Hi All,

My '05 G35x overheated and was driven long enough that I'm pretty sure the engine is gone. Reported to me that car had started chugging before it was pulled over - I obviously wasn't driving. It got towed to an Infiniti dealership and they report cooling fan failure and that'll be $1335 to fix those and then we''ll take a look at your engine. Umm no thanks, you've just priced yourself out of my market.

So, I either sell it to a junkyard or put it up on ebay and/or craigslist as a project car for anyone who loves engine rebuilds and swaps.

Opinions sought on what a junkyard will give me or what I could ask for a project car?

Only 69xxx miles on the clock too.

Seems Infiniti's free(?) fan replacement ran out in May '13 on these.

cheers
(not so) SunnyGL

 

Damn. Sucks. Junk yards give you next to nothing. I'd go project route and aim high. Ask for 3k and negotiate from there.

OR

call a few shops and ask how much to install a motor that you provide. I see our motors with low miles (or decent) on cl all the time for around $1200-1500.you could probably get it all worked out for $2k-$2500 if you do the leg work.

 

Junkyard will get you close to nothing, so wouldn't go that route.

First thing I would do is fill it up with water and crank it up, see if it runs. You won't need the engine fan for a few minutes, even sitting still, and you'll see if the motor is still good. (probably not), but I would at least crank it and see. If it won't start or it's seized...

I'd call around and find an indy who will swap the motor and fans out of a used car, or have the engine rebuilt.

$1335 for fans is ridiculous. Did the fan motors fail? The temperature sensor? Heck it could be a blown fuse or a loose wire. I wouldn't trust that dealership farther than I could throw them. You can get cooling fans online all day long, and wire them up to your radiator, even have a switch in the car to flip them on when you want, hook them up to a temperature sensor, or just find some used. Cooling fans aren't rocket science, they just blow air, though it is nice to have the computer tell them when to turn on, go high speed, etc.

If you just want to get rid of it, period, put it on craigslist and ebay. However, not know what all is broke, but pretty much saying it needs a new engine and coolant system work, I'd say you will only get about $5K to $6K for it, but if you fix it, it could be worth $13k with that many miles in good condition.

Non running cars, with unknown amount of issues, don't sell very well.
If you can get it fixed, for say $5K at the most, you can sell it for $13K and pocket $8K for your next car, or just dump it as is for $5 or $6K.

But who knows, the engine may still be good and you may just have a blown fuse or a loose wire

I'd get the car out of the dealership first, and have a good indipendent mech look at it. Somebody I trusted not to f me over.

 

It sure does suck as I haven't been using the car much lately, hence the low miles and was working towards selling it.

Yep, junkyards are robbers - offered $400 just now.

However, there's no way this car is worth $13k. Going by Clearbook, I'd have said 8 or 9k more likely. Both bumpers have battle scars from living in the Metrowest area (valet parkers, when I used to commute with it, would know they had it parked when they backed in to something) and I have a decent wide scratch on the passenger side rear door so cosmetically the cars had its knocks.

I have a fairly good indie but he still charges $98 an hour, so how many hours for an engine swap? I couldn't find much out there on pricing on used engines. Couldn't find any on local craigslist.

Dealer said fan motor failure. I see the whole assembly is $408 online, so I'm wondering how much effort into swapping them? Does the radiator need to come out? AC removed? or is it straightforward?

I think if I got $3k for it on craigslist or ebay I'd be doing well.

cheers
SunnyGL

 

The fans are very straight forward. 2 scews, 3 plugs and 2 cut zip ties. It has two feet that slip out of two slots on the bottom of the radiator, then slip back in on reinstall.

Remove the overflow tank and bracket for easiest disassembly/reassembly.

 

Right, so $1335 is an absolute rip off, thought as much.

The whole housing is $408 online whereas each motor is $159, so $318 just for 2 motors. Would you swap the whole housing or just the motors?

Thanks for the input.

SunnyGL

 

I would just find a car being parted out and pick up the whole thing for $100.

 

Before you worry about fans, see if it starts and runs.

 

Fan motor swap took me all of about 10 minutes for the one when mine went out.

But definitely fill it with water and crank it up and see if it runs fine first.

If you need an engine replacement, the $1800 rebuilt engine I got from 123engine.com is working great after putting on about 20k miles, it did have a minor valve cover leak but has been great otherwise. If you can get a garage and an engine hoist to pull the whole engine out the front instead of dropping it on a lift, you can save yourself a ton in labor.

 

Before you do anything make sure all fluids are topped off and start her up. Replace the fan that's not working if she'll fire up and run. Gotta love the stealerships, must all be Democrats!
Gary

 

as a registered Democrat, I recommend you fill it with coolant first and see if the engine turns over. If you get it running, you should get a compression & leakdown test to get a sense for the engine's health - who knows, you may have got lucky. Also, monitor your oil consumption for the next few weeks/months and keep an eye out for the check engine light / trouble codes.

Where are you located, by the way? If your motor is toast, you're probably better off trying to find a used motor from a local shop. If you're in a bigger market, you'll likely be near one of the reputable shops mentioned on here from time to time.

As for the fans, you can get replacement fans for pretty cheap (even aftermarket dual 10" slim fan setups go for about $260 with shroud). Swapping them out is so easy even I could do it!

 

Thanks to all who have replied so far.
Car forums are a great resource for car enthusiasts.

My wife was driving in slow rush hour traffic and reported "smoke came out then car started to hesitate and chug and SES light came on". I really think she drove it too far with no cooling and am 95% confident the engine is damaged so I'm not willing to spend too much to have this confirmed.

I discussed this with an indie that works on both our vehicles and he concurred the engine is very likely damaged.

I have rudimentary mechanical skills so an engine swap by myself is out of the question and I don't have a big enough space to work in. I'm in Metrowest Massachusetts so everything here is too darned expensive.

Dealer is now $140/hr, indie $98/hr. How many hours to swap a motor?


It's still at the dealer, will have it towed home later this week.

This 123engine/com might be an option. Shipping is $250 and I presume about the same to send the core back so about $2300 for a newish motor. I also found one with 118k on it at a local salvage place for about $1300 and there are JDM ones with "30-50kmiles" (really!) for about $2400.

It's the labor that kills it. So how many cases of beer for someone who knows how to do a swap in my neighborhood

cheers
SunnyGL

 

For some reason Chris we all knew you were, that's all right we like you anyway! And that's ^ good advice...Gary

 

Sonny quit going to the stealership, find an independent shop where the mechanics are Nissan trained! I know it's going to be tough but explain to your wife why they put gauges in cars! I finally got my wife to look at the gas gauge, once in a while.
Gary

 

I don't go to the stealership, but in this case they were pretty close to where she pulled over so it made sense to get AAA to tow it there for now. Their ridiculous pricing on the fan assembly just confirms to all why to avoid them.

Sometimes lessons are learned the hard way. At least she's been aware of the gas gauge for a while. I think many non-savvy car folk don't realize how quick an engine can cook once it loses cooling.

SunnyGL