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Sorry if it’s messy/unorganized, it’s my first post on here and I’ve only heard of this forum a couple of months ago so please be patient!
I have a 2006 g35x AWD, 173k miles Auto. Around 2-3 weeks ago my car suddenly just stop working after coming back from the store. At first it would not turn on at all but after cleaning the battery terminals and tighten them up it turned on again, but it would only crank and not start at all. It can crank up to 2 mins without starting so after a while I called one of my dads mechanic friends to look over it. He did the starter fluid trick and yet it wouldn’t start. After reading it with his tablet scanner, the only thing that came up was some key code failure, so he suggested I should take it to a dealership. Got it towed and, instead of immediately setting up an appointment with a dealership I got another friend look over it.
Same procedure happened; charged the battery, starter fluid and then scanner. And again, he told me the same thing. So, you know what I did? I got ANOTHER friend look over it. This time it was a neighbor who owns a shop in the town.
Instead of reading it with a scanner he stuck with his gut and just played it off by ear. After hearing the crank no start noise he suggested it was either a timing chain failure or a fuel pump failure (I don’t think he really helped I guess he just wanted a job to work on), so he suggest to bring it to his shop so he can have a closer look. I decided enough was enough and called/messaged a couple of shops nearby for quotes. All suggest either a dealership (since it was an electrical/iKey problem) or $600+ for everything and plus some for labor. So, as a last resort I called the nearest Infiniti dealership.
I asked for quotes and they suggest $500+ for the key programming and diagnostics. I decided to go for since I thought they would know everything others didn’t.
Flash forward to today, they looked over my car after getting it towed there and they suggest me with this pictured:
$1600+ for what they found out; an iKey problem and body control module problem.
What I am trying to gain from this post is whether or not I should continue with the dealership or do it on my own/somewhere cheaper since I now know what the “problem” could be. I am seriously stuck here, especially I don’t wanna spend any more money that I have put in the car just from buying it a couple of months ago. HELP!
Honestly it sounds like the BCM just forgot the key RFID code which is somewhat common on these cars. If it pulled the immobilizer code then obviously that scanner WAS communicating with the BCM since that's where the code came from, regardless of whether the dealership could or could not connect to it.
First step pull the codes, that points you in 90% the right direction to start troubleshooting.
If the BCM is toast you can source a used one on eBay, just verify it has the exact same MEC number (you'll see the sticker when you look at the BCM).
And find a new dealership to take the car to, $500 for a 1 hour diagnostic should be criminal, it's only $150/hr for Nissan shop rates and that dealership is charging you Lamborghini shop rates...
Honestly it sounds like the BCM just forgot the key RFID code which is somewhat common on these cars. If it pulled the immobilizer code then obviously that scanner WAS communicating with the BCM since that's where the code came from, regardless of whether the dealership could or could not connect to it.
First step pull the codes, that points you in 90% the right direction to start troubleshooting.
If the BCM is toast you can source a used one on eBay, just verify it has the exact same MEC number (you'll see the sticker when you look at the BCM).
And find a new dealership to take the car to, $500 for a 1 hour diagnostic should be criminal, it's only $150/hr for Nissan shop rates and that dealership is charging you Lamborghini shop rates...
well the dealership does say it needs a replacement so I might as well buy another BCM either way. They quoted me $200 for diagnostic fee and another 50 for the reprogramming of the key, another 200ish for the part itself and then the rest for supplies, fees, and labor rate :| So should I tow it back home and fix it myself with another BCM and a laptop. I saw a video on YouTube and it seems straight forward
Since you have a 2006 you may or may not be able to access the BCM with Nissan Datascan II. My 2006 6MT coupe I cannot, however other people with 5AT have been able to so I don't know EXACTLY what 2006 cars will work. It's also possible the dealership used the wrong settings on Consult-III which would also not communicate with the BCM...
@seymore4 Does Uprev allow for mating the ECM to the BCM? That might also be an option for you Jackgg
As for whether you should tow it home it would really help to have an itemized breakdown of cost for the repairs at the dealership. If it included the purchase of a NEW BCM then you could whittle that price tag down substantially by just sourcing a used one yourself from an online vendor like eBay or elsewhere. Just make sure you get the exact same BCM, the MEC number needs to match perfectly which is easy to check since there's a big sticker on the front of the thing with all the numbers.
However if the dealership does have their Consult-III tool configured wrong (needs to be talking to BCM on the k-line) then they still wouldn't be able to talk to the replacement BCM. I'd have a discussion with the service manager about that specifically just to ensure they they DID have it set up correctly for the 2006 which uses k-line to talk to the BCM. It's not the same configuration as 2003-2005 or the 2007+ which uses Consult-III. It's a very uncommon communication protocol and since it's been a decade or more since these cars were in the dealership regularly the techs may have forgotten (or never even known) how to do it...
The part that makes me think this is what happened is you previously were able to pull a code which more than likely came from the BCM, that means that it MIGHT be working but just simply lost the key programming.
Something else you could do is pay a locksmith to come to the dealership to try to program the key, just verify that their handheld tool will work for 2006 Nissan/Infiniti intelligent key systems.
@seymore4 Does Uprev allow for mating the ECM to the BCM? That might also be an option for you Jackgg
what we do with Uprev is simply bypass the NATS system completely, essentially turning the ECU into a standalone that doesn't need the bcm or programmed key to start. Do it all the time for engine swaps and race car stuff
Since you have a 2006 you may or may not be able to access the BCM with Nissan Datascan II. My 2006 6MT coupe I cannot, however other people with 5AT have been able to so I don't know EXACTLY what 2006 cars will work. It's also possible the dealership used the wrong settings on Consult-III which would also not communicate with the BCM...
@seymore4 Does Uprev allow for mating the ECM to the BCM? That might also be an option for you Jackgg
As for whether you should tow it home it would really help to have an itemized breakdown of cost for the repairs at the dealership. If it included the purchase of a NEW BCM then you could whittle that price tag down substantially by just sourcing a used one yourself from an online vendor like eBay or elsewhere. Just make sure you get the exact same BCM, the MEC number needs to match perfectly which is easy to check since there's a big sticker on the front of the thing with all the numbers.
However if the dealership does have their Consult-III tool configured wrong (needs to be talking to BCM on the k-line) then they still wouldn't be able to talk to the replacement BCM. I'd have a discussion with the service manager about that specifically just to ensure they they DID have it set up correctly for the 2006 which uses k-line to talk to the BCM. It's not the same configuration as 2003-2005 or the 2007+ which uses Consult-III. It's a very uncommon communication protocol and since it's been a decade or more since these cars were in the dealership regularly the techs may have forgotten (or never even known) how to do it...
The part that makes me think this is what happened is you previously were able to pull a code which more than likely came from the BCM, that means that it MIGHT be working but just simply lost the key programming.
Something else you could do is pay a locksmith to come to the dealership to try to program the key, just verify that their handheld tool will work for 2006 Nissan/Infiniti intelligent key systems.
Hey it’s been almost 2 years since this post and I just wanted to update and see if the outcome I got is bullshit or not. Basically I went thru with the dealership and paid 1.4k for them to “fix” the problem. What they basically told me, after MONTHS of waiting and waiting for them to work on my car that they had to outsource the BCM from an older/similar model and told me that “they could not figure out exactly what makes it from not connecting the key fob to the car”. So what they did is “re-wire” the BCM so it could only start with the actual physical key in the ignition (I’m assuming the valet key into the slot in the twist to start area and the old key fob I received when buying the car off of someone was broken/missing the lock button. ) and whatever I do, “DO NOT TOUCH THE DOOR/TWIST TO START BUTTONS, or else it’ll make the car undriveable”. And of course me being the then naive 19-20 yr old me I did not touch any buttons on the doors, trunk or tts ignition, just simply driving it with the physical key. Fast forward to today the car hasn’t given me any problems with that BCM/key, driven over 10k miles collective taken on road trips, and hasn’t given me any problems till now bc of a coolant leak prob that I’ve slowly done work to due to how cold it has been on the east coast myself. (Just replaced the thermo and hoses w a new aluminum bleeder, just need to burp it and change my oil and MAF sensor due to a new code p0102, or just clean it and see where it goes).
Basically where I’m going with this is that until recently after doing more work on my car and learning more about it after a full year of driving it, how scummy was that Infiniti dealership was towards to me? Asking me to come back and pay more diagnostic so they can “try to figure it out”. And if I really try clicking the buttons will it actually brick my car? During that time I borrowed one of my parents car beaters for the longest and I don’t want to do that again now that I’m older.
Theres days I wanna do more electrical work to my car but still afraid after what the dealership told me about the keys. It’s gotta be bullshit, right?
