Greetings all. I'm the proud new owner of a 94 Infiniti J30 with 112K miles. Got very fortunate in that the previous two owners not only took immaculate care of the car, but kept every service record from it's first oil change to it's last diagnostic which was done 100 miles before I bought it.
UNFORTUNATELY, though the second owner seemed to do a great job of keeping it pretty, he didn't do much to it mechanically other than change the oil. He seemed to forget to check the schedualed maintenence booklet. So, the timing belt was never changed. Now when I bought it, I knew that it needed changing...he showed me the diagnostic, where the mechanic had written "Timing belt and timing belt tensioner making noise. Need replacing...customer declined service". (which I used to knock quite a bit off of the asking price). But there is a definate "clicking" noise coming from the engine. And unfortunatley, I really tapped myself out financially for a week or two buying the car.
So my questions are -
1) About how much could I expect to be spending to have this taken care of (i'm estimating 6-800, but I could be way off)
2) How serious is this problem...can I go a week or two with it?
Thanks for the help. Glad I found this forum.
New J30 Owner
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maxnix
- Posts: 22627
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- Car: 1995 Infiniti Q45
1995 Infiniti Q45t
2000 Infiniti Q45
Re: New J30 Owner
Welcome to the Forum and congratualtions on your new car. Like all belt driven camshaft engines, usually the water pump, other drive belts and perhaps tensionsers need replacing. There are posts on this forum and the Infiniti Mechanics forum you can search, but one of the knowledgeable J30 owners here will respond shortly. Carlos Knology's website at http://www.fuzzycats.com is a must view for J30 owners.DJoker wrote:2) How serious is this problem...can I go a week or two with it?
If it is bad enough the mechanic recommended change, and expecially if it is the old style belt, I would recommend the bicycle or bus over tempting fate as the VG30DE is an interference design engine and the belt breaking would be disastrous.
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driverdriver
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It would depend on who's doing the work. If you can find a competetnt mechanic who understands the engine and the car, you can get the work done at a substantial savings. If your thinking Infiniti dealer, be prepared to pay a small fortune but at least in my expereince get the work done right the first time. You may want to do a search and find out what else needs to be changed along with the timing belt. There is a bunch of things, I just can't remember since its been some years since I had my timing belt changed.
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Q45tech
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- Car: 1990 Q45 342,400 miles 22 years ownership with original engine
1995 G20t 5 speed 334,000 miles 16" 2002 wheels - 205/50/16 Sr20ve vvl
Whenever you buy a 10 year old lux car always assume the worst [that you will need to spend an amount equal to the purchase price to fix things that the owner didn't].
We hear it all the time when we present estimates: " That's more than the cars worth"............they have already checked, and the dealer repair quote was 20-30% higher than ours.
They get the tradein numbers while they are there and add a $2,000 or so and offer for sale.
We hear it all the time when we present estimates: " That's more than the cars worth"............they have already checked, and the dealer repair quote was 20-30% higher than ours.
They get the tradein numbers while they are there and add a $2,000 or so and offer for sale.
Welcome to NICO.
There is some debate around here about whether all 94 Js were OEM eqipped with the old non kevlar belt. If yours was and the previous owners took good care of the car then the timing belt might have been replaced @ 60k with the newer kevlar belt. The newer style belts are scheduled to be R&R @ 105k. Do a search on "J30 timing belt" and you will get lots of useful info about what other things to do and where to get the parts.
There is some debate around here about whether all 94 Js were OEM eqipped with the old non kevlar belt. If yours was and the previous owners took good care of the car then the timing belt might have been replaced @ 60k with the newer kevlar belt. The newer style belts are scheduled to be R&R @ 105k. Do a search on "J30 timing belt" and you will get lots of useful info about what other things to do and where to get the parts.
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carlos_knology
- Posts: 438
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Welcome aboard DJoker. The J30 is a great car.
About your timing belt. I think your estimate of $600-800 is about right for just the timing belt. Any reputable Nissan tech or independent Nissan shop should be able to do this since your engine is the same as the Nissan 300ZX.
But again, like someone else mentioned, while in there, it makes sense to replace the water pump, drive belts, etc. You don't want to skip these and have your water pump go out a few months down the road. The labor cost to get to that water pump is the same as the labor to get to the timing belt so it makes sense to take care of it all in one shot.
Carlos
About your timing belt. I think your estimate of $600-800 is about right for just the timing belt. Any reputable Nissan tech or independent Nissan shop should be able to do this since your engine is the same as the Nissan 300ZX.
But again, like someone else mentioned, while in there, it makes sense to replace the water pump, drive belts, etc. You don't want to skip these and have your water pump go out a few months down the road. The labor cost to get to that water pump is the same as the labor to get to the timing belt so it makes sense to take care of it all in one shot.
Carlos
Congrats on the J purchase! I would recommend getting that timing belt (and related stuff) done ASAP. Park it if you can, not worth risking it. I recently got my 93 with 100K and had everything done for about $1200 for timing belt, water pump, thermostat, tensioner, idler pulleys, and cam and crank seals. When they opened it up the timing belt was cracked....yikes! Definitely use an Infinity belt. The ones made since 95 are kevlar reinforced and good for 105K.
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beauhemian
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Wow what a great forum! I ask a question, go to bed, in the morning I've got all these answers, without everyone making me feel like an idiot for asking. Thanks, all.
Taking my car to mechanic today. I have a good mechanic who has been working on my cars for the last 7 years, and is quite honest. So hopefully by monday I will be able to truly enjoy driving around in my first Infiniti without giving myself an ulcer worrying about the engine.
Taking my car to mechanic today. I have a good mechanic who has been working on my cars for the last 7 years, and is quite honest. So hopefully by monday I will be able to truly enjoy driving around in my first Infiniti without giving myself an ulcer worrying about the engine.
DJoker wrote: hopefully by monday I will be able to truly enjoy driving around in my first Infiniti without giving myself an ulcer worrying about the engine.
Your J's VG30DE V6 engine is renouned for its reliability and durability. That is why a couple of us asked you what caused it to fail. I might be going out on a limb, but I have never heard or read of a reasonably maintained VG30DE failing. With regular oil changes, and proper cooling system maintenance, it will likely run for at least 400k miles. It is bullet proof.
The transmission? Well, that unit merits some TLC.
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beauhemian
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VimyJ -
Thanks for that response. As a new J30 owner, I'm nowhere near as familiar with the engine as you all are here, and what you wrote makes me feel much more secure about my purchase.
Truth is, the car runs like a dream. Good acceleration, beautifully smooth drive, no odd things happeneing while I'm cruising around the freeway. And the car has been excellently maintained with the basics...oil changes, fluid changes, flushes, etc..I have every reciept since it was purchased new in '94. So your comment about regular basic mantainence and 400k makes me feel much more confident. Thank you very much.
Thanks for that response. As a new J30 owner, I'm nowhere near as familiar with the engine as you all are here, and what you wrote makes me feel much more secure about my purchase.
Truth is, the car runs like a dream. Good acceleration, beautifully smooth drive, no odd things happeneing while I'm cruising around the freeway. And the car has been excellently maintained with the basics...oil changes, fluid changes, flushes, etc..I have every reciept since it was purchased new in '94. So your comment about regular basic mantainence and 400k makes me feel much more confident. Thank you very much.
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carlos_knology
- Posts: 438
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- Car: 1995 Infiniti J30
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Vimy's post is accurate. I don't recall seeing any posts of VG30DE engine problems. It is a proven Nissan engine. As mentioned before, it's the engine used in the Nissan 300zx.
Of course, maintenance is the key. I did see a J30 with a seized engine on Ebay. The owner was using it for "drifting" and nuked the transmission and engine. That is just plain abuse to a J30 though.
I have never had any worries about my engine. I change the fluids regularly, use synthetic oil, etc.
The transmission is the component I always worry about. I change its filter and flush every 30K miles and added an external transmission cooler. I haven't had any problems with it but that is the one item you regularly see fail on the J30 over time.
But again, not many people get on the internet to post that their transmission is still working. We only usually see posts regarding failures or problems.
Like most cars, with proper maintenance, the J30 is a VERY reliable car.
Did you check out my J30 site yet? I think maxnix posted a link to it earlier in the thread.
Carlos
Of course, maintenance is the key. I did see a J30 with a seized engine on Ebay. The owner was using it for "drifting" and nuked the transmission and engine. That is just plain abuse to a J30 though.
I have never had any worries about my engine. I change the fluids regularly, use synthetic oil, etc.
The transmission is the component I always worry about. I change its filter and flush every 30K miles and added an external transmission cooler. I haven't had any problems with it but that is the one item you regularly see fail on the J30 over time.
But again, not many people get on the internet to post that their transmission is still working. We only usually see posts regarding failures or problems.
Like most cars, with proper maintenance, the J30 is a VERY reliable car.
Did you check out my J30 site yet? I think maxnix posted a link to it earlier in the thread.
Carlos
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beauhemian
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Carlos-
Yeah I checked out yor site immediately, and quickly learned that fixing a prob with the driver side window would be a peice of cake. Great info there. Added it to my "favorites" list.
So you would recommend adding a transmission cooler? I'll search around and see what I can find out about that. Thanks.
Yeah I checked out yor site immediately, and quickly learned that fixing a prob with the driver side window would be a peice of cake. Great info there. Added it to my "favorites" list.
So you would recommend adding a transmission cooler? I'll search around and see what I can find out about that. Thanks.
I just bought a '93 J30 a couple of months ago with 91k miles on it. I wouldn't even have purchased if the timing belt hadn't been done. Before purchasing the car, I called a couple of local Infiniti dealers and found that it had had the full 60k service (including the belt) done around at 70k miles - as well as the transmission replaced.
Fuuny. I started this thread, and now all my posts are attributed to "beauhemian". Si I guess I'm "beuhemian" too
As far as rebar71's post goes, I knew about the timing belt issue, and guessed it would be expensive, but also knew from a mechanic friend that it was definately repairable. SO, I had the seller drop the price by roughly what i guessed the repair amount would be, and bought the car.
Here is the end result of my purchase on this thread here.
As far as rebar71's post goes, I knew about the timing belt issue, and guessed it would be expensive, but also knew from a mechanic friend that it was definately repairable. SO, I had the seller drop the price by roughly what i guessed the repair amount would be, and bought the car.
Here is the end result of my purchase on this thread here.