G35 Ground Wire - Dash lights lit up / codes...?

[ekyle]

I have a 2003 G35 sedan. I was driving about a month ago, and the various dash light all started lighting up - VDO, door, check engine, etc., the tach gauge was going nuts flipping up and down, started running rough...then smoothed out almost like the alternator was bad.

The dealer said the ground wire may have gotten lose or cooroded, and that seemed to fix it for the past month.

I just got back from vacation, and my car was dead. I heard that the alarm had gone off, and when I hooked up the jumper cables, the horn started blasting / headlights came on. Not odd dash lights - let it run / drove it last night, and all seemed fine

This morning - when I fired it up, the various dash lights were lit again. Parked it. The dealer said I may need a new $1300 computer / gauge cluster thing. I would like to try tightening the ground wire again.

Where do I find the ground wire / where I can check to see if lose? Has anyone heard of this, and is there a logical fix that is not $1300?

Thanks,

Elliott

[tollboothwilley]

Have you tried resetting the ECU? have you checked the STICKIES in the G35 General Chat??

You could try an aftermarket grounding kit.

There are grounds all over the engine...one from the battery to the chassis...

[SteveTheTech]

What codes did you get?

With the symptoms you are mentioning I am assuming at least 1 U1000 code in one of the systems.

This type of problem is usually difficult to diagnose, to start to help we need a detailed description of anything that may have gotten into the wiring. Something like this may be caused by water intrusion or a control unit failure (if one leg of the LAN network is broken the whole system freaks out). If you have a wire running through your bulkhead harness (ie grounding kit or Amp + lead) we need to know, if you are having any other type of electrical issues or have had any body repair a little insight would help.

[Sentientbydesign]

Have you tried resetting the ECU? have you checked the STICKIES in the G35 General Chat??

You could try an aftermarket grounding kit.

There are grounds all over the engine...one from the battery to the chassis...

Grounding kit won't help this issue. Like Steve is (somewhat) elluding to, it sounds more like a short.

Pull all of the codes first. Also, have you recently changed tires, wheels, or need new brakes?