1991 Q45 New Buyer Questions

[nbguy72]

Hi,I bought a '91 Q45 today (78K one owner old-lady miles!) and got luck in finding this site tonight. Here's a few questions from a not-so-technical guy:

1. The climate control display isn't working. Aside from replacing the entire unit, is there another fix?

2. To install a CD player, is it better idea to buy an aftermarket in-dash player or add a changer to the BOSE unit?

3. The stereo speakers make a cracking noise, but only when turning the unit on. Any fix?

If ANYONE wants to trade gold package items (emblems, antenna surround and Fittipaldi basket weave rims) for standard chrome ones in the Southern California area, please let me know, I'll e-mail photos!

Any surprises I should expect? Any proactive maintenance to ensure a long life?

Lot's of questions, but I need :help !Thanks, Bruce

[maxnix]

Great find, and welcome to the group.

I suggest you immerse yourself in reading previous posts as there is a lot of great information here. If your car has not had the timing chain guides replaced, then it is imperative you start with a search on "timing chains."

http://www.jerrytucker.net will be able to repair your climate control display.

[90Q45blue]

Bruce,

Hello and welcome to the club. We're glad to have you. First, I am not going to answer all your questions as I am not the most qualified to do so. You will be hearing from Fred, etc. soon.

1. I think Jerry Tucker fixes these units for a fraction of the cost of a new one...about $100 plus shipping, etc. Go to http://www.jerrytucker.net and click on the A/C display link. That'll give you all the info.

2. From what I understand the 90-93 Q's do not have the wiring harness in the trunk for the CD changer. That was started in 94. That doesn't mean it can't be done however as I have the aftermarket 10-disc in my trunk. I personally like the CD changer. I don't think any new head unit would give the Q the refined interior look it deserves.

3. On the stereo speakers, do they crackle only when they're turned on or whenever you adjust the volume. I had a similar problem and the answer for me was a new head unit. Unfortunately, buying one new is very expensive. I got mine on Ebay and would suggest that or a junkyard.

P.S. We also have a Car Audio forum so try posting questions 2 and 3 there to get better feedback

4. There is a ton of preventative maintenance you could do to keep the car going for a long time. The Q45 is a great car but can be expensive to maintain; however, if done properly she'll love you forever. I have 246k on my car and she's doing well. My first suggestion to you would be to run a search for "90-93 Chain Guides" If the timing/chain guides have not been replaced in your Q then get them done ASAP or else you may lose your new possession to the guide damage.

This is not to scare you. Fred, Dennis and many many more will tell you other things to do. Overall, this forum is worth its weight in gold. I have saved myself so much money and time and sanity by listening to these experts. My advice to you is to sit down and read all the posts in the infiniti general and infiniti online mechanic sections. By just reading and gathering information, these posts will answer all your questions.

Again welcome to the club and post pics if you can.

Nick

[Highway Q45]

Welcome Aboard,This IS the place to get up to speed on all things Q. Just a few notes. Look in your spare tire well and you should find a factory service manual if it wasn't removed. I went with an aftermarket head unit and speakers. I still have a good BOSE headunit and 2 working 6x9's from the rear you can have if want. Both of the amps for the front units were rebuilt in 01 and you can have the speakers also(I kept the enclosures). Personally I like the sound from my aftermarket unit and needed a system that plays my burned CD's. There is a good link for repairing the HVAC if your'e familiar with electronics

http://www.nissaninfiniticlub....ntrol

Congratulations on your purchase, post a pic if you get a chance.Steve

[Q451990]

Good find on a low mileage old Q! I know how long it took me to find "Q2" and I had to fly out to San Fran for the test drive!

Good news on your speakers and amps! The rear amps were recealled due to some fire issues - Bose blamed it on leaky rear windows, Nissan blamed it on Bose... who knows. Anyway, You can have all four rebuilt by Bose at no charge other than the shipping to get them there. The red "Search" button in the top right corner will be your best friend for the next day or two.

Here's some recommended reading/searching...

1- Bose Repair, Bose Recall2- Transmission Flush3- Transmission Pan Drop4- Timing Chain Guide5- Injector Flush

I have installed a CD changer directly into the CD input on the BOSE unit. Works great. I can get the pin-outs to you, but you'll have to be good with a soldering iron and a few parts from Radioshack. The input is a DIN plug and you'll need to make an adaptor with female RCA inputs.

Being in Southern CA, I think a trip to Jerry Tucker in San Diego for the guides would be your best option. He's very familiar with the Q45. You'll see T3 mentioned a lot. It's the premiere Q45 shop for the East Coast, located in Atlanta GA - Jerry Tucker is sort of their counterpart for the West Coast.

Welcome to the club!

Heath

[PalmerWMD]

nbguy:

Congratulations on your purchase!You have bought one of the greatest allround cars of all time!

The factory rated 278hp are more like 290-300 (if plugs/injectors/combustion chambers/throttle body, are clean as new).

The VVT makes hi end operation particularily satisfying (your redline is 6900rpm!!:D)

I also suggest you sepnd a day perusing this site executing NICO searches on tpoics of interest(red button top right).

Preventative maintenance:

-Oil change with good filter/good oil-fhlush/pan drop/filter replacemtn the transmission-exchange rear diff fluid-exhchange powersteering fluid w/ MOBIL1 ATF (yes ATF)-full brake blees w/ a known good brake fluid like valvolineSynpower DOT 3/4.-coolant system flush (not just radiator drain), first do a chmeical flush than double flush with water (preferably distille or deionized) and then refill with this exact mix: 70% distilled water,1 bottle redline water wetter, rest(=26.5%) pure antifreeze (not the 50/50 ready mix).This will incraese the ehat capacity of your cooling system as well as reduce caviation and improve heat flow vs the 50%tap water/50 % antifreeeze mix most shops do.- make sure you have a strong battery you dont wanna kill your spendy alternator w/ a weak battery-Put in new halogen bulbs, as they age and become less effective, the sylvania silverstars are a popular brand here.-If you are on original shocks (which I suspect) be sure to put on new ones, you wont believe the improvement in control.-Make sure you have good tires on there, The Q is heavy . powerful and uses a lot of camber to achive good handling all of those thing are very demanding on tires. If you ahve the factory 15 inchers a little wider than facory size than work well is 235/60-15.Tires known to have the strong sidewalls needed on the Q are ,Michelin Pilots and Firestone SZ 50 EP.

Fred...

PS: did I forget anything guys?

[PalmerWMD]

And of course the guides, cjeck the link in my sig about my new cars and exedcute a search there (our old homesite) for "guides" in "infiniti articles" and read up."90-93 guides" is one of our most comprehensive threads.

Fred...

[nbguy72]

as far as the guides go, with 79K, is it 'safe' to wait for the 100K mile mark to do the timing chains? is my car a ticking time bomb waiting to blow?

[maxnix]

as far as the guides go, with 79K, is it 'safe' to wait for the 100K mile mark to do the timing chains? is my car a ticking time bomb waiting to blow?

Once you do your research, I am sure you will know the answer. Are you feeling lucky?

[szh]

2. From what I understand the 90-93 Q's do not have the wiring harness in the trunk for the CD changer. That was started in 94. That doesn't mean it can't be done however as I have the aftermarket 10-disc in my trunk. I personally like the CD changer. I don't think any new head unit would give the Q the refined interior look it deserves.

My 91 Q had the CD changer in the trunk - just in a different location than my 95 Q and I think the wiring harness was already there when they did the player installation. The changer mounted up below the rear deck, on the "other side" from to the Infiniti cell phone (OEM'ed by Motorola, i believe) that I had. The control unit for the CD mounted in the cavity below the arm-rest, in front of the phone and phone speaker, and it was reasonably well integrated with the audio system. (One cool thing about the Infiniti cell phone was that it automatically muted the stereo when the phone rang, or when making phone calls and restored the audio after it was done!)

The CD changer mount position below the deck was somewhat irritating though! It blocked easy access to the trunk with taller suitcases. The side mounted location in my 95 Q is much better.

Z

[LAQ]

mr. hubcapsit seems like yesterday when i was driving mom's car.anyhow, going back to gold emblems, did you mean you want the gold emblems? because i have gold antenna moint, front emblem, rear Q45, and exhaust tips that im trying to convert to chrome.

if this is what you want, lets talk. gold stuff is a bit worn but still looks good.

hit me back at [email protected]

[nbguy72]

thanks but i'm in the same boat as you...i'm on my way to getting rid of what i call the 'gold ****'. the car detail guy i go to took off the gold q45 and the trunk beazel on the back and scrapped it off the antenna mast. i'm left only with the big honkin' emblem on the front of the car.