So I came out of the gym and was able to get into the car with the key fob

Pressed the start engine button saw dimming dash lights and heard the starter tick

Tried it one more time and ticking noise is gone and the "security" red line remains lit next to navigation screen, then car just remained in a state of complete non-responsiveness. Pressing the engine start button resulted in nothing - I could not turn the car to acc mode or turn off the car completely...for like two hours

The dash stayed lit with most of the lights like Brake, Service Engine Soon, etc

Headlights and brake lights worked

Key fob stopped working. Put the key in the slot below the steering wheel, same outcome

Road side assistance came and tried to jump car battery, car had zero response. Disconnected battery to attempt reset, same thing.

Tried swapping battery in key fob with a battery that's definitely charged, same outcome

I eventually had to lock the car with the key with the dash staying lit while the car got towed

What in the blue expletive happened to my car? All maintenance is up to date and I just paid the dealer for a 120k miles service

If it helps SoCal had a gigantic storm last night but this isn't the first time I've driven or parked the M35 in big rain

Any help would be greatly appreciated

I haven't had one fail in year so memory is hazy, but sounds like it may be the alternator?

Ilya wrote:I haven't had one fail in year so memory is hazy, but sounds like it may be the alternator?

I second that.. check that first. The alternator in my Yukon just died like last year. Truck was completely unresponsive. That was a fun repair in the garage that night, LOL

How old is your battery?
Do you have a voltmeter handy? If so, check the voltage across the battery terminals.
What do you get?

It could be a water intrusion / ground problem, but first step is to check the state of the battery.

This^^^
The vehicle should of started with a jump if it was the alternator and then died shortly there after once the cables or jump box was disconnected.

Thanks all

The battery is about two years old, terminals are clean no corrosions and the road side assistant guy tested it said the battery was still good

I had an alternator die on my old MR2 turbo and iirc jump start did start the car, the car just wouldn't stay running ...

I guess battery might be a worthy first troubleshoot then alternator?

What about why neither of my key fobs can lock or unlock the car?

take out the battery and have it retest at the auto part store (advance or autozone) most likely battery is on its way out.

steve_c wrote:...
It could be a water intrusion / ground problem, but first step is to check the state of the battery.

fusionchickenleg wrote:...
If it helps SoCal had a gigantic storm last night but this isn't the first time I've driven or parked the M35 in big rain
...
What about why neither of my key fobs can lock or unlock the car?

This might be related, maybe not. When you poke around the battery compartment, check for wetness as well.
crazy-electrical-problem-t566725.html

EdBwoy wrote: This might be related, maybe not. When you poke around the battery compartment, check for wetness as well.
crazy-electrical-problem-t566725.html

Wow that is interesting, I did not see any wet areas around the battery, but I did not remove the bracket around it until today when I was trying to take the battery out. This sounds like a likely scenario.

I am going to test and likely replace my battery and see if that's the magic bullet

fusionchickenleg wrote: the "security" red line remains lit next to navigation screen...Key fob stopped working. Put the key in the slot below the steering wheel, same outcome.

This looks like a NATS issue perhaps to be traced to a failed BCM or IPDM. Rain water may have percolated through the windshield base. Scan for diagnosis.

When my 07 did this, I had the same situation. Lights on dash were on, door worked with key fob, etc. The road service found the battery (1 year old) was too weak to start, but even they cold not get the car to start with their new battery. Turned out, my starter froze up when it engaged on the first attempt to start the car. The engaged starter (no noise whilst engaged) plus my further attempts to start drained the good battery. The starter and battery had to be replaced. No lights on the dash to indicate the starter went titz-up and no 'service soon' light either. The dealer diagnosed it after road service towed it to them.

Larz wrote:When my 07 did this, I had the same situation... No lights on the dash to indicate the starter went titz-up and no 'service soon' light either. The dealer diagnosed it after road service towed it to them.

But the situation appears different here. The dash lights stayed on. That the anti-theft security indicator light stayed on explains why the car couldn't be started.

Costee wrote:

fusionchickenleg wrote: the "security" red line remains lit next to navigation screen...Key fob stopped working. Put the key in the slot below the steering wheel, same outcome.

This looks like a NATS issue perhaps to be traced to a failed BCM or IPDM. Rain water may have percolated through the windshield base. Scan for diagnosis.

I did have a NATS issue once on my 99 Maxima. Car would start if I sprayed starter fluid, I don't think his would do that. The key thing makes it sound like it though.

Took a tow and an $84 reprogram at the Nissan dealer.

So I replaced the battery the old one was swollen and three years old, out $80 and car still won't turn on

Interior and head lights and brake lights work

Key fobs are completely useless can't lock or unlock car at all

Start button result in zero response. Dash wouldn't light up at all. Only sign of life in the interior of the car is the Security light flashing red. That thing seems to always work.

When I insert the key fob into the slot below the steering column the car will chime if the car door is open. Other than that zero response.

Looks like I'll have to have this towed somewhere and possibly pay up the butt to fix this as I don't have any trusted mechanics and the actual culprit might take a few guesses and parts to fix

Does anybody know a good Infiniti / Nissan shop around the Covina area?

By flashing I presume you mean the security light is on solid. Your hood switch and power window main switch are maybe affected too. Then I'll still say NATS paralyzed by bad IPDM. If this is so then it's a relatively cheap fix because if it's the BCM then the key would have to be reprogrammed in addition.

The security light is flashing every second or so not just solidly lit if that's what you meant

Yeah after a ton of googling I've been looking into a bad IPDM. Mine looked dry but who knows what happened.

I also have an obd2 scanner and it couldn't read any error codes (it had before with the same car)

Off to dealer tomorrow for diagnostic might unload the car if it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to fix this really made me lose confidence in the M as much as I liked it

Glad to hear the security light is flashing. Still a bad IPDM could disable the I-Key. Again, if your scan tool is unable to function with the car, it could mean a bad ECM relay and this is also integrated into the IPDM. I think it's a minor issue, don't lose faith in the M.
Good luck.

Thanks for all your help! Just hope the dealer will be able to fix this without breaking my bank haha

So dealer said the iKey moculde just broke down out of the blue no idea what the cause is

$800 parts and labor does that sound fair at all?

fusionchickenleg wrote:So dealer said the iKey moculde just broke down out of the blue no idea what the cause is

$800 parts and labor does that sound fair at all?

I'm not so familiar with American economics, but online I see that the module costs about S450. Part number is 285E1-EH11B (though I could be more certain if I had the VIN). After installation it will require programming the key with it.
Since you said your obd tool couldn't access the car following the problem let's know if that is resolved after the repairs.
Btw, the module is a small gadget located to the left of the parking brake in the fuse box area.

The dealer said they're confident that the iKey is the only culprit and they're charging me for 3 hours of labor

My fear is this doesn't fix the issue and I keep going down this rabbit hole. It's too easy for the dealer to say they had to fix this first before discovering other issues...is there a way for me to prevent this from happening?

Confident or certain? It seems then that like you they've not been able to scan the car, or else they should pull an error code like B2552 (although your obd tool does not have the capability to scan that module). An indication of malfunction is that the key warning lamp illuminates.

Costee wrote:Confident or certain? It seems then that like you they've not been able to scan the car, or else they should pull an error code like B2552 (although your obd tool does not have the capability to scan that module). An indication of malfunction is that the key warning lamp illuminates.

Thanks for this! I will verify with them.

So the iKey module was indeed the culprit, got the car back today and everything seemed fine. Thank you all for the help once again

So it's B2552 then. Why are dealers/shops ever so reluctant to disclose error codes to clients, moreso if cost of repairs is high? Nice all's well with your car nonetheless.

I had the exact same problem at fusionchickenleg in my wife's 07 m35x. Lights come on, even radio and such, but would not turn over. did all the same things he did with no result. then found a video on youtube that identified the ESCL (Electronic Steering Column Lock) as the culprit. If this is the problem, you will see a yellow key signal on your dash. Tapped on the metal box on the steering column under the dash with a screwdriver handle while pushing the start button, and viola! Car starts right up.
That bugger locks and unlocks your steering column and communicates with the ilock system. For my wife's car, it didn't lock the steering wheel when it turned off, so next time around, it gave the ilock a "no go" signal and the engine won't fire. tapping allowed the mechanical portion of that actuator to move and give the ikey the proper signal.

based on what I saw in Nissan forums, I am going to experiment with cutting off the lock motor power feed once the car is in acc and unlocked. The steering will no longer lock, but it should still give the iKey the okay signal.
A proper fix for this requires the purchase of a $1200 part, and another 3-400 in labor, as the part is installed with break-away security bolts that have to be drilled out to remove. Infiniti will act like they have never heard of this problem, even though Nissan had to do a full TSB on a very similar problem with the 09 Altima which was leaving drivers stranded. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOTh3PqYh20
Cheers.
Mental

Continuing my thought from this other thread - post6767269.html#p6767253...

If buying a new iKey solved the problem for chickenleg, why would it be an issue with the steering lock unit? I'm not saying it's not the issue, but if it were, wouldn't it be causing problems again since he replaced the "wrong part"?
For me, there really was no problem. My steering wheel was doing that diagonal jiggle which I traced to some slop in the steering column joints. After some quick evaluating, I decided to replace the steering column, but that meant that the original lock unit wasn't transmitting anymore and my car refused to wake up. Thanks to Costee's guidance, I brought the old one back and Frankenstein-ed them together and all is good in the world again.
You're not kidding, the steering lock unit won't budge from the column.
[Side note - when replacing parts, I have learned not to throw anything away until the car is 100% running reliably. Even more so for computers and modules]

Anyway, I'm curious to see what your experiment yields.
What I would do though, is to just buy another entire column, even a used one. Replace that and pay for key programming. That comes out waaaayyyy under the $1,500 quote.
If you were close to me, labor would be free.

EdBwoy wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 06, 2018 6:57 pm

Anyway, I'm curious to see what your experiment yields.
What I would do though, is to just buy another entire column, even a used one. Replace that and pay for key programming. That comes out waaaayyyy under the $1,500 quote.
If you were close to me, labor would be free.

Same sentiments. I should add that the steering lock issue notably affects 2009 Altima and Maxima. I'm yet to hear one for any Infiniti. The parts and systems are of course different. For the Nissan cars indeed, there is some provision to bypass/disable the steering lock by removing the fuse solely dedicated for it. It is not the same with our Infiniti, and I wonder whether the steering lock could be disabled/bypassed without affecting some other electronic components in the car.

The part that came in is a bypass that plugs in between the connectors from the ikey computer and the ESCL. Unfortunately, the connectors are for the Nissan 370z, and a bit different than the one in the M35x. I liked the idea of the bypass, as it allowed me to experiment without cutting the short leads on the wires to see which one would disable the actuator on the ESCL, but still permit the "ok" message back to the ikey module.
I've found another Infiniti dealer that can swap it out and program for $1100, so a little less painful. I'm going to continue to look around for a fix though for a bit. I've had to do the tap a couple of times to get it started, but most of the time it starts just fine for now.

Mental

Hey, new member to the group here with a 2006 Infiniti M45. I have also now having the same issue with my ikey lighting up and the car not starting. I also think mines is stuck in the open position because the steering wheel is free when the car is locked. I have tried everything from tapping to actually hammering, to actually almost cutting off my left finger *long story* on a attempt to get my car back working. I was actually in a little fender bender a couple days ago where someone hit my on my right side, bent my fender and bumper in and the car worked fine I was able to leave the accident scene and park the car at home, but I went out the next day to crank the car with no success. Had anybody found a fix or work around to this for our cars. I have looked for the fuse specifically for the escl but have no been able to find it. What about a part number and the current updated revision that they are on would be a great help to even look into replacing it. Thank so much