVT solenoids on both bank one and bank two, which dictate how the Variable Valve timing adjusts relative to rpms via oil pressure. It is typical that after a long time of high pressure use, the gaskets that seal the gallery covers have a tendency to break, because Nissan used a cheap paper gasket straight from the factory. This is a lot more common on the Z series Nissans with the VQ35DE in them due to pushing the engine much harder. I figured that this had to be my issue, so I took the covers off, and to my surprise, the gaskets were only leaking very slightly. It was certainly not enough to be the issue. Since I had started to replace the gaskets, I figured I may as well go ahead and replace the tensioners and timing chain while I was in there. This brings me to the fix! For the VQ35DE, the VVT solenoids are supplied by the oil from the oil galleries; however, the oil must pass through the upper timing tensioners for each of the cam timing chains, since the tensioners act not only as a tensioner for the chain but also a channel by which the oil passes through. As I went to remove the tensioners, I noticed that inside the head-side mating surface of the tensioner, there is a small thimble-sized filter that is recessed in the oil pass-through. This filter is supposed to be very fine, see-through mesh. Mine was completely caked with junk, and you couldn't see anything through it. I took some Brake Cleaner and a toothbrush and carefully cleaned everything out of the filter, and it came out looking like brand new. I put everything back together, and the car has worked better than ever, and I haven't had the "Limp Mode" issue yet.

I purchased this car back in 2011 with about 83K miles on it (Currently at 175K), and I do not know how it was treated prior to me owning it, and I was a high schooler when I first got it as well, so I wasn't always the best at keeping up with the oil changes. My guess is that over the years, burned oil and particles made their way up the oil galleries over time and eventually fully clogged the filters. It took a few months for me to figure this out, so I hope that in posting this, someone else will be saved a boatload of time and hop right to the issue. Sorry for the long-winded post, but I hope this helps, and I'm happy to answer any other questions.

Kudos!

 

[Troupnews]

This makes the most sense possible. And I'm getting those codes too. I'm gonna do this if pcv valve, oil change don't work. Just bought one not even two months ago

 

[Bilyamo]

I know this is a super old post; however, I want people to be able to find this answer. Okay, so I have had a very similar problem like this that has been going on for the past year, and it was only getting worse. Whenever the engine would get up to operating temperature, the car would go into "Limp Mode," which is what is causing the symptoms of bogged down engine, slow transmission, loss of power, etc. This happens because the ECM detects codes that are essentially telling it that the engine has issues that could damage it if it runs under normal conditions, so it locks it in 2nd gear (I believe?), with the intent of saving the engine until a mechanic can look at it.

Anyways, back to the issue. I had this problem up until recently when I decided enough was enough, and I tore the engine apart. I took off the timing cover, removed the timing chain, sprockets, etc. in order to get to two gaskets that are located under the timing cover. There are two oil gallery covers in the VQ35DE that allow for internal piping of oil from the oil pump into a few places that require oil pressure. It turns out, that the last systems in the gallery lines are the VVT solenoids on both bank one and bank two, which dictate how the Variable Valve timing adjusts relative to rpms via oil pressure. It is typical that after a long time of high pressure use, the gaskets that seal the gallery covers have a tendency to break, because Nissan used a cheap paper gasket straight from the factory. This is a lot more common on the Z series Nissans with the VQ35DE in them due to pushing the engine much harder. I figured that this had to be my issue, so I took the covers off, and to my surprise, the gaskets were only leaking very slightly. It was certainly not enough to be the issue. Since I had started to replace the gaskets, I figured I may as well go ahead and replace the tensioners and timing chain while I was in there. This brings me to the fix! For the VQ35DE, the VVT solenoids are supplied by the oil from the oil galleries; however, the oil must pass through the upper timing tensioners for each of the cam timing chains, since the tensioners act not only as a tensioner for the chain but also a channel by which the oil passes through. As I went to remove the tensioners, I noticed that inside the head-side mating surface of the tensioner, there is a small thimble-sized filter that is recessed in the oil pass-through. This filter is supposed to be very fine, see-through mesh. Mine was completely caked with junk, and you couldn't see anything through it. I took some Brake Cleaner and a toothbrush and carefully cleaned everything out of the filter, and it came out looking like brand new. I put everything back together, and the car has worked better than ever, and I haven't had the "Limp Mode" issue yet.

I purchased this car back in 2011 with about 83K miles on it (Currently at 175K), and I do not know how it was treated prior to me owning it, and I was a high schooler when I first got it as well, so I wasn't always the best at keeping up with the oil changes. My guess is that over the years, burned oil and particles made their way up the oil galleries over time and eventually fully clogged the filters. It took a few months for me to figure this out, so I hope that in posting this, someone else will be saved a boatload of time and hop right to the issue. Sorry for the long-winded post, but I hope this helps, and I'm happy to answer any other questions.

THANK YOU. We've been trying to low-cost figure out this exact issue for... 2 years? Your solution feels exactly right. Can't wait to see if this is the answer!