I had less than 1,000 miles on the car and...

Last night I was accelerating away from a stop sign, shifting in the manual mode up through the gears. On the 3-4 shift, it seemed as if the car just popped out of gear. The car rev'd as if it were in neutral, but it was in 4th gear. Try as I might, I could not get the tranny to shift, neither in manual mode, nor in Drive. As I began to slow down from 45-25 mph, I found the car was stuck in 2nd gear. I limped home [20 miles] in 2nd.

This morning, the car worked fine, but I stopped by the local Memphis dealership anyway. They discovered a trouble code that indicated a stuck tranny control valve. They told me this was probably a random occurence, that it would probably never happen again. They cleared the code and sent me on my way.

The car worked OK to work. But at lunch-time, the valve stuck again. We limped to the restaurant in 2nd. On the way back to work, the car was fine. After work, I dropped the car off at the dealership again, and again, the car drove fine. The dealership is working on the car tomorrow to fix this problem, I hope! I did not expect a problem like this...

2003 G35 w/ Garnet Fire paint & Willow leather interior.

 

thats totally weak...I hope everything works out...let me kow what the dealer says...hopefully its a quick fix...

 

The dealer had the car all day today, and they could not get the car to act-up during two test-drives. They asked me to come over this afternoon, to take one of their mechanics on a short drive to show him how I drive the car. They have no idea what is wrong, and they are struggling to get a clue. They told me they planned to call the Infiniti Tech Line for assistance. They're trying to determine if the fault is mechanical and/or electrical. They gave me a loner car (I35) to drive until they fix my G35, hopefully by Friday. I had planned to drive home next week in my G35, so they better hurry up! In view of the urgent nature of my situation, I suggested they replace the tranny, sensors, and whatever else could be causing the problem. They can do a post mortem at their own leisure while I'm on vacation. I'm not holding my breath...

They installed my new rollers today: 18 x 8 SSR GT1 wheels shod with 225/45/18 YR Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position tires. I got to experience them on the test-drive this afternoon. The lower profile tire seems OK from a ride-quality standpoint. Of course, I did not get the stiff sport suspension. They ride well, and they look beautiful on the car, too. Once the car gets a blessing from the mechanic, I'll see how the new rollers do in the twisties...

2003 G35 w/ Garnet Fire paint & Willow leather interior.

 

I bought my G35 on 6/28, and the dealership has had it in their shop since 7/1 with a tranny problem. They still do not know what's wrong with it, nor how to fix it. I planned to drive to Columbus, OH next Tuesday for a vacation. The dealership told me if they do not have the problem with my car fixed by Monday afternoon, they will provide a G35 loner car to drive on vacation. That's generous, but I want my car back. Now!

2003 G35 w/ Garnet Fire paint & Willow leather interior.

 

I got my car back today. The Infiniti mechanic told me I must have bumped into the rev-limiter HARD while I was in manual mode. When that happened, the car sensed an eminent over-rev condition, and threw the tranny into a coast mode, which effectively decoupled the tranny from the drive-train. The car worked just like it was supposed to, protecting itself from a bad driver input. The mechanic told me there was absolutely no damage done. All he had to do to restore proper operation was reset the ECU. Whew!

I theorize what triggered this incident:

As I accelerated hard up through the gears in manual mode, it came time at one point to shift from 3rd gear into 4th gear. I believe I must have shifted into 2nd gear from 3rd, instead of into 4th gear. I have driven 5-spd manual trannies my entire adult life. I am used to pulling back/down to implement a 3rd gear to 4th gear shift. In the heat of battle the other night, I must have pulled back on the shift lever instead of pushing it forward.

That was just plain dumb. I won't be doing that again anytime soon. At least I didn't grind my tranny internals into a fine powder. And the repair was done at no charge... I'm lucky.

2003 G35 w/ Garnet Fire paint & Willow leather interior.

 

incase it happens again, try to seek aid in the owners manual. i recall it said something about locking the gears, but im not sure if it is the same situation as you were in.

 

The engine went into coast mode again, while I was on my vacation. The Infiniti dealership in Columbus, OH had the car for about a day and a half. They said the installers of my stereo system pulled the tranny control module away from factory routing, which stressed its connections. They also zip-tied the stereo controller to the TCM, which may have created RF interference. The dealer mechanic put the TCM back in its original home, and zip-tied the stereo control to something else. Problem solved?

No. The next day, the tranny went into coast-mode again! Long story short, I'm getting tired of making trips into Infiniti dealers for the same problem, over and over and over...

2003 G35- Garnet Fire w/ Willow leather interior

 

Your car sounds like it's messed up. Make sure you don't tell them about that down gear story. Sorry to hear...

 

Start looking at the lemon laws of your state. ;-)

 

OK, it's been one week since my last trip to the Infiniti dealer with a limp-mode tranny. I've been driving in auto-mode *only* this week at their request. No problems all week. Apparently, my car doesn't like to be shifted manually. Next week, we try something else to pin-point the problem. Stay tuned...

2003 G35- Garnet Fire w/ Willow leather interior

 

Reread my earlier post: I *theorized* I may have shifted from 3rd to 2nd instead of 3rd to 4th. If I did, that was a bone-head thing to do; however, I really do *not* believe I did that.

I'm glad you don't work at my Inifiniti Dealership. I'm a repeat Infiniti customer who has been treated fairly. I am not trying to get something for nothing. (I detest those who lie and cheat to try to get something for nothing.) I bought a new car with an apparent defect. I am working in good faith with my local Infiniti dealer to identify and correct the fault, whatever it may be. I believe the guys will find the problem and correct it in due time. I look forward to many years of happy motoring with this car, unless I opt for a Q45 in a couple years!

Your post seems to be a [thinly] veiled accusation that I brought all this on myself, and that I have not dealt with my dealer in good faith. I assure you, you're wrong about that. Perhaps a good slug of Metamucil will put you right.

Have a happy day!

2003 G35- Garnet Fire w/ Willow leather interior