Another new J30 owner with questions

[joojoo2915]

Just bought a 96 J30 last sunday. Everything seemed awesome on the test drive (minus a few cosmetic blemishes), and the seller lives 2 hours away, so I declined taking it to a mechanic to have it checked out (stupid me). Well, it drives home perfectly and I'm very excited. The next day, however, I'm driving to work and the check engine light comes on. *Dammit!*

I make an appointment, for today, at the local Nissan dealer (no Infiniti dealers within 100 miles that I know of) to have it checked out. Turns out the check engine light is from the speedometer not sending the speed to the ECM. I was quoted $400 to fix that problem. The Steering Rack Inner Seals are also blown and leaking ps fluid. I was quoted $1250 to fix that.

The guy I had bought it from purchased it from a Repo Auction like a week earlier so he could sell it up here in Montana, I guess as a quick investment. He was able to get the maintenance records for up to 86,000 miles from the infiniti dealer (115k miles now), but nothing beyond. Therefore, I don't know whether or not the timing belt/water pump/hoses have been changed.

I would also like to get a transmission flush with synthetic and a transmission cooler. It seems to shift pretty well right now, a little hard from first to second, but I'd like to make sure it doesn't break down in the near future.

I'm not rich by any means, so I can afford to fix one or two of these problems right now and I will work on the others as I have more money. What I need to know, however, is which ones I should place the highest priority on and which ones I can wait on? Thanks!

Mike

[Jesda]

Timing belt and water pump --need-- to be done (easier to do both at once). A snapped timing belt results in a destroyed motor.

[carlos_knology]

I agree with Jesda. I'd do the timing belt and water pump first. Then, I'd take care of the PS fluid leak. Preferably I'd want to fix these items at the same time. I don't like anything leaking.

The last thing I'd fix is the spedometer/ECM issue. I'm guessing that worst case, your fuel mileage may decrease since the ECM will probably have the fuel mixture screwed up since it doesn't really know the speed of the car. That's just a guess though. It may be ok.

Carlos

[rebar71]

It seems to shift pretty well right now, a little hard from first to second, ...

This is normal. I actually find that the harder your accelation, the smoother the shift is from 1st to 2nd.

[joojoo2915]

Thanks guys! I'll get the timing belt/ water pump replaced asap.

[J-Owner]

If you are replacing the timing belt and the water pump you also need to replace the timing belt tensioner and the idler pulleys. This stuff needs to be done the same time and it is cheaper obviously if it is done all together.

The somewhat hard shifting from 1st to 2nd is normal.

As for your other problems I would worry about the speedometer later, as these guys have already said the timing belt is the critical factor here.

Good luck. You really have bought a wonderful car. The key to keeping it that way is maintenance.

Enjoy,Brandon