Just got a J30 for $1000

[the_jay]

I went to an auction and threw a bid out for 1000 on a decent looking J30 and to my utter surprise the cheap skates must have been out that day because I won a 1993 J30 with 177k miles for a mere $1000. Its black, it starts, leather is in pretty good shape, headliner is good, wheels are iffy but I want to put on some g35s any way. Best part is, this car was taken care of because it has complete oil maintenance records! Unfortunately that is all that it has.

What should I do at this point? Transmission cleaning? I see the air filter needs to be done. What else needs to be done on these guys. How long can they go? Would be awesome to push this car to its limits because I got it for next to dirt prices.

[jbracy7]

Read the stickies,and search,you will find a lot of info.and welcome

[chiken7]

nice!
read chiken's post.
it gives you the list of things done to the car mainly consisting of complete maintenance.

Please come back with specific questions and post some pics!

GL.

[yodawill2000]

By all means be sure and verify if and when the timing belt has been changed !!!
Congrats on joining the J family and ...

to NICO !!

[the_jay]

Sup guys. Is the timing belt a DIY, I will do it as preventive maint if it is. BTW, I scored 4 g35 17 inch OEM rims off craigslist within 2 hrs of looking (delivered) for $210. My stock tires were all bald and one rim was cracked somehow??

I managed to get off some paint scuffs with a sparing use of paint thinner. I FINALLY figured out that everything in this car is electric, including the trunk and that if the battery is dead the trunk won't open, LOL. Seems over engineered, especially given the trunk lock button in the dash but whatever, kind of cool just the same.

Right now I know the oil was changed religiously but nothing else. The battery is new as of 4/12 but is dead for some reason ( on a trickle charge right now). And the trunk leaks on the back wall. I was reading that a drain may be blocked somewhere so I am going to take off the carpet back there and try to unplug them.

Its unregistered right now so I am just playing with it in my driveway. Definitely think I need a spoiler for it like what was on the touring model, very cool looking.

[yodawill2000]

Check under the front edge of the Hood for a silver sticker showing the mileage when the belt was replaced.
This is a interference engine and if the belt snaps the engine is thrashed.
I have replaced mine twice so far.
It is DIY but not a easy job.

[the_jay]

Thanks. This is probably an overly broad question but what could the slow oil leak be, it is coming from the passenger side, near where the dipstick would be but on the bottom of the car.

[yodawill2000]

Most likely the exhaust valve cover on that side.
Mine does the same thing. You have to pull the upper plenum to get to it.
It seeps out and makes its way to the bottom. Usually some get's on the exhaust and you can smell it burning after a long drive.

[the_jay]

DIY?

[yodawill2000]

Yes , but even harder than the timing belt.
Here is a "how to" from a 300ZX website. <-- Same engine.
http://motormonk.net/diy/300zx-upper-in ... emoval-z32

[the_jay]

Thanks so much for the help so far. I've had some more time to look the car over. Don't see a sticker for the timing belt so I will go ahead and add that to the list of things to do. I saw kits for that on the ebay link you posted from $100 to 300. What should the kit include because they all included different things (tensioner, belt, etc).

My most urgent but I reckon least serious matter involves the sunroof. I have read about this but am a tad confused. Now I gather that the drain line is plugged going towards the left rear tire. The right rear tire drains OK. The left rear compartment behind where the instruction manual is kept and where the radio antenna is, is totally flooded and I felt inside and feel a hose where the water drains into this compartment. I'm confused why a hose drains into this area unless it is an overflow for the main hose that goes to the tire/road which is totally blocked. I don't have access to compressed air beyond keyboard cleaner but I could get weedwacker wire (couldn't get anywhere with copper wire). I also see where the compartment on the other side of the car has flooded in the past but doesn't now. Suggestions here?

Also, the windshield wiper fluid reservoir seems to be cracked repaired at some point, and still leaking. I would say crash damage but nothing around it seems to be damaged, including original frame pieces. Any else seen this?

EDIT: My first blunder was completely destroying the plastic grill piece/air vent on the dash up by where the windshield meets the dash. It popped out easily and wouldn't go back in and had become very brittle sitting in the sun I guess. Gotta find a replacement but I wont hold my breath.

[Mkiisupra]

I would really spend the money on an OEM timing belt and water pump if I were you. In short, you have 2 heads to ruin if the timing belt goes bad and the OEM is good over 150k easily. The water pump housing is known to break apart on aftermarket units causing major damage to the radiator. Look up scottsdale infiniti.

[yodawill2000]

^^^ This.
Think , Ticking time bomb.

[the_jay]

I'm going to do the timing belt as soon as I fix this electrical problem. I'm not driving it at the moment, just a project. Is ebay the best bet for a timing belt and water pump? Is there a good brand? What other belts should get done at this time?

I got my battery tested yesterday at Autozone and they said it was good. Today, it still is at nearly 13 volts so it is indeed good. However, unless the battery is hooked up to my trickle charger, it slowly dies if it is hooked up to the car. The car starts up nicely so I don't think its the starter or the alternator and the draining happens without the key in the ignition. Now only 1 speaker works, the front right, and the speaker in the rear would occasionally go ballistic making an extremely loud noise unless I turned off the car. So my guess is, I have an electrical problem and it involves the speakers. So I am going to go ahead and pull them all out because they appear to not be working anyhow, and see if the power draw stops. I read something about them having their own amplifier and being problematic. I can't contact the previous owner of the car but there were spare fuses inside the dash so that has to be taken into account.

EDIT: my-j30-keeps-dying-5-alternators-in-2-m ... 27281.html Found this link with some good info, checking the alternator ground and making sure its clean. The entire underside of the car seems to be loaded with grease and was never, ever cleaned it seems. Might have something to do with it.

[yodawill2000]

OEM timing belt is the way to go. Everythinginfiniti.com is the best pricing.
If you are on good terms with Autozone, See if they will let you go through the reman Water Pumps.
I did and pulled a genuine Nissan pump.
Aftermarket pumps are known to fail, As on the J you really have to have the Belts tight.
Ive seen a few peeps here with pumps that the nose snapped off and totaled the Radiator and fan.

[the_jay]

Thanks. Is there a "how-to" with pictures or a video for the whole belt and pump replacement process? I have the manual in paper and in digital form but visually seeing it done would be awesome.

UPDATE: I removed the grey, 75 amp MAIN fuse from the engine bay fuse box and the power drain stopped. Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing but I am getting closer to the electrical problem.

UPDATE: Found this great link http://www.justanswer.com/uploads/ebroc ... 6_fuse.pdf. Traced down the drain to one 7.5 amp fuse in the interior fuse box relating to Interior Lights, Footwell Lights, Time Control Unit (TCU). Is there any way to further narrow it down?

[the_jay]

Well after previously indicating that I tracked down the battery draw to the fuse for the TCU, interior, and footwell lights I subsequently disconnected the TCU and found no change in draw from the battery. This led me to disconnect all of the interior lights that I could find (one at the drivers/passengers feet, one rear dome, one trunk, and two dome lights that are in the sunroof cluster. My conclusion is that, since all of my doors are open, the lights have simply been running. Additionally, this car had been sitting for some time, has not been driven for some time, and that battery hadn't had a full re-charge until yesterday. So, my "electrical woes" may simply be that I left the doors open, the lights were on and I didn't notice (its daytime when I work on it), and the battery was already low.

So, is this normal: The battery, fully charged and not connected to the car, reads about 12.80 volts. When I connect it to the car, with all of the interior lights disconnected, the voltage drops to 12.60-12.70. What is more worrisome, however, is that it seems like it just starts slowly discharging even though I have disconnected all of the lights. Am I missing something? What is an acceptable ambient discharge rate. I don't know the electrical terms, but let's say .05 volts per hour? Is what I am describing normal?

[fourdrinie]

http://www.aa1car.com/library/battery_runs_down.htm

[driverdriver]

How old is the battery? Is it the right one (proper cranking amps)? If one or more cells in the battery are damged or worn out, the battery will discharge at a rapid pace.

[the_jay]

The battery is good, had it tested by autozone. I think what happened was I was running it down by keeping ALL of the interior lights on because the doors were all open. That, and the car had been sitting for some time.

I scored a junkyard j30 and I am picking it clean! Since they are somewhat rare, I could get parts for people if they wanted them. Not sure what year the donor is but it is white, no wheels, engine is all intact, and some of the interior is left. Send me a message if any of you guys need a part.