Another new Q owner

Post by **jdx911** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 10:17 am

I am in the final stages in obtaining an 1997 Q45. I needed a cruiser to take me to and from work everday, about 30 miles each way, and my modded 350Z was not very practical.

I found this high mileage (~123k) 1997 Q45 that was in good mechnical condition and the interior and paint was in great condition sans a paint chip on the wing.

I found a few minor issues:

1. a shimmy from the front left tire when accelerating or braking. The dealer said he will fix this before delivery. Wheel bearing? Rack? Brake Rotor? If it is not fixed, then I will back out of the deal as per the sales agreement.

2. The trunk motor seems to be broken. It seems to be water proof but it looks as if the trunk does not close completely. Does anyone know the cost involved in fixing this?

3. Cracked driver side fog lamp cover. No big deal.

Im excited and to hope to put a good 150k miles on this car!

JDX

Post by **nchopp** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 11:15 am

Welcome!

Post by **Falkdesigns** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 11:18 am

Looks nice. There's no trunk motor, it's purely manual. The cracked fog light lens may not seem like a big deal, but you can't replace the lense, it's the complete housing, something like 150$. Not sure about the shimmy. Good luck with it if you get it!

Post by **Vmo** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 12:03 pm

mine just got hit by a rock the other day (foglamp) - I looked online and I think the part was 100 bux or so - not cheap though...

Post by **sean8564** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 12:45 pm

NICE I like it.

Post by **jdx911** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 12:48 pm

Thanks for the props!

I found the trunk pulldown motor in the everything nissan catalog.

$119 shipped. Got out of that one easy!

Thanks.
Modified by jdx911 at 4:27 PM 7/21/2005

Post by **maxnix** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 1:20 pm

Vmo wrote:mine just got hit by a rock the other day (foglamp) - I looked online and I think the part was 100 bux or so - not cheap though...

http://www.stongard.com will save you money unless they are already broken. Save on wear also!

Post by **maxnix** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 1:22 pm

Falkdesigns wrote:There's no trunk motor, it's purely manual.

I thought it was not available until 1999.

Get the service history and inspect the fluids.

Post by **Falkdesigns** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 1:33 pm

Yeah, I didn't know there was a trunk pull down motor on this model at all. Learn something every day.

Post by **elwesso** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 2:16 pm

Welcome aboard!! Glad to have another Y guy!

Anyway, my guess is that the rotor could be warped, but if it doesnt change wether its accel or decel, it could be the wheel is out of balance... id try the balancing first.

Post by **jdx911** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 2:34 pm

LOL... Okay the drama continues....

The 1997 Q45 does NOT have a trunk pulldown motor. Q45's with the production date of 8/98 on up have this feature. - Thats the bad news.

The good news is that the problem should be easy to fix. It is either the rubber bump stops are worn or the striker mechanism needs to be adjusted.

Thanks for the headup... You saved me 100 bucks!

Also the rotor was warped and the rack is a little loose. The dealer will do a complete brake job and replace the rack with a remanufactured rack.

Thanks again!

Post by **maxnix** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 4:57 am

jdx911 wrote:The 1997 Q45 does NOT have a trunk pulldown motor. Q45's with the production date of 8/98 on up have this feature. - Thats the bad news.

Good news for Falk and I!

But do get the service history and do inspect the condition of the fluids, especially PS, ATF and differential. Since it is a dealer selling, have him check the AC and coolant also.

Post by **Falkdesigns** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 6:22 am

Awesome news! Just checked, my car was born 04/98. That's great that the dealer is gonna fix some stuff up. Unless I missed it, what are they asking for the car $$? Is it at an Infiniti dealer (doubtful as New car dealers rarely sell used cars w/ high mileage)?

Post by **jdx911** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 8:02 am

No, it's not an Infiniti dealer rather a small used car dealership. He asked for $8k but settled for $7700 provided the fix for the tire shimmy meets my approval.

I did quick check of PS, Coolant and Oil. They all seem good. I will take the car in for a 90k service once I pick it up.

Post by **elwesso** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 3:34 pm

jdx911 wrote:No, it's not an Infiniti dealer rather a small used car dealership. He asked for $8k but settled for $7700 provided the fix for the tire shimmy meets my approval.

I did quick check of PS, Coolant and Oil. They all seem good. I will take the car in for a 90k service once I pick it up.

Good to hear, id also pay a little extra to have them do a "once over" and find things to replace.. have them assemble a grocery list!

Post by **Jesda** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 9:22 pm

"Drop it like its hot."

Post by **jdx911** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 7:18 pm

Well I picked up the Q today but unfortunately the brakes now squeak, a low pitched squeak when coming to a stop and when I start moving I can hear what seem to be metal scraping to metal sound. I dont think the mechanic did good work on the brakes. He only resurfaced the rotors instead of replacing the rotors as per the dealer. I will have to bring it back to the mechanic on Monday to fix the brake issues.

The steering feels much tighter but the car needs a good alignment.

Despite the brake and alignment issues the drive home was comfortable and uneventful. The way I like it!

Post by **szh** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 7:37 pm

jdx911 wrote:I did quick check of PS, Coolant and Oil. They all seem good. I will take the car in for a 90k service once I pick it up.

The PS and ATF fluid color must be clean and red. Do the white paper test that Q45tech has talked about here. Basically take a coffee paper filter, put a drop of new ATF fluid on it and a separate drop on the filter (on a different spot or another filter) from what is currently in the car. You can use the ATF dipstick for this.

Compare the colors - they must be essentially the same. Do the same for the PS. If the color of the PS or ATF fluids is darker (particularly the ATF), it must be changed out (full flush preferably) as soon as you can do it! If the current ATF fluid is completely brown or dark, this is a bad sign for the transmission (I hope the dealer has given you a warranty on it.) Good to check this now!.

Z

Post by **jdx911** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 10:50 am

The saga continues... The brake problem is fixed. It was only a loose dust cover ! Next issue is the in-cabin filter doesnt seem to be working very well. The AC has a weird smell, almost a heavy air smell. I will have to check it out tomorrow.

JDX

Post by **maxnix** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 2:38 pm

jdx911 wrote: It was only a loose dust cover ! Next issue is the in-cabin filter doesnt seem to be working very well. The AC has a weird smell, almost a heavy air smell. I will have to check it out tomorrow.

Works great if changed annually. What does your copy of the Infiniti dealer performed service history say?

There are two under one part number (good to have a spare for next time). Get them from Joe at http://www.everythinginfiniti.com . Changing procedure is well illustrated in the FSM.

Post by **qship96** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 3:13 am

in cabin air filter filters particulates from the air-the smelly,"heavy"air you are experiencing is probobly due to mold and mildew built up on the evaporator-spray some disinfectant into the air openings by base of windsheild"hood up"or better yet search out the BG brand can of foam that gets injected into evaporator core and does a great job of killing micro-organisms and completely cleans the crud built up in the evaporator.

Another new Q owner

Another new Q owner

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