chadyoshikawa

Went to the mall and after about 2-3 hours of shopping, came back to find my battery dead. The strange thing is that the fog lights were on and there was no way to turn them off.

Car is 1 week old and has 98 miles on it. Now, after reading up on the forums about g37 battery problems, I'm starting to regret buying this car.

I don't see any issues w/ 2011 models, and I don't know if the service bulletin ITB10-010b applies to models > 2009.

Anyone else having similar issues? I hope it's just the case of a bad battery but this shouldn't happen on a $40K+ car.

danno62

A little confused, but do you feel like you know this car well? I'd say the battery is not your primary problem. Perhaps a switch, may be the one for the fog lights, which you indicate are on and can't be turned off, might, perhaps, be sucking the voltage right out of the battery? I wonder?

How did you get home from the Mall? How were the fog lights shining if the battery was dead? Is it fixed now? How did it get fixed...or did you hitch a ride home, read up on bad batteries on the Forum and then write to tell all of us? If so, when will you have the car looked at...during the next shopping spree?

chadyoshikawa

The fog lights were shining when the battery was dead (almost dead -- couldn't start the car and couldn't turn the headlights on). Switching the fog lights on/off had no effect -- they were still shining. Strange. Given that the lights go off automatically after 45 seconds, I can't imagine a situation that would cause the fog lights to be on when I came back to the car.

I ended up calling Inifiniti road side -- they came out in about 20 minutes, which was great, and gave the car a jump. I'm scheduled to go into get the car looked at tomorrow morning at the service department. Will have more information then. The battery is now putting out 13.05V with the engine off.

xyz

iTrader: (1)

Mine did this too when the battery was dying. I think I read somewhere that the car would try to drain all of the battery in an event where the battery is low, i forgot what the reason was. Try reading the big long battery dying thread.

RYs06MT

iTrader: (4)

probably the 08/09 problem, take it to the dealership they will run a test on it, if it fails you will get a new one.

dkmura

So, if it's as simple as a battery problem, you'll get it replaced. If there's a switch or relay issue, again you'll get it changed out under warranty.

Yes, it's an inconvenience.

But if you're not enjoying driving your G37 by now, I wonder why you bought one in the first place? There's a hundred other reasons, from design to interior appointments, performance to build quality, to enjoy about the G37X. Having "regrets" over such a minor issue means your own confidence is pretty fragile.

chadyoshikawa

Update. Took into the dealership and they checked for the valve issue -- didn't find anything and the vcv didn't need replacing. Maintenance mentioned that even newer G37's can have the issue -- it's hit or miss according to the mechanic @ the dealership. My own parasitic tests were showing around 10-20ma drain, which is within acceptable ranges (even a little on the low side). Had to hook up the meter to the battery for > 10 minutes -- first few minutes show a 600-700ma drain, which can be attributed to systems powering off, car alarm, etc. or so I've read.

For peace of mind, ordered a Yellow Top Optima. Seems to have gotten good reviews and probably provides better reserve and CA/CCA than the OEM battery, although OEM battery specs seem hard to come by. I'll probably also shorten the lights auto-shutoff down to 10 seconds or less from the default 45 -- and be much more attentive to ACC mode, etc.

Thanks for the info everyone. G37 is a great car, no doubt, and an enjoyable ride. Service Department was top notch -- better than the experience w/ Audi FWIW.

llee916

Just something to think about:

When you buy your new car from the dealer, don't forget that it might have been sitting in the lot for weeks or months and people have sat in it and turned it on using the battery for some periods of time several times when the vehicle was sitting on the lot.

Same thing about oil changes - I would change it soon after buying the car since the oil could be up to a year old from the factory.

Same thing for windshield wipers - I regret not getting new ones when driving off the lot. My brand new G37 doesn't wipe well since the wiper blades are old now since it was baked this past summer sitting in the lot.

ipl

On Friday, I went to Scottsdale and purchased a 2011 g37s sedan black black prem and nav, brand new, tore the plastic off myself. Got the price I wanted too. Had an 06x same packages (no sport though) put 99k on it in 4 years from brand new, plan to do the same with this one!

MOONLIGHT37

Before I got my 2009 G37x i went to start it on the lot and it didn't even start... I think the battery must drain from not being driven frequently?

linusent01

I have my 2011 G37s sedan for 1 month, approx 850 miles on it when I just got the dreaded dead battery issue. Here's my experience...
The whole time I have had the car, I got various lights indicating that I should recharge my key fob, which I ignored since I had no clue what it meant. Then one day I took the car to work, got out and locked it successfully (heard the beeps). Unfortunately I then realized then that my sunroof was left open, so I jumped back in, put the car in ACC (keys still in pocket), and closed the sunroof. All was good except I couldn't lock the doors after at all when I was finished. Locking the car did not work after several attempts with the key fob, drivers door button, and psgr door button. So I decided to just leave it and walk away to work. Unfortunately when I came out (8rs later)... dead battery, car would not start. I couldn't get into the trunk to get my manual because the battery is dead of course. So there I was stranded with no phone number of the Infiniti road side assistance because that was all locked up in the trunk. Later I figured out to go thru my rear pass-thru and get my jumper cables.

I'm going to give this car the benefit of the doubt and blame myself. I will do the following from now on...
1. No more using the auto head lights (I don't trust it).
2. Always recharge the key fob while driving.
3. Turn off everything manually (air cond, radio, etc) before shutting off the engine.
4. Close all windows before shutting off engine.
5. No more fog lights unless you really need it.

And now if the dead battery ever happens to me again, I will know it wasn't something stupid I did wrong and will call service for a software update, yellow top battery upgrade, blah blah blah. I'll update this post and let you all know if this problem has been resolved or not.

sniper27

iTrader: (2)

recharge your key fob while driving?

maxfinity

Weird. I dont recall being able to close my sunroof in ACC mode. Also the Keyfob is not rechargeable. The slot is only to allow you to start the car in the event that the key fully discharges. My car turns one in June and the only dead battery issue I had was caused by me leaving the car in the ON position by mistake after turning the car on to close the sunroof. If you leave the carr in ACC mode it will automatically shut off after awhile. (Found this out when I left it in ACC mode to charge my phone while I ate at a resturant. Came out and car was completely off) I use auto lights and my fogs religiously. I would take my car to the dealer if I were you. Seems like you may have an underlying problem.

pricojorge

iTrader: (3)

FOB isnt rechargeable, trust me ... i thought the exact same thing, I was saying to myself, wtf how long do i need to keep this thing in here for it to fully charge !?
then read that its only for when it dies .. lol

kaoticdemize

iTrader: (2)

the sunroof CAN be worked in acc mode, as can everything else, just need to hit the start stop button twice without the brake. All new 2011's now though come with transport mode on when sitting on the lot to avoid draining the battery.