Need Service on my M...wondering what you guys think

[Ilya]

I'm sending this email to my service person at Lia Infiniti in Latham, NY...but was wondering what you guys think:

Here is what I need done/looked at:

• The wipers seem to be 'off'. Most of the time, I can hear the driver side wiper hit the frame of the window and thus make a 'tap' noise each time it does.
• Sometimes (2 or 3 times a week), when I first start my car in the morning, the RPM's are about 1,500 or so (normal as all cars start high and then gradually lower as the engine gets warmer). After a second or two, they will drop to like 600 as if the car is going to stall and then will catch itself and go back up to 1,500 at which point it will gradually work its way down to normal (which is about 800 or so) as it gets warmer. Sometimes, it will go down but vary up and down a little as it goes...say 1,500 > 1,300 > 1,350 > 1,200 > 1,100 > 1,200, etc.
  This may be an issue with the Idle Air Control Valve (if it exists on this car) or the throttle body being dirty based on past Nissans that I have had with similar VQ motors (I had a 97 and a 99 Maxima).
• May be related to #2 - Even after the car is warmed up...if I go past 3,500 RPM or so with my window down...I can hear a faint noise as if I had a turbo spooling up. I heard it today many times while driving with the windows down. It may happen in 4th and 5th gear, but I can't say because by then the wind noise is too great. It is not audible in the car with the windows up...but I can't say this type of noise is normal for a non-turbo car.
• Lastly...it seems the materials or what not in the passenger side door speaker area, the rear subwoofer area AND somewhere near the sunroof needs some re-inforcing or something broke because there is slight rattles in all those areas when driving (music on or off). The sunroof area sounds like someone took those silicon beads that you can find in those little pouches in a new bookbag (that keep moisture out) and dumped them in the roof liner. Sounds like they are bouncing around in there.

I would also like to make sure the complimentary inspection gets done just in case anything else pops up that I need to be aware of.

Let me know your thoughts folks.

[sergio1987]

1: It is extremely easy to adjust your wipers...just pop the plastic on your wiper(at the base), unscrew the bolt a bit, adjust and voilla
2: You should address this problem, but try first to unplug the battery for a few hours (overnight?!) might help...this is just an ideea
3: Get it fixed at the dealer
4: our cars are full of rattles ALLOVER...unfortunately there is not much you can do, just blast the music up and forget about it

[Ilya]

1: It is extremely easy to adjust your wipers...just pop the plastic on your wiper(at the base), unscrew the bolt a bit, adjust and voilla
2: You should address this problem, but try first to unplug the battery for a few hours (overnight?!) might help...this is just an ideea
3: Get it fixed at the dealer
4: our cars are full of rattles ALLOVER...unfortunately there is not much you can do, just blast the music up and forget about it

I did try to adjust them by messing with the bolt. After I was done, tightened it all the way and it still goes past what it should. The arms are pretty wiggly even with the bolt tightened all the way.

The other 3, I will see what the warranty covers I guess. That's the beauty of Elite. I was just curious if anyone had any ideas of how to solve the rattles and the wipers...but I'm glad to know I was on the right track.

[built2makeit]

i have that rattling sound in my car as well

[White-Rush]

Speaking of service plans.. Does anyone know at what mileage my next service would be due? Car is garaged, sitting at just over 78K. Elite warranty goes to either 96 or 98k. But i don't think the warranty plans affect planned service schedules or normal wear and tear.

IlyaKol - my thoughts are this..... If you paid for an extended service plan or if it's the Manf. service plan, use it and let them fix it, if it's a warranted item. You pay good money for this in exchange for a piece of mind. I don't see anything wrong with what you are asking, as long as you aren't one of those people that the service writer hates (Lol, like my wife).. Talk with him / her and see what they can do to assist you. I mean your only other options would be to let the issues go on, or take it else where to have it fixed.

But one last thing before i get longer winded..... be certain that you include all details if possible, to prevent having to go right back in there to fix a related issue. Case in point; last September i had new brakes and pads installed on my rear because they were shot, seriously shot. This set me back a few hundred dollars, easily. After i picked the car up, i drove it for 4 or 5 days, before i garaged it until last month. Well, when it pulled it out, I drove it for a week or two and noticed that i was still squeeking a little too much, especially in reverse. Took it back and bam... found out that the R/R caliper was fuked... There went another $500 or so dollars. I asked why they didn't notice this issue previously and they said that, "when you dropped the car off, you asked to have new pads and rotors installed". So that's what they did. Not even a brake inspection was given, since they percieved that I only wanted what i asked for. I'm not an argumentive guy, so I just chopped it up as an L and let it be a lesson learned..

Soo, please be clear about what you want and the service you expect to recieve. GL

[Lo m35x]

yoo my car makes that noise also #3 only on this one road tho

[Ilya]

I'm going to see them tomorrow. Adding my driver side mirror to the list. When I go into reverse and have it set to the driver side mirror (usually it's set to the passenger), the mirror will click, etc. and go all the way 'in' (can't see ANYTHING behind me, just my glass) and when I back into drive, won't return to it's old position.

[wazzu mille]

Thanks for the post, I have the same issue on the wiper blade and the response was a great answer. I didn't realize they were adjustible. Just took a few seconds to adjust and now they don't bump. I just realized I need a new wiper blade though...

[Ilya]

Here's an update (red responses):

Here is what I need done/looked at:

• The wipers seem to be 'off'. Most of the time, I can hear the driver side wiper hit the frame of the window and thus make a 'tap' noise each time it does.
  The dealer adjusted this and my wipers are now working.
• Sometimes (2 or 3 times a week), when I first start my car in the morning, the RPM's are about 1,500 or so (normal as all cars start high and then gradually lower as the engine gets warmer). After a second or two, they will drop to like 600 as if the car is going to stall and then will catch itself and go back up to 1,500 at which point it will gradually work its way down to normal (which is about 800 or so) as it gets warmer. Sometimes, it will go down but vary up and down a little as it goes...say 1,500 > 1,300 > 1,350 > 1,200 > 1,100 > 1,200, etc.
  This may be an issue with the Idle Air Control Valve (if it exists on this car) or the throttle body being dirty based on past Nissans that I have had with similar VQ motors (I had a 97 and a 99 Maxima).
  The dealer blamed this on carbon deposits, but after further inspection on my own (as well as running half a can of seafoam through the intake manifold via a vacuum line - see FAQ thread in my signature on how to do this), I found that the part number #15 in the image below (the front part of it) had multiple cracks in the 'tubing'. Thus, this is why I was getting unsteady idles, etc. I taped the rips shut and hopefully this fixes my issue. I will be complaining to my dealer that 1) your dumbass tech didn't find that and 2) for them to replace it under warranty.
• May be related to #2 - Even after the car is warmed up...if I go past 3,500 RPM or so with my window down...I can hear a faint noise as if I had a turbo spooling up. I heard it today many times while driving with the windows down. It may happen in 4th and 5th gear, but I can't say because by then the wind noise is too great. It is not audible in the car with the windows up...but I can't say this type of noise is normal for a non-turbo car.
  The dealer blamed this on the drive belts and replaced them. I still heard the noise after picking the car up, although I haven't driven the car after taping the rips in the tubing in the above issue. Maybe it's related.
• Lastly...it seems the materials or what not in the passenger side door speaker area, the rear subwoofer area AND somewhere near the sunroof needs some re-inforcing or something broke because there is slight rattles in all those areas when driving (music on or off). The sunroof area sounds like someone took those silicon beads that you can find in those little pouches in a new bookbag (that keep moisture out) and dumped them in the roof liner. Sounds like they are bouncing around in there.
  The dealer basically told me tough luck, even with my extended warranty.

I would also like to make sure the complimentary inspection gets done just in case anything else pops up that I need to be aware of.