The manufacture no longer makes ECM (computer) for my 2007 FX35. The dealer confirmed this. It only has 93K miles and is still a very nice car. Without this part the car is useless. What recourse do I have?
many places repair them, here’s a couple of them.
I have never used either one, so I can’t give you any reviews
http://siaelec.com/product/infiniti-fx35-ecm-ecu-repair-return/
I sure hope the “dead ecm” was correctly diagnosed
Not to sound like a sourpuss . . . but an extremely high percentage of engine control modules are needlessly replaced, due to a misdiagnosis or outright guessing
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Call your local auto recyclers to see if any of them have one.
Tester
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Repair would be preferred.
Nissan (and likely Infinity) ECMs contain the immobilizer circuitry, so if you get one from recycler, make sure to get matching keys or you will not be able to start the car.
Repair place I used transfers immobilizer chip from old unit to repaired one (if it indeed requires replacement).
In my case, my diagnosis was wrong (pretty much falls into @db4690 statistics), so I paid only 50% of repair costs, per repair shop policy, they simply called me and said “sorry, your unit is 100% passing all tests, look for problem somewhere else”.
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Tester
Why do you think the ECM has failed OP? It would be a shame to go to a lot of effort to replace it, when in fact that’s not the problem.
I have had different mechanics tell me 2 different cars needed a new computer. Both times they were wrong.
That is what happens when a parts changer can’t think of any more parts to change.
The auto repair shop told me that this is problem. This is the same repair shop that had replaced the ignition coil pack the day before. The next day while I was driving the car it started shuttering and suddenly stopped, I had It towed back them. This is a shop where I have had work done before and they seem to be straight up. It crossed my mind that they may have done something while replacing the coil pack that created the problem, but I’m hoping that’s not the case.
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If we assume that problem is not a cause&effect, but is coincidental… let’s get what you told us so far.
- Ignition coil pack (one, two, all??) was replaced for the reason you did not give us
- car stopped
- shop tells you need an ECM
For laughs, I can imagine these symptoms to be caused by the failing crankshaft position sensor for example… or mice chewing wires… or aliens projecting invisible rays on your car 
Tell us the history, as from what you said so far, it is hard to get any reasonable guess on the next steps.
The reason the ignition coil was replaced is because the CEL had come on and the car was shuttering. It was running rough so I took it to the shop. They diagnosed it, it had a code P0302 and they said it needed (1) ignition coil pack.
They replaced it, I picked it up and it ran fine that day. The next day I had driven it about 5 miles when it started shuttering again, then it suddenly stopped. I pulled over and parked. The ignition would turn over, but the car wouldn’t start, so I had it towed back to the shop that had did the repair the previous day.
I did not hear back from them until the afternoon of the next day when they told me they had diagnosed it again and it needed a ECM (computer) that had been discontinued.
A crankshaft position sensor is far more likely than the ECM to cause that symptom.
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What’s the mileage on the car?
If your spark plugs are overdue, that might have been more likely reason for P0302 than coil-pack, so I’m surprised they simply replaced it, I would rather have it swapped with another cylinder to positively confirm it is indeed a coil-pack, not something else.
If something that simple was not attempted, I tend to think shop simply goes with a “throw new parts on the problem” approach.
By now, this point is a moot as you have much bigger problem than a single cylinder misfire, but keeping in mind that diagnostics was questionable for the first round, I would highly doubt the diagnosis of ECM needing replacement.
12-years old car of unknown mileage… I would put my money on crankshaft position sensor.
Why don’t you ask around to find a better shop?
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Thank you all so much for your some times humorous, but always insightful responses. It gives me hope that the car will eventually be fixed. It has 93,000 miles and is very nice car.
Its still at their shop and they’ll sending the ECM out for repair. If that isn’t successful, I plan to have it taken to an infinity dealer for farther diagnoses. What do y’all think?
I sure hope they did all their homework . . .
There are lots possible reasons for a crank no start situation
a faulty engine control module is almost always very far down on the list, after you’ve literally eliminated all other possibilities. It usually takes quite a bit of diagnosis before you arrive at that
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My daughter 2007 Nissan Altima had a severe misfire at 95K miles due to failed coil-to-spark-plug boot carbon-tracking short.
It would not happen if she did not have a severely eroded spark plug in that cylinder, central electrode was literally burned away.
Per Nissan’s schedule, that spark plugs (iridium from the factory) were not up for replacement until 105K miles, but apparently they were finished by 95K.
My message to you: at 93K and 12 years from the factory, once you have it started up, consider replacing spark plugs too.
A bad ECM is also way down on my list of possible failures. Just some food for thought here.
The shop replaced one coil. I’m assuming they did not replace the spark plug. IMO, the plug (or plural) should always be replaced as the spark plug can be done in by a failing coil.
That is also a vice-versa situation as a failing plug can lead to coil failure.
Sorry, I’m not a huge fan of the bad ECM diagnosis.
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Thanks so much for that sage advice. I intend to look into that recommendation once its up and running again. I’m learning alot from you guys 
No, they didn’t replace the spark plug which now, after your insightful comments seems like it would have been a logical, maybe even critical thing to have done.
Considering all the responses I’ve seen so far, you may be on to something with regard as to whether the ECM is actually the problem. One thing seems clear, if I keep on it, I’ll soon find out and l’ll let y’all know what it turned out to be. Thanks again for your informed observations.
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