M45 Posessed by a Lucas Ghost?

[M45Caliber]

Infiniti M45 issues in June and July 2008 – WHAT THE HECK IS IT?

June 24 -- Car driven to Costco (it was about 110 outside)Turned off car and went in to Costco for about 45 minutesCame out, unlocked car, started it and began driving. At the traffic light I noticed that although the AC fan was blowing on high, there was NO cool air. Then I noticed that the gear selector indicator on the dash was not registering anything, the temp gauge read “zero”, etc. (the gas gauge was OK – in fact the left ½ of the cluster was functioning).I pulled into a parking lot, placed the car in Park, turned off the ignition and removed the key. Re-inserted the key immediately and started the car. All systems operational. To date, this has not happened again.

July 5 – started the car in garage and began driving from Tempe to Phoenix. US60 to the I-10 south, at about 8 miles into the trip (around Warner – I was exiting at Ray Rd) the engine died. I was probably at around 75 MPH at the time. Tach dropped to zero. I immediately placed the trans into neutral and began coasting towards the Ray Road exit. As the road was straight and I was aimed straight, I turned off the ignition key, removed it and re-inserted it and immediately turned the key to the “on” position – the engine started as if nothing happened (I was now at about 50 MPH). I placed the trans back in Drive and proceeded to my destination. This has not repeated itself since then.

July 22 – drove the car twice today prior to this latest occurrence. Started the car this evening (after the car sat in the garage for about 5 hours since last being driven). Backed out of driveway, placed the car in Drive, and attempted to accelerate. The engine would rev in a “stutter/miss” (like fuel or spark was not @ 100%), and not exceed 3,000 RPM. When I placed the trans in neutral and rev’d the engine, there was a consistent miss/hesitation. I pulled back into the driveway (in case this problem was permanent), placed the trans in Park, turned off the ignition, removed the key, re-inserted the key and started the car. Ran perfectly and has not repeated today. I started the car 3 times since this latest failure.

The car now has 33,000 miles on it. Serviced Only at Infiniti every 2,500 miles.

I replaced the batteries in BOTH key fobs last week --

The battery is about 1 year old and tests out fine – WHAT IS GOING ON? Any ideas?

[Mark Linkous]

Hello,I like your Lucas Electronics reference. With such a "ghost in the machine", I would recommend posting this in the Infiniti Online Mechanic (IOM) section of NICO. Furthermore, have you spoken to your local Infiniti dealer about this? Intermittent issues like this are fiendishly difficult to diagnose.Cheers,Mark

[M45-Zero260]

Has the car ever been "re-posessed"?

I would definitely schedule an appointment soon to get it looked at, like you say, it's intermittent, but kind of scary when it happens though.

Hopefully I'm wrong, but the times I've seen this sort of thing happen, the car has been involved in some kind of flooding, or at least there has been some kind of water intrusion into the computer/sensors area. Perhaps it is as simple as a loose ground somewhere. Hopefully it is nothing serious and you can get those evil demons out. Good luck to you, and keep us posted.

[xerexabante]

How old is your battery? Check terminals on the battery.

[M45Caliber]

Battery is about 1 year old; tested out fine last week. Terminals are spotless and tight with the little green and red pads under the cables to prevent corrosion. The car was in So. Cal all it's life and both the CarFax and Infiniti service report are perfect. no water damage anywhere (looked under carpets, in trunk under mats, etc. Difficult to have a car in Cali have any water damage - you'd need some serious rain for that!

One owner, old lady. Always garaged and driven less that 6K miles/year. Serviced every 2.5K miles. This has me puzzled as it's always something a little different, but also always seems to be "electrically related".

[auditech10]

you can do a capacative discharge on the battery to reset all modules. disconnect the battery and hold the pos and neg terminals together for 15-20mins. ive seen some really goofy problems with computer systems and this takes care of most of them.cheers

[szh]

you can do a capacative discharge on the battery to reset all modules. disconnect the battery and hold the pos and neg terminals together for 15-20mins. ive seen some really goofy problems with computer systems and this takes care of most of them.cheers

Ummm ... you don't mean short the battery, right? Your wording could imply that!

Just disconnect the battery completely and take the cables away from the battery and short them - the cable ends - together, to "power down" all the electronics inside the car!

Z

[auditech10]

thats what i meant, sorry

[szh]

thats what i meant, sorry

Oh, I figured that! Just wanted it to be clear.

Z

[M45Caliber]

The "Service Engine Soon" light and corresponding message on the Nav screen finally came on yesterday, when it wouldn't start on 3 separate trys, finally starting the 4th time. This meant I FINALLY had a trouble code that the dealer could read to determine the problem.Scottsdale Infiniti ended up replacing the crankshaft position sensor, which controls spark to the engine.

It would have cost me $265, BUT because the car is a Cali purchased vehicle, the repair was covered under that States more stringent smog laws, even though I live in Phoenix, AZ now. So it ended up costing me $16 for the loaner.

I'm still undecided on the extended warranty. I'm going to shop around and see what I can get if for at some of the other dealerships.

Everything is negotiable -- so I am finding out based on comments made by others here.

Peace, Out --- M45Caliber

[wingFeather]

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