NAV FIXED but I still need help with several rattles! Ready to get rid of my M35

[LeeG150]

Morning to all,

After 3 trips to the shop I believe my NAV. system is FINALLY working correctly, however, after 6 trips to 2 different dealers I STILL have major issues with rattles in the dash, door and behind the rear seats.

Crown Infiniti in Birmingham AL this time around did not even try to fix the issue. As a commercial pilot I do understand that no type of machine is perfect, however, excessive rattles and spending my off days running back and forth to the shop is unacceptable for a 50K car.

These are the notes regarding my LAST visit to Crown Infiniti on May 27, 2009.

1) The Navigation is HIGHLY inaccurate!

Navigation system gets lost, provides false location, shows “Out Of Range” continuously even with a “clear line of sight” to the ski, sometimes unit requires 20 to 30 miles to “find” location. Gives a direction for a turn several miles past the desire turn.

This system fails at basic navigation and cannot be depended on.I must depend on my I-phone or hand held GPS for dependable navigation!

2) Previous rattle in the instrument driver area has returned. Rattle was repaired on the last visit successfully, however, rattle came back several weeks later during the 20F cold snap in March.Rattle occurs sometimes every day then non at all for several days.Occurs sometimes in the morning when the engine is in ‘High” idle before putting the car in gear. Occurs often when driving down I-20 of course payment heading to ATL after driving several miles of driving.

3). 1 or 2 rattles in the rear area of car in the subwoofer area. This rattle first appeared within the first 1000 miles when new and was repaired successfully by Nalley in Atlanta. Rattle is slowly occurring more and is getting louder. A different sounding rattle is sometimes heard also in the rear interior area. Not sure if it is the same rattle producing a different sound.

Rattle occurs with and without the stereo on.Rattle occurs often when driving on course or concert payment.

4) Rattle, squeak in Front Passenger door. This is also a previous rattle that was successfully repaired during the last visit. Noise came back also after the March cold snap. Slowly getting worse over time. Rattle “wakes up” after 30 miles or so during my commute to ATL. Noise does NOT stop once it starts up. Hearing this noise on a 3 hour commute to ATL will have you looking for the nearest bar!

[1scott]

Hi fellow Pilot here (Airbus A320/340) miss the flying not the airlines, fourloughed since dec 08, now TRI for Airbus. I have a 2006 M45 for only a month now and noticed the Nav system is slow to update. I found that if I am watching DVDs on the Nav screen, the car thinks it is parked-so if you have a DVD player I found I have to take out the DVDs to have good updates. I know this Nav sytem seams slow but had a Acura TL, it was no better always losing its position then you had to stop and put car in park to reset destination. As far as the rattles, I have none I can hear then again three years of flying Metros killed my hearing for good. I would check all the plastic covers in the engine bay as they use very cheap clips to hold them in place, I could not believe how crappy they were and almost wanted to do away with the covers but the washer bottle cap is attached to one, I had to go through and refit all the panels in the engine bay this could present itself as a dash rattle. Hope I helped.

[LeeG150]

Hey,

I feel your pain regarding the airline 121 flying! I left the airline flying and went corporate flying a Gulfstream with no regrets. Well, maybe a little... LOLI gave up "heavy" mental for speed~ Mach .88 on a good day.

My NAV in my M35 is FINALLY fixed by moving the antenna in the dash to receive a stronger signal. This is a know issue with the Infiniti products that requires a persistent firm demand to get the damn thing repaired. I call BS on the reasons they gave me on the first 2 repairs visits.

Like yourself my hearing is half shot above the 15,000k range which means my 3 rattles are a lot worse than I can really hear.

[InfinitiMe]

Sorry to hear about all that. I'm having some rattling issues too. ONe is behind the door handle driver's side door...and not just the trim piece..behind the actual door panel there. Another is coming from the rear view mirror stem I think.

I've been a little disappointed with the M's interior in this regard. I cannot stand rattling. It literally makes me lose my temper until I put the window down or play some loud music.

There is no reason for a luxury sedan to experience this. Maybe at old age, but I had these when the car still had less than 30k miles on it and it sounds like you're having it with much fewer miles than that

[Infinitim45]

Hey, I had the rattle in the Dash on my 03 M45. Drove me crazy, took the dash apart and placed door weather stripping around the from of all the connection points that were plastic to what ever they want to call it. It helped alot but the best thing i did was take thick weather stripping and tuck it against the windshield and dash. It stopped it completly. I took the weather stripping back out after i found the fix and wrapped it in electrical tape to hid it as i have the black interior and noone can see it. As for the Rear deck issue i took the trunk apart and applied dynamat to all the metal parts. Took about an hour and 40 dollars and no more noise, also a big help with the stereo itself....

[rsg123]

Sorry to hear about all that. I'm having some rattling issues too. ONe is behind the door handle driver's side door...and not just the trim piece..behind the actual door panel there. Another is coming from the rear view mirror stem I think.

I am having rattling problems from the two same areas you mentioned. I have thought about taking the door handle assembly apart according to the service manual available on this site, but they don't annoy me that much and my music always drowns the rattles out. If they get worse, I will take apart the areas and place Dynamat or some other material.

[BlackKnight]

I have an 07M35 with a raddle that happens when I hit a small bump. Its like something is loose, and it comes from the rear. Like under the rear seats. I can hear it more on the left side. It sounds like loose metal.

I looked under the car but everything seems to be in place. I have not taken it in yet, but I want to know if its something that I can just fix.

Thanks

[vika123]

I had the same rattle coming from the driver side ( left side)..I took it to the dealer and they fixed it. Dealer told me that they replaced the sway bar!.I willl scan my bill/work order and post it online.Havent heard the rattle since then.

V

[SteveTheTech]

I gave up "heavy" mental for speed~ Mach .88 on a good day.

My NAV in my M35 is FINALLY fixed by moving the antenna in the dash to receive a stronger signal. This is a know issue with the Infiniti products that requires a persistent firm demand to get the damn thing repaired. I call BS on the reasons they gave me on the first 2 repairs visits.

That sounds like some serious fun. Did you guys fly in the service before going into civilian world? I have always been fascinated by planes and jet propulsion in general but I cannot imagine what it must be like to have to answer to the failing airlines, it's a shame.

Are you driving far off the beaten path, maybe through wood lined roads?

There are a few glitches in the systems of some of the earlier nav modules, however I have not seen any issues since the 2003 navteq software versions. To the best of my knowledge there are no bulletins regarding nav antenna relocation. The location of the antenna (under the center channel speaker) is in such a location that it almost always has an unobstructed view of the sky.

As for your rattles, there is not much I can say for that other than to suggest riding with the technician that will be repairing your car to try to point the noises on to them. One of the biggest challenges for us (as technicians) is pin pointing noises based on a very basic one line description from the repair order. If you can actually show the tech where the noise is coming from they have a much better chance of fixing it.