New to infinity, needs some senior advice

[DurtyJ30]

Hi,

i just baught an 1995 infinity j30T over the weekend and im amazed at this car. i knwo the engine is the same as a 300 zx and it is really torqy for logging a heavy car like the j30t, especially with the hicas adding extra weight. ive done a bit of reading and i went throough the owner and service manual. i baught this car for 2000$ canadian, with 130 000 km, im in canada so no miles this car had 1 previous owner and i have all records. the car came with a few problems. it idles a little rough, i think it needs a tune up, plugs and wires. the car shakes when at idle even when its warm. i chedcked the motor mounts and they are all good to go. also i seem to be having a problem with my headlights and the indash lights. in canada we have Day Time Running Lights, thats all im driving on when i turn on my headlights, and the in dash lights donnot come on. i read up on this forum that it seems to be a problem with the dimmer switch. im wondering what other problems are notorious for this car. anyways i am going to take some pictures wioth my digi cam and i will add them to the j30 pcitures soon. My last car was a sports car, and im big on tuning the cars. can i pick up performance parts for a 300zx and have them installed on this car or will there be modifications to be made. i was hoping to get a short ram and some headers to start, and my girlfriend's dad is a mechanic and he will do a dual exhaust for the car. any other mods that i can do for the car?

i love my infinity and i will never go german

[yodawill2000]

J30 already is dual exhaust Hard to beat it.Make sure you find out if the Timing belt is good. 105 K Miles on the kevlar belt , which you should have.

[AZhitman]

Welcome aboard, Durty!

Rule #1 - Drop the "y" - It's an Infiniti. You'll get hogtied over that.

Rule #2 - There's a TON of great info here on the J30, it's a phenomenal car. Look for posts by VimyJ, diamond, elwesso and others for accurate info.

OK, so on to your questions. Skip any modifications or "tuning" until you get it to AS NEW condition.

I'd say your rough idle could be any number of things, but I'd start with a full intake cleaning (TB, plenum, filter, intake valves... Use TB cleaner and BG44K for this).

I'd replace the plugs with factory NGK's, get them from a dealer here on NICO or from our sponsor sparkplugs.com. Don't cheap out on the plugs.

After that, I'd look into replacing all belts, hoses, filters and rubber underhood parts - Great way to eliminate any other causes of driveability problems.

Then I'd swap out the struts (they're shot by now) and replace most or all of the suspension bushings.

If you've never driven a PERFECT J30 with low miles, you have no idea what you're missing. It's gonna be awesome.

[DurtyJ30]

sounds good. it was a one owner catr and i have all the warranty services done to the car. i was thinking about getting ngks and high performance plugs. as for exhaust i looked under the car and noticed the dual exhaust, i was going to split them from the one muffler they go into and have 2 seperate muflers coming out the back, i think it would look nice. i have a list of things to do for now and i will prioritze based on what you told me. the suspension seems alright, but i wanted to get aftermarket suspension parts. does this car share the same suspensionas a 300 zx or any other car that i can get suspesion components that are high performance, ie some coilovers and struts ?

[yodawill2000]

Go to http://www.trademotion.com/par...id=55

for the best pricing ..Joe is a fantastic help over there ..

[driverdriver]

Welcome to NICO!!!.....It's nice to have another Canadian J30 owner on board.

If you're going to tnue-up your J, make sure to use only Nissan OEM sparkplugs, anything else is trouble.

Of you're DRL's are not working go to any Canadian Infiniti dealer and pick up the DRL module. If your handy with tools its pretty self explanatory ti install. Just take the old one out.

Stick to the J30 Oem exhaust unless you totally want to go custom simply for looks(and not really performance). Its was designed and engineered specifically for the J's performance.

[DurtyJ30]

the drls come on, and the high beams go on too , its just the night time driving lights that dont go on and the in dash lights donnot go on. its kinda annoying, im gonna go to a nissan/infinity dealer on monday and see hwo much to fix it, its annoying not knowing how fast im going at night, im gonna get a ticket.

[AZhitman]

Ah - Common Nissan issue.

It's either the dimmer switch (the "wheel" that dims your dash lights) or the actual light switch stalk (in the steering wheel).

Both are easy to replace.

Try the dimmer first. I'd bet $5 that's the problem. I've had 3 cars require replacement of that thing.

[DurtyJ30]

thanks i need time to go to a dealr to find a dimmer switch. is it easy to install or do i have to take the whole dash apart
Modified by DurtyJ30 at 10:05 AM 12/9/2005

[AZhitman]

Easy.

On some cars, you can reach behind the dash and just shove it out. It just snaps in place.

[DurtyJ30]

thanks i hope the dealer doesnt try to charge up the @**

[driverdriver]

thanks i hope the dealer doesnt try to charge up the @**

You own an Infiniti not a pedestrian Honda or Chevy, everything is going to cost more, Because everything is priced like it was orignally for a near flagship model which is part of a luxury marquee.

Welcome to Infiniti ownership.

[Chezedik]

The J30 makes me wish I had those mounts for the VG30GEtt. It is my understanding that the J30 is basically the same as the S14 240sx. But you have another option to hang out with your wang out.

[MattB]

The J30 makes me wish I had those mounts for the VG30GEtt. It is my understanding that the J30 is basically the same as the S14 240sx. But you have another option to hang out with your wang out.

J30 is closer to a 300ZX than an S14.

[Chezedik]

What is it's chassis code?

[DurtyJ30]

well i fixed my headlights. next step is the dimmer, the dealer told me it would cost me 130 $ cad for the switch and 200 $ for labour they said it would take 2 hours to kae apart the dash and re-assemble it. sounds like a scam for the labour.

[AZhitman]

Huge rip.

You can do it yourself - It literally "pops" out and back in.

[DurtyJ30]

i looked at it from under the dash, i wasnt able to get my fat hand behind there. damn the big macs! damn them !!!!!.....

but seriously i wasnt able to get in behind the switch to pop it out. i will try again tomorrow from a different angle. im gonant try to move all the wirign out of the way so i can get to it.

how easy is it to replace the oil filter with just a jack any1 have 1st hand experience. i baught a Qstate oil filter instead of motormaster or fram. the valvoline oil filters were out of stock wich ones are better quality for this vehicle?

also ngk iridium plugs and ngk wires?

i also baught a Motormaster fuel filter.

my fuel filter is oem and seems like it was there since the car rolled out of production.
Modified by DurtyJ30 at 4:46 PM 12/13/2005

[robmcole]

Just the plugs, there are no wires on the J30.

I can testify to the rip of Infiniti parts. When my alternator went out, dealer wanted $1600 to put in a new one. This is the one time I did not go dealer ($350 at AutoZone). The J30 is extremely reliable, but WHEN something breaks, get ready to mortgage the house!

Also, I can give my own experience with the Exaust. I wrote about this on a different thread, but I will bring it back up: I hollowed out the Catalytic Converter and NO increase in flow/gas mileage. The exaust (true dual) was designed VERY well. I now wish I would have left it alone. Just a heads up. Good luck!

[DurtyJ30]

my girlfriend's dad works for a performance exhaust and sound s shop. he was telling me he could od a h pipe and split the exhaust . or i could just change the mufler to a higer flwoing mufler.