Hicas Removal???

[Steve Lloyd]

How do I remove the Hicas from a Q45?? What pump do I need and what about the rear steering stabilizer??

Thanks

[Infinitiguy19]

I hate to sound like "That guy" but is'nt it easier to just sell the car and find a Non Hicas Q45?

Just saying because there are very little Q45's left and we don't need "Converted" Q45 A's and T's. But I have not owned either Q45a or Q45t but I do own a Q45 with TCS (Traction Control System) and I know that its simmilar to a Q45a as far a working on it goes.

Thats my 2 cents.

But I am sure they make HICAS Eliminators like they do for the 300ZX. Infact I think that the 300ZX HICAS eliminator may just work on the Q45.

But why do you really want to remove HICAS?

[Steve Lloyd]

The pump is bad, whining very badly, and the rear rack is creaking and needs to be replaced.

It just seems cheaper to remove it and keep the car on the road rather than spend the almost 2 grand to fix it.

This car has the traction control as well.

[Infinitiguy19]

I don't know how to safely remove HICAS, but just like Active suspension if you decide to do without you have to remove the rest of the dead weight.

If it was me I would replace the pump with a new one and rebuild the rear rack, then power flush the whole system.

[maxnix]

Lack of maintenance is no excuse for decimating OEM design.

You will have to change pump and pulley, not to mention the suspension arms that incorporate the HICAS link. Why not do as Paul suggested and rehabilitate the system now?

No use to complain about costs incurred because of no maintenance on a $50K (in early 90's $) car. No further discount for parts nor labor beyond the discounted price you paid for it due to the deferred maintenance present when you bought it.

[MinisterofDOOM]

There are "HICAS delete" kits available for 300zx and 240sx owners. I would look into those and see if they'll work for the Q, too.

[maxnix]

There are "HICAS delete" kits available for 300zx and 240sx owners. I would look into those and see if they'll work for the Q, too.

As you can see, it isn't inexpensive to do it right.

http://www.splparts.com/main4/index.htm

Also, one needs to be aware that the Z32 is dimensionally different from the G50. RUCA are known to work.

[Steve Lloyd]

Lack of maintenance is no excuse for decimating OEM design.

You will have to change pump and pulley, not to mention the suspension arms that incorporate the HICAS link. Why not do as Paul suggested and rehabilitate the system now?

No use to complain about costs incurred because of no maintenance on a $50K (in early 90's $) car. No further discount for parts nor labor beyond the discounted price you paid for it due to the deferred maintenance present when you bought it.

I paid $300 for the car because the guy I bought it from thought it had a bad transmission since he couldn't shift out of park, I knew it was a bad brake switch and saved the car from the scrapper, even drove it away after he signed the title over to me. On the way home the rear end was swaying all over the place and my Infinity dealer told me the hicas rack was shot, stripped gears inside and needed to be replaced. They quoted me $800 in parts alone.

The negligence is not on my end, rather the guy I saved it from. I'm just looking to keep it on the road for as little as possible............

[qship96]

Wow a $300 Q45........jeez time passes quickly.

[BadQ45t]

So leave this guy alone and stop blasting him for not taking care of the car guys!!!

Let's help him, he's been found not guilty of cruelty to Q45's.

Steve, you should decide based on the rest of the car and how much other stuff is about to explode or die. If you think there will be a massive slew of other deferred then sell it for $600 now that it runs again, or drop the 2k into it and fix it correctly. Find a good local shop that will install your parts, get all the parts from Infiniti of Scotsdale who will give you a healthy discount. There should someo good local shop that did enough 300ZX Twin Turbo systems. That same shop might know how to get rid of it too, but this is going to require a pro and the guys at the Infiniti dealership are not the ones to hire to do it.

[Steve Lloyd]

I'm not afraid of doing the work myself, it's the cost of parts to keep the Hicas that is killing me. The pump is fairly straight forward, removing the lines is easy, I just don't know what to do about the rear steering rack, the 300zx Hicas removal is to narrow. I might try and source a used from from a junkyard, I know my local upullit yard has a few out there, just not sure if they ahve the rear steering.

And no, I didn't neglect/let this car die, I actually saved it from a scrapper and revived her to see a few more years on the road.

[BadQ45t]

You should be very careful of getting any parts from the junk yard and putting those in the car. You could be getting something that works for a very short time and then your back right where you started from.

Call Infiniti of Scotsdale and talk to Joe or one of the other guys there and ask about it.

I also seem to remember there was a guy on this board that used to help out the Q45A people, Texsoil or something I think. Poke around and see if you can find his posts, but I'd skip the junk yard unless your planning to rebuild anything you get there before you go through the labor of putting intot the car.

[Victor]

I'm wondering if you could put the rack in a neutral position similar to the limp home mode where it is not turning the rear wheels and then lock it in place by drilling a hole in the housing and threading it, and then screwing in a bolt to lock the rack in position. Remove the hydraulic hoses to the rear rack which is now locked in place and put in a pump and hoses you got off a junkyard non-hicas Q. Or alternately maybe you could lock the rods protruding from the rear rack in place with hose clamps or some other type of clamp like the ones they use for electrical grounds on pipes. Or maybe you could get the ends of the rods protruding from the rack spot welded or brazed in place so they don't move, or put a big glob of JB Weld on them to lock them in place.BTW, you will probably need a new power steering belt if like the J30 the belts are different length for the HICAS and non-HICAS versions.BTW, is there a difference between how HICAS performs on a J30T and a Q45T? On the J30 it seems to have been done right and the car corners great, but on Q45s people are always talking about removing it. Has anyone driven both a HICAS and non-HICAS version of a Q45, and which handled and cornered better, or was there no noticible difference?

Modified by Victor at 8:34 AM 7/19/2009
Modified by Victor at 8:37 AM 7/19/2009