While driving my 2011 QX56 (with 24K miles) today I suddenly encountered an almost complete loss of power accompanied by numerous warning lights on the instrument panel. The warning lights included, "4WD", "ABS", "Service Engine Soon" and the ABS Icon. I immediately pulled over to the side of the road and shut the engine off. I started it up again thinking that this might "clear" the problem but all of the warning lights were still lit. I did notice that the engine had difficulty "turning over" but would start up. The outside temperature was 100+ degrees which I thought might be the problem. I called my dealer and explained the problem and he said to have the vehicle brought in. I called AAA and was told that someone would arrive within 40 minutes. I specifically asked for a "flatbed". I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when an hour later I received a text that the tow driver would be delayed an additional 90 minutes. At this point I got back in my vehicle and started it. All of the warning lights with the exception of the "Service Engine Soon" light were out/normal. I decided to drive my Q to the dealer which was about 5 miles away. I did not encounter any problems during the drive to the dealer and left it there. 90 minutes later the dealer called to tell me that they had found the problem and I could come and pick it up. When I arrived at the dealer he informed me that they had found code "P0605" which required them to "re-program" the Electronic Control Module (ECM) as directed by Technical Service Bulletin ITB12-001. I asked the dealer when this TSB was issued he said in January of this year. When I then asked him why they hadn't done this procedure during one of my two service visits this year he said it was the policy of the Japanese car manufacturers to only re-program the ECM when the vehicle owner encounters a problem specifically described in a TSB. When I mentioned that it was only luck that I was within 5 miles of the dealership when I encountered this problem instead of a hundred miles or more from the closest Infiniti dealer in 100+ degree heat with my family in the car, he re-iterated that ALL Japanese manufacturers follow this policy. He also said that the reason dealers don't proactively re-program customer ECM's is because the re-programming could alter how the engine or vehicle performs and the re-programming cannot be undone.
I think this approach is wrong. Infiniti or any company that practices superior customer service should not wait for something to go wrong before fixing it but instead should focus on preventing problems before they happen and updating the vehicle ECM to fix or prevent known problems is what should be done.
I think this approach is wrong. Infiniti or any company that practices superior customer service should not wait for something to go wrong before fixing it but instead should focus on preventing problems before they happen and updating the vehicle ECM to fix or prevent known problems is what should be done.
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