A re-introduction (long)

[740fizza]

Greetings fellow 'nico' members. After admiring the QX4 from afar for several years, I finally got an opportunity to pick up a silver/black 01 QX4 exactly 1 month ago ($5,500) 90k miles, second owner. I was actually suppose to purchase a QX4 back in 08' but ended up buying a 740. So when the right opportunity presented itself down the road, I couldn't resist and sort of re-introduced myself to the Q. It's the last of the older generation of SUVs dating back to the early 90's and has that classic shape to it. Sort of the best of last if you will of that gen Pathfinder. The 4Runner was also considered as I have currently a 2nd gen runner but the VQ motor and amenities of the Q was what won me over.

Mind you, it wasn't in perfect shape and was 'abused' a bit by the previous owner with it's lack of maintenance, rotting running boards, rattling heat shields, non functional CD player, etc etc. But what can I say, I'm a sucker for abused cars and eventually nursed it back to health. Over the past month, it's sat in my garage (just work on it in my spare time). I replaced all of the following (keeping tally to stay within budget as much as possible):

Air Filter $10
Oil change/filter $15
Brake pads/rotors front $175 (Brembo blanks and Akebono pads)
Taillight $80 (hair line crack)
HID Fogs $42
Leather cleaner $20 (Zaino, really good stuff!)
spark plugs $40 (OEM)
intake gaskets $34 (including TB)
belts (a/c and alt) $20 (OEM)
cabin air filter $16
transmission fluid $60 Castrol High Mileage ATF
rear bulbs $7
license plate lights (white led) $15
transmission filter $18
license plate frame stainless $20
wipers $20
fuel injector seals (both upper and lower) $10
fuel injector pintle caps (ended up breaking one, come in pack of 6 from Mr. Injector) $15
Stainless steel clamps (to fix rattling heat shields) $15
rear bearing seals $30
vvt solenoid gasket $8 OEM (required removal for passenger side valve covers)
PCV valve $4 (NON-THREADED for QX4, threaded for "Pathy"!!!)
PCV valve gromet $7
valve cover gasket set $72 OEM
valve cover bolt $5 (dropped one in the depths of the motor only to find it AFTER I installed everything)
Power steeing fluid swap (used same ATF)
Coolant drain and fill
Brake fluid swap

Also removed both upper and lower intake plenums to check the power valves and the swirl valves. All were nice and tight but I removed the power valves and put red loctite and then re-installed. Of course all parts were fully cleaned in the process.

Near future mods/fixes are:
1. Navi install (OEM navi bezel ordered so it sits high up) Just need to figure out which OEM looking headunit to buy (a bit difficult since most aftermarkets look a bit too flashy for my tastes)
2. slow window fix (lots of silicone!)
3. Highs + fogs on together (pet peeve of all US cars)
4. Full zaino detail and paint correction
5. Some PDR work to rid it of any parking lot dings
6. Have weld shop fix rusted out running boards
7. Front/rear diffs & xfer case
8. fuel filter

Anyways, first impressions are great. I got comfortable working on my 7 in the past couple years and found the Q a bit more difficult at times. Of course the write-ups were very helpful, special thanks to this 'Empty V' individual as I used a couple of his. Happy to answer any questions on the VC gaskets and or fuel injector rails, brakes, etc since it's fresh in my mind. Thanks for reading!

Will be posting pics soon.

[Towncivilian]

Glad to have you here!

I posted how I did the highs + fogs mod in this post, as well as my interpretation of the independent fog relay mod a few posts up. If you're going to do soldering with the fog switch mod, I recommend soldering on a ring connector, wrapping with electrical tape, then heatshrink for best longevity instead of just crimping and heatshrinking like I did.

Have you put threadlocker on the power valve screws yet? It's a worthy investment of a couple hours to secure those damn screws to avoid them getting sucked in by the engine and causing potentially severe engine damage.

[740fizza]

Thanks! And yes, did those power valve screws (just edited original post). Actually, those screws were what caused me to take the motor apart in the first place. Once started I figured eh, I'm in here, might as well do VCGs, noticed a bit of fuel stains around a couple injectors figured I'd do that to. One thing led to another and well a month went by!

And yes, actually read through your post a few times. I actually came across this for my i30 a while back and think I can combine your ideas with this: http://www.vqpower.com/v2/articles.php?article_id=31. This method doesn't require quite as much work or so it seems.