Alright so I've been having an issue with the I-key light coming on and off very intermittently over the last two weeks.


Before anyone says "bring it to the shop" I know I'm hoping to bring it in this week but working at a job during my local dealers hours and needing my car for work.


Now that I've done my pre-ramble (I'm sorry) over the last two weeks on three separate occasions my I-key warning light came on and I was unable to start my car, disconnected the battery for a few minutes reattached it and we were back rolling but today after multiple tries it just eventually started and I limped it back home.


I've heard there are two antennas for the I-key, one behind the glove box and the other by the passenger side of the console, both I've tried finding online so I know I what I'm looking for.


mainly what I'm looking for is if anyone knows what could be causing this problem and what to look for and if anyone has pictures of these damn I-key units so I can try testing the connections to see which isn't working properly.


Sorry for the lengthy post if anyone is able to help me get a somewhat understanding it would be great. I will also add that I HAVE read my manual for the light, I HAVE changed both the car battery a few months back and just changed the fobs battery two days ago.

 

Does it do this if you put the remote in the slot by your left knee? I would put it in the slot every time for a week and see if it has the same problem. If it does the same thing the problem may be the remote / FOB. Do you have multiple remotes? Does it do this with both?

 

unfortunately only have one remote but the three times the light is on and refused to start putting the fob in that slot didn't do anything. It's super intermittent like in the last two weeks since it's only happened 3 times.

 

Red key icon means an intelligent start error that's easily diagnosed by running the diagnostic with Consult-II/III.

Green key icon means your fob battery is low.

There are 6 total antennas for the intelligent key system. Behind the left tail light, center console, behind each front door handle, trunk under the rear dash next to the deck speakers, and below the dash next to the AC blower.

Try moving the key around the cabin to see if any of the other antennas pick it up when trying to start.

 

alright definitely. So when I have this issue it could just be that the antenna(s) my key is near isn't picking it up and moving it near another could be what's causing it to be intermittent?

Also another question would be can I bring it to any shop that has OBDII scan tools or does it specifically an Infiniti/Nissan dealership? Asking because a family friend owns a generic used car dealership/shop who would be able to check it but probably won't have the Consult since they aren't a Nissan only dealership.

 

No it needs to be a Consult tool. I would keep trying to isolate the problem before bringing it in though since it is only an intermittent problem. Try moving the fob closer to the antennas to see if it's a signal problem.

Also make sure you used a CR2032 battery and not a CR2025. The 2025 is slightly shorter and might make intermittent contact with the prongs in the fob.

 

So I just tried that moving the key around near the other antennas and after a few no problem start ups I got the red "no key" display on the little dash "HUD" instead of the regular orange dash light and I placed the key in the slot by my knee and it started with no issue. Then rinse and repeat. Few simple no issue starts moving it around and then just stopped responding. Each time in different spots.

Could it be the fob itself? It was already pretty beat up when I bought the car about 3.5 years ago and they haven't had much abuse from me being clipped to my front belt loop.

Trying to narrow it down since I'm going to shoot Nissan a call in the morning to see if I can get them to do a quick scan for me after work if I rush there.

I'm also going to take the board out of the fob (carefully) and take some high detail photos with a DSLR to see if I there's some board damage maybe

 

Yeah I bet it's the fob.

 

Haha mine has been doing the same thing for about a week now...