Multitude of Problems!

[Leadfootgirl]

Happy New Year everyone!

Sorry to post this on new year's eve but my Infiniti is experiencing a multitude of problems that I hope someone may be able to help find an answer for or at least some suggestions on what could be the problem.

1. The car has been occasionally stalling immediately after I start it. It dies and sounds like it didn't get enough air or gas? The OEM battery died 1.5 months ago and I had AAA install a new one. Could this be the problem? If it is, what is the sequence to reset or have the car relearn this new battery? I see some older discussions on here about this but they're for older models so I'm not sure if it's the same.

2. VDC and Stability Control lights have been coming on occasionally over the past 2 weeks but tonight, they stayed on and when I turned the car off and restarted it, it did it again (Infiniti manual said it should go off once I restart the car and it did the past few times but not tonight). I do need to change the rear brakes so maybe that's the problem since the Brake light also came on for a few seconds longer.

3. When I first drive the car at low speeds (under 30mph or so), and even after I turn it off after driving, there's this squeaky sound - like someone's jumping on a mattress. Any idea what that may be? I read somewhere that said it could be the ball bearings?

I can use my extended warranty plan to check these out but if they're regular maintenance issues, I don't think they're covered so I'd like to be able to take care of them myself without having to pay the deductible just for diagnosing it, plus, they'd probably keep my car for days and I won't have a ride.

Thanks! Hope everyone on this forum has a safe and happy 2015!

-Leadfootgirl

[NJGuy]

1. The stalling issue could be due to a couple of things. See the following thread: stall-on-cold-start-poor-acceleration-g ... 94597.html
There are also links to other posts within the forum about similar issues in regards to stalling. I this case, I would probably lean towards exercising the warranty if I were in your shoes. The ECU and throttle positioning reset procedure may or may not work; but it wouldn't hurt to try it first as it's free to do it.

2. If you already know that you need new brakes, then I also think that it is the cause of all those lights coming on. There have been quite a few posts about this in the past. If you have a few minutes, take a look at the fluid level in your brake fluid reservoir. If the level is low, this usually causes those lights to come on, and it's usually another sign that you need new brakes.

3. The squeaking sound could be any number of things. I think we may need more details about it before we can help narrow it down. Is it coming from inside or outside of the cabin? From the engine bay? Underbody? How long after you shut off the car does it persist for? At least to me, intermittent squeaks, while annoying, don't concern me that much; but if it gets persistently louder and happens on a regular basis, I would probably start to look for the source. I think you have some time before you need to worry about it, so try observing it a bit more and come back to us with any additional findings.

[Leadfootgirl]

Thanks NJGuy. I added some brake fluids and I haven't seen the lights come on again, hopefully, it'll stay that way. I'll have the brakes replaced soon since this weekend most of the auto shops are closed for the new year's holiday.

I'll keep monitoring that squeaking noise and report back to you guys in the future. It's not always present but right now I can't really say where it's coming from although it sounds more like the back.

Thanks again. Happy 2015!

[XIS]

the squeaking noise may be the brake wear indicator thingy. It is a piece of metal on the brake pad that makes contact with the brake rotor to let you know the brakes need changing pronto.

[NJGuy]

I think the timing of these posts is kinda funny. I drove the EX the other day, and lo and behold, I started to hear some type of squeaking sound as well . The squeaks I heard, not too far off from sounding like jumping on a mattress, seemed to come from somewhere in the interior in the front driver side area. I'm guessing that it could be a seal from either the driver door window or the windshield. Maybe the colder weather is to blame? I don't drive the EX as much as the wife, so it might be a while before I ever get to the bottom of it.

[dognil]

I think the timing of these posts is kinda funny. I drove the EX the other day, and lo and behold, I started to hear some type of squeaking sound as well . The squeaks I heard, not too far off from sounding like jumping on a mattress, seemed to come from somewhere in the interior in the front driver side area. I'm guessing that it could be a seal from either the driver door window or the windshield. Maybe the colder weather is to blame? I don't drive the EX as much as the wife, so it might be a while before I ever get to the bottom of it.

I hear this sound too. And I think it is the outside plastic cover in the bottom of windshield. Sand and dirt get there and make this sound, especially when it is cold. I had the same problem on my Nissan Rogue 2008. Looks like Infinity suffers from it too.
To check try to wash this cover by water. It usually disappears after cleaning , just until the is enough dirt to squeak again.

[Leadfootgirl]

Yup, like I'm jumping on an old mattress. I wonder if it's because we have the same year and model car NJGuy but dognil might be onto something because the sound was pretty frequent right before the last big rain we had. Then after the rain, it went away for a whole week before it came back again. I'm hoping it's the brake indicator that XIS mentioned, that way it'll be a quick fix.

[NJGuy]

I think dognil is on the right track with the source of the noise. I'll see if the noise goes away if I or my wife ever get a good chance to wash the car. The roads here are white from all the salt that's been applied to them, so it might be a while before we bring it to the car wash.

Leadfootgirl, I don't think the squeaking in your car is from the brake wear indicators. The indicators do make noise at low speeds, but only when the car is in motion. Also, when they make noise the squeak sounds more like a high pitched metallic scraping sound.

[NJGuy]

FYI, my wife did decide to bring the car to a car wash. I drove our EX this past weekend and did not hear any squeaking.

[Leadfootgirl]

Great, simple fix! Thanks!

Now I gotta wash the car

[Leadfootgirl]

Hi All,

I thought I'd give an update on the trials and tribulations of my EX for the past 3 months...

I replaced all four brake pads and discs with Akebono pads and Centric Premium discs I bought from Amazon. Dumb-a** me didn't realize that the discs came in one piece per box until I was already at the service shop and all four brakes were removed. Lo and behold, the mechanic asks me, "do you only want me to replace one front and one rear disc each?" Even I know it's not good to mix old and new parts like that so the guy offers to call a supplier that has those parts. Took them over 2 hours to get them to the shop and cost 2.5x more than what I paid on Amazon for them but oh well, gotta finish the job. At least the guy included a brake fluid flush since I provided the brake fluids. Problem was when I went to pick up the brake fluids before my service appointment, my car died 4 times! Each time I start it, it would die immediately. No chance to even try to give it a little gas. The 4th time, it actually choked a few times before dying. Been driving around with the new brakes for about 300 miles now. Breaking is smoother than the factory brakes but feels like it takes a bit longer to brake the same distance. Not sure if it's better or worse than the OEM brakes yet but I'll give it a few thousand miles more before fully judging these.

About 1.5 weeks after the new brakes, I took the car into the dealership to try to fix the dead starting issue. Since I was using my extended warranty, I threw in the squeaking problem, as well as poor mileage problem (only getting 11-13 mpg on freeway and local roads, about 50/50 each). Service consultant told me that the dead start was because "throttle bodies internally sticking" and recommended throttle body replacement. However, I don't think that was done because invoice doesn't show any costs. For the low fuel mileage, diagnosis was "rear timing cover gaskets separated". Again, not sure if anything was done because there was no action/cost to that item. Only thing they did do clearly per the invoice was replace the rear suspension, which apparently cost the insurance $1700+ with parts/labor. This all took 2 weeks so they gave me a loaner car during that time for free. I was also suppose to pay $100 deductible but the service consultant waived it. Guess they made enough money off the insurance company? Since I didn't owe any money, the guy never gave me a copy of the itemized invoice until I went back for it this weekend (took a week off vacation so no time to chase that down). He had said the whole repairs cost over $3000 but the invoice said only $1727. Now, he claims to have had all the fluids flushed and the oil changed for free but I don't believe it because I checked my oil earlier today after seeing the disparity in the total cost and it looks exactly like before. A new oil change should show pretty clear fluids, but that's not the case here so whatever he's told me is hogwash. What a total disappointment to have caught him lying to me about those things. He was my favorite service consultant in the whole dealership, now I can't trust him at all.

You might ask why the heck I would take my car to a stealership for repairs. Well, they're the only ones that would give me a free loaner for 2 weeks, can't do that at independent shops. Extended warranty would probably only cover 1 or 2 days max of a loaner car, so I guess I sold my soul for a loaner Only got the car back for a week so don't know whether these problems will crop up again. Crossing my fingers they don't.

[AWGD8]

I can only recomend one thing. Grab your favorite gym shoe and .....

then RUNNN! Just kidding!


Since you have extended warranty and only paid $100 for everything, then your cool!

The moment extended warranty is gone. Pls. read the first part of my post..

[Leadfootgirl]

Yep, 3 more years before I have to lace up my running shoes

[EXceptional]

So you took your car in to get the goes-dead, hard to start issue fixed... and they replaced your suspension???

WTF !

For the money that the warranty insurance company paid, was the goes-dead, hard to start issue ever fixed?

I ask, cause you said you don't think it was done.

[Leadfootgirl]

Crazy, right?! According to the service adviser, "everything" is fixed - easy to say, no evidence that it was done. The problem is, this adviser has left this dealership as of 4/1 so even if I go back to the dealership to ask, they won't know anything besides what it says on the invoice. According to the adviser at the beginning, the insurance company would not allow them to replace the throttle body that they say was causing the start issue without taking apart the entire engine first so supposedly they did that and fixed the problem. But again, I have no evidence of it.

I was thinking of calling the insurance company and asking them what it was that they paid for and if they refused to cover the throttle body replacement and my car dies again at starting, I have cause to sue them or make them pay for the repairs and whatever damages results from that. I'm going to read up on the policy a little more and see how I decide to proceed with this.

[AWGD8]

Tearing up the entire engine to replace a throttle body(ies) is a redflag.

[dreamingat30fps]

But WAS it fixed? I mean if it died 4 times going to the shop I would imagine it would of died by now if it had not been fixed.

[Leadfootgirl]

I checked with the Insurance Company - nope, dealership did nothing to fix the start-dead problem or the mileage issue. Just the suspension. At least that confirms that service adviser lied to me

[AWGD8]

I checked with the Insurance Company - nope, dealership did nothing to fix the start-dead problem or the mileage issue. Just the suspension. At least that confirms that service adviser lied to me

Did you service it through Infinti Service Dept? Do you have all the service bill that shows what parts they replaced? You have a good case and report it to their mothership.
They are milking the Manufacturer...

[Leadfootgirl]

Yes, I have the itemized invoice that shows they did work on the suspension and nothing else. That's why I called my Extended Warranty company to confirm that. It's not an Infiniti manufacturer extended warranty but an outside one I bought through Costco so I can't say they're milking Infiniti itself. I just don't want my car to die when I start it in the future because they never fixed whatever was causing it to die in the first place. I'm not sure what I should do at this point, wait for it to die again before bringing it back?

[NJGuy]

1. If possible, I'd look for a different dealership. Any trust you built up for them has disappeared a long time ago, and it's probably better for you to try a different one. Besides the fact that many of them offer loaner vehicles, it's good to have dealership support when certain issues arise (like those that require the factory diagnostic and repair tools, and for safety recalls).

2. If your extended warranty policy allows this, I'd also look for an excellent independent mechanic or Nissan/Infiniti/Asian car specialist to bring my car to. A 2008 model is not new by any means, and I think that enough repair information and experience should have trickled down to the non-dealership repair outfits. And if the mechanic is good, he'll have the issue fixed within a day or two, which is within the period you'd be eligible for a free rental from the warranty company. If they won't cover the rental car, I would just eat the cost of the rental for peace of mind that my car was fixed the right way.

3. Costco usually provides pretty good services, but it seems like the extended warranty they sold you isn't living up to Costco's satisfaction guarantee. Not sure if you can get any of your money refunded, but maybe you can at least take up some course of action through them?

I typically don't like to get extended warranties on my cars, but if I were to do so I'd buy one from the manufacturer. They seem to be a bit better for the consumer overall in comparison to a third party warranty. The only third party extended warranty I've heard really good things about is from CarMax, but obviously you have to purchase your vehicle there to get one.

[Leadfootgirl]

Thanks NJGuy. I had a long history with this dealership but like you said, that trust has disappeared so I'll see if there's another one in the city that has good service. The warranty does allow me to go to any independent shop so I'll shop around for one too, I'm sure the car will need some work in the future. I've had the warranty for over 3 years now and had 2 warranty fixes that already exceeded what I paid for the policy itself. I can get a pro-rated refund but since I've already at least broke even, I'll keep the policy until it expires in another 3 years. Still helps to have a little peace-of-mind when and if the car has some major issues again.