My 93 J30 adventure!

[Elisha]

so i took my J30 into Midas today for a transmission flush.......i took my own mobil 1 ATF as well.i had some previous idle problems......loss of power and acceleration as well and vibrations.they recommended me to change my plugs and it would solve my problems.so i did. changed all 6 of them and the problem was still there.....so they kinda felt bad cause the problem was still there and tried everything to figure out what was wrong. from coils to injectors and ran all sorts of diagnostics on the engine.apparently cylinder 2 and 6 were not getting power. finally they asked me if i wanted to do the computer diagnostic and i said why not.

so guess what??? they pulled out the ECU and it was corroded from the inside.

thats said alot right there. so they priced me an ecu from the dealer and Infiniti wanted about $1,700 and it was gonne be from Japan.so they called a salvage yard in Quebec and luckily they had an ECU for a 93 J30. what a coincidence.they wanted $450 so i said why not and ordered it in.but i'm waiting till the next paycheck to get it installed. enough spent on one day.

Midas was kind enough only to charge me for 2 hours of labour. for plugs and transmission flush. all diagnostics were performed for free cause: 1. they felt bad and 2. for their own knowledge.Four guys were working on my car to figure it out.

more than i can say for the fellows an Infiniti that give me no information whatsoever and see me as a sucker whenever i walk in the door and over charge me every single time.

anyone have any thought, comments, concerns?

[s13sr20chris]

if ecm is corroded you need a new one bad! good thing you already got it. another place to look for misfires on the vg30de engine is the wiring harness. its very common for the connectors on the coil packs and the injectors to get very corroded and brittle over time. did you install ngk plugs? trust me, you only want ngk plugs.

[Elisha]

yeah i got the OEM NGK plugs.so it is common for corossion to occur on the ECU?the wires look fine....the mechanics checked that but the ECU is terrible.

any other suggestions for maintanance?i wish i could hit the dealer who sold me the car with a bat!
Modified by Elisha at 10:59 AM 3/5/2005

[s13sr20chris]

not too common unless the car has flooded.

[Elisha]

i wouldn't put it past the previous owner.but there is a small hole in the body behind the front right tire of the car that may be bringing moisture in. will patch that asap.

[s13sr20chris]

good idea. i am interested to find out how she runs with the new ecm.

[Elisha]

not really a brand new one. its from another 93 j30 from a salvage yard.maybe i should get another one and reprogram it.

[s13sr20chris]

not a bad idea but you may want to see her running right before you go tossing in new variables. just a thought.

[Elisha]

good idea.

[NISTECH]

I have heard of the J30 having leaks into the interior from either the heater fresh air inlet or the winshield , cant remember the specifics on it but I think there was a tsb on it at one time.

[Elisha]

its the windshield inlet. i have that problem sometimes. eventho its just a trickle.