99 I30 - coils causing problems

[Whodat]

Hi there,

My girlfriend bought a used I30 and has been having trouble with it from the start. I think it has around 50k miles on it.

She bought it as is, and the warranty is expired.

Problem: car idles VERY rough. Sometimes this "shaking" also occurs while driving. Interestingly enough, the shaking does not happen all of the time. We have not been able to pinpoint what conditions cause the car to start acting up. Eventually the car would not turn over. Call the tow truck...

Took the car to a the Infiniti Dealer in San Jose, Ca. He replaced all of the coils and sent her on her happy way. No problems... until 5 days after getting the car back. The car is starting to idle rough and is driving very roughly. It does not turn over right away either.

Should we take it back to the dealer? Is there anything we should ask them to look for, specifically? I'm afraid, after reading some posts, that the problem might also be with the injectors.

I'm not a car guy, so any help would be great!

Thanks,Steve

[nisstech]

Take it back to the dealer ASAP, I've worked in nissan,toyota and lexus dealership for 30 years and I can tell you this we stand by our work! I'am shure she paid big bucks to replace all the coils and still has the same problem! Ask to talk to the service manager and not the ASM. The most you should pay is a 50/50 split for the replacement of the injectors if that. The chances that all the coils were bad is about 1000 to 1! I call that "the easter egg hunt, tech not shure what would fix the car. Maybe one or less a chance that it was two coils. More like one coil and one injector or no coils and just one injector or something related to this. The biggest problem most dealers have is tech's not doing a good QC to the car. Extended test drive's,keeping the car one or two day and recheck it hot and cold or under hard driving conditions. I realy like our dealership(lexus of tampa bay) we give the customer a car and give them a call when it's done ,fixed right the first time. This is what it takes to be #1 in CSI and fixed right the first time!!! So, be firm but don't loose your cool. Did you get back your old parts?? Or are that sitting in the tech's box for his spair collection? Sorry , don't want to come off as a hard nose but nothing makes me more mad than just throwing parts at a car to fix it. Let the service manager know you post here on this sight and word of mouth is the best advertising we know. Hope it works out,keep us posted.

[autotech43]

Agree with nisstech, take the vehicle back for the recheck. You may want to let them know they can keep the vehicle a few days, being an intermittent concern. There are a tech bulletin regarding wires breaking in the engine harness located at the right strut tower that can cause many different types of intermittent concerns depending on what circuit is being affected. Some circuits will store the trouble codes and some wont. I would personally drive the vehicle with the consult 2(diagnostic scanner) and see if I could catch the trouble in the real time mode. I do agree(nisstech) that alot of techs will retrieve the trouble code, and think whatever the code is, that particular part is the failure and start replacing parts. Most of us older techs know that just replacing parts is not by NO means, anyway to diagnose and trouble shoot driveability or any other system as far as that goes! There is too much involved in the compexity of todays automobiles to be a parts changer, not to mention the cost of some of the parts and flat rate hour prices. Hope things work out for you!

[Whodat]

Thanks guys. We'll be taking it back to the dealer today. I'll be sure to mention what you both said. I'll also be sure to update the board!

Thanks Again,Steve

[Whodat]

Well, We took the car back to Infiniti. They said that now the problem was with one of the fuel injectors and they'd be more than happy to fix it... if she paid for it. Under no circumstances would they pay for all or part of the repairs.

My family has purchased 3 new and 1 used infiniti from that dealership and services their cars their frequently. I thought that the treatment we got was bull****.

We ended up taking the car back to the used car lot from which it was purchased. These guys, offered to pay for half of the repairs which totalled $300 (more than likely the repairs only cost $150, but we were told $300... oh well).

So for $150, we walked away with a new fuel injector. Not sure if this was a great deal, but it was worth it to end this headache!

Thanks for your help!

[DAEDALUS]

That's a great deal if they installed a brand new injector. The part alone costs about that much wholesale.

I'm very troubled by the dealership's lack of service and commitment; clearly it's a surprise to our tech members as well, whose opinions carry a lot of weight. When you go into a dealership and say "This is the problem I'm having", for $100/hour plus parts they should d*mn well fix the problem. Guesses are always free here.