SkyMG37x

With just over 10K miles and 9 months of ownership this is the first time I've ever had to have my car towed in the 30 years I've been driving.

As I was leaving work last night the car seemed to be running a bit rough but it almost felt like I was driving over rough pavement. At the traffic light the RPMs started to drop and idle was off, so I figured If I could get it on the highway maybe it would clear itself. But as soon as I tried to merge onto the highway the engine went into limp mode, cut power and the Service Engine light came on. I pulled over, shut it down and restarted but no change. I was able to limp to the next exit but it would cut power as soon as I hit 40 MPH. Called roadside assistance and had the car towed to the dealer.

I read a similar post that said it was one of the VVEL bank motors and harness. It makes sense since the blinking MIL indicates an emissions system issue. The funny thing is the car was at the airport for a day and I drove it this morning to the office with not even a hint of a problem. Oh well, let's see what the dealer says.

I'm a bit disappointed that a car this new crapped out when I've had 9 year old Chevy's that never had a problem.

JonfromCB

Sky', sorry to hear about your misfortune. Can you tell us what oil you are using
and how many miles are on it? Good luck

SkyMG37x

Currently has 10.5K miles and been serviced at the dealer under their maintenance plan every 3 months/3750 miles. It was coming up to it's third service in the next few weeks. They don't use Ester in their changes and I don't believe this is a lubrication issue. I check the oil regularly and there's no usage. It's not driven hard at all with the occasional hard acceleration but rarely WOT.

Spoke to the dealer a short time ago and although the MIL is still on he said the tech drove it for quite a while and it's not cutting out. They'll look at what the stored codes say. He stated it may be temperature related which I dismiss since the car was cold when I drove it last night and the problem hit almost immediately.

I have to call them back in 2 hours to see if they can diagnose or need to give me a loaner. I'd hate to get it back without them finding the problem and it hitting again. We'll see.

mw09g37

iTrader: (3)

the fact that your car went limp, i believe doesn't make it a VVEL bank issue. the VVEL bank even with conventional oil a the most was occurrences of noise, not poor engine performance.

I mean for your car to go limp would be like a fuel issue... either fuel pump, bad injector, or a bad o2 sensor screwing with your ECU.

SkyMG37x

Since it's Saturday and their shop isn't open all day they decided to give me a loaner. Also their diagnostic computers get updated so they couldn't use them to troubleshoot. They expect to have an answer on Monday and are thinking it's an intake issue on one side.

MW: My understanding is the failsafe mode will kick in whenever either the ECU detects conditions that may damage the engine at higher RPM or the ECU gets data outside of proper range. The manual says it's due to emission system problems which can mean anything related to air/fuel, O2, MAF, etc. I had seen a prior thread with similar issues where the VVEL motor as a problem and prevented the valves from properly opening or closing for the engine operating parameters. Don't forget that this engine uses the VVEL system to control intake flow more than a typical throttle butterfly. I'm not overly worried but hope they have a definitive answer. So far they've been pretty good.

SkyMG37x

Dealer called and said they're working with Infiniti technical support and believe it's either an solenoid or one of the throttle controls (they didn't get more specific). I'll be holding on to the loaner for a few more days. Once they're done I'll post the details of what was replaced.

Wongster

Sky - Sorry to hear about the problem with your G37. I hope the tech support guys find a solution to your problem and get it fixed right.

BTW, I was the one who had the bad bank 1 VVEL actuator and harness replaced. https://www.myg37.com/forums/g37-sed...ler-twice.html

mw09g37

iTrader: (3)

hmmm this would be the 5th or 6th occurrence of this situation.

you guys have a build date we can refer to?

Wongster

My car was built in November 2008 and delivered in December 2008. I've been using Nissan Ester Oil. I figure I'd throw the type of oil out there too to see if there is a trend.

YO-EL

Any update?

LightsOut

iTrader: (7)

hopefully it's a simple fix

bookgal2

My G37 sedan was one of the first in Colorado and has 17400 miles at roughly 1 year old
In the past 2 weeks while cruising at around 40 mph it has had a sudden drop in power and starting lurching or misfiring--the first time I continued along the side of the road for about 10 miles until I came to a station where I called the dealership who suggested a tow
After turning the engine off and on again the problem disappeared, canceled the towtruck and as the problem was intermittent and therefore "unidentifiable" drove the car home. It was fine for about a week until it repeated the same behavior. We are talking a sharp and sudden drop in power and the inability to accelerate or even get up to 20 mph with substantial lurching.
I called the dealership again and after a 3 person runaround(long story) was finally told that some of the G37's have a programming problem which causes this loss of power and that Infinity has a simple "fix" already out for it--Needless to say I was angry that I wasn't told of the possible problem which Infinity was fully aware of and had been for long enough to generate a fix but when I asked Infinity about it they merely said that only "some" of the vehicles had this problem so they weren't notifying owners.
From the mileage differences I'm hearing on this problem it sounds more as if some of them haven't had it "yet" but Infinity will only acknowledge and correct it when presented with the malfunctioning auto. Personally I consider this irresponsible on the part of Infinity-- a sudden loss of power could be dangerous in situations like freeway speeds or at the point of merging--and I am merely thankful it malfunctioned when I was driving on country roads as apposed to my teenage daughter on the freeway!!
Anyway your dealership should provide the quick programming fix to stop the loss of power.
I wonder what else they know could go wrong on my vehicle but aren't telling me about?

bookgal2

My car had the sudden loss of power and only after the second incident and a 3 person runaround did I find a tech who knew that Infinity had a simple programming "fix" for this known problem in "some" of the G37's

Hi Alt G

Which dealer are you using?

BTW, it is Infiniti

SkyMG37x

Car is still at the dealer. I had to take a short business trip and heading back home today. When I spoke to them on Monday they expected to have it ready by EOD today. I'll let you know what I find.

About the programming fix, I find that strange since I had no issues since I got the car. I bought it in May '09 and believe the manufacture date on the door sill is late 2008.