Low Mileage 1990 Q45 Chain Guide Replacement

[mxr662]

I bought a very nice 1990 q45 with 60,000 miles today. Always been garaged, Mint body except where the dog chewed on the fender flares. Mint interior except the whine from the Bose speakers (Bad amplifiers is what I read here). Now my question. With 60,000 do I have to replace chain guides now? Thanks.

[ScottJackson]

yup. It's not just use that makes them brittle, time does also.

[goody90q45]

Curious where you found it?

I've got an extra set of mud flaps. Check your email.

[Peterofdevon]

that's a RARE find!!! Congrats!!!

Tell us more about it. Color, history, etc.

Peter

[maxnix]

With 60,000 do I have to replace chain guides now?

Not if you never start the engine again!

Some have failed at 37K, most last (don't yet fail catastrophically) to 70K.

Short story, don't risk it. you have a very rare car.

[Q451990]

To let you know how convinced I was to change mine, I replaced them in my 90 with 47K on the odometer. They turned to be fine, but you just don't know until you open it up.

Good Luck and please post some pictures!

Heath

[goody90q45]

that's a RARE find!!! Congrats!!!

Tell us more about it. Color, history, etc.

Peter

I went over to Andy's home today to meet him, check out his Q, and do some of the basic P.M. stuff with him. It turned out we only live about ten minutes apart.

This car has got to be the most pristine 90Q on the planet. Only 60000 miles on the odometer, a tan on mocha brown interior with not one flaw or even sign of wear, and a desert sand exterior that was flawless except for all 4 mudflaps where the previous owner's dog had chewed about 1/2" of the bottoms. Very funny story. Andy got this Q when his neighbors bought a new 350z and parked the old Q in their driveway with a for sale sign on it. It's what I call being in the right place at the right time.

This is a California car, garaged since birth and purchased from the original owner. Cosmetically this car is showroom condition, easily a 10 out of ten. And now for the price............... $2000. I couldn't speak for a few seconds after Andy told me this.

Mechanically it's in almost as good condition. The engine is spotless. The transmission shifts smooth. All the fluids will need changing. We cleaned the MAF and throttle body and found minimal crud inside the plenum or any of the ports. Ohmed the KS and injectors. Both KS were fine but there were 2 dead and 2 marginal injectors. We replaced one of the dead injectors (#2) and took her for a spin and she drove much nicer. It's amazing what replacing one injector will do. He's looking forward to replacing the rest and geting the full performance out of the engine.

He's been reading up on chain guides and will be ordering them soon. Thanks to NICO he also realizes what a gem he has and what a great deal he got on it. I'm sure we'll be hearing more from him in the near future as he tackles the chain guides and gets caught up on the preventative maintenance.

[MattB]

Wow that's in really good shape.

[Q451990]

Awesome! I'm still jealous of the price...

Andy - don't whimp out on the chain guide issue... Here's more proof that there's no predicting when the guides will show signs of failure.

zerothread/228601

Heath

[maxnix]

Digging the car, but not feeling the pimp out wheels.

Main thing is to restore and conserve such a pristine car. Wheels and tires invariably change eventually.
Modified by maxnix at 6:16 AM 2/18/2007

[mxr662]

Thanks Mike for the help and instruction today. The work we did today made a big, big difference in how it runs.

I started removing the basics for timing chain guide replacement tonight (covers, belts, fan). Mainly so I'm not tempted to drive it any more.

Digging the car, but not feeling the pimp out wheels.

Yea I'm not so sure about the wheels. But that will be later down the road....

Andy

[ceningolmo]

Digging the car, but not feeling the pimp out wheels.

Brian, you are hilarious. Those look like pimp out wheels to you? Damn, I thought they looked ok. Nothing too outlandish. They aren't too big...and, I like the look of a lot of face on them.

Thanks Mike for the help and instruction today. The work we did today made a big, big difference in how it runs.

I started removing the basics for timing chain guide replacement tonight (covers, belts, fan). Mainly so I'm not tempted to drive it any more.

You are a lucky man... Mike is as good a source for help as you can find. I would take advantage of him as a resource.

Great looking car. Rare and beautiful. Take good care of it...she has LOTS of life left in her.

And, of course, welcome to our club.

[maxnix]

look like pimp out wheels to you? Damn, I thought they looked ok. Nothing too outlandish. They aren't too big...and, I like the look of a lot of face on them.

Yeah, great for putting on your lipstick and eye shadow.

Best thing is he soesn't have to look at them when he is driving it. Wonder how much they weigh? I don't think I have ever seen them before.

Check out the old Tiger IV tank if you like face. The Germans were way ahead of the ricers.

[ceningolmo]

Yeah, great for putting on your lipstick and eye shadow.

Best thing is he soesn't have to look at them when he is driving it. Wonder how much they weigh? I don't think I have ever seen them before.

Check out the old Tiger IV tank if you like face. The Germans were way ahead of the ricers.

Maybe I'll do a "tank tread" mod on the Q! That would be sweet.... all terain Q45a.

Brian, you're probably going to **** yourself when you see my wheels for the spring. I hope you'll still respect me in the morning.

[maxnix]

You know, the only things that truly matter about wheels is mass, trueness, and strength.

Like that annoying fender gap problem, it is something never seen by the driver when the vehicle is in use.

Spring is next week here. 65° F today.

[ceningolmo]

Spring is next week here. 65° F today.

Screw you!

It's a "nice" day here today... which means the temps are in the mid 20's instead of low teens. And, we only received 2" of snow today...instead of the 6" of daily coverage we have been getting used to. At the rate we are going, it's going to take 3 solid weeks of 80 degree weather before we will be out of the snow, ice melted, and the ground dry enough to even attempt golf.

Life in Michigan sucks right now.

[maxnix]

Bring your clubs. But if you are waiting for Michigan spring, the heat might kill you here.

[mxr662]

OK so I removed the timing cover and the guides are intact. Good news as I did not want to remove the oil pan. After a trip to Sears for a 30mm socket and 46903 2 jaw puller it was rather easy to do the disassembly. Ordering parts tomorrow.

All chain guides.water pump2 radiator capsfront stabilizer bushingsradiator hosesthermostat and gasketOil filtersbelts

Anybody see something I missed jump in. I'm thinking timing and oil chains are ok. Oil pump ok.

Are the factory hose clamps ok. The appear in good shape.

This parts list is due to the forums here and goody94q45. Without this forum I would be driving the car till the guides broke and the engine blew up.

Andy

[ceningolmo]

Andy... I'm sure the timing chain itself is fine. And, you don't want to go through the process of retiming the engine anyway. So, you're right, don't replace them.

You should replace the oil pump chain though. It's not very expensive, and it only takes an additional 3 minutes during the process. It's one of those "might as well" type replacements.

Other than that, your list looks good to me.