I would be interesting to see inside of one of these ECU units. Perhaps from wrecked G37?
Given some cars are fine (no noise) and others start making noise after being in service, I bet there is some component (ex: inductor) that is becoming unglued and starts making the noise. I say unglued because Infiniti (or rather Hitachi) might be trying to prevent the noise from day-one with a conformal coating or other means to stop the vibrations (goop). Peeking inside of an ECU unit might be very telling if we were to see any switching power supply components secured with special materials.

 

A soundclip is not a problem. Nor is a little movie of me, showing with my iphone, the frequency occurring and in real time.

 

I'd say send the recording to Carlos and copy the main tech folks at Infiniti, then take your iphone to the dealer and show them real-time and let them know you've already sent the issue up the line. You can also play your recording to the guys at the dealer to test their hearing! Which app did you download to do the analysis?

 

It's called 'RTA' or real time analyzer. It generates sine wave test tones at any frequency, so one can just play the test tone at differing volumes to dealerships.

Anyone who has this problem who has an iPhone should download this app (30 dollars) use it, get screenshots of the noise, and do as Silver37 has indicated - if I keep the car, I will definitely do all of the above.

 

Man this thread is 16 pages long and growing everyday. I wish Infiniti would pay attention to this issue or atleast take a look at this thread. Im sure if Infiniti knew how severe this issue was, they would step up their efforts.

 

Great work Punker and Ozzy. My car was "singing" again super loud at 10kHz today on the drive to work and back. So aggravating. I need to get a hold of an iphone to replicate and present to my dealer. I'd like to replicate it while they are in the car so I won't get the "Can't duplicate issue" run around again. It's still unbelievable that we are all having to waste our time troubleshooting a problem this bad on our new cars. I'm hoping Infiniti will get the message soon from all of us.

 

We got a call from our dealer in Alexandria VA yesterday. He said that infiniti's engineers are 'well aware' of the issue' at this point, and are looking for a way to solve it. They are calling it the 'young ears' problem, for obvious reasons. They also said that solutions they have tried so far have been hit or miss, but one that creates more problems than it solves (generally speaking) is insulating the ECU to dampen the noise. Turns out that spraying foam on an ECU will cause it to heat up too much. Go figure. Right now I've got an old comforter stuffed in the passenger footwell. It works, kind of. So, bottom line - infiniti knows, and is working on it. The very latest I'd expect a solution is right before they roll out next years models. They dont want to perpetuate the issue, but the die has been cast for our model years.

 

Could someone explain how the ECU is the cause of this issue? Since the noise only happens when in motion and gone when stopped, I would think it is something activated when the car is in motion. Does the ECU send out signals or something once the your press the gas?

 

If any of you have any sound clips of this and could post the files somewhere that would be great. I wouldn't mind hearing some examples of it to give me an idea of just how irritating it might be for me.

 

Good update punker...hope there is a fix soon.

Netmag.....this isn't an actual soundclip from a G37, but here's a wav file that should give you an idea of what we are talking about...

Here's a sample:
The play button is hard to find, but it's right above the yellow box.
freesound view sample TONE 10 kHz 44.1 16bit.wav

 

1. I'll record it, and post a file. Since the big I is already aware and working on an issue, that may not be so relevant or useful.

2. My theory is that it is a power/signaling supply issue. I have a variety of electrical devices in my home that emit the same sort of tone of you listen closely, when they are receiving power. I am betting the ECU may alter or change its power load based on engine input and parameters from the 'throttle', signal strengths alter, and things go awry. Whatever it is, it's definitely about throttle input and RPMs.

3. The new model debut/rollout is begins December 1 - are we getting a fix before that time? I would hope they do it quickly before they are inundated with calls from new owners. Or that bad word of mouth hurts sales.

4. Punker, that is exactly what I told the service tech!! That I did not think that covering an electronic device, which generates heat in an already hot environment was a good idea, and he agreed.

Has anybody though about using audio insulation on the interior section of the dash and footwell, and under the carpeting? I wonder if it would be possible to get insulation like dynamat into those areas? It wouldn't take much of a layer - very high frequency sounds are super-sensitive to insulation, and are extremely directional - some insulation in the right spot would make a big difference, I think.

 

Ozzy...I was thinking the exact same thing about the dynamat! I haven't looked at that area closely enough to see whether that's possible. I was thinking higher up...like the glove box!

 

I've been sitting on the sidelines for a while just reading the posts here for updates because of course Infiniti has not called back.

Thanks to all who have done a lot of experimenting and testing.

I just wanted to point out that in an earlier post, someone said the sound was motion related.......I don't think it has anything to do with whether the car is in motion or not. The sound clicks in at about 1,000 rpms whether in drive, park, nuetral....whatever. A light pressure on the throttle, and once you get to that RPM, there's the noise.

I've had my car since August.....sound hasn't gotten any worse but is very very annoying.

What needs to happen.....someone gets in an accident while adjusting the comforter they put down in the passenger footwell to block the sound?

I'd be happy to sign on to anything sent to Infiniti on behalf of the group.

Thanks again to all of you.

 

By the way, the soundclip you posted Silver is a very good representation of what I hear....albeit the clip seems much louder than my car....it does exhibit the same qualities in that when I play it, I can't really tell where it is coming from.....also, just moving my head around to different positions has an impact of how loud it is......and also, I hear it much better in one ear than the other. Great work.

 

I took my G37 S coupe in to the dealership who gave me the "cannot duplicate" runaround until I returned this morning with the G37 sedan loaner they gave me. The technician acknowledged hearing the sound in the loaner, which enabled him to hear the sound in my car.

The service manager scheduled an appointment for me and my girlfriend (who has an 09 EX35 with the same problem) to meet with a "District Technical Specialist" from the factory in a couple of weeks. If this appointment goes poorly, I like the idea of drafting a signed letter to consumer reports, edmunds, etc. to try to get Infiniti's attention.

I will post how the appointment with the DTS goes. For now, I'm just happy to be moving above the dealership level...