Hey guys I need some help here. I drive a 2008 g37s coupe 6MT with 135,000 km's or 84,000 miles. So I was driving to work today and everything was fine. I try to accelerate from a stop light and suddenly my car wont go past 4000 rpms in any gear.It has entered some kind of limp mode. I got a sudden jolt the first time it happened. I tried from 1-4 and the same thing happens. It just cuts off around 4000 rpms. Same thing happens in neutral.

I checked the oil level when i got to work and it was good and the oil was also clean. I got no check engine lights I do occasionally have the slip and vdc light and the brake light on since a month ago ( but i was thinking it was because my brakes are low and need replacing soon). I should also mention that my car is 100% stock.

I tried googling it and some guys say it might be the timing chain cover gasket or sprockets which can cost $2000!! Any of you guys experience the same thing or has any knowledge on how to fix it? Any kind of help will be greatly appreciated.

 

Here's an update guys. On my ride from work to home the car was running fine for the first 20 mins no more limp mode and suddenly the SES light comes on and im back in limp mode but now it cuts off at 2500 rpm. Luckily I was still able to get up to highway speeds by shifting early and staying around 2000 rpm.

First thing I do when I got home was to check for codes. I got P0021 and P0524.

I did some more reading and I found Black Bettys thread and read the whole thing and got a lot of useful information out of it. My symtoms seems similar to his and the other guys thay are having the same problem. Its also ocurring around the same mileage and 2008 and 2009 models are affected.

Im gonna go to Infiniti tomorrow for an oil change and a diagnostic report. After I confirm the problem im going to an indie shop (simone performance) that specializes in infinitis and nissan. Im located in Canada BTW.

 

I remember watching a show called Wheeler Dealers a while back and they were having the same problem with a Jaguar XJ or something like that. They found it to be a sensor issue. The dealership might tell you that you need a new throttle body because they don't sell the sensors individually. If that is the case look at a salvage yard because i believe the parts to be quite expensive. Good Luck

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it certainly seems as though you are suffering like many of the rest of us are with the catastrophic failure of the inner timing chain seal/gasket.

I'm glad you have done some research and reading of what Black Betty is going through along with many of the rest of us with this premature catastrophic failure of an under engineered gasket in a critical high oil pressure area of our engines.

In my opinion, along with many others here and in many other forums, the catastrophic failure of this part should rest solely on the responsibility of Corporate Infiniti/Nissan. They have known about this poorly engineered part for a long time coming and have done nothing but sweep it under the rug in hopes that the problem would never realize it's true potential in malfunction.

My 2008 G37S coupe with 102,000 miles is going through the very same issue. I had my car at my tuner shop yesterday and it seems as though I'm in for at least a $2600 bill to have the engine pulled and both front and rear timing chain gaskets replaced at a minimum.

Please let us all know what your diagnosis is as soon as you get it so we can add another name to the Catastrophic Failure list. I have finally reached my breaking point and I am going to put together a letter of complaint to Corporate Infiniti.

Best of luck

 

OP - i am in Canada as well. i just went through the whole P0524 (and P0113) issue. luckily i was covered by powertrain warranty. i can scan and send you my work order with a parts listing if you would like. if you are paying out of pocket i'd try and order the parts online through the US and save a ton of cash, but it's the labor that really adds up. if you have any mechanic friends or connections try and call in a favor!

more than likely you will have your suspicions confirmed that the problem is low oil pressure caused by the rear timing cover gasket failure. i believe my work order called up ~16-18 hrs of labor. i saw the car part way through and it was a mess. the whole front of the engine and radiator and all related parts gets torn down. you'll install a new timing cover with revised gasket material.

i hope it all works out for you. feel free to ask questions if we can help.

 

It doesn't make any sense to pay for an oil change when you're about to have to pay to have your timing parts removed to fix this problem. P0524 is low oil pressure. It's the rear timing cover gasket.

 

Does this happen only on the 08-09 model??

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. I will post more info about it when I get it diagnosed. I have setup an appointment with an indie shop on Wednesday. I hope I can just get the gasket replaced instead of the whole cover to save $$$$. They claim to know about the issue and gave me a rough estimate of $900 for labor over the phone.

From what ive seen only 08-09 are affected but I could be wrong.

 

All VQ engines are susceptible to have this happen.

 

One more thing to add here, the OEM oil pressure sensor is basically just a switch; it merely reads a minimum amount of pressure, or not. The idiot light will go off when the switch triggers, however (and here's the real kicker) the threshold level is ridiculously low, like engine damagingly low, and certainly far below the factory minimum oil pressure specs. (My car read 5psi on a gauge and NEVER got either an idiot light or a fault code. Spec is a minimum 14psi.)

SO, if you ever get that idiot light to go on, or get an engine fault code for low oil pressure, you need to stop running the engine immediately. DO NOT KEEP DRIVING once you have gotten either of those indications!

 

I have a stupid question, if your car throws a P0524 code (or any code for that matter) will the check engine light come on indicating a code/error has ocured?

 

is there a way to check and see if your car is about to experience this before it becomes to late or any kind of preventive measure? like when the timing cover gasket leaks will it make a visible leak on the cover itself?

 

Most of the questions on this forum lately are stupid. However this is not one of them. The codes are in the ECU and will trigger a MIL. However this is not immediate. A code can be stored in the ECU with a pending status that doesn't yet trigger a MIL. I don't know how long it may be stored as pending before triggering a MIL. Even if the MIL is not lit, checking the codes with an OBD scanning tool will show you the pending codes even if they have not yet that have triggered the light.

There is no way to predict if it will happen on any given engine before it does. There's no warning signs of its eminent occurrence. The leak itself is internal so you will never visually see any evidence of it unless you tear into the front of the motor by removing the front timing cover. Not a simple task. You can check the codes to see if you have P0524 as a pending code that hasn't caused a MIL yet. You can check the oil pressure and if it's low there's a good chance that the bad gasket is the cause.

 

In general, yes it should. In the case of the oil pressure, it should also have triggered the oil can idiot light as well, since it's a dedicated function aside from the check engine light (aka. MIL or SES). For the record, the owners manual covers this all pretty well in the Instrument and Controls section: Warning/Indicator Lights etc.



NO, there is no visible indication of leakage externally. It all occurs within the inner confines of the two halves of the timing covers and drains back down into the oil pan. This is one of main the reasons why it goes unchecked so easily. The oil pressure test is the simplest and most direct method of detection for the condition, unless your car is in a more advanced state of failure and is already exhibiting valve timing malfunction symptoms. Even in that case though, a dealership will first diagnose the oil pressure before proceeding to replace any other individually failing components indicated in the fault codes.

 

^ you raise an interesting point, and one i had thought of previously. what, if any, are the potential long term affects of running with the P0524 low oil pressure code? does low oil pressure = less lubrication for internal engine components? logically i would think so, but i don't know so.

what if a guy keeps the car for 5 years after (my plan) - is there an increased risk of eventual engine failure? i had asked my dealer about this when they did the repair work, to which they answered that there was still enough lubrication to prevent wear. how can i be sure? or is the low oil pressure localized to the timing chain area only, not the cylinders and valves?

in my case i drove with the CEL codes on and off for a few months. the codes would pop up every month or so, then i'd reset the computer and drive normally for another month. during this time i had been into the dealer and they had diagnosed the problem and ordered parts (including a new ECM) which took several weeks. without tearing the heads off and looking inside the engine, how can i be sure that no long term damage has been done?

the car ran fine the entire time. no unusual noises or changes in performance or fuel economy.

a friend of mine had a mazdaspeed6 a few years back and nearly ran it out of oil (1.5L remaining in a 6.5L crankcase) due to a drain plug leak. he is negligent with his cars and had been running with very little oil for months as it turned out. he only found out because i checked his oil before we headed out on a road trip - a force of habit for me no matter whose car it is. he did mentioned the car had been "acting weird" and "making noises" for a while. we got the oil changed right away and went on our way, but his motor lynched itself less than a year later. clearly the damage had been done, particularly in that higher stressed and high temperature turbocharged motor. i know it is a different scenario, but it has me somewhat concerned nonetheless.