Heres what I got done in the past 2 days, and my assesment on each (I will have a writeup on each of these by next week on my website)
transmission cooler- This was a really easy job. However, when you get under the car, there are 4 hoses going into radiator. I snipped them all, took out the filter, and now I have 2 hoses for the transmission cooler, which is in between the radiator and condensor, on the drivers side. Since the coolant goes from top left (facing the car) to bottom right, I figured it would do the least amount of harm here.... The stock transmission cooler is unnecessarily complex. The filter was no fun to get at and didnt really have that much stuff in it, when I opened it up there was some metal filings in there but not a whole lot. I will go into more detail in my writeup. Bottom line is I used the same thing from the plenum, CUT THE HOSES!
transmission filter/pan drop/- This was BY FAR the messiest, ickiest, grossest, <insert your own adjective here> job I have ever done on anything. I still have a puddle of ATF to clean up on the ground of the building i was working on. You know, after a while of constant bathing in the stuff, ATF doesnt taste half bad!
. Again, I will go into more details on how I did everything, but it was very easy. It was interesting when you turn a bolt (for instance on the filter) there would be more gushing out! You jar that thing a tiny bit and it gushes more!!! - Inspection of the transmission pan was this. I didnt get any pictures becuase it went right from the car to the parts cleaner, and my arms were doused in ATF. Anyway, the pan had this metallic goo on it, it took quite a bit to get it all cleaned up (I bet i clocked in a good hour+ at the parts cleaner). The magnet didnt have any big pieces on it, but it did have a nice layer of goo on it as well. Its amazing how strong it is, because when I let it sit in the parts cleaner, there was more stuff that accumulated on it. I didnt really get a good look into the filter, but what I cut into it, it didnt look bad at all, maybe just a few little metal particles (it had some becuase I used a hacksaw to open it, so its hard to say), but it didnt look too bad... Bottom line, it was an easy, messy job that I dont want to do again. I had to shampoo 5 times (5 times!!) to get all the ATF out of my HAIR!!!!!!!!o2 sensors- What a PAIN IN THE ***!!!! This is an easy job that the wonderful engineers at infiniti had to make hard! I am convinced that it is nearly impossible to do the passenger side without a crows foot wrench. Using my o2 sensor wrench, I was able to do the driver side, and that wasnt too bad. The sensor is sitting at an angle near the EGR pipe, only took me about 45 mins to r/r it. I will have a writeup on this. As I said earlier, I didnt get the passenger side done, and Ill have that done as Im ready to be done working on the car for this go around. My guys that change my oil wont rip me off, as with the right tools it wont take long, but I dont wanna mess with it!!!- An interesting note is that the computer sorta "knows" that it has one good o2 and one bad. I got a CEL at idle and when I gave it gas, and it went away. I assume this means that the computer has one really accurate reading and one kinda accurate reading.. I will expect a CEL most the way home on saturday.
Overall, I thought I did really good, no left over parts (I have some bolts left over from the plenum that i was too lazy to reinstall).... While I was under there, I inspected my job the drivers side valve cover reseal, and its definitely sealed tight, and even around the half moons where I didnt RTV. I am convinced it doesnt really matter. The passenger side is ready, as there is goo everyhwere
I was also planning on replaing the oil swithc, but that was so much of a PITA that I didnt bother with it. Its leaking, but its not that bad, but enough to make a mess everyhwere.... Ill have that done when I get my oil pressure checked....
