I just bought a 94 J30 Help

[craze K]

I bought a 94 infiniti J30 and on the way home I hit a bump and there was a bang in the front of the car. Sounded like it hit metal. Do you think it might be a bad strut or shock. My brother pushed on the car and it stopped moving in one bounce so he thought the shocks were ok. The boots on the strut are both torn and just kinda hanging there. What do you think it might be. The springs look ok but the ride seems floaty along with the slam on bumps. Any advice would be good. Thank you, Kim P.S. I'm new to the forum, so hello to all.

[driverdriver]

Welcome to NICO!!!

I would put it up on a hoist and take a good look. If the car drives fine and there are no further symptoms I wouldn't worry about it.

[kbflip02]

Welcome to NICO!!!

I would put it up on a hoist and take a good look. If the car drives fine and there are no further symptoms I wouldn't worry about it.

[gr8scott72]

I bought a 94 infiniti J30 and on the way home I hit a bump and there was a bang in the front of the car. Sounded like it hit metal. Do you think it might be a bad strut or shock. My brother pushed on the car and it stopped moving in one bounce so he thought the shocks were ok. The boots on the strut are both torn and just kinda hanging there. What do you think it might be. The springs look ok but the ride seems floaty along with the slam on bumps. Any advice would be good. Thank you, Kim P.S. I'm new to the forum, so hello to all.

Sounds like the control arm bushings are gone. Very common.

[craze K]

Sounds like the control arm bushings are gone. Very common.

I'm taking it to a mechanic on monday to find out what it might need for inspection and such. I'll keep you informed of any repairs needed. Thanks for the advice.

[yodawill2000]

Tension rod bearing.It will clank on a bump and if you go about 3 miles an hour and slam on the brake.

Cheap fix if you have a shop with a press nearby.The rod is fine its just the bushing that goes out.

I believe Scott is talking about the same thing.

Control arm , Tension Rod , Tomato Tomahto nuk nuk

[gr8scott72]

Tension rod bearing.It will clank on a bump and if you go about 3 miles an hour and slam on the brake.

Cheap fix if you have a shop with a press nearby.The rod is fine its just the bushing that goes out.

I believe Scott is talking about the same thing.

Control arm , Tension Rod , Tomato Tomahto nuk nuk

Yeah yeah, tension rod, control arm, blah blah.

Both my 93 and 94 had bad bushings.

I had a shop press in new bushings that I bought from the Infiniti store on my 93 and when I got my 94, I just swapped over the arms/rods (whatever) onto the 94.

[Q45tech]

Everything rubber isolated [bushing, hoses, etc] is probably in need of replacement by now after 15 years.

Careful of transmission even if it has been replaced, change ATF frequently and make sure the in rad heat exchanger is kept internally clean.

[craze K]

To everyone who answered, Thank you for the info. Well it was the ball joint and control arm on the left front. It also needs the radius rod bushings on the front as well. altogether close to 600 just for the parts. Thats if I do both control arms. I hope these cars are worth it, considering the mileage on mine is 229000. Do you think its best to change both at the same time or wait to see if the other goes bad first?

[driverdriver]

You will notice a huge difference. Believe me, you will really enjoy driving it now. With proper maintenance, these cars seem to drive forever.

Did you buy your parts from everythinginfiniti.com? There is a substantial price difference for parts between your local Nissan/Infiniti dealer and them. When you contact them, let them know your a member of the NICO J30 forums.

[craze K]

I have not got them yet but I did get to car-stuff.com which seems to have most of the parts I need. I will check the site you suggested too. I need to try to keep this cost kinda down because of my situation. Long story. I have a 2006 matrix now but will have to get rid of it soon due to I lost my job because of a bad divorce. So I bought the infiniti, Shes getting new tires on her right now. I hope all goes well with her. Kim

[craze K]

I went to everything infiniti and found the L control arm for close to $100 cheaper then the other site, Awesome...However they did not have the bushings I needed or atleast I couldn't find them. Thank you for the links. I'm gonna call them and see what they can do to find bushings for me .

Update: I bought the control arms from everythinginfiniti.com and the Radius bushing from car-stuff.com Just waiting for them now. Thanks again for all the well needed info.
Modified by craze K at 8:48 AM 7/24/2008

[craze K]

Well guys, I was told they are called control arms and it was the ball joint that was bad, however you need to purchase the whole arm to fix it. I asked about just buying the ball joint and they said they are built into the arms. I got them at everything infiniti, cheapest I found for brand new ones. Mwuah thank you.

[Q45tech]

Important to know when you buy an under $5,000 car how much it will cost to restore to near new fully functional operating condition.

When we do prebuy inspections on J30 the usual required emergency repair list is $3,000 to $8,000 [needs $3,000 transmision plus ac re hab].Typical 90-96 Q45 needs $3k- $11k.

[craze K]

I hear ya. I've already spent 1800 for the car 500 for tags, title, insurance, and registration and 1000 for suspension parts (not installed yet) and I'm not done. I still have to find out why my engine squeels at start up then stops when I hit the gas a couple of times. No biggie, but would like it fixed. The emissions test failed so I went to midas to get my H pipe welded,(Had cracks along the pipes) now I have to take her back to see if that worked. If not then I will have to dig deeper to find out what that fix might be. I hope I didn't get a money pit. Though it sounds like when I'm done fixin her up, I should have a pretty nice car. Unfortunately the previous owner glued the sunroof down will some sort of epoxy. The body is in great shape though.

Hey scott did I spell anything wrong? Just Kidding.

[peanut squirrel]

the engine squeal is your fan /accessy belts.. Check and/or tighten them.