92 q45 general problems,guys whats your take on these?

[leosden]

my 92 q has 117,000 miles on it,I bought it late december with no knowledge whatsoever was done do it service wise.the brake pads worn and stoplight malfunction messages are on,so is the antilock brake light,only one speaker works,the HVAC display is out,but comes on sometimes,and the sunroof switch is broken off,so it only tilts.As for the exterior the antenna doesnt go down,and trunk opens when it feels like it .To the engine,I have replaced the water pump,radiator and alternator.there are two noises that Im concerned about,a humming sound from the rear back seat when im driving,and clanking noise in the engine compartment which someone told me might be a "arching spark plug wire "this noise is so loud you can hear it when driving,windows up and everything.any ideas on all these above mentioned issues

[elwesso]

Wow lots of stuff here, ill try and briefly go over each one...

my 92 q has 117,000 miles on it,I bought it late december with no knowledge whatsoever was done do it service wise.

1. the brake pads worn and stoplight malfunction messages are on,2. so is the antilock brake light,3. only one speaker works,4. the HVAC display is out,but comes on sometimes,5. and the sunroof switch is broken off,so it only tilts..6. As for the exterior the antenna doesnt go down,7. and trunk opens when it feels like it .8. To the engine,I have replaced the water pump,radiator and alternator.9. a humming sound from the rear back seat when im driving,10. and clanking noise in the engine compartment which someone told me might be a "arching spark plug wire "this noise is so loud you can hear it when driving,windows up and everything.any ideas on all these above mentioned issues

1. Besides the obvious (that you need to replace the pads) you can bypass the sensors by shorting the 2 wires together.. Stop lamp inoperative is also fixed most times by replaceing the high mount stop light bulbs with genuine nissan bulbs.. If that doesnt fix it, replace the sockets.. $2 for the bulbs from nissan.

2. Hopefully your ABS actuator isnt bad, as thats a spendy part! Hopefully its a sensor or something simple, but those dont fail as commonly...

3. Time to ditch the bose and get some cheap aftermarket setup (say less than 200) to get sound... Redoing the bose, IMHO just isnt worth it... So much good stuff on the market for not very much, and even lets you keep your stock head unit.!!!

4. Common item as well... Jerry tucker can rebuild them, or you can get one (on ebay right now) and hope for the best.. The rebuild is like $200 i think

5. New sunroof switch- about $30 from dealer or cheap from junkyard

6. Broken mast... Replace hte mast (writeups done on this) for about $20... Takes 30mins to replace it, very easy job

7. I had this problem on both my Qs... The little striker on the latch of the trunk (on the body part, not the lid) needs to be bent slightly to the left (as you look down on it)... 5 seconds with a pair of needle nose pliers.... That is, assuming that yours clicks butonly pops the trunk every so often.....

8. Good maintenance!

9. Fuel pump, replace that thing asap before it fries the controller. $250 for the pump, and another $500 if you burn up the controller

10 Possible, hopefully your cars not throwing a rod or something... If you dont have oem NGK plugs its certainly possible...

Also you need to look into replacing the chain gudies..... read up on it, if you dont replace them the engine will self destruct itself... No ands ifs or buts it WILL destroy itself......

Not to be mean but this is what you get for getting a used car... It doesnt konw you only paid 1-5k for the car, it still thinks its a 40,000 luxury mobile... Dont even get me started on the suspension, drivetrain, transmission coolers, and so on...

[DAEDALUS]

Don't think arcing plug wires can cause a clanking sound. Car doesn't have plug wires anyway, so it's a moot point. When does it make noise? Randomly, over bumps, accelerating/braking, etc?

[elwesso]

The clanking sound might be coming from the ABS thing going haywire, just another random thought.....

[leosden]

thanks for the heads up guys,as for the clanking noise its starts as soon as you start the engine up and gets louder when you accelerate sometimes it just goes away and then comes back,I will be taking the car to T-3 soon,Ive heard that they are the best in town.despite these issues with the car Im very impressed with it.I was looking at getting a maxima or acura legend earlier but they just dont compare to the q45.

[maxnix]

I would suggest not driving it until it is seen by T-3. Think the one on Cobb is the Q45 mecca. Your noise is not common at all.

Get a service history first.

Have you replaced your timing chain guides?

[DAEDALUS]

Sounds bad. Hope it's not rod knock or oil starvation.

[Q45tech]

We rarely find people smart enough to get a $70 prebuy inspection before buying Q anymore! We see the results frequently now.

Sometimes the same rejected cars [our recommendations to run away are often ignored] come in with different owners 3 months later........again and again.

There are a few 3rd tier lots in Cobb county that specialize in selling rejects to the unsuspecting...........due to its increasing ethnic populations.

One of our ex techs who opened a competing [in some ways more bottom focused] shop is opening a buy here pay here lot for old Q, LS, Accura, Honda for immigrants and those unsophisticated in cars populations.

As we say, he gives a Tail Light Warranty "once the tail lights dissappear so does the warranty". Crank it you own it kinda cars.

[Q45tech]

Ole XXXXX will change a Q motor for a little more than half what we charge to do it right...........he just swaps one junkyard motor for another: no new parts what's so every, no R&R labor..... saves the old antifreeze and oil for reuse, old belts, old spark plugs. Every penny counts when you focus on the low income market.

Some times they drive away worse than they came in! Business should pickup now that tax refund season is here.........just add 4 more kids to the return.

[PalmerWMD]

All otehr probs can be fixed with our parts hook -ups and some elbow grease on your part.

I am convcerned about that engine noise however.

Can you post a clip of it?

Fred..

[pito11213]

Dennis I must say that I have always noticed that your posts on "economics and its relationships to Q's " are always border line with me. I am just stating my own opinion and dont want to get into anything. Just something that I have noticed on occasion. Assuming that you are an "older gentleman" how long have you lived in GA?

[Jesda]

I think all that he's saying is that if you pay less you typically get less in return.

[Q45tech]

A young looking 160 pound, 58 born in Georgia mountains, lived in Manhattan & NJ, Europe, Caribbean, South America, back to Atlanta last 10 years. Bought Q in 1990 in ATL drove it to Florida where it stayed 5 years resting while I traveled alot. There you are -------a short history.

My MBA in International Finance sometimes gets in the way of car ownership........analyse things too much.

After driving multi hundreds of Q and studying [to death] the subject?

What would one expect?

[maxnix]

It's quite difficult to be wiser without being older. Sigh.

[Jesda]

Do you think any harm was done to your Q while it sat for five years?