Please help me sort out this repair quote

[mersidoe]

Sorry to be such a whiner, but this hasn't been my week for cars.

I have the J30 with the spurting radiator, followed by the rough idle and the check engine light. We weren't sure whether to tow it to the dealer that had just replaced the timing belt, or the tire shop/mechanic that treated me to the display of shooting anti-freeze.

I started with the tire shop/mechanic, because he said to look under the hood, and if there was lots of anti-freeze, maybe the leaking coolant shorted something out. Well, I did see a lot of coolant under the hood, so I had it towed over there. However, when it got there, he said there wasn't enough fluid to do any major damage. So he said they'd do some diagnosis....

Fast forward to today. They said I had a bad injector - I don't remember if he told me which one.

Short of becoming a master mechanic in a short period of time, which I've considered, but realize is impossible, I feel like I'm at the mercy of what they tell me.

First of all, is there any other troubleshooting I could do (or ask them to do) to confirm that is indeed a bad injector, and not bad gas or something else? Secondly, he's talking about just replacing the one - but when I did a search on the site, I saw some threads that said that with J's you have to replace all 6 at the same time? Is that true?

Finally, their quotes were about $750 parts and labor to fix the injector, and $750 parts and labor to replace the radiator. (Their labor is $77.50 per hour.) Fair, or should I keep looking? If I have both done at once, should I be able to request a break on the labor?

Thank you all in advance for your help. I don't think I could make it through all this without your words of encouragement. Hopefully I'll be able to return the favors.

[DAEDALUS]

No need to replace all 6 injectors when 1 goes bad that I've ever heard of. It's been done, no doubt, but I suspect that's "creative padding" done by unscrupulous shops in order for them to be able to warranty their work. It may be a preventive step however, if the owner fears the others will soon fail. Once you're in there, the labor isn't much more.

On the Q there is a way to check injectors electrically at the harness; I assume the J's have the same thing. You really need a FSM to find out what to disconnect and which pins to check. The harness that goes to the injectors would be a good place to backtrack from. That's only an electrical check though, and won't pinpoint a clogged injector, which is almost impossible to pinpoint.

Can't tell you how fair $750 is for the injector since I don't know how hard that is (on a Q, half the injectors would probably cost more), but $750 for the radiator sounds pretty steep. Is that for a factory unit? That would be more palatable. The labor can't be that much. I dont' think there is much labor overlap between the 2 jobs, but negotiating cost never hurts.

[Q45tech]

$77.50 is quite low for California, we are at $70 in Atlanta and many independents are already at $75/hour............that's a book hour which can be accomplished in 40-45 minutes by an expert with all the specialty tools and a few years of Q specific experience.

[VimyJ]

Order the parts from Joe! You will save 25%!

They might not want to install parts they don't provide because they don't make a markup on them but usually they will say they'll install them but not warranty the part. No problem. These are quality parts.

$750 for an injector seems steep. I've never replaced one so I couldn't say for sure. Q45tech might be able to give you a better idea on that. Access to J engine parts is easier than for a Q.

Phone a couple of radiator shops and get them to quote you on the radiator job and also phone the dealer to get a baseline on both jobs.

Many times, garages don't know much about J30s and highball the price to cover their ignorance about the model. Call around and order your parts from Joe. Checkout the INFINITIPARTSUSA ad on the left.

[Q451990]

Who gave you that quote on the radiator and injector? On the Q an injector costs about $140 and then labor can be anywhere from an hour to 8 hours depending on where it is (under the plenum). It's also possible that you just need a pressurized rail flush if the injectors pass an ohm test - but in CA I'm sure injector failure is common. Either way it's worth a try.

Radiator removal and installation, at least on the Q takes about 1 hour. Be sure to go with OEM parts with both the radiator and injector! Aftermarket and remanufactured can cause big problems on both of those items!

Again - if you haven't found someone that specializes in Nissan or Infiniti, I'd sure be looking. I trust tire guys to tires and alignments, maybe suspension components - but I wouldn't let them replace my injectors!

Heath

[mersidoe]

I've decided to have the car towed home for a "rest." Luckily we still have an extra car for me to drive in the interim. I just have too many things going on at the moment to deal with this, and I want some time to do more research and testing and to try and find a Nissan mechanic. (And price some parts!) Thank you all for your advice.

[AZhitman]

Local labor rate at Infiniti is $98/hr.

Don't let the dealership do the radiator - it's too easy, find a corner garage for that job.

Hell, I'd let the corner garage do the injector too - especially on a j30.

[mersidoe]

Our Infiniti dealer is $135/hour. (I had a boss once that said, "You have to pay to live in Monterey!")

I will follow up on the radiator with the local radiator shops, and will keep looking on the injectors.

[Q451990]

I think just about any competent shop can do the radiator swap. I'd try to find someone that will install one that you order from Joe and provide. They'll charge a higher labor rate since most every shop has a profit margin that's comprised of both labor and parts mark-up, but as long as you understand that and work with them they should be fine.

Heath

[mersidoe]

Well, I called the local Infiniti dealer and was pleasantly suprised to get a quote of $422 to fix the injector. I decided that maybe injectors were not the best first timer DIY project, although I did consider it for a while.

Once it's running again, I will research the radiator.

[VimyJ]

First you have to make sure that it is the injector that is at fault. What test was run on the injector? Now, any decent shop can change an injector. Get your parts from Joe. Nissan dealers are very familiar with the VG30DE engine in the J. Their rates may be lower although they might not be too crazy about you brining your own parts. Also, there are many 300ZXs running around who share the same motor and there are shops all over the place that even specialize in that sports car. Already, you have shaved a huge chunk of change off your repair bill. Keep on phoning around and you'll save even more.

I've got front rotors and brake pads coming from Joe. Can't wait to slap them on myself.