2000 I30 - P1320/P0303/P0420 Codes

[rruterbusch]

Hi -

This has been a 6 month long saga and I'm looking for knowledge on what needs to be done to my 2000 Infiniti I30.

1. Took the car in to a trusted Infiniti mechanic (7 hour drive away in my home town) to check out the "service engine" light - he found code P0420 (TW Catalyst System, Bank 1), did a complete service with pwr flush, erased the code and indicated if the light came back on, it could be a cat problem, but he couldn't do warranty work (I think the cat is covered under an 8 years or 80K miles warranty). Light came back on the next day and 200 miles later. ($600 bill)

2. Took the car to an Infiniti dealer (5 hour drive away), he ran codes P1320/P0303 (misfire problem) and P0420 (again). He replaced all the coils (another $600), not sure what he did to address the cat issue (no notes) but indicated on the invoice that if P0420 recurs, ECM reprogram may be needed. Light came back on 2 months/2K miles later.

3. Took the car to the local Nissan Dealer for another scan ($100) and he found only code P0420 (again) and said that per the Infiniti bulletin, the cat should be changed and ECM reprogrammed. He can't do the warranty work either because he's Nissan only.

So, I've spoken with two Infiniti dealers today (the one who did the work in #2) and one who is closer to where I live (3 hour drive away), and they both want me to bring the car in (more driving), let them look at it again (more waiting and certainly more money), but they think that probably only an ECM reprogram needs to be done.

I'm tired of driving, out $1300, still have an annoying light coming on, and feel that the dealers are avoiding the catalytic converter problem - who knows why.

Can anyone please give me a straight answer on what is wrong with my care and what actually needs to be done to fix it?

Thanks!

[maxhopper]

Welcome to NICO.

I found a few posts similar to your situation.

zerothread?id=141231

zerothread?id=51477

You definitely need to get the reprogram done; and even after that, you may find that the bank 1 Cat is bad.

As for warranty coverage: I've worked as a warranty administrator for about 3 years (covering 4 different car lines). The Nissan dealership you took your vehicle to in #3 took your money, plain and simple. The Maximas have the exact same recall as the I30, and have the exact same parts (ECM and Cat). There is no valid reason that they didn't perform the work.

Both the ECM and the Cat are covered under your emissions warranty (7/70k Cali - 8/80k Fed) and the TSB should be performed at no cost to you.

Take your car to the Inifiniti dealer. Don't go in complaining about the bad experiences you've had so far, that was none of their doing. Just tell them about the code and that you know that there is a TSB related to this problem. Remeber you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

As for the Nissan dealer mentioned above, I would contact Nissan Cunsumer Affairs and see if they can negotiate with the dealer on your behalf to get a refund. They may tell you too bad; but if it was me, I'd give it a shot.

Nissan Consumer Affairs P.O. Box 191Gardena, CA 90248(800) NISSAN-1 (or 800-647-7261)9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Eastern / Central Time8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Pacific TimeMonday through Friday

[audtatious]

FWIW, P0303 is a misfire of plug/coil pack #3

[rruterbusch]

Thanks so much for the info.

I did talk to Infiniti customer service national number and they insisted that any warranty work could only be done by an Infiniti dealer, so it seems that the Nissan dealer in #3 was telling the truth.

Knowing what I know now, I think the Infiniti dealer in #2 (4 months ago) should have done the ECM reprogram when he had my car in his shop for a week anyway.

Thanks again!