ricky101

Any help would be greatly appreciated, here is the background. My GF has a 2013 G37x that just shut off going down the road about a mile from our house one morning about a year ago, Had unit towed to dealership where the crooks told us the motor was seized and it needed to be replaced for 14,000 doallars becuase it had some sludge buildup. I went to dealership to talk to service writer and at that point they wanted to show me the sludge so we checked it out and there was some sludge but not as they described. I asked them to try to start the car which they did and it clicked, the battery was dead- car cranked perfect on a jumper but did not start. Dealer said it was a miscommunication haha. They later called and said it still needed a motor and it would not be covered under warranty becuase they saw sludge. They could not tell me what was actually wrong though. At this point i towed car from dealer and diagnosed it myself- found out it had no spark. Another dealer then looked at car and told me it was sludge buildup and the oil pressure drives spark and it needed a motor as well. Infiniti has been absolutely no help and has been by far the worst company to deal with.
Next step- diagnosing the car- found bank 1 had only about 180psi of compression and bank 2 had around 240. Friend who was a Nissan tech for years suggested the timing jumped and this is a known issue and to replace the small chain on bank 1 and the guides and try it.
Replaced the parts listed above and timed car- still did not start- tested unit- no spark- friend then suggested the cam phasers for the variable timing go bad and to try that. The 2 phasers are around $1000 so I removed them both and put them through an ultra sonic tank to see if that would help. Assembled car again and it still did not start- diagnosed and the car now has spark on bank one but only with one the cam sensors unplugged. Cam sensors and solenoids seem be to good and when switched side to side it does the same thing. Crank sensor was replaced as well. I now have about 210psi on bank one and still have about 240psi compression on bank 2. (I am leaning towards and bad phaser on bank 2 which is making it either advanced or retarded which is causing the high compression numbers on that side?)
Any help in figuring this out would be much appreciated.

SonicVQ

First of all, great work so far.

A few things come to mind:
(1) Are there any engine codes? If so, what are they.
(2) "Standard" compression is 191 psi. Bank 2 is 49 psi higher than it should be. I don't think a malfunctioning/stuck cam phaser would give you higher a compression. I suspect there may be carbon buildup in the combustion chamber. The good news is that this is not something you need to fix to get the engine running.
(3) Have you checked/double checked the cam timing?
(4) Why did you replace the crank sensor?

If there are plans to keep the car, you might want to look into a used motor. If there is a lot of sludge, it may give you other problems once this one is fixed.

ricky101

The only code the car ever had was a cam sensor code when originally at dealership- at that point they told me the sensor had sludge on it and that is why it had that trouble code. I replaced the crank sensor becuase when cranking car with scanner hooked up it wasnt always reading good. once that was replaced we had a solid crank signal at all times. I had a current nissan technician time the car the last time so it should be correct however I will be opening the cover again to make sure in the coming week or so. Just looking for help so I dont put it all back together again without checking all possible things out. The only good news it it only takes me about an hour to dissassembly the car and an hour to re assemble it after doing it a couple times. The nissan technician also had his nissan software and it is all communicating normally and he eliminated the possibility of a bad ECU/ KEY/ or a security issue. Any more help we be greatly appreciated.

SonicVQ

I suspect the ECU is not seeing the correctly timed signals from the cam and/or crank and as a result is not firing some coils. This may be due to stuck VVT phaser, stuck VVT solenoid or low oil pressure.

Tomorrow I will do some more research on the VVEL, VVT and cam timing. Maybe something there will help. I hope to find a cam/crank timing diagram @ start up so we can verify those positions.

If the VVT phasers & solenoids needs to be replaced, a used replacement engine may be your best bet. $1400 - $2400 on eBay.

Did you find any sludge during your tear downs?

SonicVQ

There is a nice cam/crank timing diagram on EC 306 & EC 310. (assuming the VVT doesn't change it too much)

markops2002

Hey - just curious to find out if anyone was able to help ricky101 with his 2013 g37 infiniti problem ?? Had the exact same thing happen to our 2013 g37x. It flat out died a few blocks from the house with no warnings. Had it towed to the dealer. They say too much sludge buildup in the engine and it needs a new - used- one for $6000. Car is still under manufacturers warranty only 52k miles on it. We bought it used -with full manufacturer warranty- at about 44k miles and had the oil changed twice since we owned it. Now Infiniti corporate says it wont honor the warranty because of the sludge. So we have to find an attorney and are going about a lawsuit against the scumbags at Infinity Corporate.

Having the car towed home in a few days. The only code i had on the car before we towed it to the dealership was a camshaft position sensor p0340 on bank-1. Replacing the sensor didnt do anything. But removing the connector to the CPS helped the car start but ran way rough.
Just checking to see if ricky101 resolved his problem because it looks like I'm about to head down the same path.

Surfnazi

Dealers are independent from corporate. Corporate is there to help you resolve issues with the dealer. Each dealer is different

tykoscud

Blaming the dealership or manufacturer because you refused to maintain your vehicle is asinine. Sludge will get into the variable timing system, this is why replacement of the long block is necessary. Get yourself a used engine without sludge and install it.

ANMVQ

iTrader: (13)

How is this even a valid statement :/. You can go out and buy a used motor with 35k on it the original owner NEVER change the oil and you back at square one. An BTW they did two oil changes in 8k miles. Not the every 3k like I do but with in what Infiniti says.

For a dealer to sell you a car still under warranty and then the car has an issue and blame the previous owner and make you pay to fix it is just dirty business.

Fight with Infiniti if you have your maintenance records they should honor your claim

markops2002

Thanks so much for your helpful suggestions. Please go help somebody else..

Airplane

hi🤝
ia have the same issue

did you solve your problem?