90 Q n00b has some questions.....

[WHE90Q45]

My grandfather bought this Q in 89, he looked at everything, from the LS400 to the 740 to the 500.... and bought the Q. when he died in 96 my grandmother kept the car, garaged all the time, and maintained it very well. now the Q has 96,xxx miles on it, and she is getting ready to sell it. well, i want to buy it! my grandfather's intials are pinstriped into the drivers door, and he was a real hero to my family. i've been driving the car daily for about a week, and i have done some research about the car at q45.org and on this site. but i'm still a noob, and i have some questions i haven't found the answers too so here goes:

1) when i start the car, 9 out of 10 times i get "transmission malfunction" after 20-30 secs it changes to "ok" 1 out of 10 times i start it up and it just says "ok" what's up with that?2) if the transmission is going out, has anyone tried to put a manual into this car? it seems like a no-brainer as far as performance goes. maybe a 6 speed from a 300zxTT?3) when starting from a stop, it feels like it has a turbo, the way the power doesnt come on untill 2700 RPM. i know the car starts in 2nd gear, is this normal? ( i mean the lack of low end torque) does this engine not have any low end power at all?4) is there a shop in NE ohio that knows the q45 up and down, front to back? i'd like to have a really well qualified shop/mechanic look at it and tell me what it needs.5) the analog clock is the only thing in the interior that doesn't work. is it fixable? the bose was replaced with a DD aiwa unit, and all the bose speakers were replaced with pioneers.

AFAIK, the chain guides have not been repaired. my grandparents kept a file for the car, so when i look at it i'll be able to tell more about what repairs/maintinence has been dones.from 89 till 96 the car was in cleveland half the year and in delray beach florida the other half. since then it has been in cleveland and only driven when family is visiting, or the main car is in the shop, AFAIK.

i've been lurking on this site for a week, you guys really know your stuff!!!thanks in advance, chris

[Q451990]

Welcome to NICO Chris!

If the car is as nice as I suspect it is, and you want to keep driving it for a while, chain guides should be your first priority. You already touched on that, but I just thought I would mention it again.

The clock is a rare failure item, but I have heard of it a couple of times. Replacements are pretty easy to find on eBay. Many members prefer the gold clock from the 93-96.

I think your "lag off the line" issue would probably be cured by switching to the 93 TCU (transmission control unit) that starts the car in 1st gear. I don't know of a successful m/t swap into a Q - not to say that it hasn't been done - but there's no easy readily available bolt-on way to do it.

I will be very interested to see what's in the maintenence file. I would take the time to post it so that we can get an idea of what's been done. Pictures would be great too

Again, welcome!

Heath


Modified by Q451990 at 9:33 PM 1/7/2008

[GseaQ]

Welcome Chris. You have the car and the history. Buy it. It has very low mileage and that makes it rare. Some may even feel the first model year is the most desirable.

Like Heath said, get the timing chain guides done immediately. I say don't even drive it until that is done. Mine were done at about 85,000 miles and one was cracked in two but with no missing bits or pieces. I was incredibly lucky!

Here is a link to a thread about transmission issues. I wrote a fairly detailed post of my experience. Give it a read.

zerothread?id=302166

One interesting point. Not all first generation Q45's have an external filter in addition to the screen in the pan. It may have been a dealer add-on. Our '92 does not have one, but our '95 does. I believe the fellow who started that thread has one on his '90.

Otherwise, give the recommendations some serious thought. You'll want to make the original transmission last as long as possible. Rebuilds don't seem to be as good (in general).

Glenn

[maxnix]

You have a treasure. Don't even think about starting it again until you have inspected the timing chain guides by removing the front timing covers. It would break your heart if it let go the next time, and starting is when the most stress is put on the guides, especially if they are failing.

Everything else will become evident to you as you read. Concentrate on remedial deferred maintenance. In spite of your grandmother's best intentions, I guarantee there is a lot of it. Think about repairing the obvious defects (chain guides, transmission) and restoring the rest to as new OEM condition before you go off the deep end with manual conversions (never been done with a VH45DE in a G50) and other flights of fancy.

Welcome to the club. Hope you stick around.

[drftard]

wOw.... under 100k... damn....

i hear theres an adapter kit to mate a 300zx manual transmission to Q's!?! so i'd like to see about ur question #2.... but for u, ur far from need'n that im sure....

[maxnix]

i hear theres an adapter kit to mate a 300zx manual transmission to Q's!?!

No. Adapter is for mating to VH45DE. No one that we know has put that combination in a G50.

[WHE90Q45]

well the full maintenence log is being sent to me via snail mail, so i should have that in a few days.i talked to my dad about me possibly buying the car, he was the one person i was worried would not think it's a good idea, but he was all for it if i can get it at a reasonable price.... and since i know the owner a little bit i think i can negotiate a good deal....

unfortunatly this evening as i was exiting my father's apartment complex i was hit by someone running a red light... yes i was driving the q. she hit the passenger side door right at the wheel well, and then it scraped the bumper as well. luckily i was being followed by a friend of my fathers who saw the whole thing happened, and she admitted she was at fault, so the insurance companies will sort this out. i just hope they don't try and offer a buy-out on the car. it wasn't a bad hit, meaning the drivetrain and the frame are both fine. i drove it home and nothing felt any different, so i think its ok. just not excited about a shop trying to match the paint, etc.

when i get the full history report i'll let you guys know.thanks for the help!!

[CrimsonQ]

damn, Brian gave you good advice. But you started it..

[WHE90Q45]

damn, Brian gave you good advice. But you started it..

OUCH!!!

it'll get fixed. besides this is a good time to take care of the rear bumper issues, as long as it's in the shop. and by rear bumper issues i mean that there is the begining of rust where the bumper meets the wheel well..... which as i understand is typical of these cars. the rest of the car is purrrrrfect. but i'll be upset if it comes back from the shop and the paint doesn't look right.

[maxnix]

Yeah, pay for them to get all the cancer out. Look around the rear wheel wells carefully.

No problem where there is no salt.