Little nitty things, and the Sunroof...

[eagent]

Good morning, gents!

OK, with the great success of the Stumbling Q, I'd love to have your input on some of the less mission-critical issues with the car. Ready?

1) The sunroof has recently quit rolling. One day, it rolled back, and then the motor sounded like it was freewheeling. I had to hand-slide the thing forward to 98% closed position (the internal panel is closed, but the roof portion is not seated, and still has a 2/8+ gap at the rear of the roof, where it would normally seal). The motor runs forward, but there's no apparent grip on the sunroof panel.

Is this like Mercedes, where there's a cable assembly, and you have a crank in the trunk to manually drive it closed? Or is there a sprocket up front (under the courtesy light cluster) os anything? Just curious.

2) I've read tons on the Bose Stereo issue. My problem is the squeeling, "oh my God, what the heck is that alarm" sound in the rear speakers, sometimes the driver's door speaker.

I've disconnected the power to the rear deck speakers, but not the front (they operate most of the time, with some intermittent operation on the driver's door speaker). I have an electronics background, and can handle a soldering pencil with ease, and read resistor and capacitor codes... but it it worth it?

I've heard it's just a corrosion jump on the circuit board. If so, that what about just flooding the thing in spray contact or circuit board cleaner? Any success with that (I've removed the rear circuit boards, so this would be an easy fix).

3) The dash vinyl and pad, just to the right-center of the main instrumnet cluster, is slightly lifting. The vinyl and pad are intact, and still in great shape (no checking or cracking) but have lifted about 3/8th of an inch for about 6 inches. Is there a successful solution to regluing this, or do I need a dash replacement (yikes!)?

4) The steering has started feeling "mushy" as it turns, and there appears to be some delay and loss of specific pointing ability between when I turn and when the car turns. I do hear what sounds like a pump whine on the driver's side of the car. Not extreme, and not very high pitched, but evident (I've heard it on other Nissan cars as well, so thought nothing of it). It doesn't drift when I drive, but there seems to be a slight delay between turning the wheel and the car's response. Any ideas?

I think that's about it for this missive. It's amazing to me that this machine can have 163,000 miles on it, and still run like a top, drives like a dream, and I love the look and feel. The no-grill makes it look really refined, and I have the chrome 5-spoke flat wheels on it, giving a nice finish to the package (it's the champagne/silver color, with tan and brown interior and the aftermarket wood accents on the dash and doors).

Thanks again!

best,ME

[Q451990]

I'm not sure on the sunroof issue. It is cable driven or the gears could be stripped out... never had this problem (knock on wood).

Amps - the problem is typically electronically leaking capicitors. You could replace them all and probably save some $$. Bose will rebuild the entire assembly for $75 each - including new cones. Probably just a board swap and new cones. Do a search for "Bose Repair" - it's been discussed recently and all of the contact info is there... I repaired a front amp once using freeze spray to isolate the part, but it's a lot of trouble.

Steering - at the mileage you're at, there are probably a lot of hard rubber parts under there. I'd rehab everything first (rack bushings, sway bar bushings, sway bar end links, outer tie rod ends, rack boots, shocks, shock bushings and seats, shock dust boots, upper links, tension rod bushings (if cracked or leaking) etc. Look for any obvious play, but if these things haven't been addressed before, they're definately shot! Is the rack leaking? Spending $1000 in parts for this (not including a new rack) is not uncommon, but very necessary. The Q's suspension will fool you if you've never driven one in as-new condition. I thought mine was great until I replaced all of the above parts... makes a huge difference!

Dash vinyl - I've seen this before, but never had to repair it. I've found that RTV (like you'd use to seal rocker covers) works great for sticking things back down like this. I had a small corner coming up on the edge of the trim that surrounds the shifter and radio. Used some of that stuff and it's held up great so far. Super glue too britle and will come apart as the vinyl tries to spring back up out of place. If you can take the trim off around the instrument cluster and get to the edge of the dash where it's coming loose, you may be able to squirt the RTV in there and then hold it down with masking tape or something heavy until it dries.

All of that said, I wouldn't put a dime into it unless the timing chain guides have been replaced. Putting all of that extra cash into the repairs only to have a scrambled engine on the test drive would be a heartbreaking!

Good luck!

Heath

[eagent]

Hi Heath,

Thanks a ton for the various recommendations. I'll check out the rubber in the steering assemblies and suspension. I did notice that a rear shock has bottomed out (we have a literal canyon on 17th street in Costa Mesa that trashes suspensions after a while), so that may have something to do with it (excessive dive and roll).

The RTV or equivalent is a perfect idea. I can handle that, and there's plenty of room to inject the stuff. Having family in heating and AC, I'm a master at duct tape (I also bow before the alter of Red Green) for holding the dash in place.

As for the sunroof, I'll let you know what I find. I'm checking under the map light assembly for any indicators (Nissan wouldn't have necessitated the removal of the headliner to do sunroof maintenance, would they?).

The amps DO sound like a Wah-Pedal cap failing, so I bet you're right. There are two electrolytics around the output section of the amp. I'll try a swap, and see if there's a cure. Good ear, Heath!

I suppose most importantly, how can you tell if the timing chain guides have been replaced? Any sound, chart, source that you know of for diagnosis? Let me know your thoughts. I've heard that, when they go, they go big time. Thanks for the reminder.

I'll get back to you on the results. Thanks again for the insights.

Best,ME

[Q451990]

I suppose most importantly, how can you tell if the timing chain guides have been replaced? Any sound, chart, source that you know of for diagnosis? Let me know your thoughts. I've heard that, when they go, they go big time. Thanks for the reminder.

The guides don't really have a warning sign... sometimes a "flutter" at start-up, but I'm hyper-sensitive to noise, and I didn't hear anything at all before mine failed. It got a clean "listen" test just days before the failure by my dealership. It's not all that likely that the guides or chains were addressed at a non-dealer, unless the car came from Atlanta (and had T3 service) or San Diego (and had Jerry Tucker service). Do you have a copy of the factory records? If not, any dealer should be able to find them by VIN. Some are being purged, but I hear they're archived somewhere and you can call for them.

If the RTV looks factory - probably a very neatly applied powder blue - on the front cover you can be pretty sure they're the factory guides.

Do you have a factory service manual? It should have been in your trunk under the cover for the spare tire, or sometimes they get put in the compartment for the rear package tray. I think that would be very helpful for your sunroof adventure!

Heath