Some more maintenance questions - please advise - bowdown

[greenwar]

Headed over to the Infiniti dealer today to grab the service history. Since my diy experience is with 4cyl camrys and Accords I will play dumb. Few surprises and good news:

1) T-Belt replaced at 97K on 2001 - I guess I am off the hook with that - unless you guys think I should still get it changed. Dealer asks $780 to do timing belt. My independent mechanic wants $250.00 and T-belt kit at Autozone was $238+tax for full kit with belts tensioner etc. Record stated T-belt and tensioner changed at 97K miles. Is that good enough?

2) Transmission assembly replaced at 50K by the dealer under warranty on 1996. Complain was that at stop vehicle was getting stuck at 2nd gear. Eventually transmission would pause for 8-10 secs before engaging reverse - I guess this is good news too. Does new transmission assembly mean new transmission - I would hope so

Car does shift harshly from 1st to 2nd but I am assuming its the typical nissan transmission issue - it shifts fine after car warms up. I warm my the car at least 5 mins before bringing it out of the garage... and I drive 50 miles a week on it - or at least will be driving..

3) Sunroof motor changed at 3K miles..!!!! 4) Rear trunk actuator changed at 46K miles5) Hood latch repaired at 97K6) Differential leak repaired at 56k 7) #2 injector changed at 56K8) Also got some Denso iridium tipped spark plugs today for $12.99 a pop - man these are fancy stuff - I thought bosch plats with 4 heads were the most expensive plugs.. Denso should do fine right? 9) Power antenna broke twice - changed twice - I still see the problem, antenna only retratcs at most 6-8 inches - I dont really care, radio reception is awesome..

Man 1st owner had a heck of a time with the car. So many things broke!!!

But I guess its good for me that many problems were fixed earlier.

Also found out vehicle was driven only 18K miles in last 4 years.... bad thing - I know previous owner told me car was in a storage for 1 year..which is when the rust probably spread..

Please post your comments/suggestions... I would appreciate greatly. Would send beer if local ... hehehe


Modified by greenwar at 12:55 PM 8/28/2006

[AZhitman]

Hey greenwar!

Lots of questions, so let's do it by numbers...

1) How many miles on the car now? Good rule of thumb is every 50K miles (to be extra-safe). Shadetree mech is fine here...

2) Trans Assy = Transmission. Good deal. Might not be a bad idea to do a pan drop and fresh fluid. Cheap insurance.

3-6) All good, typical Infiniti repairs.

7) Might not be a bad idea to put a fresh set in when you do the timing belt - They can be rebuilt by our sponsor, Deatschwerks.

8) You bought the right plugs. Bosch+4 = CRAP.

9) Easy fix, replacement can be had from ebay. We'll walk you through it when the time comes.

Welcome aboard!!!!

[greenwar]

Wowy, got a response from the CEO himself. Thanks a lot AZHitman.

My car has 123K right now, which is approx 26K miles since the last T-belt replacement. So I am probably ok?

I will also get the transmission oil/filter replaced as you suggested.

Regarding the injectors - any idea of a ball park price? I will get my car checked out for a fuel leak around the injection seal.

Thanks again.

[yodawill2000]

50 K for the TBelt ??

Kevlars not good for 100?

~~Shivers~~

[NismoChi]

I just did my T-belt 2 days ago, the orginal belt with 110k miles on it, still look good with no visible damage on it. Also, the owner manaul state that the first schedule replacement is at 105k miles, so i think T-belt for every 50k is a bit too..

[95-J30tt]

did you change the timing belt yourself ? if so i would appreciate it if you can post the difficulties "if any" that you faced when changing the timing, and was the tensioner replaced? thank you

[NismoChi]

yeah, i did it myself and reuse the tensioner, it took me about ~5 hours, if you want, look at my other post for some pics.

[greenwar]

I was planning on switching to semi-synthetic or synthetic blend for my J but my mechanic is against it. He is saying that since my motor has high milage (123K!!) it will be a bad idea to switch to semi-sythetic or synthetic as engine may start leaking oil and there is a chance of premature engine failure (in rare occasions).

I am pretty sure the previous owner used mineral oil as I see the last receipt of ta oil change in a local gas station. Do you guys think its a good idea to switch to Semi-synthetic at least? I will barely drive my vehicle - plan is to drive it 5K a year - I am worried that using minerals may be a bad idea and they might be hurting the motor in cold starts as I probably will be starting the car once a week just to get it moving.

Any suggestions? I really like the mobil 7500 oil (ofcourse replace oil every 3 month of 3K miles)

[Defiant]

I was planning on switching to semi-synthetic or synthetic blend for my J but my mechanic is against it. He is saying that since my motor has high milage (123K!!) it will be a bad idea to switch to semi-sythetic or synthetic as engine may start leaking oil and there is a chance of premature engine failure (in rare occasions).

Oh, god. Mechanics still spreading rumor and myth from thirty years ago.

Quote »I am pretty sure the previous owner used mineral oil as I see the last receipt of ta oil change in a local gas station. Do you guys think its a good idea to switch to Semi-synthetic at least? I will barely drive my vehicle - plan is to drive it 5K a year - I am worried that using minerals may be a bad idea and they might be hurting the motor in cold starts as I probably will be starting the car once a week just to get it moving.

Any suggestions? I really like the mobil 7500 oil (ofcourse replace oil every 3 month of 3K miles)[/quote]You don't need synthetic. If you like using it and don't mind paying for it, by all means do. 3,000 mile oil changes are a waste if you aren't hitting the track twice a month. Again, the only damage is the cost.

[yodawill2000]

Good to know.

Just a FYI for 93 J owners.The original TBelt wasnt Kevlar. 60 K is the safe limit.94 is when they went to Kevlar , 105 K.

[driverdriver]

Stick to Nissan OEM Plugs, they are NGK laser platinums. About $11.50(US)/package at non Nissan dealers.

Champion, Denso and Bosch sparkplugs are known to cause engine headaches on the J.

[greenwar]

Thanks again guys. I will then switch to semi-synthetic (mobil 7500) and will also get NGK lasers from Advanced autoparts(thanks driverdriver). They quoted $9.89 each for those.

Just an FYI, in case you already didn't know, advanced auto parts (which might be local to mn) has the absolute best price on any parts. So far whenever I bought something from other parts store, I later found out advanced auto parts had a cheaper price.

.

[AZhitman]

greenwar - My mistake on the plugs, I read it wrong. Definitely get the NGK's.

Check with our sponsor, sparkplugs.com, let them know you're a NICO member for the discount.

[greenwar]

greenwar - My mistake on the plugs, I read it wrong. Definitely get the NGK's.

Check with our sponsor, sparkplugs.com, let them know you're a NICO member for the discount.

AZhitman, Thanks again.

This time I was in a hurry to get the older crappy stuff out of the car so I bought parts locally. Next time I will order from the sponsors to support this site. Got few things changed today. Car drives like a dream.

1) OIL change with K & N filter2) K & N Air filter3) NGK plugs - car had crappy bosch plat in there, now there is no vibration in idle4) Cleaned throttle body5) Changed fuel filter - big pita6) checked diff oil - seemed ok - didnt need to top it off7) checked coolant seemed ok8) older plugs had good signs of clean burning cylinders9) No valve cover oil leak

Over all car seems to be in good shape mechanically. I will get the transmission oil plus filter replaced soon. transmission oil seems very nice though.

I want to take the opportunity to thank you guys. Without your help and without this forum it would have been way harder.

[AZhitman]

My only advice would be lose the K&N air filter and flush the coolant...

Altho, on a high-mileage car, the longevity takes on a reduced importance...

[93j30t]

i've got a k+n and +4 plugs and i havn't had any problems *knock on wood*

[greenwar]

My only advice would be lose the K&N air filter and flush the coolant...

Altho, on a high-mileage car, the longevity takes on a reduced importance...

Loose the K & N air filter?? whoops. I paid $46 for that thing. Is there any bad effect of having the K & N filter?

I will get the transmission and coolant fluid changed next week. I will keep the vehicle parked in the garage untill then.

[DominickJ30]

Loose the K & N air filter?? whoops. I paid $46 for that thing. Is there any bad effect of having the K & N filter?

I will get the transmission and coolant fluid changed next week. I will keep the vehicle parked in the garage untill then.

Nothing wrong with the filter, just make sure to reoil properly at the right intervals.

[93j30t]

46 was a good deal... mine was 80 but i got it on sale for 30 that one day with a 10 off coupon

[Defiant]

K&Ns are $30 on eBay.

[yodawill2000]

Might need to clean the MAF more often with the K&N , From what Ive heard here

[driverdriver]

I've been running a K&N filter in the J30t since '96-'97. Never had an issue. Follow the directions and don't over re-oil because the oil will end up on the MAF.

[yodawill2000]

good to know as well.

What kinda performance increase would you say they give ?

[gr8scott72]

good to know as well.

What kinda performance increase would you say they give ?

A drop-in K&N panel filter? Little to none over a CLEAN paper filter. You just don't have to change the K&N or even clean it for up to 100,000 miles.

[yodawill2000]

I drive by a dusty A$$ concrete conduit factory every morning.I tend to replace my filter pretty often.It has a pretty good coating after a few months.If we would ever get some rain here it would help

[driverdriver]

I haven't dyno'ed the car, but I've noticed better bottom end pick-up with K&N filter from a standing start and better pick-up along the power band.

I thought, I was having a "placebo" effect, so over the years, I have dropped in a new regular paper filter (I've tried different brands) to see If I'm imagining the pick-up. I've kept things like the route I drive the same, the weather, the season, along with the octane level of fuel and where I buy the gasoline the same. Don't detect anything with the paper filters but do detect a performance difference with the K&N drop in filter.