New 2000 Infiniti i30 owner. Suggestions on maintenance, etc

[msucurt]

Hello all. Newbie here, but have been reading the forum quite a bit. I purchased a used 2000 infiniti i30 with 82k miles for 4,400. I have a lot of the past maintenance records, but I just wanted to see what you all think I should have done immediately as preventative maintenance. (Weirdly enough, the SES light came on the 1st day I had the car....I put 89octane in the car, and Im curious if this could trigger the SES light to come on if it is used to getting 87 or 93 octance......i am crushed and hope it isnt anything too bad. After reading the forum, I will take it to Autozone and get the CEL code read. Hopefully it isnt anything major.

Maintenance that has been done:
all coils replaced
motor mounts
cv boots
O2 sensors (2 of them)
always changed with mobil 1 synthetic every 5,000 miles
other things, but I will have to look at the records later

I was not sure, but I would assume I should get an all-around tune-up (i.e..fluids changed, spark plugs replaced, brakes, rotors, etc....). I dont want to drop a lot of money, but I dont mind doing things here and there in the next month or so to make sure she is running in tip top shape.

Obviously i am a new i30 owner, so anything obvious that i need to take care of , i would appreciate it. Again, I am constantly reading the forum and learning. Hopefully my car isnt a lemon like my 1999 Jeep grand cherokee:)

thanks guys
msucurt

[cheepnis05]

Congrats, sounds like a great car at a really good price.

I wouldn't think you'd need a tune-up as long as your injectors are clean, air filter is fresh, wires are in good shape.

It sounds like the items I have had trouble with (coils/O2 sensors) have already been replaced, I'd assume the plugs were done with the coils. If not you may wish to inspect, and make sure you don't skimp on the plugs. My 2001 has 91k now, runs great (except for some random electrical issues that have plagued me over the past almost 5 years).

I'd run some Techron through it and keep up with the Mobil1 oil changes, I'd suspect it will be a reliable car for years to come.

Good luck!

You might check arond for the

[Kompresshun]

Congrats on the new purchase!

Get the codes read first and let us know what they are. Don't feel bad though, the check engine light came on the first day I bought my car too and both 02 sensors had failed. Thankfully the mechanic I bought it from told me to bring it back and he'd replace them free of charge.

I would assume the spark plugs were done with the coils too, so you might see if you could ask the previous owner about that. It's not that big of a deal if they haven't been, because if I recall correctly they have a 100k mile change interval. I just changed mine last week and to my knowledge they were factory plugs, so they made it 150k miles just fine. I also am finishing up a detailed how-to article for changing the plugs, if you'd like to try to do it yourself. It took me under an hour to change all six plugs.

I wouldn't worry about doing a full tune-up right away, but you may want to take it somewhere and have the belts, hoses, brakes, suspension and drivetrain inspected, just to see if you need to worry about any of those things anytime soon. That'll help give a little piece of mind with it.

One thing I will note on the fuel, from personal experience I only run premium fuel in mine. I have run mid-grade, but my fuel mileage decreased and I noticed some decreased performance as well. I was getting 16-18mpg(city) with mid-grade and I get 19-21mpg(city) with premium, so the fuel savings are worth the price difference.

[msucurt]

thanks A33....i really appreciate your help. Got the SES code read and got the p0430...uggghh. Im really not sure what direction to go....replace O2 sensors or just go ahead and spend $$$ and get new pre-cat? I have read about the pre-cat, but not sure where i could order one and which is the best(cattman.....warpspeed)? Willl getting a pre-cat get rid of my p0430 codes. Need some serious help man.

thanks

[Kompresshun]

The Warpspeed Y-pipe will eliminate your pre-cats, but I can't confirm that it will eliminate the P0430 code. It should, but since I haven't tried it myself, I can't confirm it. I plan on putting the same y-pipe on my car here in a few months, so I would know more about it then. It's not supposed to interfere with anything from what i've read about it though. Warpspeed sells their y-pipes on eBay though, so just go search for "Warpspeed Nissan Maxima" or "Y-pipe Nissan Maxima" and it should show up, then just look for the one that matches the year range of your I30. I doubt replacing the 02 sensors will solve your problem though, unless it's throwing another code that tells you the sensors are bad for sure.

Another option is RockAuto.com carries the pre-cats as well and they're a lot cheaper there. They carry one for right around $250, or less, depending on which one it is. That's the front one if I recall correctly.

I wouldn't rush to replace the pre-cat though, unless you're having a drastic decrease in fuel mileage(less than 15-16mpg) and performance. You obviously shouldn't ignore it forever, but you don't have to fix it tomorrow, or even next week either. You should try to have the codes cleared too, which most local auto parts stores will do, but I know Advance Auto Parts does for sure. The first few times I got that code, I cleared the codes and didn't come back on for a few months. Sometimes the sensors get wet during heavy rain and it makes them throw a false code.

[msucurt]

Thanks A33...you have really been helpful so far. Ill give you the rundown of what I have done already. I have a very good mechanic (guy is just short of a genius when it comes to cars)...anyway, i called him up and asked him to look over my new i30 just to make sure everything was good to go. I told him about the SES code p0430 that came up and he said he would look into it. He called me back after a few hours and said that the cat conv was fine. There was no vacuum leak. The O2 sensors were reading good and checked out just fine. He said he cleared the code and drove it around for about 30min and the light stayed off. He said lots of times when the car is given a tuneup or has something changed, they dont clear it or whatever and that code just keeps coming back. Anyway, he cleared it and said if it comes back up pretty often, then we would take care of it.

He looked the car over and said I needed to have a few things done. He replaced my front 2 rotors and tie rod, which cost me 350 total (180 for parts and 175 for labor). He does really good work.

I drove it around a little after i got it and the SES has not come back on, so hopefully it will stay like that.

If it ends up being the precat or whatever, I will look into rockauto, and also look into warpspeed.

Again, thanks a lot

[Kompresshun]

Glad I was able to help! Sounds like you have a good mechanic too. Let us know if you have any other questions!

[loystock]

Check color and level of transmission fluid. At 82K miles, unless you have previous flush history, no decent shop will do it due to liability issue. You may have to do multiple drain and refill. If I were you, I will do a pan drop to clean the magnets and pan and check filter condition. You can buy transmission kit from IoS (Infiniti of Scottsdale), a.k.a. infinitipartsUSA.com.

[msucurt]

Well, after a 2nd time of my SES light coming on, I am starting to wonder if it is the pre-cat. Here are my questions now. I have a great muffler guy here in town that does great exhaust/muffler work...he is used a lot. Anyway, would you guys suggest me going ahead and buying a pre-cat from rockauto or somewhere else and have him put it on? I think total cost would be around $450 give or take. Seems like that is the best (although not the cheapest option).

My thinking is this....since i am in florida (no emission tests), could the muffler guy gut the pre-cat and perhaps solve the problem?

Should I get my mechanic to perform the non-fouler/cheater method seen here:
http://forums.evolutionm.net/evo-how-re ... r-how.html

Should i get my mechanic to perform the O2sim method seen here:
http://www.that dead forum/a33-2000-20 ... ation.html

Just really confused on the most efficient and cheapest way to do this.

btw, is this the correct pre-cat for the infiniti i30 or would another pre-cat be better ?
http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/detai ... 40387.html

thanks all
msucurt

[Kompresshun]

If you don't have emissions to worry about, then I would highly recommend buying the Warpspeed Y-pipe for it over another pre-cat, but that's just me. I bought the pre-cat the first time around, but I wouldn't do it a second time since I don't have emissions here either. The Y-pipe adds more power and it takes care of the pre-cat problem as well from what I understand.

I've heard it's better to buy OEM pre-cats if you go that route, but I have no experience with aftermarket ones at all. All I know is that mine was replaced with OEM one and it fixed the problem, but now i'm starting to get the P0420(the other pre-cat) code every so often, so i'll definitely be going with a y-pipe this time around.

I personally wouldn't mess with 02 simulators, even though it may work.