Just Bought a '94 Q45, small issues

[Jman47]

Hello all my fellow Q45 fans,

I just got a sweet deal on a damn near immaculate Q45 off a lot the other day. This will be my second, my first was sadly wrecked by a drunk one night while parked RIP.

It has a few small issues, and while most are ones I can deal with easily, a couple are a bit more difficult and id like some imput.

First, the odometer is frozen. My initial thought is someone just unplugged it, but after a bit of web lurking it seems they do go out sometimes. Odometer is currently stuck at 105605. Is it best just to replace the whole IC and call it a day? I want to be careful tearing apart the interior since it is so clean but if thats what it takes so be it. Is there a way i can check first if it was just unplugged? Technician school didnt really tell us kids how to mess with odometers, probably a reason for that Also, if I do replace the IC, am i just at the mercy of whatever the odometer says on the one i put in? What if I purchase a new IC?

Second, the check engine light comes on, always after about 15 minutes of driving, but always turns off when the car is turned off. My initial thought is like an o2 sensor or something since it only comes on once the car is warmed up, but thats just a shotgun. I had a buddy connect a scan tool with the adapter for the port by the fuse panel by the driver door, but no codes came up. Is there another way to read the codes?

Theres a few other smaller things but they are easy to fix and otherwise im very happy with my purchase. Any thoughts would be great, and thanks in advance!

[Jman47]

A bit of followup as I have been doing some research and testing the last couple of days.

I have further isolated the CEL this week driving the car to and from work. It seems to only come on shortly after I open up the engine to WOT, but will stay off no matter how long driven if i stay at lower throttle (such as being stuck in traffic to and from work). I am going to be doing a complete tune up on Saturday, more on that in just a second.

I looked into removing dash panels so i can get to the IC (thanks to the awesome factory manual I found for the vehicle through this very website) and since I'm going to be replacing the cheesy and also broken aftermarket wood trim installed inside the vehicle with the OEM trim, as well as the cheap aftermarket radio it had put in it, it looks like ill be able to handle it. My question still stands however, if I were to get an IC from a Q sitting in the junkyard along with the other parts ill be scavenging, will I be stuck with whatever mileage is on that odometer? If i purchase a new IC from somewhere does the odometer start and 0 and have to be calibrated or set? And where would the best place to get a new IC be if I choose to get a new one? Is there a good place to get an OEM IC besides the stealership? Or is it better to just scavenge one?

Finally, regarding the tuneup. I am going to be spending most of my Saturday doing the following things-

-Change the oil and filter (ill be using full synthetic 10w30 oil for longer life and engine protection.)
-Drain and fill the transmission with new ATF.
-replace the air filter
-Replace the spark plugs
-Replace the fuel injectors
-coolant flush
-replace all accessory belts (fan belt is squealing on startup, and they don't pass a visual inspection.)
-change the fuel filter (I'll have the plenum off so might as well, I'm already there).
-Inspecting the brake pads and rotors. (I think they are fine based on the vehicle performance, however the low pad warning light is on and I have a hunch some knucklehead didn't replace the sensors during a brake job, which I will likely be doing as well.)

My hope is replacing the injectors, spark plugs, and air filter will resolve the CEL. I will update on that after I see the results. If i have missed anything in my tuneup list feel free let me know. Any other thoughts are welcome as well. Happy Thanksgiving all!

[AZhitman]

Hey J! Congrats on the new Q!

If you have a CEL, you have a code - it may be a"stored" code, since it's intermittent, but a proper scanner will reveal it. Let's get a good scanner on it and go from there.

If you change out the cluster, you're stuck with that mileage. It's weird that ONLY the odo would go bad, but I'd leave it... but that's just me. The cluster is a PITA to swap, but there are tons of them on ebay.

Here's more good info on the Q cluster and replacement: q45-speedometer-intermittent-diagnosis- ... 50463.html

[elwesso]

I would check the ECU codes, you should have a code stored. Unless you have a consult cable and want to mess with all that rigamaroll, you should just pull the ECU and check the codes the old fashioned way. If the CEL comes on but it doesn't seem like it changes the way it's running, then it's likely an o2 sensor or the EGR is clogged. See what the ECU thinks and post back.

I would highly doubt you could even get a new instrument cluster complete. You can take the speedometer out of the instrument cluster and adjust the mileage but that is a little complicated. Realistically if your odometer is broken now, the true mileage isn't known, so if it's close maybe that's good enough. pulling the IC isn't too bad, maybe an hour or two. Basically just pull the dash trim off, and the trim around the steering wheel. Used one is a good bet. I would replace the bulbs behind the trip meter, those things like to go out and that makes the trip meter display annoying.

If you could do all that stuff on a saturday, I'll be very impressed. If you could replace all 8 injectors in one day I'd be impressed. That's a lot of work there, but all looks good. If you're going under the plenum to replace the injectors, be sure you have new knock sensors and all the hoses. New O-rings for the injectors too.