I had a sad experience on Saturday. I’m out for a leisurely drive when I see an early Q sitting on the side of the road with its hood up. So I stop to offer assistance to a fellow Q owner and hear the following.
“I was just driving along with the car running great and the engine just shut off. No warning, no nothing.”
I ask him to try to start it. The engine just spins free like no compression. I ask about previous work, he just picked the car up from having the transmission rebuilt ($3200) and he reworked the AC when he bought the car 8 months ago. I ask him about the guides and he has no idea, never heard of them. Not many things would allow the engine to spin as freely as this one did.
So here is a 24 year old fellow, mortgaged to the hilt just to buy the car (Paid $7500 for a ‘91Q with 110K miles, no warranty), just starting a new job, had to borrow the $3200 for the transmission job, with no prospects of being able to fix this car.
His only realistic option is to walk away and let the bank have the car. Here is a nice looking ’91 Q with a fresh transmission and AC that is most likely doomed to the wrecking yard. Very sad.
The world is full of cars that are cheap to buy but expensive to own. Porche 944s look like a screaming deal until you face the first clutch replacement (costs as much as a replacement transmission in a Q). I posted the same message a few months ago about a Ferrari I owned.
If you can’t enjoy the wonderful car you own because you are scared to death of a possible failure, do yourself and the car a favor. Sell it to someone who can afford it.
A Sad End in Sight.
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Mayhem_J30
- Posts: 2643
- Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2002 2:00 am
- Car: Ummm...My Car
- Location: Louisville, KY
You *could* make the system work for you, find out what bank will take it back, get the thing for a grand, remove the differential and transmission (and anything else you might think of) for later use, *then* sell it to a yard for half a grand. Very coldly and quite objectively, the car's dead, the boy is sunk. Certainly any of us would have given the boy good advice before hand (I HATE too see this kind of thing happen!), but now . . . I would hate to see good parts go to the crusher.
Guides?
OK.. Just my second post. I'm not a mechanic, but in reviewing some of the posted threads, I keep running across this thing called "guides". Help me out. What do I need to know about guides? Whatever they are it must be a b...ch when they give out.
Thanks for your indulgence. I'm sure it won't be the last question if its type from me. I'm just trying to catch up here.
Thanks for your indulgence. I'm sure it won't be the last question if its type from me. I'm just trying to catch up here.
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Q451990
- Moderator
- Posts: 11033
- Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2002 8:21 am
- Car: 1990 Q45 - 118K, 2022 Toyota 4 Runner, 2004 Frontier M/T - 108K, 2012 Xterra (Mom's), 2023 Rogue (Inlaws)
- Location: Columbia, SC
- Contact:
Re: Guides?
The guides we're talking about are the timing chain guides. These guides use tensioners and push against the timing chains to keep them snug on the sprockets. Imagine a bike with a loose chain - the guides would push against the chain to keep it from coming off. The 90-93 Q45s had plastic timing chain guides which crack and break. When this happens the peices can get between the chain and sprocket causing the chain to jump, or the peices may drop down in to the oil pan and then the loose chain jumps time. The end result is usually pistons and valves slamming together and thousands of dollars in damage.toddpod wrote:OK.. Just my second post. I'm not a mechanic, but in reviewing some of the posted threads, I keep running across this thing called "guides". Help me out. What do I need to know about guides? Whatever they are it must be a b...ch when they give out.
Thanks for your indulgence. I'm sure it won't be the last question if its type from me. I'm just trying to catch up here.
The good news for you is that the guides were updated for the 1994 model year - so your 1995 should be fine.
Heath
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Q45tech
- Moderator
- Posts: 14296
- Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2002 3:19 am
- Car: 1990 Q45 342,400 miles 22 years ownership with original engine
1995 G20t 5 speed 334,000 miles 16" 2002 wheels - 205/50/16 Sr20ve vvl
"(Paid $7500 for a ‘91Q with 110K miles, no warranty), just starting a new job, had to borrow the $3200 for the transmission job, with no prospects of being able to fix this car."
Dealer retail is only $5500 for 91Q? and tradein is $3200 less any known defects and the cost to repair ..........with roughly a $1400-1500 minimum if engine or transmission problems but it must run and drive $1000-1100 if it doesn't!
New young 96Q customer from South Carolina paid $8550 with 86,000 miles [works at BMW dealer got it on a trade in for what they paid].Good condition except for transmission, aftermarket pads/brakes , tension rods, 60k never done {couple of thousand should make it right except for leaking rear subframe bushing [rearended probably] another $1200........but still $8500 plus $3,000 is only $11,500 for what was a $50k car 6-7 years ago.We did a preinspection 5-6 months ago on a similiar car which was being purchased for $15,300 with 70k. [not my job to tell someone they are paying to much] I just refer them to http://www.edmunds.com/used/19...n0678
The point being is you have to look [bargains] around before you buy! Or have a friend at a dealer who will cut you a deal just to avoid the auction. Most dealers don't want a 6 year old car on the lot unless it's near perfect! It points out the high depreciation.
A 94 Q [86k] tradein would be $7300, private retail $8500, dealer $10,400. Hey dealer wholeselling it and making $500 [cash deals] is better than spending $2000 [their cost] to fix it up and having to wait 3 months to make a measly thousand! Whereas a 2nd 3rd tier lot might buy it from dealer/auction for $7800 spend $400 covering things up and hope for the same $10,300 making $2,000......the dealer is much more concerned with reputation!
Dealer retail is only $5500 for 91Q? and tradein is $3200 less any known defects and the cost to repair ..........with roughly a $1400-1500 minimum if engine or transmission problems but it must run and drive $1000-1100 if it doesn't!
New young 96Q customer from South Carolina paid $8550 with 86,000 miles [works at BMW dealer got it on a trade in for what they paid].Good condition except for transmission, aftermarket pads/brakes , tension rods, 60k never done {couple of thousand should make it right except for leaking rear subframe bushing [rearended probably] another $1200........but still $8500 plus $3,000 is only $11,500 for what was a $50k car 6-7 years ago.We did a preinspection 5-6 months ago on a similiar car which was being purchased for $15,300 with 70k. [not my job to tell someone they are paying to much] I just refer them to http://www.edmunds.com/used/19...n0678
The point being is you have to look [bargains] around before you buy! Or have a friend at a dealer who will cut you a deal just to avoid the auction. Most dealers don't want a 6 year old car on the lot unless it's near perfect! It points out the high depreciation.
A 94 Q [86k] tradein would be $7300, private retail $8500, dealer $10,400. Hey dealer wholeselling it and making $500 [cash deals] is better than spending $2000 [their cost] to fix it up and having to wait 3 months to make a measly thousand! Whereas a 2nd 3rd tier lot might buy it from dealer/auction for $7800 spend $400 covering things up and hope for the same $10,300 making $2,000......the dealer is much more concerned with reputation!
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Q45tech
- Moderator
- Posts: 14296
- Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2002 3:19 am
- Car: 1990 Q45 342,400 miles 22 years ownership with original engine
1995 G20t 5 speed 334,000 miles 16" 2002 wheels - 205/50/16 Sr20ve vvl
It's just not Infinity but all cars! Look at the bone yard at all speciality shops. MB. BMW, Audi, Porsche, Jag, Volvo, Saab,
Car after car sitting there for years because the shop can't junk it because it costs too much to get the TITLE [you have to go before a Judge and pay $300 or more] and the owner has abandoned it because he won't pay the repair bill.
Every week,30 days the shop calls and the owner promises he'll be right down to pay the bill.....sometimes in the middle of the night the lot gets broken into and the car dissappears. Actually sometimes you're glad to take the loss just to get rid of the junkers. The $20 per day after 3 -7 days [post repair] is designed to discourage this action.....something usually partially paid by the finance company when you finally try to get the title......they say the car is being repoed and they have been looking for it for 4-6 months.
Car after car sitting there for years because the shop can't junk it because it costs too much to get the TITLE [you have to go before a Judge and pay $300 or more] and the owner has abandoned it because he won't pay the repair bill.
Every week,30 days the shop calls and the owner promises he'll be right down to pay the bill.....sometimes in the middle of the night the lot gets broken into and the car dissappears. Actually sometimes you're glad to take the loss just to get rid of the junkers. The $20 per day after 3 -7 days [post repair] is designed to discourage this action.....something usually partially paid by the finance company when you finally try to get the title......they say the car is being repoed and they have been looking for it for 4-6 months.
Q45 engine
Well...
This may not be as bad as it seems.
But only because the situation is far worse than it appears.
"You want the truth. You can't handle the truth!"
The truth is that your loved car is a machine. Just a machine. In its land of origin it is treated as nothing more. Space is scarce, and people get used to throwing things away before they wear out. There are actually laws that encourage the "disposal" of cars long before they wear out. On that small island many cars get about 35K miles and then get... Well I would rather not describe the horrific destruction of beauty involved.
That said, a few years back I got a low mile motor for my '87 626 for $225. I was shocked. I had just paid $150 for the power sunroof switch. A friend of a friend replaced it and added a CV joint for less than $1K! I sold the car a few months later running fine. I have heard stories of these used motors going another 100K.
I used my favorite source to check prices for the infinity. It was about $3K to replace the Q45 motor, and $2K to replace the J30. I chose the J30 when I found out it takes 3 hours to replace the plugs in the Q. Since it was only about 1K more for the 'Q trans, I suggest replacing both.
This may not be as bad as it seems.
But only because the situation is far worse than it appears.
"You want the truth. You can't handle the truth!"
The truth is that your loved car is a machine. Just a machine. In its land of origin it is treated as nothing more. Space is scarce, and people get used to throwing things away before they wear out. There are actually laws that encourage the "disposal" of cars long before they wear out. On that small island many cars get about 35K miles and then get... Well I would rather not describe the horrific destruction of beauty involved.
That said, a few years back I got a low mile motor for my '87 626 for $225. I was shocked. I had just paid $150 for the power sunroof switch. A friend of a friend replaced it and added a CV joint for less than $1K! I sold the car a few months later running fine. I have heard stories of these used motors going another 100K.
I used my favorite source to check prices for the infinity. It was about $3K to replace the Q45 motor, and $2K to replace the J30. I chose the J30 when I found out it takes 3 hours to replace the plugs in the Q. Since it was only about 1K more for the 'Q trans, I suggest replacing both.
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Q45tech
- Moderator
- Posts: 14296
- Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2002 3:19 am
- Car: 1990 Q45 342,400 miles 22 years ownership with original engine
1995 G20t 5 speed 334,000 miles 16" 2002 wheels - 205/50/16 Sr20ve vvl
If the US economy doesn't produce and sell 16,000,000 cars per year everything collapses! 200M/16M= 12.5 years and the average car on the road is 8.3 years old.
In Japan in 1994 they traveled only 55% as US per year so a 5-6 year old engine can have 30,000-36,000 milesAVERAGE ANNUAL DISTANCE TRAVELLED BY CARS, SELECTED COUNTRIES Year Average distance travelled Country kilometres -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Australia 1991 14,600 France 1994 14,535 Germany 1993 12,700 Great Britain 1994 16,000 Hong Kong 1994 17,658 Japan 1994 10,130 Sweden 1993 12,000 United States of America 1993 17,862 Japan auto registrations 1995-44,680,254 pass. units -4.88 average age of registerd fleet 1996-46,868,712-5.04 1997-48,611,230-5.14 1998-49,896,326-5.33 1999-51,164,901-5.60 2000-52,438,083-5.84
In Japan in 1994 they traveled only 55% as US per year so a 5-6 year old engine can have 30,000-36,000 milesAVERAGE ANNUAL DISTANCE TRAVELLED BY CARS, SELECTED COUNTRIES Year Average distance travelled Country kilometres -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Australia 1991 14,600 France 1994 14,535 Germany 1993 12,700 Great Britain 1994 16,000 Hong Kong 1994 17,658 Japan 1994 10,130 Sweden 1993 12,000 United States of America 1993 17,862 Japan auto registrations 1995-44,680,254 pass. units -4.88 average age of registerd fleet 1996-46,868,712-5.04 1997-48,611,230-5.14 1998-49,896,326-5.33 1999-51,164,901-5.60 2000-52,438,083-5.84