Common issues with 98 Q45?

First off I want to say I've only had the Q for under two weeks, but I LOVE it. Everything minus the fact that the car gets 13mpg around town :pat:  I've noticed a couple small quirks that the car has, though. I was wondering if anyone has experienced these issues.

First off, the gas mileage. I read a thread a while back and people were saying they got about 15-18mpg around town. Usually I have a lead foot, but I've been taking it easy on the Q and unfortunately, no luck. I'm thinking a new fuel filter, maybe cleaning out the injectors and resetting the ecu might help it out. BTW the car just clicked over 80k miles.

Second, I've noticed that sometimes when I sit at a light, I feel a slight jolt. The feeling is similar to the car shifting gears, but just so slightly. It will happen in maybe 20 second intervals. Kind of odd to me. That and the shifts from 1-2 arent the smoothest. Might be time to flush out the transmission and replace fluids. 

Lastly, I bought the car w/o an owners manual, so I am unsure of a light that intermittently comes on. It looks kind of like the blue high beam indicator, but instead, is red and on the bottom right corner of the gauge cluster. I've noticed that it will come on when I'm parked, then when I'm driving, it will turn off, unless I press on the brakes. Any ideas?

I appreciate any help I can get,  sorry if I sound like a noob, I'm usually pretty knowledgeable about cars, but this is a new platform for me, so excuse the noob-ness. Also thanks in advance, I've learned quite a bit browsing the forums and am inspired by many of the cars on here. If only I could finish my DSM (hopefully only a couple months left :biggthumpup:) so I can start sinking money into the Q....

first off concrats on purchase of car, now as far as fuel mileage it just sound like ur car just may need a good tune up (plugs, filters, etc) and as far as the tranny shifting gears the Y33 from my understanding has always had a slight jolt when it changes from certain gears ( i believe it even states that in the owners manual if im not mistaking, i havent looked at mine in awhile though) and as far as the light in your dash cluster i have no idea what that is about i have never had that happen with mine, so i believe that needs to be investigated, but all in all once u get these minor issues corrected u will be very happy with your purchase and have a very reliable ride on your hands, and btw welcome to VSC
 
 
oh, and one more thing the jolt u stated your car does when it is sitting still at a light is not normal, the jolt i am referring to is when the car is moving and changing gears and u feel a slight jolt, so get that looked at to!!

change the fuel filter,airfilter and use some mobil 1 oil and oil filter.make sure u clear the gas lines when they change fuel filter.mine just hit 60k and i had all this done plus a water pump change and its awsome.next im going to do the plugs.hope this helps.definetly change the fuel filter.and inspect it.u will see tons of dirt coming out since yours has 80k and im sure noone changed it ever.should cost 20 bucks

Thanks for the responses, guys. I will definitely be changing the fuel filter, maybe the air filter after I take a look at it, and plugs. I'll probably do this in 3 weeks when I'm off school for spring break and can get the car back to my buddy's shop. (I've gotten spoiled, I don't like to do anything in my garage anymore..haha)

Quick question, where is the fuel filter located on the Y33, I'd guess on the firewall in the engine bay?

the only problems with the 97-98's are the lack of hid's and the horrible trunk lights...........:innoutrofl2::slap::shrug:

i have that red light come on too whenever i press the brakes. i think its normal

[quote=ALEXTHESUS*PECT;232398]the only problems with the 97-98's are the lack of hid's and the horrible trunk lights...........:innoutrofl2::slap::shrug:[/quote]

I hate the fact that they don't have the HID's either. Maybe I'll retro some HID's.

Again, another noob question. I think I've seen glass headlights, rather than our cheap factory plastic ones? Where/what do they come on. Also, is it much work to convert to the factory projectors/HIDs. I'm assuming its just some simple wiring, if not just getting the housings and buying a plug and play HID kit.

[quote=miucus;232416]i have that red light come on too whenever i press the brakes. i think its normal[/quote]

it just annoys me because it is intermittent

Any suggestion on what plugs I should run. (I know I can easily just go to kragen and ask) I figure you guys may be able to offer me some better advice rather than "the platinum plugs don't require you to change them as often" or some bullshit like that.

[QUOTE=EDWIN;232646]Any suggestion on what plugs I should run. (I know I can easily just go to kragen and ask) I figure you guys may be able to offer me some better advice rather than "the platinum plugs don't require you to change them as often" or some bullshit like that.[/QUOTE]

those cats on nico prefer oem, but i might try the ngk "oem style" iridium plugs - the ones that start with an I, not a B

that random jolt at a light or if you feel the car sometimes hesitates it's pobably your coil packs
I'm not sure about the redlight coming on, see if you can download the fsm to see what it means

I'll look into those plugs, thats cheez

And i'll look into the coilpacks. Is there a way to test them?

[quote=EDWIN;234148]I'll look into those plugs, thats cheez
 
And i'll look into the coilpacks. Is there a way to test them?[/quote]
 
:werd2: I got the same problem. Only at idle does the car feel like it's misfiring. I connected a scan tool to it and found both Knock Sensors to be bad, so I replaced them and the problem went away for a couple days. No CEL or anythingcoming up on the scan tool. It happens less now, but it still happens. And only at idle, car has no problem moving when i step on it hard.

I run NGK Iridium IX, roughly 3 years.  

The headlights are far from "cheap plastic", they cost over 900 a piece to replace, and Lexan is what all cars headlights are made of now. If yours look dingy and yellowed, some Meguiars "PlastX" and some elbow grease will do the trick. The OEM headlights are like jewels when clean.  Mine were replaced at the dealer when I got my Q 5 years ago and they still look perfect.  Glass headlights look thick and make cars look old.

As for mileage, I have gotten around 13-14 with a lead foot the whole time I've had the car. 20 MPG on FWY road trips.

Yes it is the coil packs going bad.  I have it too.  Only thing to do is wait til they get much worse and then replace all 8!  sucks but oh well.  Also, take it to a dealer and have the manifold cleaned.  They have a solution that they pump through and it works great on Vh41's and I35's as well.  My good friend is an Infiniti Master tech and he hooks me up with what things actually work and what things are just money makers etc.

Oh yeah, and use the Stock plugs, they really are the perfect ones for the Y33...G/L

Damn, it really does pay off to know the right people. Thanks for the advice, very good info and a smart way of thinking :biggthumpup:

[quote=EDWIN;232258]Lastly, I bought the car w/o an owners manual, so I am unsure of a light that intermittently comes on. It looks kind of like the blue high beam indicator, but instead, is red and on the bottom right corner of the gauge cluster. I've noticed that it will come on when I'm parked, then when I'm driving, it will turn off, unless I press on the brakes. Any ideas? [quote]
 
Its a indicator that one of your tail light bulbs are out. Mainly brake lights. I've had this problem before, I tapped the brake light that was off and then when it came on, the indicator went off. :biggthumpup:
 
BTW, Theres not many problems that I have dealt with my Q. Just do a tune-up. Change out some spark plugs and oil change it regularly and you should be fine. I've had my Q for almost a year or two and it has 154K on it and stilkl running strong. I recently changed out my powering steering pump that went out on me, but other then that, its a very smooth ride..
 
_mikey

The light may also be low brake fluid if I remember right, if you find one of your lights isnt out look at the brake master cyl and see if its full or low, most masters have a level sender in them and when you step on the brakes the fluid level can drop and set off an indicator. Although on the Q I am not sure if it sets the BRAKE light ( the e-brake one ) or the other, worth a check tho.

and as I had the same issue pop up today, the red light on the dash that looks like a highbeam indicator was for a bulb being out. although mine was a taillight, I am still curious about  which pops on from the level sender in the master tho... maybe ill have to test it.

Thanks for the replies guys. A little update on the car...

Last week I noticed that the car started to whine a bit under load. The sound would increase with the rpms and the power steering seemed to be affected. The noise got louder and the car started making all sorts of sounds. I figured it was the power steering so I took it to a buddy's shop. Right as I pulled in  the car started to leak fluid. The high pressure power steering line let go. Let me tell you, if you ever need to replace this line, have someone do it. Mitchell calls for .7hrs to do the line, but it is a hard line, and snakes along the subframe and then back towards the rack. IT IS A PAIN!!!! Now I consider myself very mechanically able, but the amount of brackets Infiniti put on this line is insane. Not to mention the feed and return have a bracket holding them together that is welded, the only way we were able to seperate them was to cut the high pressure side off. Not to mention, this line has a MSRP of $350! At least it comes with a new switch. 

After replacing and bleeding the system, the sound did not go away. I personally do not have an owners manual, so we topped off the power steering reservoir with power steering fluid. Sounds right? Wrong. These cars take ATF. After putting some ATF in the car is near silent again. Just at high rpms it still squeals jusssst a touch. But it is loud enough to hear even with the new exhaust I had made. 

So I guess I'll post some pictures of that. Had a buddy's shop make me some straight pipes. Dual 2" pipes coming from the resonators back. Deleted the 2 middle mufflers and the large rear. Here's a couple pics and a quick video of the car on my driveway. 

[IMG]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y89/unlmtdndeavor2/IMG_0238.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y89/unlmtdndeavor2/IMG_0241.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y89/unlmtdndeavor2/IMG_0239.jpg[/IMG]

[URL="http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y89/unlmtdndeavor2/?action=view&current=MVI_0249.flv"][IMG]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y89/unlmtdndeavor2/th_MVI_0249.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

The Y33 never came with glass headlights. I have a 99 q45t and it has plastic headlights. Parts for the Y33 can be expensive and you can not get most of them at your local auto parts store. Infinitiofscottsdale.com has fair prices. I just replaced both K.S. and two coil packs and it runs good now. I could use some new struts. Here is a link to the FSM.
[url]http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/Q45/[/url]