92 Q45 in the future

[BadQ45t]

I posted sometime ago about my old mans 1992 Q and that he was going to look to sell it. He's done EVERYTHING except timing guides and transmission replacement. His mechanic (that used to run Infiniti of Ventura) says that he never sees these repairs and that my dad should worry about it. The service manager said that she did hers and they were all fine and has had new transmission sitting in the back for 3 years and her Q still runs fine.

THe reason I'm bringing this up is that he's now offering to give me the car for my wife. She's got an 1990 Mitsubishi Galant that is slow as a snail (but I must admit has been very trouble free for 12 years) that is probably going to require a transmission rebuild.

My thinking is to get the car, add a transmission cooler and drive it until it explodes. I've looked around the Bay Area and LA for that matter and timing guides are going to 3k minimum. I cannot DIY I'm just too lame and don't have the hours to devote to it either.

What do you think? Will we get a good 2 years out of it, what are the odds on the timing guides. His 92 was late 92, put into service in September of 1992, were these any better, or should I not trust this car at all and just get her a new maxima if I'm not willing to redo the guides??

[PalmerWMD]

It's difficult to predict when they fail.in two weeks or two years who knows?

But aren't you in Cali?There is Jerry Tucker San Diego has a great rep and can do these guides, I hear for prices comparable to T3 (T3 charges $1200 last time I had them done there , did 2 Q's for guides).

A lot less than a new transmission on a Galant.

Fred...

[PalmerWMD]

Also a new Maxima is a lot more $$ than new guides , for that price you can do guides, a rmean transmission, new rotors, assorted suspesnion work, and have free gas money left over for years.

Fred...

[BadQ45t]

True true, I do live in Cali, NoCal to be exact but I'd take it to SD if I could save a bunch of money. I asked a mechanic up here (datsunville) who's pretty good and he quoted me 3k.

Do you know of any differences between early and later 92's with respect to this problem? As for the transmission I figure I'll add the cooler and than hope for the best. Right now it is running quite strong.

Thanks for the input, your helping me push my wife to this decision!

[DAEDALUS]

How many miles? I agree with Fred...there's quite a large deviation with the guides, and not enough documented cases to get a real good feel here on the statistical side. My guide was gone at 190k, and for how long, I can only guess. DougQ45's guides were intact at about 180k, if I recall. Both cars are SoCal cars. My feeling is that the guides can fail at ANY time. The question then becomes, "will a piece fall into the chain and derail it?" My shot-in-the-dark guess is there is a at-most 25% chance of that happening. But remember that the guides don't fail just once--pieces fall off over time. If you want to get 2 years out of the car, I would say your odds are better than 50/50, but it's a total crap shoot. If the car's cheap enough, and if you can take the risk, take the car. But if you really like the car, have the guides done.

[DAEDALUS]

P.S. If I could get enough customers, I'd spend my weekends replacing guides for $1200 a pop! It is an ugly task, but for $700 net ($500 parts), I'd jump all over it. I'm not soliciting work, just making conversation. Techs (and shops) can make a pretty decent living.

[BadQ45t]

The car has about 80k miles on it today. He did the value cover gasgets, end links, and a million other little things to the car under warrenty (like 6-7k worth) so that is why he doesn't want to part with the car....Daedalus, you live in El Segundo, my dad's car is sitting at the Marina City Club, wanna make a deal?????

[greg_atlanta]

I have a feeling there are a lot more early Qs than we think on the road running fine on the old guides (and no imminent failure near).

Take the car, tell the Mrs. not to drive like me, and in a year or so you (or the Mrs.) might fall in love and want to do everything you can to make it last forever.

[DougQ45]

Daedalus: If you take the job, I will loosen the crank bolt for you for a very small price?? You were right, my guides with 183,000 were perfect. Also the guides on the 90 with 90,000 were also perfcet--no cracks. Maybe just dumb luck.

[PalmerWMD]

Some guys had luck with guides..

Just a reminder I had 2 (!) Q 45 engines fail on me with 109k and 90k respectively.

Guides failed, one broke the chain the other just jumped it enough to destroy the engine.

Fred...

[BadQ45t]

Greg, I think your right, my wife drives like a turtle as it is, so the car will probably be fine...unless I can convince Daedalus to do my guides I think we'll just run till she drops.

The only problem the car will have is if I decide to run it, I'm going to keep my 97' stock OEM 16" rims to put on the 92' once the tires wear out so I've already got an upgrade planned!

[DAEDALUS]

Heh heh. Again, I wasn't soliciting work. I will really have to think about it seriously. Extra income would be nice, as I will very likely be laid off next year. The satellite company where I work will be announcing the 5th layoff this year on Monday. I'm pretty safe right now, but when a ship sinks everyone gets wet at some point.

[BadQ45t]

Okay, let me know. I'm in the software business where layoffs are common. I've been through 20 layooffs in 10 years in software, only got it twice.

Let me know if you need the work, in the meantime the wife is going to take the 92' and I'll drive it everyone once in a while so you will consider me "part of the cool crowd" that drives the first gen Q!

[PalmerWMD]

Heh heh. Again, I wasn't soliciting work. I will really have to think about it seriously. Extra income would be nice, as I will very likely be laid off next year. The satellite company where I work will be announcing the 5th layoff this year on Monday. I'm pretty safe right now, but when a ship sinks everyone gets wet at some point.

I am sorry to hear.

That's pretty rough, makes me glad I work for Uncle Sam.

Fred....

[BadQ45t]

Fred, true it is fun to work for Uncle Sam, I was a defense contractor for 6 years in the 80's, but you'll be amazed at how much work really gets done in the private sector when your stint is over!

In the meantime I've told my dad to bring that 92 Q on down and my wife is going to try it out for a month to see how she likes it....gotta get a CD player into that thing, any suggestions. The Bose system was just fixed under warrenty so it works, I have not had good luck with the RF modulated CD players. Do they make a stock CD player I could swap it out for?

[aaacomp]

Replaced two oem radios with Clarion double dim,combination radio, tape, and cd. Comes with all cross over wiring to use your existing speakers.I spent 30 minutes reading and soldering on the first on then plugged everything in.....:thumbup

[BadQ45t]

That sounds very cool...it works okay with the Bose speaker setup? Is it made specifically to work with the Bose speakers?

[tkd_q45]

I wish you would open a Q shop! Can't afford nor trust the dealer! I have a 92Q with 106K. I'll have to check my records (my bro had my car for a couple of years), but I do believe that I'll have to do the chain/guide job before too long. It would be nice to have someone that REALLY knows the car working on it. I think there's enough Qs in LA to keep you busy. Just need to get the word out.

[BadQ45t]

No kidding! I think they could easily support T3 west!

[DAEDALUS]

This was brought up before and Dennis has addressed the possibility and put it to rest. Death by unfeasible/marginal economics. Cost of living is just too high here, and I don't think that the laws favor small businesses, relative to most of the rest of the country. If there was a T-3 nearby, I would probably be picking up a job app there real soon!