Dmix wrote:Ok so I got the car back today after they had it for exactly a month. They said they had to order parts cause things kept braking when they went on a road test. They replaced everything that broke for free so that's amazing. It drives GREAT now. Huge difference. There is a bit of a belt whine noise but the tech said that will go away after a few days. I'm happy with the car now and so glad I have it back. Only thing that really sucks is I didn't notice it till I got home but they hit the bottom of my passenger door and there is white paint on it and deep scratches. If I go tell them about it tomorrow I would imagine they would just deny it or say "it was fine when you left"

Man that is crazy because I had the same issue happen to my car last week when they did my timing chains. I didn't think to look over the car until reading more on this forum. I dropped it off on Monday and it was ready Tuesday. They lost the Chrome Infiniti logo on the engine cover and I noticed Friday that they hit something with my car leaving deep scratches and white paint on the front passenger quarter panel, headlight, and a little ways down the bumper. Call the dealership to tell them and the service manager made up some lame excuse talking about the techs sometimes forget to make sure that they put everything back in place. What the heck are they working there for if they can't check for anything they forgot to replace. He claimed he would call me back after seeing what he need to do to replace the Infiniti logo. He also claimed that he could not say if there is anything that he could do about the scratches because he doesn't know if it was caused by the techs or somewhere else. That is complete crap because my car had NO scratches on it when I took it there and it went back into the garage and stayed until I had to take it back to them that Thursday for them to repair my rims after they damaged them during the car wash using some foam of acid cleaner on the rims. I'm contacting Infiniti Corporate to file a complaint you should as well.

Not to mention they probably have cameras on every angle of their lot(s).

Ilya wrote:Not to mention they probably have cameras on every angle of their lot(s).

Exactly.

Vapingmadmechanic wrote:Hey everybody, I'm an Infiniti Master Tech and can answer any questions you might have regarding this recall. Let me know.

Hello, First of all, thanks for being on this forum and helping to answer our questions. I am a newbie Infiniti owner myself, having purchased my '12 M56x back last September. I had this recall work performed back when the timing chain issue had just became a recall bulletin, before the letters were even mailed out. I am sorry to read about the many issues folks had and/or are having with their cars after the warranty work was done. I will say that my experience was positive. No leaks, scratches, missing or damaged parts, loss of performance, etc. with my car. Maybe it was a "timing" issue (sorry for the pun LOL"}, being that there wasn't any waiting list or rush to get the cars done since this bulletin was just getting off the ground. I live in an area where there aren't many M56's around. Mine was the first M56x to have this work done. What brought me in that day wasn't even the recall; it was this incident when I was on I-40 going home from work and went to pass someone. You can see where the engine started to malfunction and the car started shaking after about 5 - 10 seconds. I had the pedal pressed to the floor the whole time of this video.[/b]


I had to let off of the pedal and SLOWLY accelerate in order to keep the car running. I decided to head to the dealership. Same thing at the stop lights once I got off of the highway. I tried to accelerate quickly and the car would do the same thing...had to press the pedal slowly to get up to speed. The dealership pulled a P0024 exhaust valve control timing code, which was caused by worn timing chains. At that time, I knew about the TSB but they informed me that it was now a recall, and that they would replace the timing chains. So, they set me up in a Q70L loaner and I was good to go. I wanted to share my experience and comment on your post regarding a few things you mentioned.

Vapingmadmechanic wrote:I'd like to address a few things I see popping up in this thread...
First: If you had the original service bulletin done for the whining noise, you should not need to have the recall work performed. It's the same procedure and the same parts. They changed the way we get the parts though, instead of ordering separate chain guides and chains, they come as a kit for each side of the motor. It looks like a lot of parts, but that's because the engineers who designed the vehicle said that "x" part can't be changed without removing/replacing parts "y and z." So in order to do the repair job, we have to follow their rules or they will kick the claim and the dealer will be charged back the price of the repair.

I asked to see the damaged chain and oil jet(s). As you said, the replacement parts were shipped as a kit in bags and small boxes in one big box. (all 50+ parts) My tech said that they had to put the used parts in the same bags and boxes that the new parts came in, so he had to unpackage the timing chain and oil jet so I could look at them. He said that they ship the old parts back to Infinit in the same packaging so that they will get credit for them.

Vapingmadmechanic wrote:Secondly: Please bear with us (the dealership service departments), there are a ton of these recalls out there to do and it takes one guy pretty much all day to do one of these, sometimes a little longer depending on what other work he has to do. My dealership usually has about 5 or 6 lined up ready to be done at all times and we have 6 technicians. You might think that we could get 5 done a day, but remember that our normal workload has not decreased, so we still have all of out other clients to take care of as well. We want you to have a loaner car to drive in the meantime and reduce the downtime of your car, so if we schedule your appointment for some point in the distant future, know that we are really trying to convienence you. IF your vehicle starts making that terrible whining noise on start-up please call your dealer and let them know. They will most likely bump your appointment up to get you in immediately.

Since mine was the AWD model, it took about 4 days since they had to drop the engine and transmission and driveshaft to perform the work. The tech said that it was much easier to do the job this way. This may explain the lack of damage to other parts since dropping the drivetrain makes everything more accessible and there's less chance of damaging other parts that may be in the way otherwise.

Vapingmadmechanic wrote:Please remove any aftermarket parts it makes our job easier and gets your car back to you quicker. If you want any of the work from the bulletins that some have mentioned here done, expect to be told you will have to pay if your car is out of warranty. Any ECM reprogramming can be done under Emissions warranty (8yrs/80k), but don't walk in there with a printout and demand for this to be done. Even if you found it on the internet, just mention the symptoms that are listed in the bulletin and let the tech do his job. In all honesty, we dread when someone comes in with a stack of service bulletins printed out asking for a bunch of work to be done for free.

I simply asked them to update anything that needed to be updated. They checked and the only update that was needed was the transmission software. My car ran great and continues to run great, no issues.

A few things:

armybrat wrote:I asked to see the damaged chain and oil jet(s). As you said, the replacement parts were shipped as a kit in bags and small boxes in one big box. (all 50+ parts) My tech said that they had to put the used parts in the same bags and boxes that the new parts came in, so he had to unpackage the timing chain and oil jet so I could look at them. He said that they ship the old parts back to Infinit in the same packaging so that they will get credit for them.

Mostly correct- we do have to put the parts back in the old boxes. Infiniti doesn't always call back for the old parts, BUT they can, on ANY warranty job they want. It's a way of spot checking us to make sure we are actually doing the work and they aren't paying for stuff we didn't do. If you didn't have a squealing noise there wouldn't be any damage to the oil jet, probably not the chain either. The failure is the timing chain itself, they stretch, which causes it to rub the Bank 2 oil jet.

armybrat wrote:Since mine was the AWD model, it took about 4 days since they had to drop the engine and transmission and driveshaft to perform the work. The tech said that it was much easier to do the job this way. This may explain the lack of damage to other parts since dropping the drivetrain makes everything more accessible and there's less chance of damaging other parts that may be in the way otherwise.

I don't know what your techs are doing, that sounds like a much more difficult way of doing things. I do M's in about 7 or 8 hours, doesn't make a difference if it's AWD or not. AWD M's pay 13.8 hours to do the timing chains, sounds like he's wasting time, maybe he knows something I don't, but I surely wouldn't take 4 days.

armybrat wrote:I simply asked them to update anything that needed to be updated. They checked and the only update that was needed was the transmission software. My car ran great and continues to run great, no issues.

I'm glad you had a good experience with this. You seem to be one of the few on this forum, good to know there are other dealerships that actually treat their customers right. I don't mind doing updates for someone if I'm having a slow day, or even have an open bay, but my shop is pretty busy and I'm of the mindset that if you don't have a problem with something, there's no need to try to fix it.

I'm going to try my hand at making sure they do the updates available and provide me with documentation and not just 'we checked' as an excuse.

Just took wife's QX56 in for oil change. They reminded me it was under the recall as well. So she has a QX60 until probably Friday.

Vapingmadmechanic wrote:A few things:
If you didn't have a squealing noise there wouldn't be any damage to the oil jet, probably not the chain either. The failure is the timing chain itself, they stretch, which causes it to rub the Bank 2 oil jet.

I didn't notice any squealing noises; if it was squealing, it was very subtle. It was hard tell how much the old chain was stretched, without having a new one to compare it to. The old jet was chewed up from being rubbed, but it was probably still squirting oil, which may explain why I didn't hear any squealing noises.

Vapingmadmechanic wrote:I don't know what your techs are doing, that sounds like a much more difficult way of doing things. I do M's in about 7 or 8 hours, doesn't make a difference if it's AWD or not. AWD M's pay 13.8 hours to do the timing chains, sounds like he's wasting time, maybe he knows something I don't, but I surely wouldn't take 4 days.

I only know what he told me, unless I misunderstood him (about dropping the subframe). I dropped my car off Wednesday late afternoon and picked it up the next Tuesday afternoon, so they had my car for 5 business days (plus the weekend), and he said that he worked on it the whole time...he probably started on it Thursday morning instead of Wednesday, and he was done midday on Tuesday, so 3-1/2 days would be more accurate...not sure of the actual hours though. I've never seen actual labor hours posted on warranty work. As a tech, you would know more about how Infiniti covers warranty labor...do they pay up to just the book hours, or does it matter how long it takes to fix the warranty repair, or any repair for that matter? When I see him next time, I will try and get more specific details about how he went about repairing my car. He was very thorough about making sure everything was clean and wiped down, no oil drops or residue, fingerprints, missing fasteners, etc. maybe he took more time since I was the first M56 to have this work done there, and there wasn't any back up of other vehicles. From what I've seen, there seems to be more QX56's that need this work done than the M's.

Vapingmadmechanic wrote:I'm glad you had a good experience with this. You seem to be one of the few on this forum, good to know there are other dealerships that actually treat their customers right. I don't mind doing updates for someone if I'm having a slow day, or even have an open bay, but my shop is pretty busy and I'm of the mindset that if you don't have a problem with something, there's no need to try to fix it.

Thanks for your feedback - I think that with all of the tech that these cars come with, folks just want the latest updates that are available. so that their cars are running at their best...it's not so much about "it it ain't broke, don't fix it" - even if the car is running good; if it can run better, then yes, I would want the updates. Thanks again for your feedback, and hope that you will continue to share your knowledge!

I can see where he's coming from in a way. But at the same time they only make revisions because the old programming was deemed not optimal or just plain wrong. When you're talking about a nearly 70k car I think you should take thehalf hour it takes to update the car. Sure you could be making money off doing another job but Infiniti should have made the car correct in the first place or reimburse the dealer for the time they spend.

I'm in a crappy Q50 2.0t right now. Brought car in for what I thought was a ball joint or something suspension related. Apparently they adjusted something and the noise went away according to them I haven't driven it yet.

They kept it overnight because my brake light was coming on sometimes under moderate acceleration and traction control light if you stayed on gas when it happened. Timing cover was leaking said they had to order something

2.0 is gutless but it drives the way M should as far as throttle mapping and way it shifts. I think Infiniti is afraid to let you use all the power in a lot of situations because the transmission isn't strong enough.

Did anyone find out the cause of the a\c whine or whistle after the car had been shut off? Mine does the same thing after my timing chain repair. It now also makes a buzzing noise every so often after being shut off.... Boo. It sounds like a trapped bumble in the engine compartment.

Regretting it more and more each day. Had to call infiniti consumer affairs - the dealership immediately started quoting prices for a new radiator and said they never touched it. Infiniti consumer affairs is acting as if they have nothing to do with it. I should have just left the car alone and let the timing chain blow up on it's own. None of the work they did resolved anything and now I'm facing an 1800 dollar repair.

That's ridiculous. The situation and the price. If that isn't your only car I would contact some companies about making you a fully aluminum radiator. 1800 is outrageous.

I got my car back. The popping and banging in the suspension is gone. As soon as I pulled out of the lot brake light still can on. I didn't think it had anything to do with the timing chain. They did. Ended changing vtc cover and some seals again for the leak. It's only been 3kmi since the recall and had this done twice now.

It's my only car but maybe that needs to change. Infiniti isn't the same company it was 20 years ago. Reliability is down and customer service is out the window.

Yeah this has been an ordeal for many people...slow repair times, LOTS of post-work issues with non-timing chain related things like AC's, coolant, etc. I'm keeping a close eye on my car for the next 6kmi before my warranty expires.

Finally got my car back today after 3 weeks. It was only supposed to be 5 days lol. Anyway, everything appears to be in working order or better than before. I haven't had any of the issues mentioned. My car seems to have more power than before. I'm not sure if it's the timing change or the ECM/TCM updates, or if it's a side effect of driving a Q50 for 3 weeks (hahaha) either way I'm pleased. So far

Overall I'm happy because the car definitely drives better and feels more powerful down low. I can get it to chirp the tires now going straight from a stand still never came close to doing that before and shifts much better.

I don't like that they had my car 3 times for a total of 2 weeks getting it right.

I'm glad I didn't have some of the other problems people have had.

Debonair wrote:

Ilya wrote:My car is making a water running/sloshing sound somewhere near the firewall. From reading online (general Google search) it's either the AC system isn't full or the coolant system isn't full. Anyone ever had this on the M? Started after the recall work (they also messed up my AC and power steering initially). This dealer has done work before for me and it's never been this bad...this is getting ridiculous. I'm obviously going to take it back in but curious if anyone knows what it might be.

That's sucks man. I hope they get it sorted quickly.

When I picked up my car today I found out from the service writer that while removing the timing chain cover they damaged the radiator. So in addition to the recall work I got a brand new OEM radiator with warranty.

Sounds like the same issue I'm having. Car has been in the shop for 3 weeks now while we get who's responsible figured out. Debonair, do you have any pictures of where the damage occured? Also, did they see the damage first or did they put it all together and see that it was leaking? I think that's what happened in my case.

Ok I've had the car back for 3 days now. They fixed the paint but it's been raining so I haven't had a chance to see how good of a job they did. No leaks drives great and strong. They blew my ac but replaced it free. Only thing now is I have a strong vibration when I'm stopped and in drive.

Went in today to get an oil change and asked where I was on the list and they said 2nd in line so they took the car and gave me a loaner. They gave me a 2016 Q70L. A couple of observations.

Damn I like that big back seat
Very few differences between my 2011 and this 2016. The only thing I noticed was heated rear seats and the ability to see the cameras, which is nice.
I'm happy I have the 5.6 over the 3.7
The 20's look really nice compared to my 18's but ride quality suffers.

dmclone wrote:Went in today to get an oil change and asked where I was on the list and they said 2nd in line so they took the car and gave me a loaner. They gave me a 2016 Q70L. A couple of observations.

Damn I like that big back seat
Very few differences between my 2011 and this 2016. The only thing I noticed was heated rear seats and the ability to see the cameras, which is nice.
I'm happy I have the 5.6 over the 3.7
The 20's look really nice compared to my 18's but ride quality suffers.

Yeah I got a '15 Q70 3.7 as my loaner when I had my chains done. Definitely a difference in performance vs the 5.6. You're right about the 20's too...my 18's seem to ride better. Love the 360 cameras too. A few more additions I noticed: rear door closures and trunk closure, SOS button by the sunroof control, back up/parking warning button between the VDC and lane assist button, Forest Air button replaced by vent button. I'm sure there are other differences too.

Did any of you guys get surveys from Infiniti after your service?? If so I would definitely complain on the survey if damage was done to my car if in for repair.

From understanding Infiniti does take these surveys seriously.

I did not.

armybrat wrote:

dmclone wrote:Went in today to get an oil change and asked where I was on the list and they said 2nd in line so they took the car and gave me a loaner. They gave me a 2016 Q70L. A couple of observations.

Damn I like that big back seat
Very few differences between my 2011 and this 2016. The only thing I noticed was heated rear seats and the ability to see the cameras, which is nice.
I'm happy I have the 5.6 over the 3.7
The 20's look really nice compared to my 18's but ride quality suffers.

Yeah I got a '15 Q70 3.7 as my loaner when I had my chains done. Definitely a difference in performance vs the 5.6. You're right about the 20's too...my 18's seem to ride better. Love the 360 cameras too. A few more additions I noticed: rear door closures and trunk closure, SOS button by the sunroof control, back up/parking warning button between the VDC and lane assist button, Forest Air button replaced by vent button. I'm sure there are other differences too.

I'm not seeing the rear door closures?? You mean a button that closes the rear doors?

dmclone wrote:I'm not seeing the rear door closures?? You mean a button that closes the rear doors?

No when you swing the rear door to close it, you just close it enough to latch, then I guess there's an electric motor that pulls it shut. Same thing with the trunk lid, you just drop the lid down and it will pull shut.

armybrat wrote:

dmclone wrote:I'm not seeing the rear door closures?? You mean a button that closes the rear doors?

No when you swing the rear door to close it, you just close it enough to latch, then I guess there's an electric motor that pulls it shut. Same thing with the trunk lid, you just drop the lid down and it will pull shut.

That trunk one is funny. My parents had a Cadillac with this in the mid 80's and my dad slammed my fingers in the trunk. Ouch

M37xfan wrote:Did any of you guys get surveys from Infiniti after your service?? If so I would definitely complain on the survey if damage was done to my car if in for repair.

From understanding Infiniti does take these surveys seriously.

If you complained to corporate I think it's automatic that you'll get a survey. I actually have gotten 2 surveys for 2 separate incidents.

I have a m56x and I just got my car back from the recall. Everything seems to be working fine but when I asked if they changed the differential fluid they said that it wasn't necessary when performing this repair. Is that correct?

dmclone wrote:I have a m56x and I just got my car back from the recall. Everything seems to be working fine but when I asked if they changed the differential fluid they said that it wasn't necessary when performing this repair. Is that correct?

They are / that is correct for RWD. I am not sure about the front differential on the M##x. I doubt it needs to be changed but cannot say for sure.

reggiebrown40 wrote:

M37xfan wrote:Did any of you guys get surveys from Infiniti after your service?? If so I would definitely complain on the survey if damage was done to my car if in for repair.

From understanding Infiniti does take these surveys seriously.

If you complained to corporate I think it's automatic that you'll get a survey. I actually have gotten 2 surveys for 2 separate incidents.

So the dealership refuses to repair my car and are now hanging up on me and ignoring me when I call and email. When I contacted corporate they said "sorry but this is an issue you need to resolve with the dealership". So now I either have to go through insurance or take the dealership to court. Haven't decided what route to take yet.

Dmix wrote:

reggiebrown40 wrote:
If you complained to corporate I think it's automatic that you'll get a survey. I actually have gotten 2 surveys for 2 separate incidents.

So the dealership refuses to repair my car and are now hanging up on me and ignoring me when I call and email. When I contacted corporate they said "sorry but this is an issue you need to resolve with the dealership". So now I either have to go through insurance or take the dealership to court. Haven't decided what route to take yet.

Wow. That's actually shocking. I'd get the local media involved, BBB, small claims court, etc. Just as a matter of principle.