Took the car out for a spin today. Revved it up high a few times but never missed a shift and bounced the rev limit. I got a check engine light on my way home when I started to give her some gas on a straight stretch, I was WOT. The engine kicked off, I still had full power, nav on and power steering but no throttle control at all. I had to pull over and stop the car, turn it off and leave it off for a minute, turn it back on and now its running again. The check engine light is on now. I have a OBD2 tool, hooked it up and I got engine code P0308 which is Cylinder 8 misfire.

Has anyone ever had this problem before? Is this very bad?

 

hopefully it's just a coil pack

 

^^Either that or it could be a blown spark plug.

 

time to take her in. If you are running NOS you will need to check out those plugs

 

Losing a coil pack is very unlikely. These engines do not have the same issues as the 2JZs with heat degradation. Certainly possible, but very unlikely.

 

Have you had any recall work done recently? Torxuvin had the same issue, though he never went completely into limp mode from what I remember. The dealer didn't plug in the connection to the injector correctly causing a CEL, misfire, and power loss.

 

No recall work done lately. She hasn't even been in the shop since last September. She is a weekend driver that sits all winter since we get lots of snow and -30. I have only put on 5000 of the 8000kms that are supposed to be in between oil changes and services...


Yes I am running NOS, but I didn't change the plugs because the car only has 20000kms on it, I figured they were still too new to change out. I have probably only sprayed her about 10-15 times so far. I have 2 10lb tanks and only refilled 1 time since getting them.

 

First step should be to take out the number 8 plug and read it. Reading the plug should tell you everything you need to know as far as the N2O goes.

 

Is it normal for the computer to kill the engine like that on a misfire?

 

Yes. It's an emissions control requirement. It's also a fire safety issue - if your cats are being fed unburned fuel, they're going to get super hot - hot enough to ignite plants if you park in a spot where there is tall grass. So the ECM records this and takes evasive action.

If you're squeezing, you probably melted your plug. Safe bet the other 7 aren't exactly happy either.

 

Not sure what you meant by squeezing, but thank you very much for the answer about the ECM. I really wasn't quite sure why this was happening.

So basically it looks as it I will have to replace my spark plugs.

My father is a retired mechanic and he was suggesting how the colder spark plugs were an olden day thing people used to do and he hadn't heard of that for quite some time but he has been retired for 15 years now so things change quickly...

Is this colder spark plug thing coming back for some reason?

 

Not coming back, it has always been there. Heat range is based on thermal load, and when you squeeze (run nitrous) you're adding more heat and need a colder plug to ensure the tip doesn't melt at full load. The downside is they will foul under light loads faster than a hotter plug, so it's all a balancing act.

 

Squeezing means using nitrous.

It is generally recommended to use a "colder" plug when using nitrous to help reduce the chance of preignition due to the elevated temps created in the combustion chamber when spraying. The rule of thumb is to use one step colder for every 75hp shot so if you are running 150 plugs that are two stages colder would be preferred. As Slay said - read your plugs and it will tell you if you are getting preignition.

 

http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/pdf/DYK...t%20Ranges.pdf

Sort of. Read the PDF here and you will understand what heat range is about.

Oh, snap. Good video here:

 

Good video, thanks!