Guys,

Just picked up a HIGH mileage 04 cpe auto and as to be expected, it has a couple of issues.

Lower portion of drivers seat (black leather) is in bad shape with several sizeable holes. The back section of seat is fine, just the part you sit on. How difficult is it to replace the lower section of the seat if I were to find a used one? Or if anyone has has had it there's covered what did you pay?

Next, the keyless entry just stopped unlocking the doors Horn still beeps (so fob is working), but locks make a feeble attempt at opening. Door lock actuators?

Finally, passenger side window sometimes will not work. Kinda clicks a little but doesn't do anything. PO's response was just to hit the door panel and it fixes it. I'd prefer not to beat my car but was thinking a loose connection somewhere if a hammer fist to the inside door handle fixes it?

Also, where might I find a black OEM spoiler? I don't want a crappy aftermarket, but the cost for a new one is a little too much right now with the other things the car needs. I looked on car-parts and my local CL without much luck.

Thanks for any help you may be able to provide. Regards,
Jonny

 

first thing i would try is get electrical cleaner and take out your drive window console. Detach the harness and use the electric cleaner on the harness and the on the connectors. Let it sit there for about 30min and also check to make sure there is no corrosion on the copper contacts.

This fixed my issue when my passager window wouldn't close all the time.

If this doesnt fix your issue next would be to clean the window motor on your passenger side.

 

Sounds like you have a grip on the known issues.

I recommend no electrical cleaner and a new motor. The cleaning method per the board yeilds the consensus that it's a short term fix.

My V35 Maintenance Laundry List:

0. Transverse Link Bushings
0. Compression Rod Bushings
0. Belts
0. Drain/Fill Trans & Diff
0. PCV Valve
0. Plugs (I did mine at 90k FYI ... noticealbe difference at startup and idle quality)
0. Axle Click fix (my car did it for two years, little did I know that click form D - R was abnormal...)
0. Brake Flush. These cars seize rear calipers like no one's buisness. Flush every two years!
0. Powersteering flush or multiple overflow extractions
0. Sway bar end-links (03-04 models more prone to failure)

The first few are most important IMO. They solve alot of tire wear/alignment issues and make the car feel much better. Get polyurethane for everything you can. They don't make it ride that much harder. I didn't notice a difference with whiteline bushings over OEM.

Rear end bushings? They are pretty robust on this car, but the differential bushings may go. They drip black goo when they die.

Maintenance over mods. You won't regret it.

 

Thank you guys for your responses. Just to throw a wrench into the issues, so to speak, I noticed that the window and locking issues only happens when the temperature outside is very hot. I spoke to the PO and he mentioned that he's noticed the issue, and upon questioning he also realized that it only happened when it was super hot. Tonight after it had cooled off outside I checked and the locks worked just fine. I've never heard of this before - usually cold would make things enlarge and hot shrink?? Seems backwards.

Thank you for the maintenance tips. Car has always been serviced at Infiniti (here and in Tulsa.) I'm going to go by there and see if they will provide me with the maintenance history of the car so I can see what has/hasn't been done to it.

Thanks again,
Jonny

 

Keep an eye out for a spoiler here in the marketplace. You might get lucky and find someone looking for a trunk without a spoiler to trade for a trunk with a spoiler.

 

If you're looking for a OE spoiler for your '04 keep an eye our MARKETPLACE, if you want a aftermarket spoiler check with IONIC under vendor exterior. They have a very cool spoiler! Gary

 

My coupe does the same. Less than 80*F or so and they work fine.

It doesn't bother me enough to fix it yet.

 

Man these cars do some weird sht. Talk about temper mental.

Heads up! My car horn started going off for NO REASON morning and middle of the night. I had to sleep with my keys to turn it off...

Looked here on the forum and found out it was the stupid hood sensor under the hood. I unplugged it and the problem never happened again.

If you have a G35, this forum can really be your best friend.

 

After watching a lock guy program a new FOB for my car without so much as looking at the car it's self, I decided to keep the non-working door lock actuators in place. This way if anyone wants to steal your ride and has the RF transmitter to do so (which you would be flat out AMAZED at how many roll around with those) they still cant get into your car unless they have a physical key as well.

My ride is heavily modified on top of it being a nice Luxury Coupe to begin with - and this little extra bit of security - to me - is WELL WORTH IT!


As for your Windows. The Window Motors are dying. The brushes inside the electric motor (they are made out of this sort of mostly hard but somewhat mushy carbony stuff... sorry, I'm not an materials engineer so cant identify the composition of the things exactly) are wearing out. During this process of use and wear they flake off tiny slivers of their material and this 'dust' collects within the motor's assembly clogging up the slim amount of space that's meant to be between the electromagnetic spinning coil in the middle and the brushes surrounding that spinning core - basically clogging up the space where the transfer of electrically generated pushing force from magnetism is supposed to be living, and then... motor doesn't spin. This is why when you hit the inside door panel - since the motor it's self is mounted directly to that door panels metal inside - you can knock some of that dust free and the motor will start spinning again.

Here in Florida the cost of really cheap refurbished motor replacement with a lifetime part warranty (from pretty much any local corner parts store) is about $150 bucks. Not exactly cheap, but considering the entire removal and replacement process as long as you're semi handy and have access to an electric impact driver (I much prefer the impact to a standard drill for not routing out the heads of screws and bolts - god I DESPISE DRILLS for that reason) is around 15 to 20 minutes total..... for that cost you're set for life.


Anyway - there's my 0.02 for your path

 

Gentlemen,

Your responses are all greatly appreciated - thank you! For $300 right now I will probably hold off on replacing the motors. The car was recently checked at Infiniti, and thankfully it just needs a couple of basic things. I'm going to pull the plugs and replace those (no idea when that was done last), replace serpentine belt (apparently it has a crack in it) and then start going through the list mentioned above.

I may have located a spoiler (unpainted unfortunately) about 4 hours away from me, but it is very cheap so may be worth the drive.

Thanks again for all your help.
Jonny