Transmission...

[unlimited]

maybe? i think i'm having a problem... whenever i'm at a stop light and it turns green i press down on the pedal a little and the car really doesn't push off and when it shifts to the next gear it will jerk (this only happens most the time) the car back and then revs and feels like it shifts again and its sounds revved when it already had shifted half a second before. so to avoid that awkward jerk and 2nd shifting i always push the gas down about half way to take off and it will shift pretty smoothly and i'm pretty much ahead of all the cars by then and then when it shifts a 2nd time will drag back kind of sluggish which makes me have to press down more to get it going faster or keep the acceleration steady. all of the pressing down usually causes me to go over the speed limit and waste a lot of gas (other than from my heavy highway foot) from nearly flooring the pedal to avoid the jerking back that the car does. i should probably add that it only does this on the 1st and 2nd gear (i think) the rest of the time it shifts normally like while driving highway speeds.

i'm not really good with the insides of cars but i think i kinda described whats going on .__. ...

do you guys think this sounds like the transmission needs to be replaced or could it be something else? maybe something cheaper to fix... lol. my list of things to do to the car is adding up a lot... thinking about an 03 g35
Modified by unlimited at 7:05 PM 2/10/2009

[kbflip02]

maybe? i think i'm having a problem... whenever i'm at a stop light and it turns green i press down on the pedal a little and the car really doesn't push off and when it shifts to the next gear it will jerk the car back and then revs and feels like its shifts again when it already had half a second before. so to avoid that motion i always push it down about half way to take off and it will shift pretty smoothly and i'm pretty much ahead of all the cars by then and then when it shifts a 2nd time it will drag back which makes me have to press down more to get it going faster or keep the acceleration steady. all of the pressing down usually causes me to go over the speed limit and waste a lot of gas (other than from my heavy highway foot) from nearly flooring the pedal to avoid the jerking back that the car does. i should probably add that it only does this on the 1st and 2nd gear (i think) the rest shift normally like while driving highway speeds.

i'm not really good with the insides of cars but i think i kinda described whats going on .__. ...

do you guys think this sounds like the transmission needs to be replaced or could it be something else? maybe something cheaper to fix... lol. my list of things to do to the car is adding up a lot... thinking about an 03 g35

first things first pull the ecu codes and go from there...my first J did the same thing right after i had the transmission rebuilt...pulled the codes only to find out it was the knock sensor and an injector...pull the4 ecu codes to rule out possibilities because at this point ti could be anything

[Infinitiguy19]

I think its a TPS* issue, The TPS tells the TCU* how much the throttle is depressed and therefore telling it what gear to shift into.

How does the transmission fluid smell and look on a white paper towel?

TPS=Thottle Postion Sensor

TCU=Transmission Control Unit.

[unlimited]

I think its a TPS* issue, The TPS tells the TCU* how much the throttle is depressed and therefore telling it what gear to shift into.

How does the transmission fluid smell and look on a white paper towel?

TPS=Thottle Postion Sensor

TCU=Transmission Control Unit.

that kind of sounds right to me just from reading X] but would that cause the car to jerk like that because its shifting gears at the wrong time?

[yodawill2000]

yup

What year is your J ??

[unlimited]

yup

What year is your J ??

it's a 1994. i believe i'm due up for a timing belt change. on the timing belt box its engraved that it was changed at 104,XXX miles and my odometer reads 156,604 although the gears on it are broken so now i'm not sure how many miles it has... probably should go ahead and change it just to be safe

[yodawill2000]

They should have used a Kevlar belt that's good for 105K miles

[GerryO]

that kind of sounds right to me just from reading X] but would that cause the car to jerk like that because its shifting gears at the wrong time?

TPS adjustment affects engine idle speed too. Is your engine idle speed high?

[GerryO]

They should have used a Kevlar belt that's good for 105K miles

Miles and not kilometers?

Do they make Kevlar belts for the '93 and why does 60K miles service cost more for the earlier models? If you happen to know...

[unlimited]

TPS adjustment affects engine idle speed too. Is your engine idle speed high?

it's 900 rpm in park and 750 in drive with the brakes applied and no a/c or heat nor accessories

[J30inthe sun]

... lol. my list of things to do to the car is adding up a lot... thinking about an 03 g35

Modified by unlimited at 7:05 PM 2/10/2009

Keep that in mind...

List of things replaced/fixed last 6 months: (108,000 - 112,000 miles)

Full timing belt kit w/ all belts & idlersAll coolant hosesFront springsFront struts w/ upper mount & bootsComplete rack & pinion unit w/ mount bushingsFront outer tie rod endsFront stabilizer bar linksFront tension rod bushingsFront lower control armsRight front ABS sensorSpark plugsThrottle position sensorIdle air control valve cleaningTrans filter kit & fluidNew rotors & pads all the way aoundNew tires Rear struts & all rubber pieces & boots (1 1/2 years ago)(3 alignments )

Cost to bring to spec:

I have put more $ in than the current Kelly Blue Book Suggested Retail Value of this car rated in excellent retail condition (1997 J30 112,000 miles). http://www.kbb.com/KBB/UsedCar...Ctrue

The way the car runs & drives down the road now? PRICELESS

[unlimited]

Keep that in mind...

List of things replaced/fixed last 6 months: (108,000 - 112,000 miles)

Full timing belt kit w/ all belts & idlersAll coolant hosesFront springsFront struts w/ upper mount & bootsComplete rack & pinion unit w/ mount bushingsFront outer tie rod endsFront stabilizer bar linksFront tension rod bushingsFront lower control armsRight front ABS sensorSpark plugsThrottle position sensorIdle air control valve cleaningTrans filter kit & fluidNew rotors & pads all the way aoundNew tires Rear struts & all rubber pieces & boots (1 1/2 years ago)(3 alignments )

Cost to bring to spec:

I have put more $ in than the current Kelly Blue Book Suggested Retail Value of this car rated in excellent retail condition (1997 J30 112,000 miles). http://www.kbb.com/KBB/UsedCar...Ctrue

The way the car runs & drives down the road now? PRICELESS

thats what makes me think about getting a car that is in well enough condition that when its in my hands, it will run and last for years to come. i'm really good and into taking care of everything i own and i've always had in mind how i am going to take care of my car as if it was my child but this j30 (although it rides pretty well, just things here and there) doesn't come too perfectly maintained and i figure i'm better off getting something that i can maintain well instead of fix up (although i'm not against fix ups if its routine things.) i do plan on keeping this car until the end of the year but if something extremely costly comes up (something maybe in the thousands :S) i'm going to really consider a G35. my eyes have been fixed on them lately o.o (03-04) or maybe a Lexus RX 300 (RX 330 if i had the money...), i really want an SUV X] lol. there's something about them...

but man i wish i could do all those repairs to my Jay to get it running smoothly. my mom keeps saying "blahhhhh when i had my J30 it was running a lot better than this! nicholas (my name) this car should be running smoother" and i just say yeah back then it was pretty much new... considering she had one in the 90's lol

[Puddles]

List of things replaced/fixed last 6 months: (108,000 - 112,000 miles)

Full timing belt kit w/ all belts & idlersAll coolant hosesFront springsFront struts w/ upper mount & bootsComplete rack & pinion unit w/ mount bushingsFront outer tie rod endsFront stabilizer bar linksFront tension rod bushingsFront lower control armsRight front ABS sensorSpark plugsThrottle position sensorIdle air control valve cleaningTrans filter kit & fluidNew rotors & pads all the way aoundNew tires Rear struts & all rubber pieces & boots (1 1/2 years ago)(3 alignments )

That's about all i need to hear to finally give up on my J30. That's a lot of suspension work you did there. I wonder if that's normal. I've already got a laundry list of things to fix on my car, but suspension isn't on the list. My piece of junk '94 Mercury Tracer wagon with 100k miles beats my J30 (70k miles) for reliability hands down.

[yodawill2000]

Then your 70K J30 has not been maintained much at all.

My 94 at 178K miles is as dependable as they get.Wonder how your Mercury will run at 178 K ??

[J30inthe sun]

That's a lot of suspension work you did there. I wonder if that's normal.

Everything in the front suspension have been replaced except the spindle part or knuckle (I think they call it that) & wheel bearings. It is probably not normal but I have about 20,000 miles on the car at 85-110 mph & from what I understand suspension components degrade exponentially with higher speed. Also the roads in Tampa are not the smoothest. I bought the car with 39K on it & have no idea how the previous owners driving habits were however the Infiniti Stealership service records were excellent. By the way the ride is incredible with everything new, probably nicer than some brand new cars especially with the RWD & independent rear.

...for reliability hands down.

In my 9 years & 75,000 miles my J30 has never failed to start or strand me except when the battery went dead from old age just like any other car. I have never had any major problems. All the work done has been maintenance items. Eventually any cars suspension will wear out. Out of the 20 or so car I have owned this is by far one of the most reliable the other 2 were a 1991 Toyota Supra Turbo & 1980 Honda Prelude all the other were American & based on my experience I will never buy an American car again.

That's about all i need to hear to finally give up on my J30.

Granted the maintenance on these cars is high because it appears everything on these cars is made especially for these cars only, hence so many stealership only items, but when properly maintained there are not many cars that can compare even new in my opinion.

One more thing to keep in mind, my goal is to drive this car for another 30,000 - 40,000 miles (that's 4-5 years for me) & have no car payment. I have done all the major maintenance & barring any major problems it should be nothing but basic stuff like oil changes, air filters & small things as such. For the money I spent & the bang I am getting ( )( ) I think I made the right decision.

Modified by J30inthe sun at 8:40 PM 3/23/2009
Modified by J30inthe sun at 8:45 PM 3/23/2009

[Puddles]

Here's the long and boring story of my J30t. I bought it new in '94 and it was a real stretch for me but i don't drive much and i figured it would last me forever and it would be great to have a nice car forever. I have about zero mechanical ability but i knew enough to get the oil changed every 2500 miles and take it to the dealer every 15k miles for all the recommended service. So i believe i've maintained this car better than probably 90% of people maintain their cars.

Along the way i've had numerous electrical problems which were very hard to diagnose but not overly expensive to fix. I had the a/c (compressor?) replaced for $1100 after using it for maybe 10 hours total.

Currently i have mysterious and intermittent transmission problems which are probably just a faulty sensor but it's been impossible to pinpoint so far (no codes or diagnostics show anything).

I also have an intermittent very rough idle, CEL code 51 (injector analysis) which has not been analyzed but my guess is $1000-$1500 injector replacements needed.

With 70k miles and 15 years on the car there are now also the expected issues that would be true with any car: brakes, rusty and noisy exhaust, and timing belt (probably ok but i remember seeing something about early '94s maybe needing replacement sooner than 105k). And now i see this list of suspension replacements looming in the future.

So what i'm considering is this. The body of my car is essentially perfect except for seat scratches from my dogs (and no elbow or steering wheel rubs either!). When the car is not screwing up it drives like the day it was new. But my impression is that even with only 70k miles i'd be lucky to get $5000 for it. I'm guessing i might have to sink another $5000 into the car in the next couple years to get it right.

Maybe that's worth it, that's what i'm trying to figure out. It sounds a lot cheaper than buying a new $20k boring car. On the other hand i have this feeling like it's throwing good money after bad, and from now on the car is going to be a black hole money pit, and maybe it's time to cut my losses before they get out of hand.

Part of the thing is that i've reached an age where having a cool car isn't as important to me as it was when i was younger. It's now more important to know i have a car that isn't going to have minor screwups every few days.

[yodawill2000]

I see your point.I wouldn't consider keeping mine if I didn't do all the work myself.I was raised working on engines so I have no problem taking on most things needed.Injectors , Timing Belt ect.