Okay so.. I just want to get it out that I've owned 3 cars and I've never done one bit of maintenance to them myself, it's always been done professionally by a dealer or a service shop (Pennzoil etc). But hey, I'm 22 this month and all my friends do their own work on their cars etc and I didn't want to be the only one who didn't.

So I started out easy (changing the oil) and it took like 3 hours which I feel isn't bad seeing as all of the screws and bolts that hold the under pinning up were rusted and generally being a PITA, and then trying to get the bolt off the oil pan off (it was torqued like hell) and the oil filter was as well.

The next project we tackled, which was just this weekend was brakes and rotors for the front. This being a learning experience we decided to do it completely blind, whatever the consequences be, because going to a shop to fix my error isn't out of the question. Jack it up, take the tires off and start trying to disassemble the caliper and such. After like 2 hours of trying to get them apart, we finally do. Once we got them all cleaned up and repainted, we went for the rotors, which had rusted onto the hubs. My friend having changed rotors before says that when that happens you basically have to take a hammer and beat on them (not literally) until they free up. So, we break out the rubber hand mallet, and go to work, unfortunately this doesn't work. Getting irritated I break out the sledge hammer and give it some baby swings with a "mini golf" swinging motion. Eventually we decide there has to be another bolt holding it in place, and decide to unbolt the little red one on the hub, and we notice it's in a metal sleeve. Putting two and two together we finally use it to pop the rotor off the hub. It then took us another 1.5 hours (I'm being REALLY generous here with the time frames.. it probably took longer) to get the caliper back on the rotor and all situated. The second wheel took a whopping 45 minutes to do.

Next (lol I know you guys are probably thinking jesus kid, just take it to a shop by now) we decide to replace my AC belt because it had frayed and was causing a slapping sound in my engine bay. It was hitting on a bolt which was causing the sound (Later confirmed after changing the belt out, more on that later ). We jack it up, take the under pinning off and start replacing the belt. It turns out we don't have self adjusting pulleys like what my friends 1999 jetta has, and it literally takes us 8 hours to figure it all out (there was beer involved this time), and tension everything to what we feel like is 26 ft lbs of tension. The belts squeel for a while after starting up, 10 seconds or so, but then it goes away.

I go out to eat with some buddies last night, and then on the way home I hear something banging around in my engine bay. I pull over into a parking lot, and check it out. One of the idler pulleys on the Power Steering pump side has managed to spin its way off the adjuster bolt, but it's down in the under pinning (or on the interstate somewhere). I catch a ride by to my place, and then today after work I go pick up the car. I get about a mile or two before I have to pull over because my throttle isn't working and the car will only idle. I'm assuming this is safe mode? During this time I notice that a few things have happened. My E brake light has come on (the brake was not engaged however), my airbag lights were on, my battery light and my CEL as well. I decide to wait a bit after reading something about after a while the car resets and is able to be driven for a while again. Unfortunately it's not like that with my car apparently. So, I call a buddy to come and tow me to a more safe area away from the run down drug filled area of town my car was stranded in. He tows me about 1 mile, but not without issue. While we were braking, I noticed my brakes were fully pumped, as if I'd been pumping them up. Afraid i'm going to rear end him, I have him pull over into a parking lot almost directly adjacent to the local PD. Once here my lights go out, and the battery dies. We charge up the battery with a rechargeable battery pack so that I can roll up my window (it's raining). I start the motor and get out while we discuss where to move it so that tomorrow when everyone is at the building to work it's not in the way. All of a sudden, my motor dies. I'm assuming this is from fuel starvation, because of the electric fuel pump and electric fuel injection? Either way my car is currently in a parking lot, waiting to be picked up and dropped off at my house by a flatbed. Feel free to chastise me, as I find this situation completely moronic. In my attempt to save some money by doing it myself (it's supposedly a 15 minute job to change your belts, right?) I've potentially caused myself a nice little bill. IN THE NAME OF KNOWLEDGE.!

ZOMG....i have no idea where to even start. Good luck and godspeed....

You can download sections of the service manuals from "infinitihelp.com". Reading up on repair procedures ahead of time is a great help.

Holy crap!! I think this make take the cake for DIY gone wrong lol. Sorry to hear, I know the frustration of trying to diy and having problems (although admitted not nearly to your level).

Hope you get your car back working again and next time at very least follow the service manuals or even better, DIY's on here with pics and step by step instructions! You'll get yourself in a lot less trouble...

Technically this should only be a 15 minute fix assuming I can get my hands on a belt tension gauge. More than likely, the idler pully wasn't tightened enough and it spun off the bolt some how. Now that I know they work and what to adjust thanks to my crash course in pulleys, it's just a matter of getting correct tensions, because apparently my "rule of thumb" is incorrect rofl. I'll keep you guys updated!

Dude, just google G35 FSM, the link that pops up starts with something like "psedog", but its a repository of FSM for our cars all the way up to 2008 in PDF and zip format. Save yourself a copy, read in advance in the future, and save yourself some time and headache. DIY should be rewarding, not a pain in the rear that costs you more.

Shiit man. That sucks.
Hopefully you'll get it all up & running soon. We all do mistakes, just as long as you learn from them. The DIY are really helpful. Make sure you read through them next time

Good luck.

Props for tackling such a project. As mentioned this amazing forum has lots of DIY with pictures to help with your possible future projects. I hope there was no damage and it all works out.

This is my first car that I have not leased. So I figured I would work on it myself.
So far I have:

Replaced brakes.rotors
Replaced belts
Replaced plugs
Replaced shifter with aftermarket
Replaced cabin air filter
and basicly taken apart the interior to fix those damn rattles and creaks.

All with the DIY's and search on this great site. They really do help.

All in I have saved an easy $1000 in labor.