I am a long-time owner (the 2nd) of a '95 Q now with 106k miles and have just moved to the Northern New Jersey area (Wayne/Lincoln Park) and am looking for a good place to get my car serviced. The only Infiniti dealer (Ramsey Infiniti) is too great a hike.
The first thing on the agenda is valve gaskets. According to Ramsey, they are leaking, resulting in that distinctive "burning oil" smell. Their quote is $1100. Does that sound reasonable? Second is replacing the upper links.
My goal is to develop a long-term service relationship with someone who understands these beauties. Anyone have any recommendations??
Just Moved - looking for a Service Tech
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Michael Dennison
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2003 8:33 am
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shaginator
- Posts: 42
- Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 7:38 pm
Sounds about right for valve gasket work, since the metal octopus (plenum) has to come off.
The thing is, that estimate could go way up, since plenum removal introduces a bunch of "might as well" items to the list.
Did it myself. Lots of work, so "might as well" evolved to "gotta do". We plan to keep our Q for a while longer. Such a nice car!
The thing is, that estimate could go way up, since plenum removal introduces a bunch of "might as well" items to the list.
Did it myself. Lots of work, so "might as well" evolved to "gotta do". We plan to keep our Q for a while longer. Such a nice car!
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jlgallag
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2003 7:39 am
- Car: 2002 Q45 Premium, 1994 G20t, 2004 G35 Coupe
reggiegsd - Do you know if the NJ tech you mentioned in your post has experience doing the timing chain guide replacement on early first generation Q45s? If he has the experience that would make him the closest tech to NYC that I have heard about for that job. Please let me know if you think he is up to that job. Thanks.
jlgallag
jlgallag
shaginator wrote:Sounds about right for valve gasket work, since the metal octopus (plenum) has to come off.
The thing is, that estimate could go way up, since plenum removal introduces a bunch of "might as well" items to the list.
Did it myself. Lots of work, so "might as well" evolved to "gotta do". We plan to keep our Q for a while longer. Such a nice car!
Plenum doesn't HAVE to come off. That one falls between "has to" and "might as well". For $1100 at a dealer, I think it's iffy whether they will redo the plenum; you'll just have to ask. That's maybe 10 hours labor...seems high, but closer to a valve cover job than to a plenum AND valve cover job.
Do leaks have to be fixed? Not necessarily. It really depends. Can you stand the smell? Do you not mind the mess on your garage floor? Are you OK with a filthy engine and transmission (the oil REALLY spreads). Do you not mind topping off your fluids more often than normal? My front cover and my oil pan are leaking, and have been for a while now. I finally have an opportunity to use a lift 3 hours a week, and I've been dying to get the work done. It has been driving me nuts, but I'm just too cheap to pay someone to do it. And after I get those things done, I'll still have to rebuild my power steering pump cause it's leaking too. But a dry engine will be a wonderful thing.