Hello! I read this forum alot more than I participate in it, haha. Just got back from 10 days away from the car (actually it's my wife's car), and she went to start it yesterday and it wouldn't start.
I got home and jumped it, let it run and let the top down (of course) and ran it around the neighborhood. It restarted fine, seemed to run well, etc.
I did notice right after it started when I jumped it, there was a brief period of (somewhat heavy) smoke coming out from the right side of the engine (looking from the front of the car).I believe it was wisping up between the air intake and the engine, but seemed to be coming from below somewhere. It was bad enough that I turned the engine off, tried to look around a little, then restarted.
No smoke on restart, but a few minutes later as it was idling there was just a few seconds where it did it again, then stopped.
I'm fairly certain it was oil, but it almost smelled a little like a belt burning for a little bit. I did not see any smoke coming off the serpentine belt, the smoke was further back and more on the right side of the engine.
There's no leaks showing under the car (garage kept), so I'm a bit confused as to what to do at this point. Thanks for any advice.

 

The dead battery start and the smoke could be unrelated. Unless the car is throwing a oil pressure code (and being a 2014 you should be clear of the timing gasket issue) I wouldn't think it was anything more than that. Is it the original battery?

Check the CV joint on the driver's side. When it ruptures, it flings on the bottom/side of the motor and burns off white. Has a...pungent(?) smell. Probably happened before parking for 10 days then, upon initial start up, burned all of it off at once. Your test drive would've slung little bits here and there onto the engine and burned off bit by bit as you drove. Hence, it coming and going.

I've dealt with two of them on the G and what your describing is what I had experienced when the CV boots tore open.

 

2014 G37s?
Or Q40?
Or Q60?

I like where RMB is thinking, but sounds like RMB is thinking the front axle boot on an AWD version would be possible, but a "G37s" is not AWD.

Need better description of the car, including mileage. BTW, belt and oil are made of similar products so could smell similarly, but if you are smoking a belt on a newer VQ you'd have other issues like idler noises or constant squealing going on also.

 

Thanks, yall. Yep 2014 G37s, I had it in my sig but should have specified that was the car with the trouble, haha. It's low mileage (less than 40k I think), my wife drives it so I'm not in it much. The car is in great shape, I should have mentioned that it was my mom's for a couple of years before my wife and I got it, and it sat ALOT for long periods of time when my mom had it.
So the car runs great, looks great, etc. but we've had to replace the battery less than a year ago and have had some trouble with the top getting stuck, I'm thinking alot of that is related to the car sitting for long periods of time before. It gets driven several times a week now that my wife has it, and we've had it maybe a year.

 

Ah, OK, it's an early 2014 G37s convertible?
So, can't be AWD, rule the leaky boot idea out.
Smoke from driver side of engine quite often from oil filler cap being loose, or a recently sloppy oil fill. The oil has time to work it's way down to the exhaust header an collect a bit more than if you are regularly running the car and burning off unnoticeable amounts.

Also, my dealer replaced my valve cover gaskets at 29K miles. I don't know if they were milking the warranty, but I never had an oil leak, but they were going to give me a new Infiniti loaner car and it was free so I let them do it. I highly doubt the gaskets were bad, not a known issue for these cars.

 

Yep, that's it, 2014 G37s convertible. Thanks for the info, it's not AWD. I did check the oil cap, it seemed tight but the oil was changed fairly recently, so that may be it. I sure hope so!
But I'll keep an eye on it in case it happens to be a valve cover gasket or something. Thanks again! (edit- I updated my sig to be more specific for future posts)