I suffered a pretty serious foot injury (Lisfranc fracture) back in Feb and have been miserable sitting around doing nothing. Well, I was recently approved to start some weight bearing on my foot and resume normal activities lightly. Took my G out for the first time in months and came across a few issues that did not exist prior.

Overheating - I believe it's due to my fan motors. Temp gets real high when sitting and if I turn heat on full blast and fly down the road it drops. Checked out the fans while it was at idle and they were spinning super slow when it was about three bars away from hitting the high threshold. I don't think it's my relays, but it's possible I guess if they are setting the fans to run at high speed.

*I do have a question in particular about what I noticed with the coolant reservoir. I saw about 6 or 7 tiny air bubbles coming back into the reservoir every few seconds. I'm not too concerned about it, since I know it's after the radiator cap. But, I just want to verify this is "probably" normal. I have no loss of power or anything like that, so I'm not thinking of a head gasket.

Just my VDC, SLIP, and RAS lights came on for no reason.

Steering is super stiff and doesn't return back when letting go off the wheel. Fluid level is fine and there is tiny movement in the reservoir with the cap off and the engine running. I'm guessing it's my PS pump, but want to know if anyone knows of a quick DIY test to eliminate the rack and pinion first? My R&P is bad on my Audi and I dread replacing that when I have time.

I'm also still in a lot of pain, so doing these repairs might not be possible by myself right now. But, funds are also limited because I am on disability and my income has been reduced dramatically until I can go back to work.

 

The overheating is likely the fans. It's quite typical for them to gunk up with brush dust and fail to operate the fan correctly after some time sitting. Happened to a 350z of ours and my current G35. I highly recommend just replacing instead of digging about and trying to make them work and then having them fail. I bought a pair of aftermarket ones on ebay for $60 and have had zero issues since. For $100 I think you can get the whole fan assembly (fans/motors/plastic shroud) which makes it easier to replace if you like.

 

Solved my overheating problem. It was the cooling fans, I ran power to each of them. The AC fan would come on real slow. The other fan would not run at all. Installed a new one for about 90 bucks and all is good. Took about an hour to do.

Still looking into my PS system. I tested the pump by pinching one line and it screeched, so i think it's good. No noticeable leaks on my r&p. I think it's tje angle sensor or the ujoint on the steering column. I need to inspect the ujoint though when i get a chance.

I noticed the RAS, VDC, and Slip came on usually after turning. I also had TPMS lights on, so i used my Autel to read the TPMS sensors. I have two dead ones and i cleared the TPMS lights and that problem went away. I ordered four new tpms sensors. I'm not sure how long the batteries will last in the others.

 

Ha, I forgot to update this.

Overheating the first time was my fans, so I bought a cheapo replacement and it died about a month ago. So, I ended up having to do the work again, however, this time I bought a TYC model. So, I'm hoping it lasts longer.

My steering issue was indeed the lower u-joint on the steering column. It was about 125 bucks for the part at the dealer if I remember right (I paid my mechanic to install it - 1 or 2 hours of labor). I ended up paying about 250 I think, since I was in too much pain at the time to do it. You can test it by pounding it with a hammer and some lubricant. It will loosen up for a few days and then seize up again.

My RAS unit finally crapped out and I'm pretty sure it's the motor in the back. These parts are extremely difficult to source. I found one on eBay and was happy for awhile, until the seller told me he couldn't locate it. I purchased one for an M35/M45 (they are everywhere), however, it does have different part number. I'm going to attempt to just swap the motors over and hope it fits and then see if I can mess with original motor at all.

 

Keep me updated with whatever you find out about the RAS so when mine fails in the future I'll know what to do

 

Will do, I'm expecting the replacement on Saturday. I'm going away though, so won't be able to tackle it for a little bit. The parts look pretty much the same from the picture, but the angle sensor has a shield on the coupe and not on the M35/M45. I'm hoping the motors just line right up and won't cause me any issues.

Failed inspection today due to a rear wheel bearing and hole in my exhaust. So, I'm going to tackle my first wheel bearing, since they wanted almost 500 bucks to do it. I'm trying to decide if I should buy 6, 12, or 20 ton press or bring it to the mechanic. I hardly ever used a press before and never really had a need until now. I don't want to keep things in my garage that I hardly use.

 

I have some cheapo 12 ton press that has worked for pretty much everything I've ever used it for. Spend money on the die kits so you have a huge variety of sizes, thats the important part anyways

If you buy a cheap press you will likely need to make some wooden "slides" to fill the gap between the loading bar and the 2 rails it slides on, the only difference I've ever seen between cheap and expensive frames is the tolerances are really shitty on the cheap ones so you have to use thin strips of wood to fill in the sloppy gaps. The hydraulic ram is basically the same whether cheap or expensive, it's a simple component just bleed the air from them before initial use.

 

Alright, go my replacement RAS actuator on Saturday and ordered a 12 ton press from Harbor Freight last night. I have Wednesday off, so hopefully I can tackle my RAS motor and start my wheel bearing as well. I also bought some of that FibaWrap exhaust stuff to see if it fixes my leak; I'm tired of spending a couple hundred dollars every year for someone to weld. I hope in the near future to teach myself some basic welding.