Grounding wires question

[joe603]

-Moved from member's rides thread-Original poster: MA04g35x

I am new to the forum and the "G" experience I just bought a 04 G35x with 38,000mi and I have to say that I am really impressed. I would have bought the RWD sedan but my fiancé is not comfortable with RWD after I totaled our 95 J30 in April (I have pics if anyone is interested). I suppose this just gives me a reason to by a coupe next year!

Anyway, I purchased a warranty from Nissan/Infiniti 4/yr 100,000 for the G. I didn't read if anyone here has been hassled by service managers for air intake and exhaust mods when making a warranty claim. Specifically I am looking to do the JWT charger/Z tube; plenum spacer (or M-Rev) and Stillen exhaust (Stillen Sedan Exhaust 03-06 AWD/RWD [504370]) mods in the next 3 months. I am also looking at the grounding gear system as well. Groundinggear says that in some cases their wires are a dealer install option but I imagine that varies from dealer to dealer. I hope the groundinggear system will help with the high rev and lag time in acceleration on the stock 5AT. Has anyone had a dealer threaten or actually void the warranty for any of the above mods? I would really appreciate any insight/advice that anyone can offer. This forum is great and I've already come across tons of good information. I’ll post pics of the car soon.

Thanks,-Kevin

[MA04g35x]

Thanks for moving Joe.

-Kevin

[k@osx71]

Welcome to NICO! I also have a '04 G 5AT, but it's rearwheel. I too have wondered about the warranty. I'm taking mine in to a nearby Nissan dealer to get some things checked (I have an annoying clunk noise coming from the rear, most likely a wire) and a service tune-up while i'm at it. I was going to ask them about that, so if noones got an exact answer by wed. evening, i'll let you know what I get from the dealer. and apparently everyone here loves pics, I have to post mine up soon too, but I'm waiting for the Cali. fires to die down and the winds to calm down so I can wash and wax for picture day!

[MA04g35x]

Cool, thanks for the feedback. I'd be interested to hear what they have to say.

I guess I am wondering if anyone has had to "grease" the service people in order to have them look the other way at some bolt on mods. From what I read in this forum there are quite a few drivers that have dropped some major dough on new G's with the intention of modifying after taking delivery. I'm wondering what I should be prepared for if I have to make a warranty claim after I make the car my own.

-Kevin

[smockers83]

With the POP Charger-Z tube combo, no it won't void your warranty. I remember a discussion of this earlier and if you get into the technicals, they can't on this mod was the conclusion. I've never been hassled about it. As long as you don't damage the MAF, you're good.

[joe603]

A simple rule of thumb to remember about mods and warranty: The warranty is only void if the dealership can prove that the failure was caused by the mods on the car. So, if your drivers seat motor fails, it won't matter what you do to the engine, even FI, the dealership will fix the seat. Now on the other hand, if you throw a rod and have FI, your SOL.

Hope this helps!

[MA04g35x]

Yes, it does help thank you. That was kind of what I figured but I thought I'd ask the experts.

Thanks

[k@osx71]

I came back from the dealer, and pretty much its what they said above. But then they also said, for example if you drop your car, then they most likely wouldn't service your shocks, etc. through warranty. And since they read out the history of the car through the computer, they'll pretty much blame it on the after market parts. But they can't void a warranty for parts.

[turnitdown]

Skip the mods and save the money for a downpayment on the new G35. I drove a loaner when my 04 G35X was in for service and that car is awesome. I put in the Groundin Gear last and I would say do that first, because it can be removed easily and the performance and drivability is a great improvement for the money.

[G_whizz]

Still curious to know if anyone here has the grounding wire kit for a MT. I know aoutos have a more noticeable difference... but what about MT?

[xerexabante]

i keep greasing my service rep. i get full attention. tickets here and there. i bought 06 m45 sport rims and tires from a costumer that changed his rims and tires through the dealer. they swapped me new TPSM on my car for free. the other guy got my old TPSM. ha ha ha

[MA04g35x]

That sounds about right. Thanks for the feedback

[MA04g35x]

Yeah, I'm going to get to know the service manager at the dealership and see what I can get away with. Thanks for the tip

[USAF_G35_Guy]

Still curious to know if anyone here has the grounding wire kit for a MT. I know aoutos have a more noticeable difference... but what about MT?

I have it on my G and it's a MT. I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes alone because I did it the same time as intake, throttlebody, and plenum.

I'd like to see the dyno numbers on a stock G then the same G with the grounding wires kit. That's the best way.

But better spark is better spark is how I look at it. I know it helps more with the auto's but I can't see it not helping at all with the MT's. It's so quick and easy to do...so I did it =) I haven't lost to another NA G yet....now turbo, that's another story

[chad1200]

from my personal guinea pig experience, the service managers aren't the experts in warranty questions. they're manager is quite likey to shoot you down if they even slightly think that you're personally installed after market mod is to blame for the problem.

don't trust the people that are mainly in charge of oil changes. go a little higher up and expect to be lied to. they will never lose money! that's the car dealership motto!

unless you have them install it = $$$$$$$$; even then they'll still probably fight it.

[MA04g35x]

Very true, thanks everyone for all of the advice. I am still going to do the mods. If I get into a situation where I need to go to the dealer I'll have to figure something out.

Thanks!

[Q45tech]

In one way dealers love mods because most don't affect things during warranty anyway, but mods tend to increase wear which means customer paid get higher after warranty.

Dealers usually submit warranty claims on more than they should since they get paid fewer hours by Nissan than the customer paid...........effectively Nissan gets a discount based on volume.

Every once and awhile they must ACT TOUGH so you will call Nissan and complain................makes them look like they are trying to save Nissan money and not being too losse with Warrranty.

The Service Manager is RATED by warranty dollars spent per month per vehicle sold.

Never go at the end of the month as so much allocated warranty money may have already been spent.

[G_whizz]

Now that end of the month thing is good to know!!

[MA04g35x]

Wow, that is great info, thanks a million!

[chad1200]

my dealership actually sells the Stillen grounding gear kit along with most of the mods that i've gotten. i'm guessing they wouldn't void your warranty unless you installed it yourself and they decided that you messed it up.

[MA04g35x]

Thanks, I would have them install but I want the $$$ for more mods. How do you like the Stillen wires?

[chad1200]

i didn't get the Stillen wires, i got the groundinggear.com performance 10 wire set. the install was easy, it looks cool, no real noticable hp gain, my automatic shifts much nicer, all for $150 delivered. eh, i'd say it was worth it. if not for another reason to get under the hood.

[k@osx71]

chad, did you join the R&D for that price? and would you say a super noob can install it him/herself?

[MA04g35x]

$150 S&H included is the R&D price. If you email Gordon he will send you all of the information.

[chad1200]

i think that everyone that buys the kit automatically becomes part of the R&D team.

yes, and this is coming from the UBERNOOB! i'll tell you what happened to me when i first tried to install it. i couldn't tell which wires went where! they're numbered in the instructions - wire 1 connects here, etc, but the cables weren't. i scrapped the project and emailed the guy back and forth a few times complaining the cables weren't labeled anywhere. he couldn't understand my problem. so i went back to the garage and turned the terminated ends upside down and sure as hell they were all stamped with a number!

i felt like a total tard! after that, it was a piece of cake. the transmission one was hard cause you have to get under the car and get an obscure bolt in and out but i've got girly hands so it wasn't that bad. the 2 cables that go behind the glove box were easy, too. no drilling, even though the instructions say you do. i've got great pictures that make it much easier. no worries!

[MA04g35x]

Dude, that is hysterical . I can totally see that happening to me. Did you get the kit w/shorter transmission wire?

[chad1200]

yeah. the performance kit comes with an extra couple of wires, i believe. the transmission wire, ECU, and TCU.

feel free to email me if you decide to get it. pictures are worth a thousand words.

[k@osx71]

haha, I can also see myself in the same situation. Something similiar happened to me before, but I'll leave that for next time. Anyways, thanks for the info. I guess I'll go order them and try it myself.