[bbpinkfloyd]

I have a 2002 Sentra Spec-V

On Saturday night while dragging a pre-1993 mustang, I mashed my gas pedal down while in second gear and as I go to shift into third all I hear is my engine bouncing off the rev limiter. I left the car in neutral, released the clutch, slowed the car down, turned the ignition off and pulled over. The engine probably was bouncing off the rev limiter for about 3-4 seconds.

Than the duma$$ move on my part came next. Before checking to see if the gas pedal was stuck I decided to start the car again and of course the revs went up and the engine was bouncing of the rev limiter for another 2 seconds. I shut it off right away and kicked the gas pedal and the pedal came back up.

Well my drivers side floor mat does not stay on that little post so it had slid forward and my gas pedal got stuck wide open, thus I had a stuck thottle.

Anyway my question to all the gear heads is: did I do any damage? I only have 4000 miles on my car so if was not completely broken in it is now! The car seems to run fine and does not make any differant noises. I checked the oil and I am low half a quart and it looks pretty dirty even though the oil is only got about 1500 miles on it.

So do you guys think I should be worried?

 

[bbpinkfloyd]

well I really was not drag racing. I was just going fast off a traffic light so I could get in front when the road went down to one lane.

But anyway, I have taken my car to full thottle many times(after 1000miles) but I don't slam it into gear or launch at anything above 2000 rpm.

I changed my oil once at 2500 miles. It was one quart low at the time.

 

[bbpinkfloyd]

Are you serious about the recall on the floor mats? How do they fix the problem, do they replace that little post or do they switch out to a differant mat?

Why is changing your oil more then every 3,000 miles seem nesscary for this car?

 

[bbpinkfloyd]

Oh well thanks for the help.

As for the 1000 miles break in that is what the manual said so I was going by that. Now I am going to try to be easy on my engine for a little while longer. Will being easy on it NOW(after being an excitable young pilot) matter any?

 

[bbpinkfloyd]

I just topped her off and she took a little more than a quarter of a quart.

What do you guys think about nissan putting 1,000 miles break-in period in their manual?

 

[bbpinkfloyd]

Yes, there is a recall on the floor mats and if they don't replace it I have a better solution than just cutting the top off.

Anyway, the owner's manual said vary speeds but it also said don't go full throttle during the first thousand. I don't beat on it but I have been taking it to full thottle, mostly in 2nd and 3rd gears. I am really pissed that my car took about 5-seconds on the rev limiter because of this damn floor mat.

Also, I don't know about you guys but I only plan to have this car for 3-4 years and the reason I have it is to have fun with it. If I don't drive the first year there goes 1/3 of my fun. Plus I don't think I would want to drive a 4-cylinder with over 100,000miles on it.

No paint problems hear, I have had the car since April. I have that Automate paint protection but that is really just UV protection or a warrenty( I could not tell you if they actually applied anything ). We got to get it here in AZ.

My friend who is a car salesman beats the crap out of all of his demo cars from mile one and they run fine for 5-6k he has them for. Don't worry it is not yours, he is honda salesman.

 

[bbpinkfloyd]

I have rigged a cap that fits on top of the little post. It acts like a cottor pin and keeps the mat from sliding off the post. I made it out of a water bottle cap but will be look for a better cap if Nissan does not give a updated mat.

I got the idea from a VW where the mats snap into place.

Also how do you not abuse a six-speed high-revving four-banger that revs so fast in first gear that you have to shift before completing a left hand turn?

 

[bbpinkfloyd]

My car is contained within the recall but if they are going just saw off part of my mat because it won't stay in place, I will not go for that.

I considor this car and any other four cylinder performance engine high revving if to drive it competitively (against say a V8) you have to be in the car's upper safe RPM range all the type.

There is a big differance between a V8 at 2000 rpm and a any I4 at 2000 rpm. But concievably they could put out the same HP at their respective peaks.

 

[bbpinkfloyd]

I am not sure what we are considoring abuse.

Is abuse only letting your needle go into redline?

Or is it abuse also going full throttle but shifting before the redline?

Also, is it hard on the engine to take first gear higher that 3000 rpm (normal throttle pressure) to complete a normal left turn from a traffic light?

 

[bbpinkfloyd]

I switched dealers to get my service done also but I am a little pissed because I was at the new dealer about 2 weeks ago and they did not do a check on recalls for my car. Now my car has potential damage from the stuck throttle plus it made for quite a dangerous situation.

I am thankful that I was not in a panic situation where I need throttle control. I was able just to slow down, shut of the ignition and figure out what went wrong, it could of been worse.

 

[bbpinkfloyd]

Thanks for the info, cortrim1.

Back to the orginal question, do you think anything specifc might have happened when the throttle got stuck and I was bouncing off the rev limiter while clutched and in neutral for about 5 seconds?

 

[bbpinkfloyd]

So the border goes around the whole mat and it is the same same size as the old one. Is there any other differances, is it a differant shape by the pedals? Does it attach to the post any differantly?

Why does this one not move and the old one did?

 

[bbpinkfloyd]

I went to the dealer and saw a new mat that was ordered for another customer. The mat had a smaller diameter ring opening so that it will fit more snuggly on the post. Hopefully I will get mine tomorrow from another dealer.

If for some reason they say your car is not listed as affected by this recall you should note that most dealers don't give you the floor mats that came with your specific car. They don't keep the floormats in the cars so they get mixed together.

I got a new car, not listed as affected, but a dangerous floor mat.

 

[bbpinkfloyd]

The dealer I am working with at the moment is working with me and may just claim it to nissan as a warrenty replacement instead of a recall. I just have to wait for them to recieve mats because they have none in stock.

The dealer I bought the car from scraped one of my rims pretty bad during a wash and it took forever to get the money from them. So I go to them as a last resort.

I also opened a file with nissan consumer affairs.


If you guys don't know the number you guys should all call it and report that paint problem:

1-800-647-7261