Turning engine on, it races, sometimes

Maintenance/Repairs
, ,
1

Pressing the start button on my 2013 Nissan Cube this morning, the engine raced and the tachometer went into the redline 7-8000 rpm range. Half awake, before starting my morning commute, the loud rev sound scarred the bejesus out of me. I cut the power and tried again. Same thing happened, again. On the third try, the car started as normal. Strange.

This is the third time this has happened since this past Spring. That is it happens infrequently. Incidentally, in each of the 3 instances, it takes a 3rd try for the car to start normally. Today, it was a cold start in cold weather. For the other two - the engine was cold for one, and warm for the other, both in warm weather.

Do you have any idea what is going on? Is something likely to be stuck or is it electronic?

2

No matter what the cause, this is something that needs to be fixed, a.s.a.p., as redline RPMs in a stone-cold engine will quickly lead to very expensive repairs.

If the Powertrain Warranty is still in effect–as I suspect that it is–you need to get the car to a Nissan dealership immediately. Drop the car off the night before, so that a mechanic can experience the high RPM effect upon start-up the next morning. It is very possible that there is a software patch download from Nissan that can remedy the situation.

3

Thank you for the helpful reply. I agree. The challenge will be for the mechanic to experience the problem. It happened to me 3 times out of 100 (guess) or more starts.