Just took delivery of a 1990 Q45. Color is TG0 B. With gold plated accoutrements. Very sharp looking. Never seen the blue color leather in person. A close 9/10 condition with confirmed guides.
So anyhow. My climate controller and clock fail when I drive. Very rarely will they come back on. It's not just the display that fails. Its the entire controller. Clock also fails along with it. Obviously there Is a short. Just checking if anyone has ever experienced anything of this sort or similar. Kind of need heat and defroster in the cold Massachusetts days.

It fails only when you drive?

In my case, the lights on mine would not work. I went thru several of these climate control units that would not light or only 2-3 would light.

I brought one on eBay that looks to be in mint condition and showed a picture of it lit up. I haven’t installed to see if it works yet, but in my experience....these things aren’t really serviceable. I’ve broken them down to the circuit board and played with bulbs, to no avail.

My conclusion is if you find one that works, leave it as is...even if it’s to change bulbs from one to the other. Never had this problem with instrument cluster lights though.

No. it doesnt die just when I drive. At warmup as well. I can turn the car off and cycle auxiliary with the key and get it to come back on. Only to go out a minute or two later. I'm noticing a slight loud crackle within the speakers when I touch the volume or any button on the stereo as well.
Read the details in the post. Its not JUST the lights. It's the whole unit failing. The heater stops when it goes out. No blow. As well as the clock hands stop functioning But the clocks light stays on

BCC93QT wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 15, 2020 6:18 pm

No. it doesnt die just when I drive. At warmup as well. I can turn the car off and cycle auxiliary with the key and get it to come back on. Only to go out a minute or two later. I'm noticing a slight loud crackle within the speakers when I touch the volume or any button on the stereo as well.
Read the details in the post. Its not JUST the lights. It's the whole unit failing. The heater stops when it goes out. No blow. As well as the clock hands stop functioning But the clocks light stays on

Ahhh, sounds familiar. This may actually be related to your ignition switch. My 97 Maxima does the same thing. If I turn the key too far without slightly turning it back, I’ll have No wipers, no radio, no clock.

BUT, if it’s what it sounds like, it’s a relatively easy technique. When you crank the engine over, make sure to just very slightly turn it back towards you without turning it off, until you see the clock come back on. When you crank, you may be turning it too far.

So far that’s kept mine working. It’s probably nothing to “fix”, and it doesn’t seem to get worse.

Loud crackle probably indicates your speakers are disintegrating and turning into dust. Something I also had to replace before.

The speaker crackle may be unrelated. The Bose amp failure mode with the leaky capacitors includes crackles. That said, if it only happens when you touch something, maybe it's all related. Do you see any signs of aftermarket stuff, like alarms or add on CD changers?

Q451990 wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 16, 2020 9:12 am

The speaker crackle may be unrelated. The Bose amp failure mode with the leaky capacitors includes crackles. That said, if it only happens when you touch something, maybe it's all related. Do you see any signs of aftermarket stuff, like alarms or add on CD changers?

I second the bose amp capacitor issue. very very common.
As for the climate control, I've not owned early G50, so I could be wrong, but I seem to recall that there is also a cap (maybe more than one?) in the climate control head unit that goes bad.
When "jerry Tucker" was doing the Q 20+ years ago, I believe they had a known fix.
PS- congrats on the early Q find!

His issue sounds different, as the fan turns off too. Once that's fixed, the display issue will probably show up.

Here's the fix for the usual failure.

fix-for-1990-1993-q45-climate-controlle ... 49899.html

Going to swap the known working climate controller in my 1993 this Sunday. I know about the climate control display fix. I performed that on my 92 12 years ago. This car is bone stock. Nothing added. Original car phone still intact too. Was a single owner and has maintenance dating back to 1990 at the same infiniti dealer. The bose system is very crisp and clean. Is a true gem and cant believe I found it. Now I just need heat!

It sounds like you picked up a nice Q! Pictures are needed.

These were taken by the dealer before it was shipped to the east coast. Havent taken any pictures myself. Came in tuesday night. Got it real cheap including shipping


http://imgur.com/a/2W9JLFS

Below is the 93 and 95 I own. The 93 is now a parts car. 95 is current waiting for a hood fender and headlight. 60 mph deer hit. Only has 55k miles
http://imgur.com/a/BtJM6Zx

That's a great looking Q in a very unique color combination!

That's why I pulled the trigger. Was looking for some time has all 4 original keys. Key case,
VHS tapes , books car phone, phone card. Only issues: climate controller. Antenna doesnt work. Speakers crackling once in a while. Passanger sun visor falls out of it mount

BCC93QT wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 16, 2020 1:00 pm

That's why I pulled the trigger. Was looking for some time has all 4 original keys. Key case,
VHS tapes , books car phone, phone card. Only issues: climate controller. Antenna doesnt work. Speakers crackling once in a while. Passanger sun visor falls out of it mount

Dude what are you going to do with that car phone? Lol. My Q also has a car phone connection (where the phone went idk).

I have like the whole on star package on the sunroof controls and everything. I've seen about 20 q45s in the junkyard since I've had this and not one has had a car phone. I think it was a special dealer install for certain areas. Like i don't have the heated seat controls but i have the phone...but my car is a California emissions model from Scottsdale Arizona. Obviously catered to the busy businessman who only drives it around town. I've almost frozen while driving the couple times my heating system hasn't worked.

I think the FCC makes it to where car phones can't be used. Fortunately I replaced my head unit with Bluetooth the first month i brought it, so technically i still have car phone capabilities. Just the functions on the sunroof controls and steering wheel can't seem to be connected.

Maybe One of these days I'll ask infiniti what to do about this

Replaced alternator. As it failed. Have not been able to recreate the issue. Hoping this is solved.... never again will I replace an alternator on this car. 500$ 5 hours labor estimate. All yours

UPDATE

So. I replaced the radio with that of my first Q45. This radio has now seen 4 Q45s. Fixed. Climate control still cut in and out. Replaced with a spare. Fixed. Clock.... it's the older black clock... didn't realise it has to be depressed for it to work.... speaker crackling. Rear passenger speaker started making loud popping noises and proceeded to fill the trunk up with smoke. Sprayed with fire extinguisher. Unplugged.. and replaced BOTH rear speakers.... scary

Yeesh! They replaced some years of amps for fires, but I didn't think 1990 was in that recall. I'm glad it didn't get out of control!