'93 Q with 144K - What will break next?

[Vate]

We've owned this 1993 Q45 since 1997. My wife loves this car. Well, she loved this car, until its recent run of problems. In the last six months it's needed a new fuel pump, alternator, belt tensioner, and radiator. It stranded her for the fuel pump, and she's been somewhat skittish about the car since.

The water pump was replaced at 111K, and the full 120K maintenance was done at 125K. We've always taken very good care of the car, and all of these items seem reasonable for a car of this age and mileage. My question is, what's next? What's the most likely item to go? I've spend a couple of grand, and that's cheaper than car payments would have been for six months, but I would prefer to do some predictive maintenance if possible.

Thanks for any insights...

[elwesso]

Welcome aboard.....

You did good in replacing those, they all sound like common replacement items on the Q..

I assume you replaced all the belts when you had the tensioner fail???

Other than that, start thinking about injectors, ohm the injectors... see which ones if any are starting to go bad.......

Did you read the sticky?

[Vate]

>>>Did you read the sticky?<<<

Yes. I should have mentioned that when I had the alternator replaced, T3 (who did the alternator work) inspected the chain guides, and said that they had already been updated, or the car had come with them (built late in model year '93).

I replaced the belts with the alternator in December.

Probably not too late to put in the oil transmission cooler - should have done that about 8 years ago. Especially living in the south.

I'll check the injectors. The car runs great right now - completely silent and smooth, accelerates hard off the line, etc. It doesn't burn a drop of oil, really amazing for being 12 years old.

Thanks for your help.

[elwesso]

Hell if its at T3 and has been there, they probably would have mentioned something that needed to be done...

I might go back and have them "find" things wrong..... post it up and we can prioritize...

[3Q Jay]

most any hose.i presently live in fear of the 'crossover' hose in the valley between the heads. have the parts just haven't got to it yet.preventive 10 year/100k maintenance [i *did* do this on the U13 this year] is change every piece of rubber under the hood.

blue relay for the starter. easy--$12.30 from a sposor.knock sensors and harness when you do the underplenum deal.check your rack boots. uppper links and tension do-nuts.

[Q45tech]

No fear of injectors in Atlanta at least until we ethanolize.Be prepared for underplenum hoses [change them all out] and KS and harness at the same time [~~$1,000].

AC system will fail at some point [$1,000-$20]00 depending on what and how much.

Shocks, transmission mount, exhaust hangers, turbine sensor leak, valve cover leak, O2 sensors, window regulators, drivers door hinge.

[RobertsnewQ]

I'd be very surprised if upper links weren't done already... Mine squeak and clunk pretty annoyingly and it's only got 78k.

I'm starting to think that ALL 93s got the steel-backed tensioners. I haven't heard of one with the plastic yet...

[greg_atlanta]

Fuel pump control unit and mass air flow sensor (MAF) -- both got me recently on '92 Q 215K miles.

(both are $480 each retail, or $360 from Joe in Scottsdale)

Tranmission is always possible failure item, try using Mobil 1 synthetic ATF with next flush.

[Vate]

>>>I'd be very surprised if upper links weren't done already<<<

Good guess - they were done at about 105K.

>>>Shocks<<<

They need to be replaced. I assume that new struts/shocks at all four corners is high $$.

>>>All the rest...<<<

It's kind of like being a hypochondriac...once you know what *could* go wrong, it's like, I don't feel so good. At least it seems like most of this stuff (that I haven't already done) won't stop the car in its tracks, except blowing a hose. I'm guessing that if the transmission goes, it starts by slipping, etc., not by dropping out entirely.

[redmanfx]

Actually you can get all 4 of the T. Blues shocks off E-bay for something under $300. They are the cheapest I've even seen and in abundence. I just had the Injectors looked at (a couple being replaced) and cleaned as well as the wiring harness, Knock sensors, O2's, and all the under plenum hoses replaced and the entire EGR cleared of carbon build up. Made a difference for my 92 Q45c.

The external transmission cooler is the next best thing for you. Your at that point where things start to fail so it's needed..

Pay attention to the transmission, drive shaft and transmission mount now.

red

[RobertsnewQ]

What's the production month?

[maxnix]

Actually you can get all 4 of the T. Blues shocks off E-bay for something under $300. red

I think Joe can beat this price, and owners can get all the rubber that needs to be replaced from him.

If you want to get to as new OEM conditon, ask T-3 for the severe inspection. Most owners don't really want to know what they need to do to keep the car up to that specification, so techs are reluctant to tell them. Most owners want a roller fro the least bucks possible, so lots of things must be neglected and preventative maintenance is not in the thought process.

[elwesso]

Joes 376 for blues includes the bump stops and dust boots... The dust boots are ridiculously expensive for whatever reason.....

[RobertsnewQ]

The dust boots are ridiculously expensive for whatever reason.....

You can get rear boots from NAPA for like $20 each, but that might be more than Joe's price.

[Vate]

Thanks for all of the help. You guys rival corvetteforum.com - if not in volume, certainly for helpfulness.

My wife has decided her next car will be a Mercedes CLS500, which has been out about 4 months. She wants to keep her '93 Q for two more years, then take advantage of depreciation to buy a used '06 CLS.

So here's the plan to keep it running well:

o buy new shocks, boots and stops, transmission cooler, and starter relay. The "T. Blues" shocks are the Tokico's?o have T3 install shocks, cooler and relayo have T3 change the transmission fluid to synthetico while T3 has the car, have them do a "hard inspection" to get their opinion on other work to be done.

[elwesso]

You can get rear boots from NAPA for like $20 each, but that might be more than Joe's price.

Thats $10 cheaper than Joes.

I looked at my records and when I bought suspension stuff 1.5 years ago, all 4 boots were about $90..... Ridiculous!!!! But gotta pay to play.....

Thanks for all of the help. You guys rival corvetteforum.com - if not in volume, certainly for helpfulness.

My wife has decided her next car will be a Mercedes CLS500, which has been out about 4 months. She wants to keep her '93 Q for two more years, then take advantage of depreciation to buy a used '06 CLS.

So here's the plan to keep it running well:

o buy new shocks, boots and stops, transmission cooler, and starter relay. The "T. Blues" shocks are the Tokico's?o have T3 install shocks, cooler and relayo have T3 change the transmission fluid to synthetico while T3 has the car, have them do a "hard inspection" to get their opinion on other work to be done.

I like that...... you know you could probably do some of that yourself, unless you just dont like doing things DIY... Either way, if you take it to T3, you can REST ASSURED that the car is in the best hands in the country.

[Q45denver]

I'd like to get some high quality aftermarket ones. I noticed the OEM ones on the front were torn after about 20k miles.

[maxnix]

I'm starting to think that ALL 93s got the steel-backed tensioners. I haven't heard of one with the plastic yet...

You need to do some reading here, then. Of the 1993 reported, not enough had them to fill one hand. Also, without original ownership, it is difficult to establish those that had the updated guides were orginal or not. There seems to be not even a certain VIN for 1993 which undeniably has the guides updated.

[pito11213]

If you are going to keep the Q for another two years then definately get under that plenum for hoses. It you do it yourself at the very least replace the hoses that seem soft and brittle. If you are going to pay a guy makes sense to do them in one shot.

Shocks I would also go with the blues off e-bay there is always a deal on there for them.

As far as preventive I would go with a can of BG 44 and do some throttle body cleaning. How about spark plugs?