I don't want to sound too critical but you verging on OCD. Just drive the car and enjoy it and stop worry about any perceived issues, you are driving yourself crazy. It's a fantastic car, just go with it.

If you are still in factory warranty you could go to an Infiniti dealer and buy an extended warranty for piece of mind.

 

LOL, you wouldn't be the first person to suggest I exhibit OCD tendencies. I guess I'm just used to driving cars for at least 200k miles, and I just hate to think about not continuing that "tradition" with this car, especially since I do love everything else about it. And after just a few occasions of pulling up at a stoplight next to chicks who look over with that "Is that a Maserati?" expression, I really don't think I could see myself going back to driving anything else.

I've been reading about how these cars' transmissions are designed to "learn" a driver's habits/driving style. Do you think it would be a good idea to wipe its "memory" clean so that it can start from scratch with learning my driving habits? If I was going to do this, is it true that I can just unplug a battery cable for a few hours and then go back to driving?

 

I'm not sure about the transmission ECU reset. I've heard you can do that with the main ECU (or however you refer to it). I wish there was a way to tell for sure if our cars have had the transmission reprogram TSB. I know if I take it to my dealer I'll get the blanket "yeah, it's up to date".

 

If the TCM is up to date then they should be able to prove it to you. The consult tool they use is supposed to tell them if there is a pending update when they plug you vehicle up.

As far as resetting the TCM im not sure but it is suppose to continue to adjust and learn your driving habits.

 

I agree -- since the closest Infiniti dealership is, as I have previously mentioned, over 90 miles away, I really would hate to drive 1.5 hours just for them to give me the run-around regarding the update.

I think I'll be calling my local Nissan dealership tomorrow to see if there's any way they can check to see if my car has the latest transmission software version. On their website, they actually brag about their service dep't. being qualified to perform all maintenance & repairs on the GT-R, so you would think they'd have access to Infiniti's software updates.

On another note, I was looking at the dash console today, and I noticed that the previous owner's average MPG was 15.2, and their average MPH was 18.1. That second number (the MPH) sounds like it almost has to be the result of a glitch... how can someone drive a car like that at an average speed of 18 MPH?! It seems like they'd have been stuck in second gear during most of their driving.

If they really were driving that slowly, then that's probably an indication that they were engaging in a lot of stop-'n'-go city/suburban driving, so I hope they were following Infiniti's "Premium" maintenance plan (which is what the manual recommends drivers with such driving routines to adhere to).

 

That's probably based on about 70% city and 30% highway....the time starts once you start the car...so when you are sitting at a red light it still counts your time which is while the mph is 18....i average between 24-19...unless I reset mine before I get on the highway...

 

Just got off the phone with the local Nissan dealership.... they can't do ANY warranty work on any Infiniti models, and they also can't apply software updates to any components of an Infiniti. And yet, they're one of the only dealerships in the southeast that is qualified/approved to service the Nissan GT-R.... ?

On a related note, I was driving in Standard mode at about 50 mph earlier today and had to brake rather suddenly (but not quite "slamming on the brakes"), and when I did that, I felt a pretty hard downshift from 3-4 (or it might have been 2 to 1).

What kind of surprised me was the fact that it occurred in Standard mode; usually, this hard downshifting only occurs in Sport mode. I guess this is normal, too? LOL

 

I heard that before....toyota won't do warranty work on Lexus...same with Honda and Acura....

They have a update that addresses harsh downshifts so maybe you do need some updates...but the best thing I can tell you is to just make the drive and leave it with them and enjoy a loaner....lol

 

Yeah, I guess I'll have to just make the drive at some point over the next few weeks.

BTW, I was going through the various booklets that came with the car, and I couldn't help but notice that nothing (e.g., maintenance/service dates, dealership stamps, etc.) had been written in the Maintenance & Service Guide booklet. Is it pretty normal for someone leasing a car to not worry about notating each specific maintenance interval? I'm guessing/hoping the first owner just figured they wouldn't worry about it since they were just leasing the car and assumed that the dealership would be keeping their own records, anyways?

 

Yep....thats normal now days....i really don't know why they still have that. You almost have to beg the service dept to do it...lol. I wish they would make them available online. This is way over due. When you go ask the dealership to print all previous service records. They can do that as long as it was serviced at an Infiniti Dealership. The only draw back is that if it wasn't serviced at that particular dealership then they can only provide you with the summary of each service visit. Not the actual invoice.

 

Okay, I know these transmission anecdotes are getting old, but hopefully this will be my last one to report -- and I think this one may be more relevant. So I was sitting at a redlight in Standard mode with an 18-wheeler in front of me. The light turns green, the 18-wheeler accelerates, and I accelerate behind him. I feel the usual (I.e., normal) shift from 1-2-3, and I *think* (but am not totally sure) that the car may have shifted into 4th gear as well. Either way, it was in either 3rd or 4th gear at this point.

The 18-wheeler accelerates to a speed of approx. 45-50 MPH. At this point, with me either being stuck in 3rd or 4th gear, the car felt very... laggy. I noticed that if I were to let off the gas pedal to allow the car to coast, the entire body of the car would feel like it was almost being pulled back by about a half inch, almost like there was something pulling me from behind. But if I were to press back down on the gas pedal, it would feel like it was being pulled forward a little bit. This is hard to explain unless you've "felt it" for yourself.

Then, the 18-wheeler accelerates by maybe 5-10 mph. I decide to accelerate a little bit as well, and this is where things got a bit scary. I pushed the gas pedal down further, and at first nothing happens, and then a split second later, the engine revs but the car doesn't really accelerate. Then a second later, the car shifts into either 4th or 5th gear (remember, I wasn't sure if I had been in 3rd or 4th gear up until that point), and it finally moves forward.

It kind of freaked me out, because it almost felt like the transmission was slipping for a second or two into neutral. I have an old 2002 PT Cruiser with over 200k miles that is experiencing slippage into neutral, and to be honest, what happened in the M37 today felt eerily similar to that. I know I keep asking this, LOL, but... is this normal as well? Was my transmission actually slipping?

 

I think it was actually the downshift rev matching you experienced. If you need "instant" power its quicker to down shift then it is to up shift. Hence the term, drop a gear and disappear.

A transmission usually shift up if its climbing in speed steadily. If you are coasting/maintaining speed and need extra speed quicker, then it will shift a gear lower so that you can accelerate faster. Now Infinitis transmission is not the best out there but its reliable. I wouldn't worry to much about it. If you were slipping, your RPMS would be shooting up, noise would be building and you wouldn't me moving.

Send me your vin, ill tell you if you had the reset done. It should be in our data base.

 

I would be willing to bet that the previous owner never got any of the updates so you probably need a few if they aren't all rolled up into one....

I think it's just programing issues...nothing more but if it is the good thing is that your powertrain warranty is 6yr/70k...

 

eljoker, thanks for offering to run my VIN through Infiniti's system, I sent you a PM.

I see that you suggested that I could have just experienced the downshift rev matching, but doesn't that only occur when driving in Sport mode? I was actually driving in Standard when the possible slippage occurred.

Also, you mentioned that Infiniti's transmission tends to be reliable. Just out of curiosity, do you have an idea of how long these transmissions tend to last for? Is it uncommon for them to make it to 250k miles or more?

That brings me to another point. Over the last few days, I've pretty much been driving exclusively in Standard mode, during which all these transmission quirks have occurred. However, as I was driving around again tonight, I decided to switch to Sport mode to see if I could tell a difference.... and I have to say, it really feels like it drives so much better in Sport mode, even though the downshift rev matching feels kind of weird. There was maybe an instance or two of noticeable, semi-rough shifting, but for the most part, driving my car in Sport mode feels so much smoother.

I really hope the transmission doesn't need replacing, but if it does, at least it will be covered under warranty.

 

When are you going to take the car in? I would do it asap if I was concerned as you appear to be. It is a quirky transmission that doesn't act nearly as smooth as my GS350 but it's crisp in the high RPM range. The longer you wait the less you chances are for getting goodwill.