Potentially serious safety defect

rijc99

Member
This may not apply to FX's but what the heck, better safe then sorry.

In addition to my 09 FX, I have a 06 M and 11 G37 Sedan.

This is my post regarding my 2011 Sedan posted on a G forum. I'm hoping this condition is limited to the G line but just to be safe, I thought I'd copy it here. In addition to my car, I know of one other that has the exact same condition so it is not an isolated incident and looks to be a legitimate concern.

"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."
 
Sounds like you have a lemon. I'm a frequent member on the G37 forums and never heard of this issue once.

One question though. How would it be a safety problem? From what I see it wouldn't matter if the car is shut off because as long as it's in the park position the car isn't going anywhere regardless if it stays running or not. Just sounds like a defect more than a safety concern. Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Possibly, but with the other G25 having the same exact issue as me...

I'm hoping they'll call it a lemon and just put me in another car. I do not have any faith is this one at this point because I doubt they'll replace the entire system.

---------- Post added at 12:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:26 PM ----------

It may not be to you or I. But remember, even a CHP officer couldn't remember to bump his shift lever to neutral when he couldn't slow his car down. I would posit some people would see this as a safety concern. The car is running and cannot be shut down and the door locks do not work. I could potentially see someone putting the car in the garage while trying to call the dealer to see what to do because they do not want their car being driven off. There may also be numerous situations where the engine has to be shut off by an emergency responder ie, in an accident.

The keyless system has a built in safety so you can shut the car off when all else fails. That safety is a long press or multiple quick presses. This defect bypasses that safety.


Here's one other... G25. Yes, it's only two. But, mine is 2011 and the other is either 2011 or 2012. It may be a new problem related to new supplier. Plus, most people are not on these forums.
 
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