Engine is dead at 114000km (70,000 miles) 2009 fx50

T

toronto.fx50

Member
2009 FX50 114,000km

I purchased a used 2009 FX50 with 45,000km in 2011 for approximately $45,000. I get the vehicle serviced at a friends Nissan dealership.

I was driving with my brother on the highway and the engine starts knocking randomly. We pull over and it keeps happening. I turn it off and wait a few minutes. We thought it may have something to do with spark plugs or alternator. I fire it backup and it seems to be running smooth again but notice the engine light is on and blinking and randomly knocks as I continue to drive. I immediately take it to my dealership (Alta Infiniti www.altainfinitiwoodbridge.com ) and drop it off for service. The next day service calls me and tells me that the engine is dead. DEAD! He told me that the engine was not even turning over. He told me that when the mechanic finally got it into the bay that he checked the oil and said the engine is dead. I asked how he could tell from just checking the oil - he said that the mechanic knows what to look for. He then tells me that a diagnostic to even see what the issue is will cost $600 - $1000 and a new engine will be $15,750 + tax. At this point I was a little shocked and kind of pissed about how they approached me without really knowing what the problem is and just assuming that the engine needs to be replaced. So I asked him about the warranty on the car. In Canada the engine warranty is 110,000km, making me 4000km out of warranty. He suggested that I contact the manufacturer directly and deal with them. I contacted Infiniti Canada and began a file on the issue. They said they would contact me in a few days and let me know what the result of the investigation was. Today after a week of waiting, I decided to contact them. They said that the file had been reviewed by the "highest person" at Infiniti Canada and that they were not going to cover any replacement of the vehicles engine. I requested to speak with the supervisor and I am waiting to hear back from them now.

After 2 years of driving the vehicle its kind of ridiculous that the engine has failed and just right out of warranty. If anyone has any suggestions on how to approach the manufacturer your help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
If you purchased it with 27,000 miles its possible that the previous owner never even bothered to change the oil

It's almost impossible for that engine to just take a crap and certainly not a common problem.
 
Wow, man... that sucks big time. Not sure how you approach the people, but it sounds like they just don't care... I had my engine go out about 48k miles into it... I did not have any waranty (it was over because car has not been driven a lot, only 17k in over three years). I took it to my dealership, and in about two days one of the managers called me and said they have talked to "big office" and will replace my engine NO CHARGE... And I was not even asking about engine replacement. They gave me a loaner for a week, and I think i ended up paying like $271 (for whatever) when I picked up my car with brand new engine... I know, does not help you much though...

---------- Post added at 09:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:23 AM ----------

That is exactly what my dealership told me, one oil change (at 11k) in three years...

Fire0nic3FX said:
If you purchased it with 27,000 miles its possible that the previous owner never even bothered to change the oil

It's almost impossible for that engine to just take a crap and certainly not a common problem.
Click to expand...
 
If it was a leased car it's possible that it wasn't changed at all. The head mechanic at my dealership told me before alot of people, especially the older crowd don't even bother to pay for oil changes when they lease a car because they believe it's not their problem when they get out of their lease 2 years from now. By the way that conversation got brought up when I was asking about common issues on Infiniti's
 
Wow, that sucks. Generally, maintenance records are the most important to leverage with any engine problem. How good are your maintenance records?
 
Im going to ask the dealership to get me a copy of all the records for the service on it. Maybe it wasn't maintained properly before I purchased it. Are there any manufacture defects related to seizures Have a look at this article. www.autoblog.com/2011/12/24/nissan-initiates-multi-vehicle-recall-over-faulty-bolts/

It says that faulty oil pan bolts caused seizures in engines. I know its for the 2011 models but is there a possibility that this was something that was not addressed for 2009, 2010 models?
 
did u check the oil level when u pulled over the side of the road or at any other times before taking it to the dealership for engine diagnostic? where's the vehicle now?
 
I did check the oil when I got it to the dealership. I was due for an oil change at 115000km. Overall the oil level seemed to be fine from what I could tell. Also nothing seemed to be broken or damaged under the hood (in terms of fans, belts) from what I could see.

The vehicle is currently at the dealership.


 
Second opinion would be only to verify that engine is in fact dead and not some other repairable issue.
 
MTN FX said:
I would get a second opinion from another shop.
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If they contacted the manufacture already and the manufacture is telling me that they are not going to do anything about it, do you think another shop will have better luck with the manufature to get the engine repaired / replaced? Even though the manufacture is telling me that they have already made a decision? I still am waiting to hear back from the supervisor at Infiniti Canada.
 
toronto.fx50 said:
If they contacted the manufacture already and the manufacture is telling me that they are not going to do anything about it, do you think another shop will have better luck with the manufature to get the engine repaired / replaced? Even though the manufacture is telling me that they have already made a decision? I still am waiting to hear back from the supervisor at Infiniti Canada.[/QUOTE
I doubt any warranty coverage will be made available by their response but I would still want a second opinion on what's wrong with it. Also I would take it somewhere other than an Infiniti Dealership to get estimates of repair cost. If you do t have a trusted mechanic you can even go to a Nissan dealership would probably be less expensive than the Infiniti Dealership.
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i would get an official response from infiniti on why they're denying your claim. if they said you're 4K km over then tell them their odometer isn't 100% accurate so actual driven km may actually be less than shown. the only things that i can think of that will seize the engine up like in your case is no oil, low oil, oil contamination or low oil pressure condition. u will also need to talk to the mechanic or a maintenance supervisor on why they said that the engine is "dead" after checking just the oil. who did the last oil change? was the right oil used and what brand of oil filter?
 
1bad_fx45 said:
i would get an official response from infiniti on why they're denying your claim. if they said you're 4K km over then tell them their odometer isn't 100% accurate so actual driven km may actually be less than shown. the only things that i can think of that will seize the engine up like in your case is no oil, low oil, oil contamination or low oil pressure condition. u will also need to talk to the mechanic or a maintenance supervisor on why they said that the engine is "dead" after checking just the oil. who did the last oil change? was the right oil used and what brand of oil filter?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice.

Do you think no, low oil or low oil pressure would give me feedback to my gauges? When I stopped after the initial knocking, I did look at the gauges to see if there was any overheating - Everything seemed to be fine.

What would cause oil contamination?

The last oil change was done by my friend at his Nissan dealership. Im not sure what oil or brand was used but I can find out this information shortly.

---------- Post added at 08:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:08 AM ----------

So I just got off a 25 minute call with the supervisor from Infiniti Canada. I explained the entire situation to him and he said that Infiniti Canada will not help financially with this issue. He suggested to me that I go ahead with the diagnostic and see what the actual issue is. I think that the dealership doesnt want to help me because I dont do my service with them and they most likely expressed that to Infiniti Canada. Very disappointed with Infiniti right now.

Im going to do as MTN FX suggested and bring it to my friends Nissan dealership to have a look at it.

I will update once I get the 'good news' back from him...
 
Thanks for the link 1bad_fx45

My friend at the Nissan dealership was shocked with Infiniti Canada's decision. He suggested to me to take this to www.camvap.ca - This is the 'Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan' - who governs all of the automotive industries in Canada. They deal with manufacture warranty disputes between consumers and manufacturers. They are really the last stop I have before moving this towards somewhere I really, really dont want to go.

I've submitted the online form and will wait to hear back from them.
 
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