Forwarded from MY350Z.COM:

http://www.my350z.com/forum/showthre...threadid=81787





Title says it all. Pictures to follow.

I'm going to set the background first. I drove 4 hours down twisty 2-lane Alabama roads last week to stay at the beach with my family. When I got there, I checked the manifold. It still had a few small cracks in it (the usual), but nothing threatening looking. To be safe, I slathered it with black silicone to keep it together for the drive home. About 3 hours into the drive, coming out of a fairly sharp corner, I hear a loud "POP" from the engine and my car DIES while travelling 80mph. Power steering GONE, power brakes GONE. I try to crank it back but it fails. My car coasts to a stop on the side of a 2-lane highway in the middle of nowehere Alabama. Great, just great. Pop the hood, and here is what I see (pictures included). Well, to make matters worse, my cell phone has zero signal. So, here I am, small white 19yr old preppy boy with a nice broken down car, 95 degrees, in middle of nowhere Alabama... sounds like a prime target for robbery/theft. Well, I decide to PUSH my car until I find a small town. Luckily I got to Forkland, AL within a mile or two. Long story short, after trying to patch the hole with rubber cement patches, aluminum cut from soda cans, etc etc, I decide to just get a tow back to Alabama. I call for the tow truck and get charged $150 to get towed back to Tuscaloosa, where I change back to my stock manifold and everything runs fine. I tried calling Kinetix when it happened (Saturday afternoon- left a voicemail), and also this morning with no response.

I am furious to say the least. I do not want a v4 plenum. Even though it may have solved all the problems, I have a bad taste in my mouth from Kinetix now and do not wish to put their brand name under my hood. I believe I am entitled to a full $399 refund IN ADDITION TO Kinetix paying my $150 towing fee. Does anyone feel this is out of line? All I can think about is how grateful I am that my power steering and power brakes didnt go out in the middle of that 80mph turn... I might be dead right now. Then Kinetix might have a wrongful death suit on their hands... not to mention all the plastic composite powder that surely got sucked into my engine when the manfiold blew apart. Sorry for the long post, had to say it all somewhere. Hopefully now that this is in the open Kinetix will respond and do the right thing.

-Wren



2004 Infiniti G35S, 6MT, Premium, Sport, DP
Mods: JDM Clears, 20% tint, Z-tube, K&N Drop In
Track: 14.32 at 98.79 mph 2.2032 60ft
http://www.g35world.com<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by gsedanman on 07/06/04 01:11 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

I thought I would post this since this is pretty bad. I suggest not many go with this brand anymore.

2004 Infiniti G35S, 6MT, Premium, Sport, DP
Mods: JDM Clears, 20% tint, Z-tube, K&N Drop In
Track: 14.32 at 98.79 mph 2.2032 60ft
http://www.g35world.com

 

Yes, Kinetix has had a cracking problem that they're fixing with the v4 (now being shipped). I think that you were taking a super big risk by driving the car with a plenum that you knew was already cracked.

'04 6MT coupe

 

agree with jjellyneck. Driving around with a cracked plenum is not the smartest thing to do. Going on a 3 hour drive with a cracked plenum through BFE...

 

the point is.... his plenum should not have cracked in the first place. Yes, it was probably in retrospect (spelling?) not such a great idea to drive the car with the manifold in that condition, but a car part like that should be reliable enough that it is not an issue. I am glad that this post was made... i have been in the market for a plenum for a week or so now, and was still kind of deciding (leaning towards crawford already), but this just put crawford over the top. Both plenums have known occurances of defect/failure (kinex cracking and crawford warpage) but the difference is, i will KNOW before i even put it on my car if the crawford is going to have a problem, be able to box it up and ship it back.

2004 Black on Black g coupe 6spd.... aluminum pedals, clear corners, z tube, and pop charger. soon to have 19" volk gt-c's and PIAA xtreme whites in the clearance and corners
Houston Texas

 

GREAT ... I just installed the V4 2 days ago....

I would be more concerned with what went down his lower plenum than recouping the towing bill.

Pretty stupid to drive for an extended duration knowing there were cracks, and THEN going 80 mph on top of that.

 

Did you torque it to factory specs? If you don't know you have nothing to complain about.

You also drove it with known cracks. If I was on the jury I'd side with Kinetix. Sorry to hear it happened but that doesn't entitle your family to become independently wealthy because of it.

I think it's reasonable for Kinetix to either refund your money (not the tow fee because you drove it with known cracks) or replace it. Make sure you don't torque past factory specs.

2004.5 Coupe/5AT/Ivory/Everything but front spoiler/Nismo CAI/Crawford V5/Crawford Cats/ Service Engine Soon

 

I think you should ask Kinetics for the refund for the plenum (whats the worst they will say...NO) but i dont think youll be able to get them to pay for your towing bill as you knew they're were cracks in the plenum. however they should reimburse you for the initial cracking for your money back.
just my opinion though

Jump and the net will appear

 

I just checked the FedEx website and my kinetix plenum has just been delivered. I haven't felt so disillusioned about an aftermarket bolt-on as I feel about this plenum right now. At first, I thought the only problem with the kinetix plenum was some gurgling sound it made at low rpms. So, I saw a group buy opportunity and jumped all over it thinking "great, I get a cheaper plenum than Crawford and I get to keep my stock plenum".
After waiting a long time without any info, I started getting suspicious about kinetix as a company, so I researched more the product and the company. To my dismay, I started to read about all the cracking issues. As if that wasn't enough, the forums on my350z were going crazy with reports that kinetix was not responding to anybody over the phone or via email. I thought for sure they had taken my money and run with it. Fortunately that wasn't the case, but my point is this: Even though a big concern of mine is the cracking issue, the most terrifying part of the whole deal is that if I need support, they won't be there to talk to me. This company has a reputation of not answering the phone or emails. People that live in southern cal, have driven to their site and have found the employees playing golf in the premises while the phones are ringing off the hook. If they keep going that way, I don't think they'll be around to fulfill their lifetime warranty for my plenum. : (

2004 G35 Coupe/OB/Graphite interior/Premium and aero package/Popcharger/Z tube/Hotchkis sways/Tein H-tech springs/Kinetix plenum/Crawford cats

 

As much as I'd like to agree with everyone, I believe that the fact that he knew there were cracks would be somewhat weak in court. Many people don't go checking under their hoods every day, and these cracks would have developed, regardless of whether or not he looked at it. No, they shouldn't pay for the tow bill, but yes they should pay for the full refund.

G

2003.5 Black w/ Willow G35
Premium / Sport / Aero / Winter / Navi / Tint
<font color=blue>Z-tube, Pop-charger, Borla True-Dual Exhaust, Eibach Pro Kit, GroundingGear</font color=blue>

 

It's called assuming the risk. Sure, many people don't check under the hood but that's not the situation here. Wren saw the problem and attempted to fix it.

If you drove around with a broken oil pan that you had temporarily patched up (it seemed to be OK,) and it later leaked, leading to an engine seizure, do you think Infiniti would have any problems denying the warranty in court?

 

...which is why Kinetix should pay for the Plenum, not the tow bill. They would've had to pay for it regardless of whether or not there was a catastrophic failure, as it was cracked.

G

2003.5 Black w/ Willow G35
Premium / Sport / Aero / Winter / Navi / Tint
<font color=blue>Z-tube, Pop-charger, Borla True-Dual Exhaust, Eibach Pro Kit, GroundingGear</font color=blue>

 

We should point out the particular plenum that suffered the massive break down was an obsolete v2. This is not to say the new v4 is bulletproof ... only time will tell. I still got a few more open track events planned for the year, so I'll be the first to tell if my v4 explodes If this one holds up well till the year end, then we may be on to something good here.

In addition, a torque wrench is a must folks! You just can't go by feel ... 80 inch-lbs. (~7.5 ft-lbs) is easily interpreted as 'loose' by average Joe standard. With a standard 1/2" rachet, one could easily generate over 120 inch-lbs. of torque!

Also, looks like it might be wiser to leave the crack alone if you do find a leak in the future. If a patch is attempted, it will restore the pressure differential and consequently increased load on the plenum. A bad combination when stress fractures already exists and could easily get out of hand if enough force is acting on it. Reverting back to the OEM piece ASAP would be prudent.

btw ... Kinetix has responded to the criticisms at My350Z. I'm glad they did, as it makes even those of us who have kept quiet or are less shaken by the latest events to feel a little more confident. I'm glad to see things are getting worked out and looks like that going to pay for his towing service as well. A nice save, but probably not enough to put the fire that's out.

Good Luck!

Clint (THX723)<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by THX723 on 07/06/04 02:38 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

It's not me, so don't reply to me. Post to the guy in the link I gave where the original post was.

2004 Infiniti G35S, 6MT, Premium, Sport, DP
Mods: JDM Clears, 20% tint, Z-tube, K&N Drop In
Track: 14.32 at 98.79 mph 2.2032 60ft
http://www.g35world.com

 

Obviously no one read the post saying it was forwarded from my350z.com for your info. It's not my car.

2004 Infiniti G35S, 6MT, Premium, Sport, DP
Mods: JDM Clears, 20% tint, Z-tube, K&N Drop In
Track: 14.32 at 98.79 mph 2.2032 60ft
http://www.g35world.com