G37 V36 Sedan 2009 + Discussion about the G37 Sedan
View Poll Results: What's 51% More Likely Than Not?
Something happened when car was in dealer's car & custody when taken through car wash
50.00%
Aftermarket colored bolts are 100% obviously the cause of all electrical issues
50.00%
Something else is going on here...
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Help! Engine Bay Dress-Up Bolts Caused Electrical Failures??

Old Nov 27, 2021 | 01:22 PM
  #16  
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Infiniti G37x
Originally Posted by cleric670
I doubt a dealership would intentionally sabotage your vehicle. If one of their employees ever came out and admitted it then they would basically go out of business so... HIGHLY unlikely.

Since you've had sort of an abrasive relationship with them just get a price quote on the ignition condenser and don't mention anything about testing the one you have, there is only one condenser on the circuit. It's taped onto the harness for the coil packs on the bank1 side (passenger side for left hand drive vehicles). Shouldn't take more than a half-hour to replace.

EDIT: Forgot you have a G37, not sure exactly where it's at on the VHR engine. Probably the same location though.
Well that's the challenge, isn't it i.e. when would a dealer employee ever come out and admit they did something to sabotage a customer's vehicle? How would you ever be able to prove that? Sigh.

Yes sorry I have the G37x, but I assume that part number for the IGNITION CONDENSER you mentioned is the same? I'll double-check.

At least our abrasive relationship is hopefully getting a little better... cuz the top dog Manager got involved now and they did give me a nice loaner car at least. And they're helping me out with the labor costs... so that's a step in the right direction. Just sucks you have to threaten legal action or something sometimes to get things moving. I hate burning bridges lol
 
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Old Nov 27, 2021 | 04:31 PM
  #17  
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Well remember that this is a vehicle that they probably haven't had a lot of their techs work on for a few years, most dealership repair work is on NEWER vehicles that are still under warranty. Once the warranty is up most cars don't end up in the dealership service bay due to the cost. Plus technicians move on to other dealerships or careers, there might not be a lot of guys in their shop that have that same familiarity with the car as did back when it was still under warranty.

Granted the Q50/Q60 and variants still use the V36 chassis, and the same VQ37VHR motor is an option, but there are a lot of changes between model year revisions, and troubleshooting for the dealership basically means just following the steps in the FSM. They usually aren't given a lot of leeway for doing troubleshooting steps NOT included in the FSM. Plus doing a bunch of troubleshooting and not finding the issue is frustrating for the techs, the manager, AND the customer.
 
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Old Nov 28, 2021 | 06:04 PM
  #18  
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Originally Posted by cleric670
Well remember that this is a vehicle that they probably haven't had a lot of their techs work on for a few years, most dealership repair work is on NEWER vehicles that are still under warranty. Once the warranty is up most cars don't end up in the dealership service bay due to the cost. Plus technicians move on to other dealerships or careers, there might not be a lot of guys in their shop that have that same familiarity with the car as did back when it was still under warranty.

Granted the Q50/Q60 and variants still use the V36 chassis, and the same VQ37VHR motor is an option, but there are a lot of changes between model year revisions, and troubleshooting for the dealership basically means just following the steps in the FSM. They usually aren't given a lot of leeway for doing troubleshooting steps NOT included in the FSM. Plus doing a bunch of troubleshooting and not finding the issue is frustrating for the techs, the manager, AND the customer.
That is such a good point in general, everything you said. One must learn to give a little grace. But where do all the good techs go, aftermarket repair shops? I don't know like the hierarchy of car mechanic matrix would be, outside of like a full automotive engineer? lol
 
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Old Nov 28, 2021 | 06:10 PM
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The good technicians are usually the ones working on the higher priority jobs in the shop, the heirarchy is entry level techs get the alignment jobs and other easy stuff, oil changes, interior component replacement, making keys, mounting tires, etc. Junior ASE techs get things like timing belts, water pumps, radiator, etc. Master techs get things like engine teardown, transmission teardown, etc.

Most of your troubleshooting is done by a junior tech who just follow the FSM steps, because the master tech is expensive and is typically working on your other bigger tasks.

Plus they're all hourly employees and the dealerships have a set number of hours that each task should take and it's usually a fairly aggressive schedule so these guys don't have extra time to sit around and BS amongst each other about what they think the problem might be. Usually they are given their daily task from the service manager and then you're basically on your own from that point forward, if you have questions or run into problems you go back to your service manager, not the other techs who have their own jobs they're on.
 
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Old Nov 30, 2021 | 12:01 PM
  #20  
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Originally Posted by cleric670
The good technicians are usually the ones working on the higher priority jobs in the shop, the hierarchy is entry level techs get the alignment jobs and other easy stuff, oil changes, interior component replacement, making keys, mounting tires, etc. Junior ASE techs get things like timing belts, water pumps, radiator, etc. Master techs get things like engine teardown, transmission teardown, etc.

Most of your troubleshooting is done by a junior tech who just follows the FSM steps because the master tech is expensive and is typically working on your other bigger tasks.

Plus they're all hourly employees and the dealerships have a set number of hours that each task should take and it's usually a fairly aggressive schedule so these guys don't have extra time to sit around and BS amongst each other about what they think the problem might be. Usually, they are given their daily task from the service manager, and then you're basically on your own from that point forward, if you have questions or run into problems you go back to your service manager, not the other techs who have their own jobs they're on.
Gotcha, that all makes sense. I never really thought of it that way.

In the spirit of trying to troubleshooting then, who do the Master Techs call when they're stumped, automotive engineers? I mean, I'm just wondering who's more knowledgable than a "master tech"? Or maybe there isn't anyone, and at that point they just keep throwing new parts at a problem until it's fixed?

Speaking of, they said my ignition condenser(s) were fine (I thought there was only 1?) but my car is still misfiring on Cylinder 3. They said they ordered a used ECU and will be hopefully plugging that up today to see if it works...
 
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Old Nov 30, 2021 | 03:21 PM
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The service manager can search the NNA database with keywords to help troubleshoot, also they can
​​use the dealership tech email to discuss the hard troubleshoots with NNA engineering who will suggest other troubleshooting steps outside of the FSM. Engineering is usually more familliar with random TSB's that might be applicable which supplement the FSM.

 
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Old Dec 1, 2021 | 02:29 PM
  #22  
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Well here's to hoping they can troubleshoot their way out of this mysterious apparent Cylinder #3 misfire issue that has suddenly shown up.

Outside of ignition components (replaced all coil packs, plugs).... I can only think maybe something is wrong with the fuel system i.e. injector or maybe fuel rails or pump?

I dropped off my second key fob last night since they said they needed both keys to program them to the new ECU they're installing, hoping that fixes the misfire. Something tells me we're chasing a ghost....
 
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Old Dec 16, 2021 | 11:07 PM
  #23  
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Talking *all better now

Just a friendly update to put a bow on this thread: Got my car back from the dealer today! She runs great, all the problems fixed. The dealership Manager and head foreman mechanic both sat down with me and showed me everything. They were very polite, calm, respectful, and professional. They showed me the wiring diagram for the ignition coils etc and where the ground symbols on the diagram were. They explained everything about how the ground faulted and started blowing things, starting with the #3 ignition coil and on from there. The #3 coil pack was bubbling and blistered and the others were on their way there... The dealership went about and beyond what I thought was going to happen. They even put a brand new ECU in after a few failed attempts at locating a used one. They earned my admiration and respect after this whole ordeal. I feel bad that we butted heads initially, but now it's all gravy! I think if I would have dealt with the top dog Manager(s) from the start maybe things would have been different. Alas, there's really not much else to say now except I owe them a huge thank you for everything they did for me. New coil packs, plugs, and an ECU... should be good to go for a while now! #lessonlearned #don'tchangeenginegroundbolts

I owe everyone who chimed in to try and help a thank you as well. In the end, the dealer was right and they had the car in their physical care so probably had the best "eyes/hands-on" diagnosis. I was just so afraid of getting taken to the cleaners for thousands upon thousands after owning the car for less than 1 month. Big thanks to the dealership management and their top shop tech/mechanic for going out of their way to make things right and smooth over a bad service experience. So thank you to everyone!
 
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