Are these issues? Should I worry?

[Mister 26]

I'm still quite the newb as I30 owners go, still in my first month. There are a few things that the car does that I wonder about. Maybe someone here can shed some light for me.

First issue: I've noticed that quite consistantly when I first start the car, for the first 15 seconds or so the car hesitates badly when I step on the gas peddle. Then after the 15 or so seconds, it runs fine.

Second issue: SES light has come on and gone off a few times. I've had the codes pulled and it says banks 1 & 2 are too lean. When I spoke to the service manager at the local Nissan dealership he claimed that he's getting lots of these codes recently because the gas companies are adding additives to the gas that lean it out. HE suggested I try a different gas station on the next tank, which I did and it didn't help. Is he bs-ing me? Do I have a real problem?

Third: The starter died this weekend, leaving me in the parking lot of the Petsmart. I've since had it replaced, which required pulling the battery. After I got the car from the shop it ran horribly, hesitating and stuttering. I took it back to the shop and the mechanic told me since the battery had been pulled the car needed to reset itself, or relearn it's settings like o2/fuel mixture, and that it should run normally within a day. On the way home I did notice it seems to run better. Was he bs-ing me?

Please help me stop worrying about this stuff, I've got plenty of other things to worry about just waiting in line.
Modified by Mister 26 at 6:29 PM 5/16/2006

[MinisterofDOOM]

Sounds to me like problems 1 and 2 could be related.

The dealer blaming the gasoline you're putting in your car is wierd. It doesn't make sense, and even if it did, the car should run on what's available. There's no way an engine as advanced as the VQ should suddenly fall apart from some "cheap gas". We've had to put some pretty scary (and low octane) stuff in my dad's VQ and it never missed a beat.

I'd definitely convince the dealer to look into the matter properly.

The car may need to retrain itself depending on how long the battery was disconnected. Even so, I wouldn't expect it to cause the car to run poorly. Did the shop tell you exactly what the changing of the starter entailed?

[Mister 26]

Sorry I wasn't clear. The car was not serviced by the dealer, just a regular repair shop. But it was the Nissan dealership that told me my gas might be bad.

The shop that replaced the started said that the battery and air intakes had to be removed, along with a few hoses. He pointed them out to me and was sure they were replaced correctly. He said it took him an hour and a half, so the battery was out for at least an hour.

At this point I'm going to drive it and see what happens. The repair shop offered to take another look if I still had a problem. My guess is problem #3 may go away, but 1 & 2 will not. Those will more than likely require the dealership to look at.

[audtatious]

Lean codes can be caused by the MAF, intake leaks, O2 sensors, exhaust leaks, injector issues and low gas pressure. In the VQ30, resetting the ECU should not cause the car to run horribly. You may get worse gas mileage and a bit less pickup, but that is all. FWIW, the MAF can be very sensitive and that may be the main issue unless the mechanic connected the vacuum lines wrong.

Have the codes pulled again since the reset of the ECU to see if it is reporting more detail.