rijc99

iTrader: (1)

Hi guys, my 2011 G37 Sedan with 6,000 miles has just experienced a serious failure in one of its systems.

Basically it started like this. On Saturday, I started the car and noticed the instrument cluster showed the front passenger door as open. I had my passenger open and close the door to make sure it was closed. It was definitely closed. At this point, I'm thinking I had a bad door switch so I thought no big deal, I'll bring it in on Monday.

But, when I tried to shut the car off with the console button, NO RESPONSE. I remembered during the Toyota pedal mess, it was shown that keyless ignition systems have a bypass where you can shut the car off by a long press or numerous presses in rapid succession. None of these actions would turn the car off. The glitch/malfunction had effectively bypassed all the safety functions that should have been there had I needed to shut the car down in an emergency.

At this point, I had no choice but to go immediately to Infiniti as my car will not shut down AND the doors will not lock unless they are manually engaged.

When I pulled into the dealer, THEY couldn't shut the car down nor did they know how to shut it down. When I went to the dealer to get some of my stuff, the service writer told me they were finally able to shut the car off. So I suspect it wasn't easy. I checked on my car and one of the techs had a laptop hooked up to the OBDII port and was reading some numbers over the phone to who I assumed was a manufacturer engineer.

Doing an internet search, I found this thread. G25

That owner had 734 miles on the G25 and experienced the same conditions. Front passenger door shows it's open, power door locks won't work and car won't shut off.

This tells me that the problem is not limited to my car but may be a potential defect in design in one of the systems.

I don't think I'm blowing the seriousness of this situation out of proportions because we were told the keyless ignition system had a built in safety in which you could shut the car off if needed. This fault bypasses that safety. If this had occurred during a time or location where you could not bring immediately bring the car to Infiniti what would your options be? The car can't be shut off and the power door locks do not work. Yes, you could manually lock the car but that leaves the fact the car is running without security. It is a potential danger as someone could break in and take the car not to mention the car is running and spewing out CO. Either way you look at it, there will be no alternative but to bring it to the dealer at the time this occurs.

My concern is my car has the LED driving light package that was purchased through the manufacturer but having found the other thread about the G25 definitely solidifies my mind that this was not caused by the LED set. Tustin has not informed me what they are going to do yet but my thinking is that the G25 should be known to the manufacturer and they should recognize my car as having the same fault. This makes at least 2 that are reported. Mine is 2011 and the G25 seems like it may be 2012 as it was posted about 3 weeks ago with ODO reading of 734.

Should I report to NHTSA? Should I cross post this to other Infiniti vehicles? This seems to be a serious fault. If you have heard of similar situations please send me the info so I can present them to Tustin if they decide to pin this on me.

JSolo

iTrader: (14)

Sounds like a legitimate concern. Though I haven't personally experienced this on my previous car with the push button start, I can only imagine how discerning this must be.

The instructions from the owners manual are as follows

====================
To shut off the engine in an emergency
situation while driving, perform the follow-
ing procedure:

. Rapidly push the push-button ignition
switch 3 consecutive times in less than
1.5 seconds, or

. Push and hold the push-button ignition
switch for more than 2 seconds.
=============

If neither of these work, you truly are up the creek without a paddle.

I suppose us manual guys have one other option - put car in first and let it stall, but that still leaves the vehicle's electronics turned on.

Did the dealer tell you how they got the car to turn off? Is the issue still ongoing - that is, they can't turn it off after restarting? Please keep us informed.

Chris11LE

The car can be shut down, just pull the ECU or Fuel Pump fuse. Yes the CEL will probably be on the next time you start it, but at least the car is shut down.

Its a little scary though, Ill give you that much. Ill keep an eye on my '11.

What is the build date on your vehicle?

QueenCityG37

this does sound serious....i have a 11' sedan...so i will be interested to see whats done to fix this.

keep us posted.

thanks

rijc99

iTrader: (1)

I bought it in September but do not have access to the manufacture date at this time. I'll supplement it in at a later point.

I was thinking to shutting it down by other methods but was thinking I may not be able to replicate the conditions at the dealer so I elected to take it to them to prove to them I wasn't out of my mind.

I can picture it now...
-ME: I can't shut my car off.
-Service Writer: In a condescending tone Have you tried the BIG button on the dash that says Start/Stop?

The service writer told me he believes the tech hotline had their guy pull the computer to shut it off. Now, the car won't start and they want to replace the BCM first to get it started then go from there to figure out how the fault occurred. He then told me the manufacturer tech hotline guys are now in charge of my car. His guys have no discretion at this point. No idea on when my car will be done, its day by day.

My car is now a guinea pig. Hopefully they can figure this out and issue a fix.

Chris11LE

I think the techline guys are pretty smart people.

They helped my dealer diagnose the bad driveshaft on my 500 mile old LE sedan, even before there was a TSB released on the issue that caused it.

I trust they gave you a loaner? I had mine for a week while they waited for the new driveshaft to come in. At least Infiniti seems to treat some of us nicely.

g37guy01

I'm sure it was disconcerting. Did you report this on the NHTSA website?

I'm not really worried it's a widespread issue, it it was, we would have all heard about it.

rijc99

iTrader: (1)

I don't think its widespread but I know of 2 examples. Mine and the other person with the G25. Mine is 2011 and the other a 2011 or 2012.

Hopefully it's just a batch of bad parts and not a bad design.

Either way, I doubt Nissan would release details regarding how many cars there are in this situation but I would suspect there are more than these 2. Most people do not post on these forums and probably never will.

MACS

iTrader: (3)

There is a TSB for our driveshaft? I've had zero issues so far and my car will be 1 yr old the 26th. 13k+ miles so far.

*knocking on wood*

TinsleyC

So they have you in a loaner? I wonder if they tried pressing the button three times fast, or holding it in. I was not aware of those options and consider myself a G37 button expert....

rijc99

iTrader: (1)

Yes I'm in a loaner. I tried the long press and quick presses but no go.

irrelevant

Sorry to lol at this, because I understand it could potentially be serious, but I was reminded of one night about 1 a.m. when I started my car (Ford Thunderbird) so I could go home from a location I'll not disclose.

The car started, but the ignition switch broke. I'm sitting there at 1 a.m. screwing around with it trying to figure out what happened when it dawned on me "I'm an idiot...what if I accidentally shut the car off 35 miles from home?"

I drove the car home. Unable to shut it off, I grabbed an old bath towel, opened up the airbox, and proceeded to strangle the car by shoving the towel into the airbox. Disconnected the battery cable and all was good.

I don't remember how I got the car restarted, but it was without issue as I drove it to the dealership for repair.

rijc99

iTrader: (1)

The visual your story gave me is great. I can almost picture you taking the towel and slow walking toward the car as you suffocated it.

Redfox

rijc99 - Indeed thanks for this information. I have a 2009 G37 Journey Sedan and will be watching out for this potential problem.

devil2k

My airbag light stays on after starting the car at times in winter. Dealership just told me these cars don't like winter and shrug it off