I have a problem with my '08 G35xS

I love the car. I love the pull on that engine. I bought it to own it. I haven't done a thing to it besides oil changes.

Except...

About 20k miles, I brought it in for an oil change. They said "hey, hold on... it looks like there's some oil in your coolant. we're going to replace the transmission oil cooler, because we think that's where the problem happened. we recommend flushing the transmission fluid also, just in case some coolant made it in there, it could cause problems down the road." They did that work for free, under warranty. Except for the tranny flush.

About 55k miles, I brought it in for new tires. They said "hey, your oil and coolant are mixing again. we're going to put some dye in the system... we'll get back to you." Then they replaced the engine block, saying they THINK there is a crack in the block, and that's what's causing the problem. So they replaced the engine under warranty (refurb unit). I think, OK, problem solved, and I have a fresh engine!

Today, at about 65k miles, I brought it in for snow tires and an oil change... and I get the call. There is mixing again. They're going to replace the oil cooler, and the radiator... again. And flush everything.

I am worried that at some point the warranty is going to run out, and I am going to be left with an expensive problem that doesn't want to be fixed.

I did some googling, and I haven't seen it to be common... will THIS fix it this time? Or should I get out of the car now before this becomes an issue?

Thanks!

And yes, I'm not a mechanic, this may be suffering from "what the heck is he talking about, there ISN'T a left handed smokeshifter on a G35x"

(mid-divorce, I've lost my old car work receipts, or I'd detail the work that was done before.)

 

WOW
Did you purchase the car new? Next, has all this servicing been done at an Infiniti dealership? If so, I thought there was a lemon law for cars that had been in three or more times to fix the same problem. It is amazing to me that they swapped out the entire motor. I can see a head gasket, but an entire engine block is just over the top.

My guess is that there is a lot more to this story than meets the eye here. Perhaps they have been taking advantage of someone who is not mechanically savy, or they are completely incompetent mechanics, or your car is one-of-a-kind demon seed, or you are mistaken about what exactly has been done in the past, or . . . But regardless, it doesn't add up on so many levels. If it truly has had multiple, inexplicable reoccurrences or oil lio/coolant mixing issues, then it might not be a bad idea to get rid of it. I know I sure wouldn't put up with that kind of nonsense.

 

The car is new from the dealer, I'm the only person to drive it. All the work has been done under warranty... they did show me a used water bottle with a mix of oil and coolant in it that they said they drained out of the radiator. And all of this has been done at the same Infiniti dealership, Infiniti of West Chester.

They did mention something about it maybe being the head gasket before they replaced the engine, but I figure they would have "just" replaced the head gasket if they thought that'd do it.

Unless they want to inflate their warranty labor to make a fortune from Nissan, I don't know that they'd be milking it to make extra $$$... I hope they don't have incompetent mechanics, I don't see complaints about them being bad if I do quick searches... So, unless there's something extra they're hiding from me... I'm afraid I'm left with the WTF option.

They did upgrade my loaner from a G25 to a G37 when they replaced the engine - the extra torque was fun.

 

Oh, and lemon law in PA is 3 times with a problem... in a year.

 

I don't really know what to tell you. That's a crazy sequence of events to be sure. It seems they should be able to determine if it's tranny fluid or motor oil though; have they indicated which they think it is this time? Have you a had a good sit down talk with the service manager and/or dealership general manager or owner? I think they would be a bit embarrassed at this point and would want to get to the VERY BOTTOM of this ongoing issue you're having. If you did that and didn't feel like they were taking the gravity of the situation seriously, I think I make a call and/or complaint to Infiniti Corporate Customer service and see if you could get some oversight from them; tell them you're seriously considering dumping the car AND the brand over this! You may even want to do that just as a safety measure, so that the dealership knows you are seriously upset ad concerned about the problem. I think this is one of those cases where you want to be the wheel that's squeaking, and not being tolerant because you're not too technically savy.

Also, you can and should get the entire mantenance history of your car printed out for you from the dealership, or any Infiniti dealership for that matter, and then review it carefully and use it when you talk to them about the pervasiveness of this problem.

Good luck on this and please keep us posted on any results.