Power Window Maintenance

[Jmoncur]

I just got quoted a price of $700 at my local Infiniti dealer to fix my driver's side power window. The dealer said it needed a new electric motor. That price seems absurdly expensive and am looking for alternatives.

My Q45 is a 2003 model with 44k miles. It has been babied all its life. I love this car but if I am going to have to pay such ridiculous prices for minor maintenance, I will soon be an ex-Infiniti owner.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

James

[ddrumman]

44000 mi seems like you'd still be under warranty, especially if you got the extended plan, usually up to 100K.

Try these guys http://car-part.com/

Good luck.

[oldmako]

I just got quoted a price of $700 at my local Infiniti dealer to fix my driver's side power window. That price seems absurdly expensive and am looking for alternatives.

I love this car but if I am going to have to pay such ridiculous prices for minor maintenance, I will soon be an ex-Infiniti owner.James

It seems absurdly expensive only because it is. Ever price a two piece LL Bean fly reel? No freaking reason one ought to cost what a Penn International goes for (other that that they get away with it).

I absolutely love this car, but numbers like remind me that I wear a blue collar to work, and that I was fond of my "worlds most perfect Buick [acura]" too. Ten bucks says it's the same motor that comes in a Maxima or other Nissan product at a fraction of the price.

I can see why the old hands on this site tend to hoard junkers and cannibalize (sp) as necessary.

Is it possible to cross reference Infin and Niss part numbers?

[Haitian_King]

I just got quoted a price of $700 at my local Infiniti dealer to fix my driver's side power window. The dealer said it needed a new electric motor. That price seems absurdly expensive and am looking for alternatives.

My Q45 is a 2003 model with 44k miles. It has been babied all its life. I love this car but if I am going to have to pay such ridiculous prices for minor maintenance, I will soon be an ex-Infiniti owner.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

James

Goddamn dealers.

I don't know if it's common for others to pay $104 for sparkplugs. But I did today. I didn't mind paying for it. What really ground my gears was the attitude of the damn parts guy. He was on the phone, gossiping like a fat housewife and couldn't be bothered. I finally got his attention and asked for my plugs. (I called in earlier to verify their availability) All the while, he's on the phone, not talking about anything Infiniti related. I wouldn't have minded if he was handling Infiniti business, but he was just chatting. He then asked me if I wanted 4 or 6 plugs. I don't know how the routine of spark plug changing goes with other Q owners, but I'm pretty sure that if you're more than one, you'll be most likely changing all of them. I got the impression that this guy didn't know that Q45's had V8's.

I honestly hate my local dealership. I drove through the lot on a whim and saw the most heart breaking sight. A 94-96 off-white Q was parked behind the service building and was in poor shape. Of course these ****ers couldn't give a **** less because it wasn't an FX, G, I, or M. Bastards. I was actually angry. I couldn't wait to get out. I wanted to ask about the availability of OEM mats and about getting a key made, but the jerkoff behind the counter (Donald) really made me just want to get my plugs and leave. At least the cashier was nice. She was pretty cute. Looked to be about in her 40's (HK likes the older women.) Sorry to digress.

In closing, Dealerships suck. I'm waiting on the Q to need some menial service, so that they can do it, and I get a loaner. I'll tear that loaner up boy.

[RAP]

I can't say for sure that the power window motor is the same for all Nissan cars but looking at the power window motor and allied parts image in my Q45 FSM and an image of the same in my 240SX FSM they do appear similar. I have also repaired windows in the Sentra and there to they look similar.

However don't expect too much difference in price as this is still a Nissan Dealer/Parts seller. But you can always try.

My experience has been to try and find what you need in secondary market parts sellers and if no joy, pucker up, then go to the Nissan dealer or a junk yard.

Often times the cable that is used to lift the window breaks away from the plastic part that holds it and I have jury rigged those to as good as new.

Hard to say what is wrong with a window lifter from here. However, although tedious, this is a DIY job.

Good luck

Jack

[MCovington]

My drivers wondow on my 95Q also quit working or rather would go up real slow and stop about 6" from closing. I took it to my local shop in Greensbo NC which I have been going to since 1985 when I had a 280ZX. They found the motor wasn't bad the unit just needed lubing. They charged 100 bucks to do this which is about a little over an hours worth of labor charge. The shop I'm talking about is called Autotrends and they specialize in Infiniti and Nissan products but work on all cars now. John Hill is the owner and is a very good mechanic. He doesn't work on cars now but his staff does. When you talk with John he knows Infiniti products and he knows I have done my homework also.

[96'er]

I just got quoted a price of $700 at my local Infiniti dealer to fix my driver's side power window. The dealer said it needed a new electric motor. That price seems absurdly expensive and am looking for alternatives.

My Q45 is a 2003 model with 44k miles. It has been babied all its life. I love this car but if I am going to have to pay such ridiculous prices for minor maintenance, I will soon be an ex-Infiniti owner.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

James

I got quoted $2500 from my local stealership to replace both passenger side window motors and the console switches.

It wound up costing me roughly $150 and a couple of hours of my time. I had the dealer diagnose the problem ($100) and bought the console switches and motors from a NICO member.

The process to replace the motors is straight forward, the only problem is if the window is stuck in the up position, getting at the two window regulator bolts holding the glass in position is a PITA and a 10mm ratchet wrench makes the job much easier. Once the motor is replaced and the regulator bolted in, you can move the glass holder down to where you can see what you are doing.

Good Luck.

[elwesso]

For a job like that, find yourself a good independent mechanic.. Even if you need a new motor (DOUBTFUL) its only gonna cost $300 plus maybe an hour to put it in... Thats quoting joe's prices.

[Jmoncur]

Thanks for your comments. I am talking to a couple of local mechanics I found on Craig's List who said they would do it for about $300-$350, parts included. I would prefer to buy the motor myself so I went to an OReilly this morning, and they have no records for Infiniti parts. They think it must be a Nissan part. Do you have any insight on this? You mentioned something about FSM's, they sound like manuals.

I would appreciate any comments you have on this.

Thanks,

Jim

[96Qowner]

Yes, Factory Service Manual. NICO has them online here:

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/Q45/