Some Love For My Infiniti
03-04-2009, 07:21 PM
#1
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Some Love For My Infiniti
So....this is what I did with my day. Or at least 4 hours of it. The car has just shy of 113K on it. The plugs really got fouled up the last 15 - 20K miles. Unlike a lot of the VQ's there was no oil on the plugs, so no leaks.
Started with a dirty engine.
Cover removed.
A couple close ups to show the dirt.
Took off the intake manifold to change rear spark plugs.
The inside of the collector was actually pretty clean. What you are seeing is more the shadows than buildup. There was a small amount of rust brown discoloration on 3 of them, but no rust residue. Kinda bothered me a bit. There was some black buildup on the TB plate. It was nice and clean when I reinstalled everything.
A bit cleaner.
I cleaned the MAF sensor, intake manifold, throttle body, replaced the air filter with a K&N drop-in, changed the spark plugs and cleaned the engine bay a bit.
Before anyone says it, I need a new battery. It's not giving me any issues, but I need to change it later this year.
I must say that working on the Acura was a lot easier than the Infiniti. To change the plugs on the Acura was a piece of cake. There were about 5 hoses and a number of electrical connectors I had to remove to get the intake manifold.
It was a lot of fun though.
Started with a dirty engine.
Cover removed.
A couple close ups to show the dirt.
Took off the intake manifold to change rear spark plugs.
The inside of the collector was actually pretty clean. What you are seeing is more the shadows than buildup. There was a small amount of rust brown discoloration on 3 of them, but no rust residue. Kinda bothered me a bit. There was some black buildup on the TB plate. It was nice and clean when I reinstalled everything.
A bit cleaner.
I cleaned the MAF sensor, intake manifold, throttle body, replaced the air filter with a K&N drop-in, changed the spark plugs and cleaned the engine bay a bit.
Before anyone says it, I need a new battery. It's not giving me any issues, but I need to change it later this year.
I must say that working on the Acura was a lot easier than the Infiniti. To change the plugs on the Acura was a piece of cake. There were about 5 hoses and a number of electrical connectors I had to remove to get the intake manifold.
It was a lot of fun though.
Last edited by RaviNJCLs; 03-04-2009 at 07:23 PM.
03-04-2009, 07:22 PM
#2
Go Giants
Cool. I had my 7500 mile service today on mine.
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03-04-2009, 07:47 PM
#9
In the Mid-South meow
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Nice work, Ravi. I always wondered how other cars compared to Acuras/Hondas as far as how easy/difficult they are to work on.
03-04-2009, 08:03 PM
#12
Team Owner
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I did brakes last year.
So now I have fresh fluids, good tires, good brakes, new plugs and filters.
I have to say that the car pulled really smoothly when I got it on the highway after everything was done.
03-04-2009, 09:52 PM
#15
There's rust on your old spark plugs also, not just on your intake manifold runners... was it hard to pull out the spark plugs at all? Make sure you use anti-seize on the threads. Also if anti-seize is on the threads, try memorizing how many turns it takes to properly torque the plugs down.... lubricant usually messes with torque values.
Also I don't know if you have a K&N filter or not (you have a sticker at least) but make sure its cleaned and oiled, not too much and not too little. The rust should be gone, but if not you may want someone to look into it a bit more. It actually shouldn't be a big deal, but if you car has driveability problems you should look into that rust...
Also I don't know if you have a K&N filter or not (you have a sticker at least) but make sure its cleaned and oiled, not too much and not too little. The rust should be gone, but if not you may want someone to look into it a bit more. It actually shouldn't be a big deal, but if you car has driveability problems you should look into that rust...
03-05-2009, 08:54 AM
#16
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There's rust on your old spark plugs also, not just on your intake manifold runners... was it hard to pull out the spark plugs at all? Make sure you use anti-seize on the threads. Also if anti-seize is on the threads, try memorizing how many turns it takes to properly torque the plugs down.... lubricant usually messes with torque values.
Also I don't know if you have a K&N filter or not (you have a sticker at least) but make sure its cleaned and oiled, not too much and not too little. The rust should be gone, but if not you may want someone to look into it a bit more. It actually shouldn't be a big deal, but if you car has driveability problems you should look into that rust...
Also I don't know if you have a K&N filter or not (you have a sticker at least) but make sure its cleaned and oiled, not too much and not too little. The rust should be gone, but if not you may want someone to look into it a bit more. It actually shouldn't be a big deal, but if you car has driveability problems you should look into that rust...
The K&N filter is new. I know to clean it out periodically.
03-05-2009, 09:50 AM
#17
on to the next one...
Nice clean-up!
I have a CL-S and the Wife used to have an I30t before we traded it in for an FX35.
We traded it in just before 110k miles - the only issue we had was a bad igniter coil (which I guess is common). Luckily, we were able to figure out which one it was and fix it without having to change all the plugs and coils out - but it was still a bigger PITA to fix than my CL-S. The I30t was rock solid til the day we sold her though, that's why my wife is on her 4th Infiniti now!
I have a CL-S and the Wife used to have an I30t before we traded it in for an FX35.
We traded it in just before 110k miles - the only issue we had was a bad igniter coil (which I guess is common). Luckily, we were able to figure out which one it was and fix it without having to change all the plugs and coils out - but it was still a bigger PITA to fix than my CL-S. The I30t was rock solid til the day we sold her though, that's why my wife is on her 4th Infiniti now!
03-05-2009, 05:33 PM
#23
Senior Moderator
Good job man. ( 
I miss my Maxima. 
)
I miss my Maxima. )
03-06-2009, 02:27 PM
#26
Looks nice...my girlfriend's VQ (pathfinder) eats oil like no other. Apparently a common issue with the VQ. Looks like you don't have that issue since the plugs and everything came out clean.
03-06-2009, 03:11 PM
#27
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Every VQ I have had eats a bit of oil. And it's worse with synthetic. But it's really not supposed to be too bad. How many miles does she have on it? What year? And maybe you should pull one of the front 3 plugs and see if there is oil on it. The valve covers are made out of plastic and they have been known to crack.
03-06-2009, 04:18 PM
#28
Someday, an RS6 Avant+
Nice work. Where the K&N sticker is, is that your air intake? It appears you have a restricted intake. Is the airbox in the fenderwell? I ask because you could try to make it less restrictive and you'll feel a little more on your acceleration without going to a CAI.
03-06-2009, 08:53 PM
#29
03-09-2009, 10:18 AM
#30
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Some fallout from my hard work....
So, the last couple days I have been battling a SES light that doesn't like to stay off.
The car runs great. Better than it has in a while. Smooth, responsive, fast.
As much as it needed it, cleaning the throttle body in the VQ35's is not a great thing to attempt. Since it's electronically controlled, any change in position causes the car to idle a bit faster. I had to re-train the computer to re-learn the idle position, etc. It is a PITA without Nissan's help. I got it done this morning.
To be honest, since I had the car the idle was a bit faster. Not as fast as the last couple days. The dealer recommended spec is 675 plus or minus 50 RPM's. The last couple days it was more like 1000 RPM's. Before I did everything I think it was more around 800 RPM's.
I took it for a nice drive. It still runs really good. But I think at dead stop in P or N, it seems like it flutters a bit. I'm going to probably get the fuel injectors cleaned and see if that smooths it out.
If anyone has a newer Maxima and/or Infiniti that has a drive by wire throttle system, I recommend having all the notes on re-training the ECU before cleaning the throttle body.
It's not difficult, but it is a PITA.
I will keep you posted.
The car runs great. Better than it has in a while. Smooth, responsive, fast.
As much as it needed it, cleaning the throttle body in the VQ35's is not a great thing to attempt. Since it's electronically controlled, any change in position causes the car to idle a bit faster. I had to re-train the computer to re-learn the idle position, etc. It is a PITA without Nissan's help. I got it done this morning.
To be honest, since I had the car the idle was a bit faster. Not as fast as the last couple days. The dealer recommended spec is 675 plus or minus 50 RPM's. The last couple days it was more like 1000 RPM's. Before I did everything I think it was more around 800 RPM's.
I took it for a nice drive. It still runs really good. But I think at dead stop in P or N, it seems like it flutters a bit. I'm going to probably get the fuel injectors cleaned and see if that smooths it out.
If anyone has a newer Maxima and/or Infiniti that has a drive by wire throttle system, I recommend having all the notes on re-training the ECU before cleaning the throttle body.
It's not difficult, but it is a PITA.
I will keep you posted.
03-09-2009, 02:23 PM
#31
Every VQ I have had eats a bit of oil. And it's worse with synthetic. But it's really not supposed to be too bad. How many miles does she have on it? What year? And maybe you should pull one of the front 3 plugs and see if there is oil on it. The valve covers are made out of plastic and they have been known to crack.
03-09-2009, 02:51 PM
#32
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Moodist....
I found my info on www.Nicoclub.com. Not the best searchable site, bit there should be some info there.
I also used www.maxima.org. That will not be much help to you.
I also have an 03 Pathfinder SE. It's a solid truck. Mine has about 77K on it. It still uses a bit of oil, but not that much. It seems like you have a serious issue. Pull one of the plugs if you can and check for oil on it. Also get under it and see if you can tell where the oil is leaking.
I found my info on www.Nicoclub.com. Not the best searchable site, bit there should be some info there.
I also used www.maxima.org. That will not be much help to you.
I also have an 03 Pathfinder SE. It's a solid truck. Mine has about 77K on it. It still uses a bit of oil, but not that much. It seems like you have a serious issue. Pull one of the plugs if you can and check for oil on it. Also get under it and see if you can tell where the oil is leaking.
03-13-2009, 10:11 AM
#33
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Update....
I think my SES and idle issues are all gone. Been a couple days now and I've driven about 120 miles. I haven't seen another SES light come on. 
My gas mileage is back to where it should be. Before I did everything my mileage had dipped to 18-19 mpg. The first tank after with the SES light on I was around 19-20. So, no real change. I filled up and checked yesterday and I'm back up around 23-24.
My gas mileage is back to where it should be. Before I did everything my mileage had dipped to 18-19 mpg. The first tank after with the SES light on I was around 19-20. So, no real change. I filled up and checked yesterday and I'm back up around 23-24.
12-17-2010, 04:38 PM
#34
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About that time again....
I have about 175K on it now and since the older VQ35's tend to consume oil I wanted to swap the plugs again.
This time I took it a step further....
I swapped the front valve cover. There was some oil seeping from the gasket so I opted to swap the gasket and cover.
The good news on all this is that there was NO oil seeping from the rear cover. This usually is where most VQ owners see seeping. I also had NO oil in my spark plug tubes. They were all clean. The plugs were not horrible, but the change would be good.
Swapping the valve covers was not really that tough to do. I also swapped out the PCV valve.
The BAD news is that I need to do a better job double checking all my connectors. Cylinder 1 came loose. That is the toughest one to get to so I basically had to take the entire thing apart again. 3 extra hours because I am a RETARD.
The next thing I have to do is stop by and pick up my blower motor. The one I have now was starting to make a lot of noise. Time for a change.
All total I spent about $350 in parts:
Front and Rear Valve Covers
Valve Cover Gaskets
Plenum Gasket
6 Spark Plugs
Blower Motor
Cabin Air Filter
Permatex Gray
Other Assorted Items
If I had it done at the dealer it would have been about $1000.
This time I took it a step further....
I swapped the front valve cover. There was some oil seeping from the gasket so I opted to swap the gasket and cover.
The good news on all this is that there was NO oil seeping from the rear cover. This usually is where most VQ owners see seeping. I also had NO oil in my spark plug tubes. They were all clean. The plugs were not horrible, but the change would be good.
Swapping the valve covers was not really that tough to do. I also swapped out the PCV valve.
The BAD news is that I need to do a better job double checking all my connectors. Cylinder 1 came loose. That is the toughest one to get to so I basically had to take the entire thing apart again. 3 extra hours because I am a RETARD.
The next thing I have to do is stop by and pick up my blower motor. The one I have now was starting to make a lot of noise. Time for a change.
All total I spent about $350 in parts:
Front and Rear Valve Covers
Valve Cover Gaskets
Plenum Gasket
6 Spark Plugs
Blower Motor
Cabin Air Filter
Permatex Gray
Other Assorted Items
If I had it done at the dealer it would have been about $1000.
12-17-2010, 04:53 PM
#36
Senior Moderator
Nice!
What car is next...?
What car is next...?
jealous yummy?
12-17-2010, 05:01 PM
#39
Senior Moderator
or a Pagani Zonda R