Have they had it during the same slushy conditions?

...that seemed to be a common item, on both occasions that it happened.
It may be coincidence or maybe not.

 

If you feel as if the car is a danger, I would tell them to keep it till the specialist gets there and tell them you want to keep the loaned. Remind them of the law suit thery would be looking at if something were to happen...

 

I'm not an OBD expert, but it seems all cars these days have a data logger that tracks several measurements continuously (but maybe only keeps a log of the last 30 minutes or so). Therefore, if the situation happens again, I'd say shut the car off immediately,and don't let anyone restart it until someone who can access the data logger can see what all measured items were at the time the issue occurred. Then the technicians could at least have better information to use to try to duplicate the failure and diagnose the trouble.

These data loggers aren't heavily advertised due to big brother watching controversy. I wouldn't be surprised if the G37 had a data logger, given I've read about controversy over the Nissan GT-R having one.

Given the common denominator of the two incidents, I'd speculate at least two pieces of software aren't working well with each other. When pulling out of slushy conditions onto dry, I suspect your AWD, transmission, or TCS software is taking control to reduce wheelspin. At the same time that software is retarding timing, cutting fuel, applying brakes, shifting up a gear, or whatever else it does, the sudden wet to dry condition introduces some kind of unexpected (by the control software) shock to the drivetrain that OBD II interprets as an engine misfire or other condition that puts it into limp mode. My only question is why wouldn't any sensed condition that puts the engine in limp mode NOT be stored in the OBD computer???

The conspiracy theorist in me suspects Infiniti has a good idea what happened and the root cause: There is a software defect for which Infiniti has no fix yet; and they aren't likely going to do anything about it until they see a statistically significant number of occurrences and/or complaints from owners. Swapping cars won't cure the OP's woes, since all the software will behave the same until it's fixed.

Chalk this up to being an "early adopter" as one of the first buyers of the awd with 7-speed. My advice: Take care when driving on uneven surfaces (particularly combo slippery and dry) and realize that 99% of the time your car will drive just fine (just take care when pulling out from a slushy side street onto a busy dry highway).

I feel for the OP - paid a lot of money for "the safety of awd" only to have that sophisticated SW that controls all the parts get confused in a condition for which the SW engineers didn't plan or test, and go to "blue screen of death" Infiniti style. I also feel for the SW engineers that write control system software for engines, transmissions, and awd systems. I think these teams of folks write their subsystem code taking care each system doesn't work against the other; but when you introduce a change into the mix (new 7-speed auto), there's no doubt there could be something that was missed. This is why I highly doubt we'll ever see Infiniti invest in awd control code to work with a 6MT on the G37 (kind of why I'm a little impressed Acura appears to have pulled it off with the upcoming 2010 TL SHAWD 6MT - too bad it's so ugly).

 

I'm very thankful for your kindness and assessment, G35leander. I will ask my service tech some questions pertaining to what you've written.

I want to, however, clarify one point: the second incident happened completely on smooth and dry pavement. I had left the snowy, slushy streets quite a while previously, and had been driving on dry roads for a considerable time. It's possible that the slushy conditions again contributed to the problem, but it seems doubtful.

And thanks to everyone for your helpful comments and suggestions. I should know more on Tuesday.

 

Best of luck. That is indeed a lousy situation. Have you discussed with Inifiniti the possibility of replacing it with a new/identical car? Keep us updated.

 

My G37x was swapped this morning for a loaner '07 G35x. My car was driven to the dealership.

I spoke with the service advisor at around 5:00pm this evening about what the regional service expert found after looking over my car today. He found nothing amiss—no surprise. However, the regional rep told the service advisor to tell me that I may have depressed both the brake and accelerator at the same time, which causes the car to go into limp mode. I suspect that’s what the regional rep thinks happened, unless something more sinister (read “cover up”) is going on.

The service advisor told me that depressing both at the same time will put a G into limp mode immediately. (Anyone know about this?) So, I attempted it with the G35x loaner I was driving. I attempted it from a standing start, I attempted it while at a about 5-10 mph, and I attempted it at about 20 mph—all to no effect. Further, the advisor said that as soon as the brake is applied when the car is in limp mode following this brake and accelerate pattern, the car immediately leaves limp mode and operates properly. No matter what I did during the actual incidents with my car—from braking and accelerating while moving as well as when in neutral—nothing “cured” the car of limp mode.

I do not believe that I did that at the time of the incidents anyway. Each was from a standard stop. In any case, I do not believe that my car went into limp mode because of this brake and accelerate theory. I was accelerating only.

So, my car will be returned to me tomorrow (Tuesday) with nothing found. I was told that if the problem should happen again, they will supply me with a sort of black box (like on an airplane) that will monitor the car at all times. Of course, I expressed reservations about driving the car since nothing has been found. I also said that if nothing happens after a month of driving, I will begin to relax my fears and family driving restrictions—my wife doesn’t now drive it, and I don’t let my kids in the car either.

And that’s the way it is today. Comments? Suggestions?

 

Well, here's great news--ha.

Driving to the airport yesterday in awful conditions (blizzard), my car did it again--went into limp mode. It's the third or fourth time. Called the dealership and spoke with the service guy, blah, blah, blah. Treated me well, but. . .I was really upset.

The car actually sort of warned me this time. It kind of shook and lurched a few times, then cleared up, but a moment later it did the same thing and cleared up. But after 30 seconds more, limp mode full time. No warning lights.

I had to drive maybe a quarter of a mile before I could pull over, since conditions were so bad and dangerous. I sat at the side of the road and people pulled over to check on me, including a State Farm tow truck guy. "Oh, it should be okay. It will probably re-set after a half hour or so, and I hope to be alright. If not, I have my cell phone. . ." It was terrible and very dangerous.

Anyway, it did reset after leaving the car off for 25 minutes, and I made it to the airport by the skin of my teeth.

I return home on Monday, and will pick it up from there.

Suggestions?

 

Get a video camera and buy an OBD II code scanner. You can get them for $40 and up and many local stores. Harbor freight, northern tools, autozone, some walmarts, oreily auto, etc...

If it ever happens, turn your camera on, find a safe place to pull over, and hook up your OBD II scanner to your obd port while the engine is running. Don't forget to write down your codes.

 

It would not hurt to familiarize yourself with lemon law guidelines for your state. It will give you more bargaining power to get it fixed (permanently) or move to another resolution. good luck

 

There's been many different threads on this and even different website so I'm sorry if what I'm about to say has already been covered here. Anyway there are others that have reported the same problem, and they are all located in high altitude areas (Denver, Calgary, ect).

My question is: do you live/drive in high altitude area as well?

I'll try to find one of these other links as one chap now has a fix from the Engineers for this. We are wating to get the TSB number so others can refer to it and get theirs fixed as well. I assume it's a reprogramming of the ECU.

edit: here's the link. I think this guy has got a fix but it will take awhile for this to roll elsewhere:

http://myg37.com/forums/g37-sedan/19...-concerns.html

I recall they couldn't reprogram the ECU at the dealer (for some wierd reason) so they had to take the car for a long time to get fixed.

 

Get a new car. Lemon that sucker.

 

Getting another G37 with same options isn't going to help (assuming AWD), I bet they all do it given the right conditions and altitude. I predict this will be a major TSB in the up coming months.

 

Here's the latest.

I suspect the lemon law will not apply because there have been no attempts to repair it. They've had the car three times now, but have been unable to figure anything out. Therefore, no attempt at repair. This is essentially what I was told by the rep on the Infiniti Owners line. They are looking into it and will get back to me by Tuesday, but I'm not holding my breath.

Further, the corporate directive to the dealership (which continues to treat me very well) is to wait for when the regional tech rep can do a ride-along with me--in about a month! I'm certain that ride-along would be to show me that everything is fine and that it's simply my mistake.

Fat chance that I will wait for this. While I don't relish the idea of an adversarial relationship with Infiniti, it may well be drawing near. Can you say, "Lawyer time"? I was truly in serious danger during the snowstorm last week, and do not now confidently enjoy driving the car.

I have today (Friday) dropped my car off at the dealership because a big snow storm will arrive tonight and tomorrow. That will give them the chance to drive it extensively in poor conditions. Luck being what it is--fickle--it's likely nothing will occur. . .but maybe it will. Though there is no fix as of yet (at least here in the States), they'll at least have it on record.

I'll pick the car up on Sunday and post back what happens.

 

I can understand that you don't want to pursue a me vs. them situation especially since the dealer has been so good to you.

Having said that, I would inquire (just inquire) with an attorney (which should cost nothing) about your situation. The reason why I make this suggestion is simple. You paid for a fully functional automobile not a partially/intermittently functioning vehicle.

At the end of the day, (if I were in your shoes) I would ask myself - what is the result? Is the problem remedied or am I left with a concern about whether my car will function when I expect it to. Ultimately, one of two things will happen, it will be repaired/remedied in some way or you will just accept the situation as is. I wonder, if you sleep on your rights too long you may end up losing some of them.

Sorry for any gloom or doom, just my 2 cents - in any case good luck and hope it works out for you quickly!

 

I appreciate very much your comments and suggestions, jeffawong. Well thought out, and well offered.

So the storm failed to materialize, which means the driving conditions were not those associated with the troubles of the car. No snow, no sloppy conditions = no duplication of the problem. They drove it for about 25 miles, but no problem.

Of course.

Infiniti of America is supposed to contact me tomorrow (Tuesday) with “their course of action,” but I doubt I will be satisfied. I’ll post what I find out, as well as what my plans are from here.