Car wouldn't start last Friday, was a heavy downpour. would crank for about 6 seconds, never turning over. EVENTUALLY started after 7-8 tries. Began driving to work, 1 mile into trip the instrument panel goes black, but still driving and motor running. I pulled over & put car in park. Couldn't get shifter out of park, even tried pushing the shift lock release button. Car is a push start. I went to turn car off and restart, but when I pushed the button the car remained running and the instrument panel came back to life. Drove to dealer, and car actually drove fine, just now the check engine light is on.

Dealer asks if car was in accident (involving right front) or if windshield was ever replaced. Answer was no. He said water was pooling on inside of plastic casing of the body control module, corroding the circuit board. So he needs 2.5 hours of labor to pull carpet back, remove wire harnesses, etc to gain access. Then another $700 or so for part and labor to install part.

Any idea what can cause this? I actually did have some body work done, a deer hit my left fender about 3 years ago, but was isolated to left front. Only dealer serviced, except for occasional oil changes, oh, and I had my y-pipe replaced at Meineke about 3 months ago, but don't know if they would get close enough to the drain pipe, but I could be wrong. Also thinking the heavy rains that day affected the module.

 

Did you buy the car new or used? If used then you truly don't know if there was ever any damage that would affect the BCM.

Also - what would knowing what caused this issue now help you? Just pure curiosity? Knowing the cause will not really "fix" anything, you are still on the hook to get it fixed due to the cars age. Infiniti will not help you in any way.

P.S. You stated a deer hit your LEFT side. That may have been the cause, if the impact was hard enough, the opposite side of the car can be affected with slightly body body panels or cracking seals.

 

I am the original owner of the car, and regarding what caused the issue, who wouldn't want to know? Especially since it's going to cost $1k to repair!!

When deer hit my car, it actually tried to stop as it was running toward me from side of road, and slid into my fender. impact was not hard, but enough for body damage. Don't think that affected anything internal, especially on the other side of the car. But, I can't be 100% certain of that.

 

Were there ever any aftermarket electronics installed in the car? Another common cause of water entry is when wires are passed through the rubber grommet in the firewall and then not sealed properly again. If it were my car, I would consider sourcing a used BCM over a new replacement.

 

vpsmile - no aftermarket installs. The dealer did rip the engine apart about 6 months ago to replace the intake sprockets, any chance they could have moved a drain line that is causing this problem?

 

No, not really much chance that I can see, but then again, you never know what can possibly go wrong incidentally.

 

Dealer states the water leak was through a separated seam on the BCM housing, so they repaired the seam with epoxy and silicone, and replaced the BCM. Infiniti Consumer affairs had nothing to offer, but really, how does this happen? not preventative, more like faulty workmanship

Also right front wheel bearing went AGAIN, first at 60k miles, now at 145k. left front bearing also was replaced at 85k miles. and no TSB or recall? Infiniti Consumer affairs engaged in a goodwill post-warranty review, and concluded that they won't offer any assistance since too far out of warranty period.

 

At least you got it fixed!

 

This was my point from the beginning, you will get NOTHING from infiniti on an 8 year old car. You just proved it to yourself!

Not sure what you were expecting but no car manufacturer would ever pay to repair something on such an old vehicle.

 

So let me make sure I understand what's going on here. You had 2 wheel bearings go bad with 85K miles on them and you want Infiniti to replace them for free??

Yeah that makes a lot of sense...........