Infiniti Shops in Northeast

[jlgallag]

Recently, someone in the forum mentioned that they had experience with a shop in or near Lowell, MA that did good work on first generation Q45s. At that time the exact location and name of the shop was not available. Has it been posted since that time? Are there any good independent shops in the NYC/LI area that people would recommend for doing major mechanical work like the chain guides or transmissions?

Also, I have been having a minor problem with the automatic tilt/telescope feature of the steering wheel in my '91 Q45. When I turn the car off the wheel always automatically retracts to its up and forward position as it should but when I start the car it only returns to my preset location some of the time. Often when I first start the car the wheel will move a little but then stop before the preset location. I then adjust it to the right position using the joy stick. Frequently if I turn the car off after driving for a while the wheel will function correctly if I turn it on again before too much time has passed. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

jlgallag

[911/Q45]

Mine does the same thing occasionally, probably a dirty contact somewhere. In lieu of a complex disassembly, I just push the memory button and the wheel assumes it's correct position.

[greg_atlanta]

I'd press the cancel button and stop using the feature. Troubleshooting the automatic drive positioner is incredibly complex (per service manual).

[gloucester Q]

jl-it was sopdadope that used the shop in lowell--i asked him about it too--but they have since moved and he is trying to track down their new location. if i hear from him, i'll pass it on, or perhaps he'll see this and he can do it. i think he said they handled his guides and valve covers. i need the guides service too, and was going to have a talk with the local infiniti service manager and see what it would cost at a dealer, or if there was any way to squeeze him on price, combine it with another service, something like that, so i'll let you know what i find out. i've also just run my car into my local mechanic, who i think is very good--he did maintenance on my last 92q--and armed with the service manual i'm going to go in there and see what he thinks about tackling the job. anyway, that's the long answer, i will try to keep you posted. were you the one that have come into your car and were trying to decide whether to keep it?

[Sopdadope]

i'm here! Haven't had time to track down the shop. But I'll do it tomorrow and post their contact info here.

gloucester Q, I'll ask him how much he wants for chain guide service.

[Q451990]

Also, I have been having a minor problem with the automatic tilt/telescope feature of the steering wheel in my '91 Q45.

I had problems with the wheel not retracting all the way up when I'd turn the car off. I could sometimes put the key back in and out and it would correct itself. Looking through the service records, I could see it had been a problem in the past, but no one ever diagnosed correctly. They even tried replacing the ADPC controller - said it was an updated design.

The dirty little secret with this system than the dealer techs. didn't seem to know is that the control unit monitors the position of the wheel with slide potentiometers. These are the same type of part you used to see for slide volume controls, etc. These commonly get dirty and then the system shuts down when it doesn't "see where the wheels is. If you can take the cover off of the steering column and find these they're inexpensive to replace. In my case I just took a lot of paper towels and newspaper in the car and sprayed about half a can of electrical contact cleaner in the switches - cleared it up for the last couple of years!

You might also try moving the wheel up and down several times to try to clean the switch... much like you can do with a dirty volume control on a radio to eliminate the crackle for a while.

Heath

[jlgallag]

gloucester - I'm not the one you are thinking about who just came into his car. I have had my 91Q for the past 10+ years. I got it at about 2 years old in 12/92 with about 10K miles. I bought it from the original owner, a woman who decided that the Lexus SC was more sporty. It now has 59.8K miles on it and I am trying to decide whether to get the guides done or wait for another year or so and replace it with a newer one - 2002 or 2003. At my current annual mileage it should only be at about 65K by then and based on the mileages at which it seems the guide failures are most likely to occur my odds are good that I can sneak another year without replacing them. If I can find a shop reasonably close to LI that will do the replacement for a decent price I would probably rethink things.

jlgallag

[Sopdadope]

Sorry for the long delay guys. I finally tracked 'em down. The place is called Unique Auto Care Center here in Lowell. Their number's (978) 654-7423, ask for Teek.

Get all the parts you need from Infiniti of Scottsdale for the chain guide replacement and while your at it, order all new under-plenum hoses and have your valve gaskets re-sealed at the same time. Trust me, it'll save you big $ in the long run. This way, he can reseal the gaskets first and let them set for the duration of the chain-guide job (usually one week) so they properly set. For the chain guide job alone, you're looking at $1g but to have all these covered, it'll probably run ya $1400.

Good luck guys.