I had just gotten a safety inspection 15 days prior to this event to renew my registration. The car had been driving perfectly. Me and my wife had drove to my daughter’s school to pick her up. The school is about 10 minutes away from our home. Once we left the school we got about 3 minutes down the road and started smelling a strong electrical/plastic burning smell. Suddenly the car stalled and shut off. Then it cranked back up. Then it shut off. It did that several times. Smoke started pouring out from under the hood. I was barely able to get the car off the road and into a parking lot before it completely died and stopped cranking and stalling. I immediately got my family out of the car and had them run to safety. There was several other family’s with their children who had also just been picked up all around us. So I ran to car and popped the hood. There was so much electrical smoke coming out from driver side area. It appeared to be coming from the hybrid high voltage system under the ECM. I quickly disconnected the negative terminal on the 12v battery to shut down the electrical systems on the car. I have called Infiniti and I am dropping car off tomorrow to have a full inspection done to find out what happened. I am reaching out to you because I know that there is documented reports of this exact thing happening to other cars and that there was a recall R21B4 that they did a software update for. I believe that that update did not work to prevent this catastrophic event from happening. I don’t know if they will try to act like this was not related to the recall so I am trying to cover all my bases here by filing this complaint with y’all as well. I also have an open claim with Infiniti corporate. They are trying to just say that I no longer have a warranty for my car but this is a safety concern not just a warranty issue. I will be taking my car to Infiniti Clear Lake in Houston Texas tomorrow for them to look at it.
2014 Infiniti QX60: fire, smoke or burning smell
7 of the 200 complaints about the 2014 Infiniti QX60 describe fire, smoke or burning smell.
- owner complaints
- 7
- of this car's complaints
- 4%
- recalls
- 2
Fire, smoke or burning smell by model year
- 20241
- 20231
- 20202
- 20171
- 20161
- 20151
- 20147
What owners say
The contact owns a 2014 Infiniti QX60. The contact stated while driving at approximately 60 MPH, the front passenger’s side wheel detached from the axle and was lodged inside the wheel well. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to drive the vehicle to a parking lot and then had the vehicle towed to a dealer. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the rear coupler and the front passenger side tire needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that while driving off the dealer lot the vehicle was hesitating and jerking into gear and was bouncing. The contact stopped and turned the vehicle off and observed smoke coming from under the hood. The contact was informed by the dealer that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not diagnosed and was not repaired. The contact had the vehicle towed from the dealer to the residence. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 99,536.
While driving, engine suddenly started shaking/juddering. Then within just few seconds, engine went into extreme high RPM along with strong smell of smoke coming out of vent and car stopped moving completely and engine turned off by itself. We could turn on ignition power and engine start, but turned off as soon as put on driving or reverse mode. Had to towed in to local nissan dealership who ran diagnostic test which revealed CVT code p2857 and was told that transmission need to replaced. Noticed several consumer complaints over the federal safety agency website regarding damage to transmission requiring replacement in 2014 infiniti qx60 hybrid vehicles and no safety recalls/repairs offered by infiniti/nissan manufacture regarding such major and dangerous powertrain/transmission breakdown.
A few years ago, while in stop and start traffic on a hill, i experienced the hybrid engine and regular engine failure multiple times. Infiniti replaced my transmission. I have yet to recreate the same stop/start situation on a hill but have smelled the same smell of burning while in stop start traffic on a highway. Now infiniti has issues a recall for this very issue. I'm wondering what constitutes a "reasonable time" for infiniti to provide a solution as this is going on 6 months. I'm very concerned that my car is particularly vulnerable to this failure as it has occurred before. Yes, there was a warning that the hybrid system was overheating and then it died not much longer after the warning.
CVT have been told by one Infiniti Dealership the the fluids never need to be flushed, changed or filled. Then I hear about the Transfer Differential which I am assuming is the Transfer Case is leaking and that it would need to be replaced entirely along with the rear coupling costing nearly $10K in repair (Estimated $8,500 alone on these two items). I have found online people and even other Infiniti dealerships where these fluids are flushed and refilled regularly of which in discussing with the dealership these findings, they advised they never have to be flushed, but it is recommended through forums and other dealerships of such. In finding more about the history of my car, I have found that it has NEVER had a flush of the Transfer Differential or CVT or other factors of changing fluids. I advised I recently had a burning smell along with grinding. They only say I need to completely change that out. If I have a leak, then that should have been the first directive in fixing the seal (since this is a sealed compartment). I have 3 times where the power wasn't going to the transmission where I almost got into accidents. Thankfully, the other driver's were able to merge or brake as these were primarily city streets. I found a video where a gentleman had the same issue, the CVT was replaced, and the issue only got worse. How is this allowed or possible?
2014 qx 60 infinity, presented problems with badly jerking, ugly scrapping noise, now transmisin leaks , burning smell while driving
Tl* the contact owns a 2014 infiniti qx60. While parked in the driveway, the vehicle caught on fire. The contact was able to extinguish the fire. The vehicle was taken to newton nissan (1461 nashville pike, gallatin, tn 37066) where it was diagnosed that the fan harness failed. The contact mentioned that the fan harness had been replaced four months prior to the fire. The manufacturer was not notified. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was 93,200.
Service bulletins that may apply
- Wiring harness repair information
- Telematics service information
- CAN communication codes – diagnostic tips and guidelines
- CAN communication – network diagnostic flow chart
- Intelligent key not detected / engine will not start
- Telematics service information
- 3G telematics hardware deactivation service information
- DTC B00A0-00 stored
Related recalls
Electrical system: software
- What is wrong
- Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Altima, LEAF, Pathfinder, and Sentra, model year 2013 NV200 (aka Taxi) and Infiniti JX35 and model year 2014 Infiniti Q50 and QX60 vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the occupant classification system (OCS) software may incorrectly classify the passenger seat as empty, when it is occupied by an adult.
- Risk
- If the OCS does not detect an adult occupant in the passenger seat, the passenger airbag would be deactivated. Failure of the passenger airbag to deploy during a crash (where deployment is warranted) could increase the risk of injury to the passenger.
- Remedy
- Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will update the OCS software, free of charge. The recall began on April 14, 2014. Owners may contact Nissan at 1‑800‑647‑7261.
Recall number 14V138000 · Recall details
Electrical system: software
- What is wrong
- Nissan is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Nissan Pathfinder vehicles manufactured April 18, 2012, through September 20, 2013; model year 2013 Infiniti JX35 vehicles manufactured September 15, 2011, through January 16, 2013; and model year 2014 Infiniti QX60 vehicles manufactured January 17, 2013, through September 20, 2013. In the affected vehicles, during light braking on rough roads, the antilock brake system (ABS) brake pressure output software may lead to an increase in stopping distance.
- Risk
- The increased stopping distance may increase the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the ABS, free of charge. The recall began on November 18, 2013. Owners may contact Nissan at 1‑800‑647‑7261.
Recall number 13V445000 · Recall details
Questions about the 2014 Infiniti QX60 fire or smoke
Is fire, smoke or burning smell a common problem on the 2014 Infiniti QX60?
7 of 200 owner complaints about the 2014 Infiniti QX60 (4%) mention fire, smoke or burning smell. The model year with the most reports is 2014.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2014 Infiniti QX60?
There are 2 recalls and 48 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2014 Infiniti QX60
Shudder 39Jerking 36CVT failure 16Transmission failure 12Airbag light 11Stalling 11Hesitation 10Sunroof shattered 10Grinding brakes 6Check engine light 6Loss of power 6Headlights 5Overheating 5
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