G37 Failure at 3500 Miles

[MortGuffman]

The woman and I got up early the day after Xmas - we had a coupon to save $5 on bras. With hardly any coffee in us we started up my 2008 G37 (3500 miles/7 months old) and headed off to the store. The first thing I noticed was that the A/C wouldn't come on. Then I noticed that there were several warning lights on, BRAKE, ABS, SLIP and maybe others. I pulled over and decided to reboot. Pushed the button but the car wouldn't turn off! The dash lights would go out for a second and come back on. Then I noticed that the tach and speedo weren't working. Same for the turn signals.

So we abandoned the bra mission and went back to the house. The Woman suggested holding the starter button down. Sure enuff, just like a hung PC, it forced the car to turn off. Restarted, same symptoms.

The car seemed drivable so we took it to the dealer. I took a case of synthetic oil with me, figuring I’d get that done while I was there. The first oil change was done at 1200 miles, and yes I know it didn’t really need it but whatever.

The service guy wrote down my complaint. I asked him to do an oil change too. He said I have to use ester oil or synthetic or I will void the warranty. He said it’s in the manual. Well I don’t recall seeing that in the manual, plus I had synthetic in the trunk. For the original oil change I was told that the dealer does not stock synthetic, and if I wanted it I had to bring my own (so I did). Now they are changing the rules.

They did lend me a pretty nice ’07 G35 to use while they fix my car.

Later that day the service guy called and told me they don’t really know what’s wrong. They are going to start by replacing the gauge cluster. Because of Xmas it can’t be ordered till Dec 29, so the best possible scenario is the car will be fixed by the 30th, more likely the next day. He said they have never seen a failure like this.

[smockers83]

Hmm, that's interesting. Seems like something electrical, I'm not sure if just replacing the dash will do anything.

And not using synthetic or ester oil will not void your warranty. They're pulling your chain. Tell him to pull out the warranty itself and take a look at it.

[tollboothwilley]

You should take a look at this thread..http://forums.g35club.org/zerothread/369083

But, thats is unrelated to your problems, just relevant to the Esther Oil.

Thats really weird. I've never heard of that happening to anyone.

[Jacko3]

Man, sorry for the hell you have been put through. The problem with your G37 is really weird. But again, 3500 miles in 7 months is really too low of useage--that could have contributed to the problem. You have to really drive the car when you get it. Take it out and flog it like you love it. Anywho, i hope they get it fixed. Goodluck!

[BrandAidDesignG35]

Well... I'm sorry to hear you're having problems like this during Christmas season, what a pain

Perhaps the guys who are giving you a hard time about the oil / warranty, should see what misinformed staff can do to hurt their professional business image... I say you find out the truth, and get right in their face about it... I would say... I'm very well aware of my warranty coverage, and you have no right to refuse service.. or some thing tell them to take their poor service and ...

Also, you mention they are going to "start" with the cluster What's next? The ECU? TPS? MAF? I dunno, I'd go get a second opinion if these guys are as hit and miss as you've stated.

[audtatious]

I'm about to switch to synthetic but the Infiniti dealership I have been using has been using regular oil with no complaints.....

Weird problem for sure. Sounds more ECU related than a simple cluster

[SteveTheTech]

Hey there sorry to hear about your luck, I hope this doesn't sour you on what is usually a great car.

I have only seen a few stupid electrical issues with the new Gs. Nothing like this. What this sounds to me like a CAN related fault. The problem with diagnosing them is the speed of the communication in the dedicated lines is so fast and any fluctuations in circuit connectivity or receiving/transmission signals are either misinterpreted. These complaints are the most difficult to diagnose especially if they cannot be duplicated, CAN codes are very finicky and difficult to track down. They are usually grouped with other communication related codes, but that is neither here nor there.

Replacing the combination meter, is a justifiable step in finding the root cause of an intermittent communication issue. The combination meter receives and transmits many crucial signals vital to engine operation and many interior electrical functions.

Using caster is great, if that is what you choose to do, but if you use a high quality synthetic you should be fine. As for the warranty revocation that is not going to happen. They did not print that in the original owners manuals and the cost of that oil is far to excessive to justify warranty revocation to customers who already own these cars. As for requirement on future models, who knows??? at this point they are not really saying much about it.

Driving cars with and without caster back to back I will say I noticed a slight (like real slight, only Jacko and I would feel it) acceleration ease and smoothness. As far as the ones I have seen no negative results from using other types of oil.

[Tampa G35 Sedan 6MT]

Hope it gets better for you...

I had the slip, abs, vdc and brake light on too... It was the ABS pump that had to be replaced...

DJ

[CrackaLackin]

did you ever get the bras?!

my god man, i need an update

[MortGuffman]

The dealership called me today. They said the car is "fixed". The Infiniti Tech Line suggested that they do some sort of system reboot and leave the battery disconnected for an hour. After that they don't see any problems. I will be shocked if this problem doesn't recur. Many thanks to everyone who responded. We did finally score the bras today by the way.