4 tests done. Averaging 1.7-1.9L per 1,000km. Waiting to hear back...

 

If the dealer has gone this far with it, chances are good they'll look after it.

 

^+1

IIRC 1.7l/1K is well into replacement territory.

 

the dealer has to convince Nissan Waarranty

 

^convince? Nissan sets the standards. Sounds more like the dealer is trying to hedge and cover their own aZZ.

 

FFS this is ridiculous. Dealer calls me and says that the 5th test was 0.4L/1000km. He says the person that did the 3 tests that were high was an "apprentice" and he did it wrong (didn't let the car sit long enough). They said the PCV valve was mucked up so they replaced that and they think that was the problem. Anyone ever heard of this?

I asked how could he add 2.4L, 2.0L and 2.5L the other 3 tests if the crank case only holds a max of like 4L? He said they don't know how much they are adding, they just stop when it's topped up. This sounds like a bunch of bull to me.. especially since 2 of the 4 tests the oil level was BELOW the L on the dipstick. If this is the case, why would letting it sit long enough have anything to do with it?

What should I do?

 

Test

 

Let’s get right to it 3 engine replacements and one the V2 Japan hand built engine, whatever you want to refer to it as. For a grand total of 4 engine failures in 32 months. The result Nissan ordered to buyback the vehicle, thank you CAMVAP. I purchased the vehicle June 30 2006, and at 2161, original km had to add 2 litres of oil. Horrified I started closely monitor/documenting the oil, and informed the dealership immediately! Things only got worse averaged 1.2-1.75 litres/1000km. Registered many complaints with Nissan and only ever received one return call from a corporate rep and they where only trying to work out a buyback without proceeding to arbitration, CAMVAP.

Be professional do not loose your temper, at times very difficult!
Register your complaints/problems with Infiniti Canada; they will open a case file.
Document and maintain some kind of journal of all your communications with Nissan, will be valuable when you make your argument with Nissan, legal proceedings whatever your course of action will be.
Get a copy of the TSB. If you have documented oil changes with an Infiniti/Nissan dealer, the dealer is required to check; whether the engine falls into a Good or No-Good. Use there own documentation to your advantage.
Get informed, the more information you have at your ready the stronger you can make your arguments with service advisors/managers. Point your browser over to the NHTSA.gov website and click on, recalls, defects, and complaints, and look through the 350Z and G35 with the number of oil related complaints with the 3.5 and 6mt combination.
Nissan Canada will sign off on the engine replacement not the dealer.

Register your complaints with Transport Canada Defects and Recalls, 1-800-333-0510. I wish more people would, it helps build a case against Nissan Canada to get off there butts and address these problems.
Send letters to the top executives in the Nissan Motor Co. I am sure they have or will read my letters sent to top 4 exe, including the President of Nissan Canada.

CAMVAP = The Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan. Use your search engine.
For those of you that have purchased the vehicle new and are within 3 years of ownership look into CAMVAP immediately. After 3 years of ownership, you will not be entitled to a buyback. For those of you within the first year of ownership you could be entitled to a full buyback. After the first year of ownership, it will be pro-rated on km traveled.

In closing, is it within the rules of the form to give names and contact numbers of executives within Nissan Canada Inc.? It would be of great assistance to many members that are dealing with this and other vehicle related issues.

Short on time today but wanted to give the members here some input. Email me if you have any questions. Will be back to browse this issue.

 

^Great info Paragon Man. There's no substitute for someone who has that kind of experience albeit not a fun one.

G/L Canuckeh, your dealer seems either to be incompetent or is pushing some BS.

 

canuckeh> So the dealer has an “apprentice” that can not follow a simple TSB, run like hell from this dealership, but inform the service manager that you will not have your vehicle serviced by a facility that hires apprentices that can not follow such a simple procedure. Interesting to see how fast they change their tune.
Where in the TSB does it stipulate to check the PCV valve?
Again more BS from your dealer, five tests and they are still wont acknowledge a failure!

The unnecessary multiple oil consumption tests are in, my opinion a delaying/prolonging technique by Nissan to extend the attempted repair period. Let me explain, if the vehicle is within that one year of the purchase date they are going try and prolong that repair period to beyond 1 year, after one year no full buyback, see my previous post, and read up on CAMVAP literature. If the vehicle is beyond the one year it still is to there advantage for you to accumulate km, the more km on the vehicle the less the buyback amount Nissan may have to pay out. If individuals proceed with other legal actions, I cannot speak to that as I used the office of CAMVAP.

The 30 min time period is required to let all the engine oil drain into the oil pan.
Make sure you have some documentation; your word is not enough.
This is the procedure I used when having the dealer verify my own measurements.

1)When dropping of your vehicle at the service counter make sure the service advisor makes a note in the work order that you are to be present when the mechanic measures the oil level.
2)The measuring of the level will follow Nissan/Infiniti’s TSB.
3)Prior to closing the work ordered the level will be noted in the work order
4)Have them also note that you want the service manager to contact on your behalf Infiniti representative for that area to contact you regarding the ongoing engine problem.
5)If you notice no indication of oil level measurement on your work, ask why no note. They may say something; “sorry I closed the work order and cannot reopen”.
6)Ask them to amend the work order with a note. If again they hesitate, ask them politely to indicate on a dealership letterhead the oil level measurement and ask both the service advisor and service manger to sign the document.

 

Thanks guys for your help so far. I'm going to do this last test and check the oil level myself before I bring it in. Once I hear back from them I'm going to take it from there.

I've been pretty tame through out the whole process but I'm starting to lose my temper. They have a "well it's still under warranty for a long time" attitude which is pissing the hell out of me since it's just an excuse to procrastinate. We have completed the TSB (4 tests and we have done 5 going on 6) and it's clear I need a new engine, yet they try to blame it on the incompetence of their own staff to complete the simplest chore in the book, an OIL LEVEL CHECK.

I've also got a nasty octane ping noise which the technician pretty much told me there's nothing I can do about it and tried to blame it on me not putting premium gas in the car - until after I persisted I put nothing but premium in the car. He then proceeds to tell me to run regular through it a few times and see how it is. I run regular through the car and it runs like pure ****. Seems like no one knows what they are talking about.

 

I have been told by the dealership that the TSB for the US is not the one that they use in Canada.
They want oil checks done every 1000k? They also have a different graph.
Anyone heard of this and if so does anyone have a copy of the
CANADIAN TSB?

 

I have followed my OC consumption carefully. When I started using dealer oil filters and switched to conventional motor oil (non-synthetic oil 5W30) my oil consumption dropped dramatically. I stumbled on this by accident when a Nissan dealer put non-synthetic in by accident. My last two oil changes were done at Nissan dealers one in Sudbury, ON, Canada and one in Halifax, NS, Canada. I am not crazy by suggesting this. I check my oil once a week and in the last 3 months I have only put in 1.5L a big change from when I was running synthetic and non dealer filters. I think it has more to to with the filters than anything and not so much the synthetic.

 

murr607> do a search for the following ITB08-002c that is the reference number for the Canadian TSB dated May 29, 2008. First hit on a google search was the PDF in the g35driver forum. The only difference between the Canadian and American versions is the CDN is in kilometres and the USA is in miles.

 

I'm going in for oil consumption test number 6. See my posts prior in this thread regarding my messed up situation. I decided to check the oil level myself today. I followed the TSB perfectly, let the car sit 40 mins (going to do it again in 25 mins before I go into Infiniti). As you can see, I am very very very low on oil after 965km's. I used a measuring tape and it's over 25mm's low on oil.

I'm curious if I should ask to be with them while they perform the level check. I already spoke with service manager and I made sure he will be there today when I bring my car in. Should I tell him I have the TSB? Should I tell him I did a check before I brought it in?

I'm kind of fed up with a passive approach on this. I don't want to have to call him out on it after the fact and then have to do another 1,000km test because I didn't prove everything to him before they topped it up with oil. That being said, I don't want to be a dick if I don't have to. It will seem like I am attacking them and calling them out for being a ****ty service team.

I'm thinking this will be my approach:
- Tell him that I checked the oil level according to TSB guidelines before I came because he has proven to me that his staff are not reliable enough to do it on their own (he claimed the tests that revealed high consumption were because their apprentice was doing it wrong and not letting the car sit enough).
- I'll ask to be there for the consumption readings and for him to be as well.

It's funny because he said he replaced the PCV valve and it was all mucked up since he knows when he calls up infiniti canada and tells him about the problem the first thing they will ask him is if they checked the PCV valve. They played it off like that is what the problem must of stemmed from and if I want to still check if it's oil consumption then I can keep coming back for oil consumption tests. Funny that if they are so predictable with that and it isn't listed in the TSB. Also, all I'm asking him to do is complete the damn TSB and he isn't even capable of that.


Anyway, I'm rambling. I'll post after I get back from the dealership this afternoon.