('06 M35x) Dealership, "It's a faulty LDWS camera...$2,600!"

[bigsikk]

Lord - Help me...

I've had, off but mostly on, for the past 6 months or so a CHIME (not a beep) that stays on in my car the WHOLE TIME I'M DRIVING IT...And till now no one has had ANY clue what in the $%&@ was causing it. (Car: 2006 M35x, Elite warranty expired ess than 5K miles ago - Approx. 97K miles now)

Some days it'd, honestly, "peeter-out" and "fade away" only to re-start again very soon and stay on.

How could I possibly go that long w/such an unbelievable noise constantly in my head?

Well, sometimes it was BARELY there (think of LOW volume). Other times (most of the other times) I'd just tune it out or turn up my stereo so loud I'd block it out.

Anyway, to the point.

I'd heard that it may be the BCM, and when I finally got around to taking it to my local dealer, he had his techs kick it around for a day of so and they came back with, "For some reason, all your TPMS (tire pressure monitors) had to be reprogammed - So we did that - And that was it - No noise."

In a way that made sense b/c I had replaced 2 tires about a year ago and another 2 tires about 2 months ago and the local tire place that swaps them/changes the oil (I know) can't recalibrate the TPMS, so I thought, maybe that's it.

And on the ride home it was....silent.

It started to drizzle and I immediately pulled into an Auto Parts store and bought some replacement wipers b/c I DIDN'T WANT TO HEAR A *%@$*#$ THING - not even the wipers - I wanted to ride in my car WITH ABSOLUTE QUIET - So nice.

The next morning I could hear it...it was so low...but it was there...then the volume grew to full force...and it was back.

I took it back to the dealer - They couldn't recreate it...I thought, hmmm, maybe it was just that 1 time...

No...It's back - Took it back to the dealer and now, after 2 days, they call and say," It's the Lane Departure Warning System camera - It's drawing 4 amps when it's not in use - It should be drawing 0 amps - That's what's causing the noise - The camera cost $2,200 and $400 install - Would you like us to order the part?"

Won't the LDWS draw something once the car is started - Don't those systems "power-up" with the car start-up?

I get the feeling this is bull%&#@ - Like they don't know - The sound is a little like the "beep-beep-beep" you hear from the LDWS going off, but you can still hear the "beep-beep-beep" going off WITH THIS G.D. CHIME CONSTANTLY ON - So how can it be both? How can the LDWS camera be bad when it's still working?


Dealer is saying the noise is coming from the fact that the camera is getting this trickle charge of 4 amps and causing the camera / system to produce this CHIME (Think: BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP..... All the time...In your beautiful car....All the time.... )

Please, God, can someone please help me with this...When the recession really hit a few years ago I was in a spot in my career where needed to make a few phone calls and restart again (same sort of job...good $ but never home) or run in a different direction.

My wife and I decided that together we'd both go to work for the school system - That'd let us have the same schedule as our sons (3 of them - currently 1st, 3rd and 6th grades) - And our combined incomes (she's a Speech Therapist) would come close to my income before (she'd stopped working when she became a mom and was pregnant / child raising...several years).

So I got certified in Math / Science and Spec. Education - I'm a middle school SpEd teacher (Science this year) and love it...But I love my car too and don't want to have to sell it...But my 6 figure income is gone...I don't make 1/2 of that now...

Please tell me, someone, of something that can possibly help.

The thought of getting into that car again with that CHIME is seriously unbearable - Almost as unbearable as the $2,600 the dealer wants to repair it...

Help!

[pedsemdoc]

1. Many people don't use the LDWS, have you tried turning it off to see if the chime goes away?
2. Make sure your battery is good, lots of folks on the forum have described electrical gremlins when their battery is shot. Plus, check your fuses.
3. You may want to try a different Infiniti dealer or a Nissan dealer. You need a Consult 2 or 3 to analyze the LDWS system to determine if it is really operating correctly.

Electrical problems are always a nightmare in high end cars like ours. Definitely, a good reason to have the Elite warranty.

Hopefully, someone else has had this problem and can chime in.

good luck and let us know how it turns out...gotta get her fixed, you don't want to be driving something else.

Craig

[svard75]

I feel for ya bud! If I were in your situation I would use some elbow grease and attempt to isolate the issue myself. I sounds like you have a bit more time now but less money so really you need to start working on your own car. Shops know this is a higher end car and will charge for every silly think likewise. I tend to do my own research starting with a good subscription to a service manual to help me understand how it's put together. In your situation you would need to study the electrical schematics for a good while. Some better subscriptions provide you with diagnosis flowcharts to help find the cause.

Oh yeah as an FYI the previous work on your TPMS system was unnecessary and was not the cause of this constant beeping. I use winter wheels and tires without TPMS and the system does on occasion detect it's not present but never beeps, I simply see the TPMS alert light on the dash. When I do have my summer wheels on with TPMS sensors and a tire is detected low it will beep a single continuous beep for about 5 seconds then turn off with the TPMS light illuminated. It doesn't constantly beep but will each time I turn the car off and on again.

You seem like a nice guy so I'll do some of the work for you using my alldatadiy.com subscription (http://www.alldatadiy.com)

Before I start can you answer a few questions?

- Is the ding sound and frequency exactly the same as when you leave the drivers door open?
- Utilize the LDWS on a highway, when you attempt to change lanes without the signal does this noise add to the existing noise or is it exactly the same and in the same rhythm?
- Is the sound the same as when you are driving without your seat belt plugged in?
- Are there any lights on the panel?
- Turn off LDWS using the manual switch does it go away?
- Activate the Diagnosis mode on your system (car in the ON position not running. Turn off the radio. Press and hold the Settings button on top and rotate the radio volume button a few times clockwise. Perform a diagnosis test). Does everything show as Green?

After you answer these questions I can look into this for you.

On a side note. I work in the computer industry and when my career was dealing with repairing computers you had the responsibility of performing process of elimination until it was fixed for good. You didn't have the luxury of fixing one problem and giving the computer back to the customer knowing another exists. Newer cars are exactly the same as computers. Find the first issue, correct then test test test. Find the next issue, correct then test test test... etc until all of the issues are fixed. Of course it is possible that something occurs a few days after everything was fixed but this sounds like they just reset the ECU or BCM and charged you for something else. Another reason I do not use a shop unless it's mechanical.