max223

Hi guys,

I've recently had some electrical issues with my 2010 G37x sedan that just went out of warranty (~50k miles).

The first time the car started up but instantly went into limp mode with engine light on. I had to get it towed to the dealer around Christmas and needed it ready for a 2k mile road trip. They said it was just a fuse that blew on the TCM and it was working fine after replacing it. They said the fuse should not blow, but there must be some short that caused it.

Two weeks later, after the roadtrip with no issues, i started the car up and the snow mode button started smoking and a small flame came out of it! I shut it all off and opened the console to find the snow mode connector and nearby seat heater were completely melted. The dealer got the car started with another replaced fuse and taped off the connectors. They wanted $5-6k for a whole new main harness which I obviously turned down and opted to sacrifice the snow mode and heated seats for the time being.

My two questions are: Has anyone had a similar issue with this? Could it just have been a bad switch on my car? I haven't had any issues in the past 2 years and 25k miles since buying it CPO.

How should i go about replacing the connectors? I would need to wire in a new connector to the main harness, but I have not been able to find anything on the infiniti parts sites or eBay. Would a junk yard be a good place to go snip off a new piece of connector and wiring harness? Is it even worth it to replace? I'm mostly worried about getting the heated seats working. I have snow tires and AWD, so I've rarely ever used it.

Any help would be appreciated! Thank you.

dkmura

There's a bigger problem that's not being addressed. Your G should not be blowing any fuses or (obviously) catching on fire unless there's a short or electrical malfunction causing it. Has there been any changes to your G which might be involved? Even installing a switch, headunit or something that involved the electrical system.

As for repairing the main harness, unless you are an experienced mechanic or electrician, I think you're risking even further damage. What kind of DIY skills do you have?

SonicVQ

The first step it to determine where the short it.
Since the TCM fuse blew, look at the wiring diagram in the shop manual and see what circuits are on it.

Disconnect the snow mode switch and heated seats switch. Use a meter to ensure there isn't a short. Drive the car and see if any fuses blow. It may of been possible for coffee or some other drink to spin onto the switches.

You could always get a partial harness from a scrap yard and splice it in.

If you don't have experience with a meter and working with wiring, it would be best to get an expert to do this. The consequence for doing this incorrectly could be harmful.

max223

Thanks for the input guys, I have a fair amount of DIY skills and would be able to correctly solder in a new connector - but like you said, there seems to be a bigger underlying issue.

The only aftermarket electrical components I had were HID fog lights and a radar detector wired to the rearview mirror. I removed both the fog lights and detector after the first incident, which leaves no aftermarket components during the second incident with the snow switch. Right now the snow switch and seat ***** are both cut and taped off by the dealer and the car is running fine.

I'm not sure if an electrical issue like this would come and go as it seems to be, I would think that a short would happen all the time until it was directly resolved.

SonicVQ

Was anything spilled on the switches? (Coffee, tea, pop, etc?)

m3clubracer

Any stereo or inputs in the center console wiring done previously?

max223

Nope, nothing spilled on the switch that I know of. My girlfriend was the last to drive it before it happened so I'll have to check with her. I would think that a fuse would blow before the switch melted, but in this case that would make sense.

I have installed a GROM bluetooth unit to the XM radio input. Have had it in there for almost 2 years with no problems, so not sure if that would have anything to do with it.

Unfortunately the dealership does not seem to be able to locate the problem, or willing to investigate/recommend anything outside of replacing the entire main harness for $5400.. They said the visual inspection didn't point to any shorting problems, but obviously a visual inspection won't reveal anything.

Black Betty

iTrader: (60)

That sounds like a serious safety issue. Maybe do some e-sleuthing to see if you find any other instances of this.

I would think that they might have wanted to bring your car in and have their engineers thoroughly examine it to see if they have a serious problem with something on their end or of it's something that happened to the car after it was built.

No electronic mods or work done at all?

max223

My thoughts as well.. After the first TCM fuse issue I had removed the HID fog lights and hardwired detector. During the time of the incident the only electrical component was the bluetooth adapter, which is pretty much just plug and play into the XM port on the radio.

I looked around the forums and across other sites without much luck - I was hoping someone here might have heard something that I missed.

I don't know if I should taking it to another dealership or not. Unfortunately I live downtown with very little access to tools or a garage to check it out myself. The car is only 5-6 years old with 50k miles, but I'm lost with what to do next. If it came down to a $5000+ repair I can't imagine it would be worth it to hold on to the car.

SonicVQ

Since the the switches have been removed from the circuit, drive it for a while and see if the issue returns. I suspect it won't.

Once the warmer weather returns, go to a bone/scrap yard and remove the switches and a chunk of the wiring harness and splice it it. You should be good to go!

max223

It looks good so far with the switch disconnected. I would think that a short would turn up pretty quickly with normal driving.

I can live without the snow mode and heated seats, but I'm more concerned about an underlying problem, as most of you have mentioned.

Unfortunately finding the root cause could be as simple as removing a bad switch, or through some more expensive and stressful trial and error..

I appreciate the help from everyone and will keep an eye on things *fingers crossed*

Black Betty

iTrader: (60)

This is a non starter. They are not going to do anything whatsoever if any of the wiring in the car has been spliced into. You're completely on your own as far as dealership help once you cut any wire.