experienced Q45 mechanics, please help!

[NurseTheo]

whats up motorheads! i am in need of some advice...

three months ago i got a 1992 Q45a with 90k on the ODO. the previous owner assured me that it was well taken care of, and being a family friend i trusted him. turns out that the ATF had never been changed and the transmission ended up eating itself alive without any sort of warning. the active suspension had long been since switched over to regular suspension, and that even was a poor job.

the car will now work in reverse and all gears other than drive. it wont downshift while in drive, even though it initially will go on ignition and i am told by a very trusted mechanic that i just need a new transmission.

i have found a place that will get me a transmission for 550 here in Oakland ca, and i have the dealer service manual...so it looks to me that i am going to go ahead and do this myself while i am in between jobs and have a spare week.

ok so here is where you, my fellow Q45 aficionados, come in...

1. do any of you have experience with, and can recommend a place hopefully here in California where i can get my hands on a decent used/rebuilt transmission? and maybe opinion on rebuilt vs. used...is $550 too good to be true?

2. seeing how the car works in everything BUT drive, is it really a transmission problem or something else that could be worse or not a big deal?

3. anyone out there who has done a swap, anything i should look out for? how was the experience? should i just hire a mechanic?

4. is there really a difference between the 91 and the 92 transmissions?

5. if you have done the suspension swap, do you leave the old hydraulic systems in place?


i am a really big fan of this car and would like to get as much out of her as i can. i have kept my previous two cars alive well past their time, both jeeps. the wrangler took a "mechanic" to kill it. this is possibly the nicest car i have driven, and i am set on getting her working.

i know it is an expensive car but i am a single nurse so i think i can afford it while i have no children (whew!)

so please if you are so inclined give some insight on this job, it would be greatly appreciated and i promise to return the advice to the next unsuspecting person that becomes absolutely smitten with the Q45

theo

[SanCarlosQ45]

Hey hows it going! I live on the peninsula and go over to the east bay all the time, so Its nice to see a fellow bay area Q owner.

So just to be clear you can shift the car normally when putting it in 1, 2, or 3? In the service manual there is a section for how to run the AT Self diagnosis which will show any problems if it finds any; in the 94 service manual it is on AT-41 which you can access at:

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/Q45/1994_Q45/at.pdf

Dont worry the cars are similar to where the only difference is that the transmission starts in second gear rather than first for the 94 based on the Transmission control unit. You can replace the TCU with a 94 if you wish.

Now really your best bet is a JDM transmission as they are typically very low mileage; almost always less than 80k and average around 50k. There are a few importers in the bay area but I dont have any experience with any of them. Sometimes a transmission pops up on ebay for $300 plus $150 shipping where you need a shipping address with a forklift, which is not a problem for me because of my dads work.

I would be glad to help if you need it.

[NurseTheo]

yes thank you Josh!

i have tried muddling through the diagnostic section, its very confusing and is almost identical to the 1991 service manual i have...

i am beginning to think that this job may be out of my range of expertise. working on people- that's easy, we are all basically the same...now cars- that s*#t is hard!! but i do have all the tools and a place to work, i even have the thingie that measures the drive plate runout.

the transmission i found is the right year so if i do get it i wont have to worry about replacing the TCU.
have you heard anything about Engine World in emeryville?? that's where i got my quote from this morning...

[SanCarlosQ45]

The thing you have to look at is the diagnostic section without the consult. It is a bunch of steps of turning the key in the ignition and moving the shifter.

Now I haven't replaced a transmission in this car, I will have to in the future, but I have a basic idea of what needs to be done. There are two ways to remove the transmission, one you pull the motor and transmission together from the top and two is to drop the transmission from the bottom. The latter is slightly more difficult because you have to raise the car fairly high and support the engine with a cherry picker or forklift. The first option may be the best for someone who doesnt have a lift and a transmission jack and certain engine jobs such as valve cover resealing becomes much easier.

The second option may take the least amount of time if you have the equipment. If this is too daunting see if you can find a shop that will be willing to change it with a transmission you bring them. Did engine world give a mileage for the transmission? I would try to find something that is less than 100k if possible as many of these transmission start having issues at around 175k including mine.

The TCU would be something I would recommend replacing with a 94 because it allows the transmission to start off in 1st gear instead of 2nd while in drive; not that it matters now because your transmission doesnt function in drive. Right now I would focus on doing the sef-diag using the steps listed on AT-41 in the 94 service manual. It may seem confusing at first but it is just a bunch of simple steps. Just write them down on a piece of paper and follow them exactly; you should get a code number listed on the display on the instrument cluster if there is a problem it finds.

Good luck.

[NurseTheo]

i would be doing the repair work at my dads place, he has many jacks, and the engine hoist.
i would definitely be doing the way the manual says, i don't want to have to wing it and take the whole assembly out with the engine. going underneath to take out the transmission is definitely the way to go.

i am going with the $550 transmission, it is direct from japan and has less than 50k on it!! Engine world in emeryville is the way to go!! they assured me it even comes with the torque converter attached too...the transmission is so much cheaper than i expected so i am going to go ahead see how much my mechanic would do it for.

i am not going to even think about the TCU right now i just need to get this thing on the road, and seeing that it is a 91 transmission going into a 91 Q45, i dont even see it being necessary.

i will give the diagnostic section a try, but i am not too hopeful about being able to understand it...

thanks again Josh for replying

[Mopar]

Hello,

Just came to drop my two cents with your transmission.

First of all your are a nurse! Congrats. Im in school about to finish so i can take the NCLEX. Any tips? Haha

Back on topic. I have a 98 Q that gave out the reverse gear. These transmissions are like that. From what i understood it messes up a gear but the rest work fine. I could drive my car without a reverse lol.

My reccomendation for you is to go to the shop drop the 5 bills and finish it. Thats what i did because if you change it urself and it doesnt work you are in a world of hurt. Most transmission shops will give you a year of warranty so you can go back if something doesnt work put.

You have the money, just give it to the mechanic.. You are just going to pay couple of hundred for labor. The transmission you have to buy either way.

Anyhow, good luck and let us know how it turns out

[NurseTheo]

yes, thank you Mopar!

that is the plan as of now. i have the transmission being dropped off tomorrow here at home already, and there are many trucks to help me get it and the Q down to my very trusted mechanic. driving down in the lower gears should be interesting...

as for the NCLEX way to go!! take all the practice computerized testing that you can and take sparse notes on what needs improving. if you're going to do a review course i recommend Kaplan, but mostly for their online question bank which you have prolonged access to. but yeah, for myself the biggest help was taking the computerized practice tests, any and all of them. some friends that went the ADN route have had the same experience with the NCLEX, so it really doesn't have to do much with which degree but practicing for the strangest computer adaptive test ever. EVER.

oh and get in really good with your clinical faculty and preceptor...it will help to find a job, and don't be afraid to go out of state. don't know what the hiring situation is like now, but when i graduated over a year ago it was pretty tough.

so yeah i keep y'all updated on the car situation, it shouldn't be more than a couple of days into next week...my mechanic is good.

hopefully the Q45 will be back to shmobbin status soon, and if you see me with the california nurses assoc. sticker, holler at a bro

[NurseTheo]

UPDATE!!

so the transmission came and my mechanic said to bring it by and he would take care of everything.
thank goodness the trunk so damn big. i put the transmission in the trunk and drove the tired Q45 down to him in 1st and 2nd gear as they are the only two that were working. slooooow ride.

[NurseTheo]

he has had my car for days!! well he will finish up and car should be done this afternoon. in a vm he said that it was most difficult transmission to replace, the "bolts holding the thing to the engine are huge!! it's like a freaking truck"

no just an infiniti with a huge engine.

[DQuintana]

So, how did it end up? I'm hoping there is a happy ending.

[qship96]

he has had my car for days!! well he will finish up and car should be done this afternoon. in a vm he said that it was most difficult transmission to replace, the "bolts holding the thing to the engine are huge!! it's like a freaking truck"

no just an infiniti with a huge engine.

Sounds like your mechanic is a moron- I watched my technician remove the transmission in less than 30 minutes,by himself,with no helper.

[NurseTheo]

oh he is definitely no moron, he is a great mechanic. i think the problem lies in that this poor Infiniti was not well maintained and the transmission was very difficult to remove. putting it back in was easy..i get to pick her up this afternoon. i will for sure let y'all know how it drives with the new(ish) transmission.

[NurseTheo]

now i need to have a debate with myself on whether or not to rebuild the active suspension bits...

[NurseTheo]

now i need to have a debate with myself on whether or not to rebuild the active suspension bits...

dont do it Theo...too damn expensive.