1994 Q45 Miscellaneous problems

[Raxephon]

Well, I found a '94 Q45T locally and picked her up today.

The transmission refuses to do anything in any gear except to not move when in "P".

Changed fluid, pan filter, inline filter, hoses............. and still the same.

Also, the windows won't roll down/up, the power locks aren't functioning (you have to lock the car manually), and the power seat controls are non-functional.

The foot lamp in the doors work, and there's power to LCU01-B, but it just isn't making its way to the locks or window motors.

Neither my '91 or '92 has LAN, so this is going to take some getting use to.

Any solutions/suggestions to correcting the problems listed above?

(If your reply is to take it to a dealership, don't bother, its NOT going to happen, EVER.)



On a side note, if you get stuck with your driver-side window down you can get it to roll up by jumpering the yellow wire to the black wire and the blue wire to the white/blue striped wire.

These wires are the thick ones on the large plug which go into the LCU01-B.

This will cause your window roll up, if you switch the blue for the yellow and vice versa, the window will roll down.

I'll add pics sometime this week for those of you who are interested.

[maxnix]

Take it to T-3. They'll give $500 if it is a good donor.

[oldmako]

I have read on this forum that the trans is easily trashed by towing. Apparently even during a short tow the planetary gears just get trashed. I imagine if you search "towing" you'll find some horror stories which may aid in your diagnosis. Or, some smart guy will opine after me who knows what he's talking about. I suppose it doesn't really matter how it got that way since it's basically a mooring weight at this point. That will be an expensive project. Can't help with the electrics.

Good luck. I'd be very curious to hear what was wrong with the gearbox and the windows. Mine might be next.

[Victor]

Hope you didn't pay much for it. Sounds like you could try to get part of your money back by parting it out if there are any good parts on it, and sell the rest for scrap.

[Raxephon]

Take it to T-3. They'll give $500 if it is a good donor.

Brian, I've never realized until now just how silly you are.

oldmako, not sure how the car was transported when the previous owner started having the transmission problems but I had it flat-bedded home.

Victor, parting it out isn't going to happen.

The car has less than 70,000 miles on it, no body damage, dealer serviced for by Atlantic Infiniti with a complete service history.

The motor runs smooth and strong with no problems whatsoever. I paid $1000 for the car and $200 for the tow and have no intention of selling anything off her .

If the transmission is shot it will just end up getting one of my manual transmission swaps.

If the electrical gremlins can't be worked out I'll just tear out the '94 electronics and drop in the ones I have stockpiled from a '92.

Talk about depressing, first responses I receive is to sell the parts.

Whatever happened to fixing a problem for yourself instead of settling for something that has fewer problems?

Nevertheless I appreciate everyones responses regardless of how positive/negative they may appear, and yes, even yours Brian, regardless of its level of silly-ness.

[Rex]

Before spending too much time trouble shooting the electrical gremlins, make sure it's got a good strong battery ... you'd be amazed at what a weak 12 volts does.

And my guess would be the transmission got ruined by a previous owner bad tow .

Good luck and Jeff Williams has probably made the most LAN/BCM posts

[elwesso]

Unfortunate it takes this long for some real knowledge and or help to show up...

Antonio, i think most of these things are related to some common thing. Theres always a "story" with these things. See if the PO knows when all this crap started.. It almost sounds like a BCM issue...

you can always check the AT codes and see if its electronic or double check the linkage. Might not be a bad idea to hook a pressure gauge up to the ports to see if its even doing anything. But if the linkage works properly theres no reason why it shouldnt go into gear, even in forward gears with no electronics working it will stay in 2nd or 3rd gear all the time (depending on the failsafe mode).. However, if the car was towed before you did anything (did the trans not work prior to the tow) and they didnt use dolleys, with the back of the car in the air, or flatbedded then its probably trashed.. You can tow it a few miles at slow speeds, but outside of that lack of lubrication owns you...

Does the self diagnosis on the LAN work? Look in the EL section and see whats going on there.. The LAN self diagnosis is a little confusing but you'll get it eventually.. at least it was for me.

Seems possible, but unlikely that both front LCU's would go bad at the same time (or same-ish time). This is why it would be helpful to know the story because if they went bad at exactly the same time itd be different then if one stopped working, then the other...

if both front LCUs are bad then the locks probably work fine but it doesnt know what to do. I wonder if you could somehow jump the locks so that it thinks one of the front doors was locked and then go from there.

Do the BCM diagnosis

[NightRiderQ45]

If the transmission is shot it will just end up getting one of my manual transmission swaps.

If the electrical gremlins can't be worked out I'll just tear out the '94 electronics and drop in the ones I have stockpiled from a '92.

Talk about depressing, first responses I receive is to sell the parts.

Whatever happened to fixing a problem for yourself instead of settling for something that has fewer problems?

Nevertheless I appreciate everyones responses regardless of how positive/negative they may appear, and yes, even yours Brian, regardless of its level of silly-ness.

Well it sounds like you already have a good game plan established. Go get it done!

[oldmako]

Hey I am with you dude....sorry if my post was misleading. All I meant was in the worst case you toss a transmission in and chase the electrical problem down and you're on the road. I recall reading similar symptoms from guys who HAD towed their cars....so that was a SWAG. I did not mean to soil your corn flakes.

I also assumed that you were smart enough to get the car cheap knowing full well it's overall present state and it would need a bit of wrendhing.

It doesn't shift....and there's something up with the windows. No big...You stole it.

If my car was reviewed by some of the dudes on here it probably would have been parted out long ago!

[Victor]

OK, from your initial post it sounded like your car was a basket case but further info makes it sound like you have a basically good car that you got at a good price. Could be some common electrical problem is the root cause of all your electrical problems and maybe even your transmission problem. I would start by checking all electrical connections and fuses. From your profile it looks like you have another Q45 that you could borrow parts from for troubleshooting purposes if they are the same. Or you could take suspected bad parts from the car you just bought and put them into your working car to see if the problem follows them.

[Haitian_King]

OK, from your initial post it sounded like your car was a basket case but further info makes it sound like you have a basically good car that you got at a good price. Could be some common electrical problem is the root cause of all your electrical problems and maybe even your transmission problem. I would start by checking all electrical connections and fuses. From your profile it looks like you have another Q45 that you could borrow parts from for troubleshooting purposes if they are the same. Or you could take suspected bad parts from the car you just bought and put them into your working car to see if the problem follows them.

Hells yeah! I wish I could find a 70k Q for $1000. I'd buy it in a heart beat. Getting the transmission rebuilt wouldn't be too bad right? IPT or Level 10 could do a snappier one for like $2-3k and you're back in business. Crazy low mileage and a nice "new" transmission.

Nice find. Wish you lots of luck!

[elwesso]

Hells yeah! I wish I could find a 70k Q for $1000. I'd buy it in a heart beat. Getting the transmission rebuilt wouldn't be too bad right? IPT or Level 10 could do a snappier one for like $2-3k and you're back in business. Crazy low mileage and a nice "new" transmission.

Nice find. Wish you lots of luck!

eh its more like 4k...

[Haitian_King]

eh its more like 4k...

Really?

The IPT site shows RE4R01A (RWD/4WD): $2975. Is that the price for a complete rebuild provided you supply the trans? Or does the price include and entire unit?

You're right. Level10 is about $3998.

[Q45tech]

RE4R01A is the light duty 6 cylinder transmission, RE4R03A is the Q45 transmission.Don't forget sales tax, freight and core return freight, and the 6-8 hours of swap time labor.

Nissan remanned with 25% discount [given to regular independent shops] is only $1800 then marked back up to MSRP ~ $2400 with a 12/12k warrrany included plus swap labor say $600 is $~$3,000 plus tax and any ATF.

See how the wholesale to MSRP generates a $600 in POSSIBLE parts profit which covers the labor warranty if the transmission goes bad and need swapping in the first year.

With any potential parts profit, it must be held for 12 months [AND ONE DAY] before you are 100% sure you actually have earned it.

[Haitian_King]

RE4R01A is the light duty 6 cylinder transmission, RE4R03A is the Q45 transmission.Don't forget sales tax, freight and core return freight, and the 6-8 hours of swap time labor.

Nissan remanned with 25% discount [given to regular independent shops] is only $1800 then marked back up to MSRP ~ $2400 with a 12/12k warrrany included plus swap labor say $600 is $~$3,000 plus tax and any ATF.

See how the wholesale to MSRP generates a $600 in POSSIBLE parts profit which covers the labor warranty if the transmission goes bad and need swapping in the first year.

With any potential parts profit, it must be held for 12 months [AND ONE DAY] before you are 100% sure you actually have earned it.

Sorry. I always get the two confused.

Say I pick up a used one for cheap. Sending it to Level10 or IPT would get me a like new performance transmission right?

[Raxephon]

Just a few evening pics.

Sorry about the quality, its off my cell phone.

[Haitian_King]

It's very nice. I really like the gold emblems. Have there been black Q's with gold insignia? Or was that just something that came from the factory for the white ones?

[elwesso]

seems like all the minty Qs are gold...

[Raxephon]

Ran LAN communication diagnostics .

Results are: MODE 1: Code# 22 - LCU01A (Data line A: No response) Code# 23 - LCU01A (Data line B: No response)

Code# 32 - LCU02A (Data line A: No response) Code# 33 - LCU02A (Data line B: No response)

Code# 43 - LCU03 (Data line B: No response)

Code# 52 - LCU06 (Data line A: No response) Code# 53 - LCU06 (Data line B: No response)

Anyone else ever get so many codes at once????

Also I discovered that the CD changer controls under the armrest had been hacked up. (Casing missing, bare board, wires dangling/frayed)

And the alarm goes off initially when you open the driver door but quickly shuts off if you shut the door and unlock it a second time with the key, without locking it.

Unable/No response when I attempt to run Diagnostic modes 2 thru 4.

[Q45tech]

To us, any Gold plated chrome is a warning sign to add $1,000 to repair estimate. Cut or modified wiring is in the same class Hack Jobs , add a full week to diagnostic time or at least warn owner It might take a month or two of spare time.

Only owners, incompetent mechanics, and stereo/alarm/remote start Installers can truely destroy a Q.

Good luck!

[elwesso]

my guess is that (especially after hearing about the hacked wiring) is that someone tried to install something and hacked wires hardcore.. Thats what im banking on.

If you notice in the FSM, data line A and B on all the things use the same pins.. So im guessing that somewhere the lines got messed with.

Check the wiring diagram on EL92 and see if possibly you could find where the data lines could have been messed with?

[maxnix]

Have there been black Q's with gold insignia? Or was that just something that came from the factory for the white ones?

No gold from factory! Dealer option. Was about $600 upcahrge on my 1995 Q45t DJ2. Gold on the emblems and antenna mount isn't too bad for that color, but door handles have worn badly.

[Haitian_King]

No gold from factory! Dealer option. Was about $600 upcahrge on my 1995 Q45t DJ2. Gold on the emblems and antenna mount isn't too bad for that color, but door handles have worn badly.

Interesting.

What did you do to fix the handles?