Expected points of failure for '92 Q45?

[kdkrone]

I have a '92 Q45 with 85K miles which I expect to keep for a while. My first major failure was the transmission about 7K miles ago; it was replaced and I had an additional cooler installed. I plan to replace the chain guides shortly.

I would be grateful to know of any other frequent failures that seem to recur in this model so that I can prepare for them or circumvent them. Q45tech, any thoughts??

ThanksKen K

[Qdog]

Injectors, fuel pump, AC system, ABS relays, Bose speaker amps, idler pullies, under plenum hoses & knock sensors, plus wear items like shocks, bushings, rotors. Am I forgetting anything ? Door locks & sunroof, power antenna, window regulators, starter relay (carry a spare). The only zero maintenance items are the spark plug wires....

[natsoundup]

early Failures on my car: Transmission 93k, bose amps, A/c controller lights, master cylinder at 52k, window regulators (under warranty), and sunvisor whatevers (under warranty)

Bose did replace the amps and the speakers for free 6 months ago.

I got a new A/c controller for 50 bucks

Everything else I consider normal routine maintenance

A/c compressor failure at 153k

Surprises: orginal hoses, t-stat, and fan replaced at 157k (my choice) Original water pump, alternator, fuel pump.

What I think I got taken on: MAF at 113k...probably just could have wiggled the connection...didn't know any better, dealer installed. (last trip to the dealer 4 years ago)

Suspension updates in the 130 k range--- shocks, upper links --good idea.

1990 Q 158k... second transmission on the blink. Overall a great car, but the debate is on on whether to do something about the transmission or hang it up.

oh BTW: The people on this board: PRICELESS... literally and figuratively

[kdkrone]

How did you get Bose to replace the amps for free???

And what are the symptoms of a loose MAF? what happens when the knock sensors go?

And, yes, the people here are truly wonderful and priceless for their participation...

Ken K

[natsoundup]

Bose...... I heard about possible free replacements on this board...somehow I got the number of the Bose people in Massachussets....it was on this board, too....

....so I call and am told that I have to get an authorization return number..... I started BS'ing with this guy named Tom...I am sorry I am so vague, but I didn't keep notes.... anyway... I told him that I had a Bose home system... (I do and it is nice)...and that I am loyal to Bose, but was a bit bummed out that my amps went one at a time.... he sort of acknowledged a long standing problem... anyway he said he would see what he could do.... son of a gun... I got 4 new speakers and amps in my old enclosures...un feaking believable..... they even paid for the postage back..... there is a number buried deep in these posts somewhere.... BTW I have a 90 Q, so it wasn't subject to the recall of 91

The MAF problem is well documented and I ran into this 4 years ago....it seems like your car is missing, but is running ok..... at idle it seems like it will stall out...and you have smoke coming out of your tailpipe..... you wiggle the MAF connection and everything is ok..... to this day I keep a spare connection...just in case it snaps....

I think I have had the MAF symptom two more times in the last four years....now I laugh...but then it cost me about 800 dollars...

Can't tell you about knock sensors....

[nuQ]

kdkrone, WELCOME TO THE SITE, AND YES, ALL THE GUYS HERE ARE THE BEST!!!! i guess what you have to remember is, having an 11 year old car (or my 13 y/o Q) is that just from deterioration, many things WILL fail, even though you have taken really good care of the car. rubber gets old and cracks, connections get loose, and moving parts stop spinning!!!! a 92 Q definitly has it's weak spots, the biggest are the trans and those pesky guides!!!******change those guides yesterday!!!!!! i recently had the horrible idle problem. turns out it was connection to the MAF. cleaned up the connections, a little buld grease, and a firm snap=all is right with my Q world!!! i think a knock sensor might be bad on mine, big work to change, plenum clean while off, maybe the O2 sensors too. a consult is the best way to go so you know EXACTLY what you're dealing with. the way i feel about my Q is this; i bought a $60,000 lux. car for $4500. i've put close to $4000 so far (had the Q for 6 months). if's already been confused (by a mechanic!) for a 98 or 99 model year!!! inside looks brand new, paint incredible and i keep the engine very clean. i follow all the maintenance advice from this site. many other Q's on this site go well over 100k and even 200k (the T3 just died with 475k!!!!!). if my Q looks and performs as good, and MUCH better than most new cars, why not keep???? if i buy a new car, my car payments will be at least $250 a month, thats $3000 a year. UNLESS MY TRANS GOES EVERY YEAR OR AN ENGINE REPLACEMENT EVERY YEAR, NOT EVEN AN ARGUMENT!!!! at least that's how i look at it....................................

AND EVERY DAY THAT I'M DRIVING MY COMPANY VEHICLE HOME FROM WORK,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I CAN'T WAIT TO GET HOME SO I CAN TAKE MY Q OUT TO FIND THE ****REAL****DRIVING EXCITEMENT!!!!! CAN'T WAIT FOR TOMORROW TONIGHT!!!!

[kdkrone]

Nuq,

I am with you. A $50K car will cost about $800/month for a 6 year payoff, or $9600/year. One can purchase a lot of repairs and parts for that. The trick is to know what to anticipate so that that little voice that starts chattering when I want to take the car on the road out of town can be silenced, feeling that the reliability is there.

Presently, I have developed an intermittent problem with missing in one cylinder, usually right when I start up and usually within a minute or two. It used to go away after the engine warmed up but for the past two days, it has been almost constant. I will have to take it in to get it looked at....

Ken K

[tangalora]

Quote » A $50K car will cost about $800/month for a 6 year payoff, or $9600/year. One can purchase a lot of repairs and parts for that.[/quote]

I bought my 90 Q45 in 93 for about $25K.Assuming zero value today, depreciation (unavoidable) is about 2,500 dollars a year.

Maintenance, on the other hand, has been a dream. What went (from memory) was:

• Sunvisors ($450 a pair every few years)
• Rear shocks (about $500 for the pair)
• Brakes (about $100 for one axle's pucks every two years or so)
• Radio antenna (never did fix)
• Radio/speaker whine (never did fix)
• Speedometer stuck at zero (never did fix)
• Transmission lock button needs to be pressed (never did fix)
• Tires (about $500 every 5 years from Teletire)
• One single engine repair! (a stubby 6 inch coolant hose right smack in the middle under the intake manifold, $500 for labor, 1 dollar for parts)
• No, I never replaced the chain guides (they will be the death knell for this Q as the prophylactic repair cost is more than the car is worth today)
• Left headlight (replaced under warranty)
• Battery (about every five years, at about $50 bucks each), some under warranty
• Oil & Filter (a few times a year, sometimes more, sometimes less)
• Never did replace the plugs (it's got 125K so they are long overdue but I don't know how to get to them yet)
• Paint went to hell at the 10-year-old mark (dunno why)
• Glove compartment hinge broke (still broken)
• Varous & sundry fluids (periodically)

All in all, that's a pretty fantastic record for a 13-year old car with 125K miles on it.

Total 10-year ownership costs are about:

• $25K depreciation
• $10K insurance
• $10K gas & oil (roughly assume $1.40/gal, 17mpg)
• $3.5K total repairs & maintenance

Which is about $50K total cost over the ten years I've owned this wonderfully well built & nicely engineered automobile, or about $5K total cost per year (of which maintenance & repairs was only 350 dollars on average per year).

Not bad.

Even if I add the things that _should_ be done, like a repainting (about 2 grand I guess), the speedo (dunno what the problem is yet, the transmission button (dunno what the problem is yet), the antenna (50 bucks, I guess), the chain guides (probably a few grand, maybe 2K as I can't hope to do it myself), etc., I STILL come out ahead, by far.

Thank God for this NICO group I found in October. One by one, I hope to not only solve all my left-over problems, but, I hope to document them so the next owner with the same problem has an easier time resolving it than I did.

Alora Duncan

[Rex]

Not sure if any of these are left, but it might money well spent to extend the life of an early Q

http://www.nissaninfiniticlub....uides

[nuQ]

alora, my vote would be to do the maintenance, and keep a very well made car running. very hard to find anything with your performance, build, looks, and quality that you presently enjoy with your Q. MUCH cheaper in the long run, as you pointed out. one option (if the Q is in the ny/nj area), is to look up vanmeter auto in mantua nj. keith is a master infiniti tech and independent prices. for $2k could probably do your guides, plugs, and a valve reseal. got mine done with him about a year ago. His knowledge of the Q rivals dennis (NOBODY can touch dennis, though!!!!). i'm making a call to keith this week about getting my plenum/KS's/o2 sensors, belts and trans cooler finally taken care of. if you have any questions let me know. would be glad to help. jeff

[Q45Viper]

Well, I don't think you'll be taking it to Jersey, right Ken? Unfortunately both Keith and Dennis are way east of you. There IS a very good west coast guy, his name escapes me for the minute, but if you are looking for a good west coast tech I would make a separate post and enquire who he is. I'm also a 92 owner, original owner, and I did not find this site until I was well over 120,000k. Now listen up, this is the most important thing anybody can tell you.........PARK IT....Until you can determine whether your chain guides have been done, this is the ONE thing that can KILL a 90-93. It has a non interference engine and when the guides come off (they are plastic, if you can believe that) they disintegrate, drop down in the engine....did I mention it's a non interference engine? Can you guess the rest?The worst/best part of this picture is that you have ALREADY made the second biggest investment, which is a new transmission. So if you can get the guides done you are in great shape. Don't risk it much longer. Everything else is basically nickel and dime maintenance. Nickels and dimes in Qs are 50s and 100s by the way, but all normal and tolerable and you seem to have the right attitude about maintenace. The AC is expensive, and sooner or later you will have to bite a big bullet and pull the plenum and do all the hoses and reseal the valve covers, that will be your third biggest expense, but it may not come till far down the road, I'm looking at it right now at about 130k. There was a recall on the rear speaker/amplifiers that should still be in effect...would you believe they can burst into flames? Bose is supposedly still replacing them under warranty due to the nature of the complaint...Duh! I found that if done at the same time they would also replace the two fronts. This was a few years back though. Do a search for the chain guide issue, come back and ask again if you're confused, get a dealer to run the service history of the car to make sure it has not been done...rare. And do not listen to those who tell you they can listen to the engine and tell if it is ok, it will cost about $700 just to inspect. A knowledgeable tech may be able to look at the front of the engine and tell you if the sealant is original...maybe.

[fxjackso]

Quote »Even if I add the things that _should_ be done[/quote]

With that repair list, your car needs thousands of dollars in maintenance. Think back to the way it used to run, ride and handle. It isn't like that anymore.

[90Q45blue]

There IS a very good west coast guy, his name escapes me for the minute, but if you are looking for a good west coast tech I would make a separate post and enquire who he is.

His name is Jerry Tucker. Look under our Articles section under Infiniti articles and look up "reputable shops" his number and info is there. He does great work!

Nick

[Q45tech]

Unfortunately the expense of repairs is a function of miles driven [and local road conditions] and the precision requirements of the owner. And his financial capacity.

You have to breakdown the costs into during warranty, and the period to 100k- 125k [when you are just exceeding the designed in life] and 125-200k then the final 100k till 300,000 miles.

Using as designed oem tires which wore out in 15,000 miles would mean 6 replacements in 100,000 miles [6x4x $175= $4,200].........a tire that costs $100 but last 25,000 would cost $1600.........plus the 6 month alignments [$850] and 90 day rebalances [say $750].

So tires might really cost $6,000 or $3200 per 100,000 miles.....6 cents or 3.2 cents per mile.

Same with brakes, pads rotors, bleeding, retrueing: perfection cost money! It can cost $6,000 [plus another $2,000 for pads and rotors] to always have perfect brakes over 100,000 miles.

That's 8 cents a mile[most don't spend 2-3 cents per mile]!

Members can spend 14 or 5 cents or less per mile on just the two wear items.

I only spent $7,700 [including the $1000 for a 100k ext service contract......which returned over $8,000] because I used harder Michelin V4 tires and pretty much ignore the brakes as most driving was city.

When the car hit 100k it was worn out, it took a quick $12,000 over the next 2 years to get to 165k, then $3,000 per year thereafter to keep it right [4.5 x 3k=$13.5K +$12k+ $7.7K]$33,200 or $41,200 [if you count what the extended service contract paid out]..........12.8 or 15.8 cents per mile.

I expect to spend at least $3,000 per year over the next 2 years to get to 300,000 miles.........assumming the engine lasts.

Many of the things that were replaced in the 100-120,000 mile period are again in need of replacing 160-140,000 miles later.Motor mounts, drive shaft.

Many things were just replaced in the last few years:rear subframe, differential, 2 wheel bearings, alternator, AC system, all brake calipers, etc,etc.

I'll need at least 2 sets of tires, and a set of rotors and pads, $1000 in fluid changes, multiple trueing, balances, alignments, upper links, tension rods, some bushings, a battery,............65% of the money is known today!

Will only $1100 in other [unlisted/unknown parts [plus $850 in labor] fail in the next 40,000 miles. Will I live with 60k rear shocks.Will I live with a windshield with 2 cracks presently in it.

I have 4 spare injectors, KS, CAS, a MAF, ABS, alternator, an entire dash gauge assembly, spare modules ecu, tcu, and cheap access to lots of trashed Q.

No spare driveshaft, no spare transmission, no spare engine, .

You gotta plan ahead!

[90Q45blue]

Dennis, what are you gonna do when it hits 300k? Are you gonna do an engine swap or get a new car? maybe an M45?

Nick

[elwesso]

alora, my vote would be to do the maintenance, and keep a very well made car running. very hard to find anything with your performance, build, looks, and quality that you presently enjoy with your Q. MUCH cheaper in the long run, as you pointed out. one option (if the Q is in the ny/nj area), is to look up vanmeter auto in mantua nj. keith is a master infiniti tech and independent prices. for $2k could probably do your guides, plugs, and a valve reseal. got mine done with him about a year ago. His knowledge of the Q rivals dennis (NOBODY can touch dennis, though!!!!). i'm making a call to keith this week about getting my plenum/KS's/o2 sensors, belts and trans cooler finally taken care of. if you have any questions let me know. would be glad to help. jeff

You are gonna tell me that after I did my plenum and I did this elaborate writeup that you are gonna end up not DIYing??? I feel used...

[Q45tech]

"what are you gonna do when it hits 300k? Are you gonna do an engine swap or get a new car? maybe an M45?"

Two years is a long time! I am spoiled with only spending $3,000 plus $900 in insurance per year. The thought of making payments on even a $20,000 used 3-4 year old car.......$7800/12= $650 per month for a 3 year loan plus at least $150 per month in maintenance.........an extra $500 per month just to drive..........sounds strange to me!

Gotta find a decent 1993-96 with a blown engine for a grand and start preparing to swap things..........when you are not rushed things get cheaper.

[SOCAL91Q45a]

"Gotta find a decent 1993-96"

Dennis .... why these years - you prefer?

Steve

[Rex]

Did anyone ever say ... your wallet?

If not, how'd we miss that one???

[Q45tech]

Because at 300k, all the newish parts will only have 80-65k on them [dif, subframe driveshaft, transmission, alternator, rad, condenser, ABS, suspension bars, brke calipers, and springs will swap plus the other $3,000 in spares I have laying around.

Hard to buy a pristine Q for $1,000 unless the engine is trashed.

[SOCAL91Q45a]

"Hard to buy a pristine Q for $1,000 unless the engine is trashed."

Yes sir .... been there DID that.

I C - so you are going to pillage the 300k car for the good stuff and the misc goodies laying around and put it on the next $1,000 93-96 car you feel is a good deal.

Hrmmmm ... sounds rather familiar :-)

[nuQ]

I feel used...

no wes,,,don't feel that way!! LOL think how bad you'd feel if i tried doing it myself, following your write-up, then screwed it all up!!! very possible at my level!

[Q45tech]

Because I can pay the techs $40 cash an hour on the weekends and get 12-15 billable or 30 hours [book] work in 2 days

$1,000 dollars in labor plus my time can almost rebuild [except engine] a Q if you have the two cars side by side and all the parts.

Say $1100 for an engine $1,000 for the swap plus $1,000 plus $1,000 plus $1,000 purchase price............$5,000-$6,000 you get a renewed 93 [that somebody will probably hit and total] that will still need $3,000 per year to maintain.

One of the techs just bought a pristine 92 Q for his father who deferred the chain guides for 2 weeks to get to know the car.......mistake on his way home 75 miles away guess what happened!...............after the tow it sits back in our shop with the heads off and 8 bent valves and an oil pan full of plastic.

Guess what the techs [his son and Byron] are doing for the next two weekends.Daddy is getting an introducion to the Q he didn't expect. What did you do to me , Son!

We now have 10 dead Q on site........and only 1 will recover.

[Q451990]

One of the techs just bought a pristine 92 Q for his father who deferred the chain guides for 2 weeks to get to know the car.......mistake on his way home 75 miles away guess what happened!...............after the tow it sits back in our shop with the heads off and 8 bent valves and an oil pan full of plastic.

How many miles were on this Q? Did it have valve damage on both sides or just the left bank?

Heath

[maxnix]

Hate to say it, but the guides were probably already gone and the timing chain finally jumped. That's the third 1992 Q45 mentioned on this board that has done that.

[Q45tech]

Oh the engine had 140k, but the chain/guide were totally silent I drove the car a month before but $3,000 [for a 1992] was too rich for me as I am spoiled. It has a bit of sludge in the head so some time in the past the oil wasn't changed but for the last 3 years it was well serviced by us........Provides that once sludged hard to clean up even with 4 oil changes per year. We never resealed the valve covers [done by somone else] so we had no clue about the inside till now.

12 year old cars.

Only the driversside valves [as usual]. Guess we'll know Sat when it get reassembled.........luckily we had some old heads around for valves and employes get first pick on the used stuff.

The 93 Q with 120k [which was recently purchased for $8,000 +3,000 in interest] still sits waiting for the resolution of a new engine........

The good looking paint, leather, and interior and professionally cleaned everything can fool you into ignoring the engine and not spending $400 for an inspection........what the used car lots count on.

[DrewQ45]

“We now have 10 dead Q on site........and only 1 will recover.”

Ten Dead Qs???

Dennis, are any of these about to be junked? If so, I have a few items I might need...... Clock, Spare ECU, Drivers Seat (grey), The kick panel behind both front seats, Temp Control unit, Both sun visors, drivers side door hinge.... Man the list goes on and on. Did I say a few? Just say the word and I'll come running, toolbox in hand, cash in the other.

...Drew...

[90Q45blue]

I don't believe T3 will ship parts out to you, and I have no idea about selling them to you on-site. I know they use these Q's for parts for work on customers' vehicles. Dennis will know the answer.

Nick

[Q45tech]

We use the parts to maintain company cars and ocassionally for customers [who cannot afford new] but used parts are tricky as most are pretty worn out..........why the cars are the way they are in the first place.

T3 doesn't ship parts nor do we sell parts without labor.The cars eventually get stripped of anything useful and junked.

who would want a diff with 140-200-260k on it, same with CAS, MAF, suspension parts, driveshaft, transmission [they are usally rebuilts already].

It takes 6 months to a year to get title to abandoned cars that owe you money.........really hard to recover what you have in them considering the disassembly labor...........the repo men are always circling.

[Q451990]

...the repo men are always circling.

Yeah... I love that grey one you guys have to pull inside every night so that it'll still be there in the morning.

Heath