blnewt

iTrader: (13)

That's one of the things I do too. If I end up having to do this I'll pull my truck out of the garage and lay all the parts from front to back in the order they're removed, along w/ plenty of pics. I've done a few timing chain jobs along w/ various motor work on a number of vehicles and so far that method works well for me.

LexiG37

I'm at 83k miles now (2009) and after reading this thread I became quite paranoid. Does this happen to every G37 sooner or later? I'd rather trade this thing in than deal with a $3000 repair. I'd only let Infiniti work on it since I had a bad experience when my old BMW's head cracked and I chose to go the cheaper route by taking it to an indie shop. They didn't fix it right.
I have to say, an oil pressure gauge would be great, but even if you catch the issue early, you still have to get it fixed for big $$$...

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

It seems to be a roll of the dice as there's been vehicles in that range of years that have well over 100k miles w/ no issues. As far as the gauge, it will help to know if & when the pressure falls so you can get the repair, rather than driving until the idiot light comes on which more than likely will result in more serious engine wear.
As far as unloading your G, if you're not able to DIY the repair or feel that $2k would be in your repair budget than it would be reasonable to consider another vehicle. Really sucks that it's come down to this and all for a $10 piece of paper

I'm willing to DIY the repair but hopefully the dice won't come up snake eyes for me.

LexiG37

Some people say that this blow-out may happen to your timing chain gasket(s) regardless of your driving style. But the higher the RPMs, the higher the oil pressure, right? So wouldn't an agressive driving style (read; higher oil pressures) be more likely to blow the gasket out?

I'm trying to figure out if it's worth driving this thing granny-styles just to prevent or reduce the likelyhood of high oil pressure blowing this paper gasket to bits.

Please chime in and educate me.

Black Betty

iTrader: (60)

It doesn't matter how you drive the car, the defect is in the gasket material. Drive like Mario Andretti or grandma - it doesn't matter. It's a crapshoot. I have driven the crap out of my G with lots of miles. No issue. My wife has far fewer miles (80K at the time of the failure) and uses hers strictly as a highway commuter. Hers blew out and mine didn't.

I don't think installing an oil pressure gauge matters at all. When it blows out, you'll get a MIL pretty quickly because the pressure is too low. A gauge will tell you too - after its already blown out just like the MIL. It's not a gradual loss of pressure that a gauge will give you earlier warning. My wife drove hers normally for quite some time after the problem initially occurred while I was trying to diagnose it. When limp mode kicked in, I reset the codes to make it drive normally. I did this a number of times over weeks (or months?) because I was trying other fixes and trying to figure out exactly what the problem was. I wouldn't suggest doing this to anyone, but no engine damage occurred from it in my case. Still clean as a pin inside, no noticeable wear or damage to any components examined. The engine runs great again after the repair.

This is my experience and opinion, YMMV.

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

Thanks for that Jeremy^^
I'm still going to install my gauge just because every car should have one, and maybe, just maybe, I'd notice a change in pressure sooner than that light.
BTW, glad your wifes car is holding up well after that repair.

Black Betty

iTrader: (60)

I'm not saying that no one should install a gauge Brad. If you are FI it's an absolute must. But I can't see it making a difference with this issue other than peace of mind. Can't hurt anything though.

I seldom drive my G lately because I have a company vehicle (F150) as a daily driver and I hardly ever drive the G on the weekend. It's The Mrs' turn for the next new car so we will be selling her sedan and probably not replacing it with another Infiniti. Can't say I blame her. She likes the GS350. I think I can get her to at least test drive a few competitors. A6, Ghibli, ATS V-Sport, and E400. She's pretty keen on buying CPO or an extended warranty now that she's gun shy from this fiasco.

Anybody want to buy an 09 6MT sedan for a good price with new timing gear/chain/tensioner that won't have this gasket issue because it's already been taken care of?

Bocian

I think it is safe to assume that this is not going to happen to every G in the year range of the paper gasket, nor the majority. Every car has its issues and once out of warranty, its gonna hurt the wallet, regardless of what vehicle you have, at least with this, there is a lot of info out there since its a rather common issue.
Also, I wonder if Infiniti would be willing to replace just the two gaskets in question instead of the entire rear timing chain cover which is where the ~3K$ and 18+hrs or labor comes from. With just the gaskets, it cuts the labor in half as well as lessens the amount of parts that need to be replaced. If they have any shred of decency, this option should exist.

OK, these are the parts and part numbers that I replaced, some parts were maintenance and me getting ahead of potential issues but you can judge for yourself which parts you want to replace.

-2 gaskets in question (thankfully now semi metal)
13533-JK21A $23.57
13533-JK21B $4.38

-Camshaft solenoid cover gaskets (these will tear when taking the covers off)
23797-EY01A Right side $3.91
23797-JA10B Left side $3.06

-Front crankshaft oil seal (should never risk reinstalling this used)
13510-31U10 $9.99

-Permatex ultra grey RTV for the timing cover and oil pan
theres no part number, got mine at autozone, its the same exact thing that infiniti/nissan uses, the counter dude actually showed me the permatex tube

-6 camshaft cover oil seals
13042-3HD0A (6 are needed, 3 on each cover) $5.88 each

-2 Coolant extension pipe o-rings (another better safe than sorry part)
21049-AE000 $2.12

-Dipstick guide o-ring (mine tore when removing)
15066-4W000 $0.40

-Thermostat (since I was in there, why not replace a 20$ part)
21200-31U03 $17.25

-Thermostat gasket (doesn't come with the thermostat )
13050-31U00 $3.55

-Water pump (comes with the 2 needed o-rings)
B1010-JK20A $66.67 (if for some reason, the o-rings wont be included their part numbers are 21049-JK20A $3.77 and 21049-JK20B $3.77)

-Timing chain guides
13085-EY00A (smaller guide on driver side) $7.79
13085-JK20A (top guide) $16.34
13091-JK20A (tension side, passenger side guide) $37.83

-Primary timing chain tensioner
13070-EY00A $65.50

-Timing chain
13028-JK20A $87.46 (I didn't replace mine since it theoretically should last the life of the car and mind did look flawless but it wouldn't be a bad idea to replace it since it has to come off anyway)


So that's all the parts in question, hopefully I didn't miss anything, if I find something that I missed, I'll edit and add it in but this should be it.
I hope this helps anyone going through this engineering blunder. I've put in the time and done the research, so hopefully this will cut down the time that anyone else inevitably has to spend when this bs occurs.
If anyone has any questions, pm me or reply here, I'll do my best to help and answer any and all questions. cheers

Bocian

ohh and by they way, when I called the dealer to get some prices (I was originally going to try to get a friends dealer discount) the counter guy told me to go online onto the very website of the dealer I was calling to get much cheaper prices, for example water pump, 115$ when calling to 79$ online on the same dealer's website. Ended up being cheaper then at the dealer parts counter. Also I shopped around the dealers here in Philly and there was a difference in prices everywhere, Infiniti of Willow Grove was the cheapest, the aforementioned pump ended up being 70$ so not too bad.
just a little fyi, check your local dealer's websites (im probably beating that dead horse on this but its something I just found out)

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

Thanks for doing all that legwork, really helpful info you're putting out there.
FWIW Discount Infiniti Parts | Genuine, OEM Infiniti Parts | Infiniti Accessories | Huge Instock Inventory is one of the better online sources. I'll try and run those part #s tonight and post some prices up on your part post.

**EDIT.many of those parts weren't listed at discountinfinitiparts. I used http://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/ and added prices to post #68

Looks to be about $400 for everything including timing chain (shipping & tax not figured in).

m3clubracer

Nissan should give a discount on top of that discounted price for a package deal on the replacement parts since knowing of the flaw, but that would be admitting guilt.

si_driver

Does anyone have a complete list of which years exactly have the paper gasket and at what point Nissan switched to the new one.?

Thanks

I thought I saw something posted a while back but can't seem to find it again.

krazyfiend

^ There is no 'exactness' to pinpointing a specific year, but we can narrow down the range of production quite a bit. Still no certainty on when Nissan started using the most recent metal composition based gaskets on their own production lines, only when the gaskets were introduced to the Nissan parts system.

Ryne provided a revision chart of said gaskets:
https://www.myg37.com/forums/g37-cou...ml#post3881512

and vqsmile posted this over at g35driver and it's just as relevant to us.
Basically, if you have a 2012, you might be safe.. anything prior, you should definitely be aware of this gasket issue-- have your oil pressure tested for good measure if your warranty is about to expire and if not, know what it takes to resolve the issue before catastrophic issues arise. If you have a 2013+, odds are you have the updated gaskets.

I've yet to read about a 2012 encountering this issue, let alone a 2011... just to put that out there.

si_driver

Just checked my car and it has a production date of 8/11

What are the chances I have the newer revised gasket?

Tom

Black Betty

iTrader: (60)

If the revised one didn't exist until a month after your build date, I'd say 0%. Unless your car was built in a time machine.

However, worrying about it is counterproductive. Sure, nobody wants to have a failure and expensive repair. But if it's got the inferior gasket, there's still only a small chance that it'll fail. And if it's going to there's nothing you can do about it unless you want to pay thousands of dollars on the premise that MAYBE it'll fail. Check oil pressure and if it's normal be happy. If not get it fixed under warranty or out of pocket if your warranty's expired.