I just finished covering 3298 miles in 7 days in the Q. I went through 158.3 gallons for a mpg of 20.8 at an average of $2.83 per gallon, mostly Shell V-Power.

Spent an afternoon at T3 where they were working on 2 Qs from Tenn that day, and one from San Antonio in addition to mine. Had a great chat with T3's owner and also Darrell from Tenn, who's owned his '90 Q45 since 1992. It was good to talk to someone with 13 yrs experience with the car. We wandered around the shop and talked about NICO and Qs for a couple hours, comparing maintenance and driving stories. Darrell has been reading NICO religiously since the Yahoo days, but doesn't post much. It was the first chance I've had to chat with a NICO reader and I really enjoyed it. Darrell was having a 60K service interval done on his 160K car in addition to springing for a new instrument cluster (dead bulbs in the old one) and a '94 TCU that T3 had onhand for 1st gear start. I had the front motor mounts done and also the tension rod bushings when the bad ones were discovered taking the front linkage apart to get to the motor mounts. TWICE I've had the Nissan guys go over the car to check the suspension rubber and both times they told me everything looked good. But on the return trip my twitchy steering was GONE. It's always had a tendency to hesitate and then hop from one side to another when turning - the FSTB helped a lot with that, but it would still get pushed from side to side in a crosswind - odd sensation in a heavy car. Well, clearly, that was from bad tension rod bushings. It's completely gone now.

So now, over the past two years, I've finished restoring the suspension - new upper arms, tension rod bushings, Michelins, Tokicos Blues in the rear. All 3 motor mounts done. New rear brakes and rotors. 02 sensors, Cam position sensor, oil pressure sensor, knock sensors and harness, valve cover gaskets, spark plugs, fuel pump and filter, under-plenum hoses, MAF, fan blade, and flushed the tranny and differential. I've spent about $6000 and put on 23,000 miles. My rack is begiining to leak just a little, I have what sounds like bearing noise on my right front wheel, and my tranny has 170k miles, but still strong with no sign of impending failure. (I'm gonna ease off the WOT shifts from 2nd to 3rd, heheh).

The car rides like it should now - just a rumble at the 2250 rpm engine resonance where there used to be a shudder. With all the new suspension parts, it drives like a lighter car, goes where I point it, and has all the power I need at speed. Mph, nice machine!

Modified by 96Qowner at 8:23 AM 8/31/2005
Modified by 96Qowner at 11:02 AM 8/31/2005

Is Darrell TennQ, or something like that?

Meeting NICO board members is always a pleasure of which I try to avail myself when travelling. So many interesting cars and members out there.

That's him, yes. He showed me his repair file, which included NICO procedural printouts from as far back as 2000. He also has the original hardcover Infiniti promotional book on the Q45 - nice! I've always wondered how many lurkers the forum has (He looked pained when I used that term - I just meant non-posters - sorry Darrell ).

After 13 years, he has a much better feel for the car than I have with my measely 2 years. He said, after reading the forum for years, you can take the list of common problems and count on each and every one of them happening to your own car, right on schedule. I guess that shows the build is consistant.

Great to hear you are doing what is needed for that great car. Sure does make a difference in the drive! To me it's worth it.

Red

Glad you made it back safely, Richard. It was a great pleasure to "talk Q" with a fellow NICO member. I had my speedometer cluster changed out due to a non-working odometer that died last year indicating 163K, so the car has close to 180K actual miles on it. The first-gear start took a little time to get used to and I've finally stopped reaching for the gear shift as I climb my steep driveway; I love the difference! That was my third visit to T-3 and I learn something every time. Watching Byron work on your car is like watching an "artiste" in action. They actually encourage you to come into the service bay, making you feel like part of the team. It's like no other repair facility I have ever been in.

maxnix wrote:Is Darrell TennQ, or something like that?

Meeting NICO board members is always a pleasure of which I try to avail myself when travelling. So many interesting cars and members out there.

Brain:Absolutely!

96Q: Glad to hear you had fun!Did you get a chance to meet Dennis too?

Fred..

No Dennis this time, but we've both met him and driven his car before. He must have the most shared Q45 on the forum, heheh.