Really trying hard to keep my car, but lately it seems like a new(er) G37x is calling my name.

I've been busy the last few weeks detailing the car and cleaning the hell out of the interior and exterior to make it look newish. I've fixed a few little odds and ends like pass window needing to be reset, or couple peices of broken trim i replaced. But now it's starting to snowball

Open my trunk today. First warm humid day in a while and i notice my trunk smells musty. I pull out the carpeting and spare tire and find 3" of water in the spare tire well along with slime and mold. Been wet for a while it seems. No clue where the leak is yet. I'm at work now with the contents of my trunk spread out in the space next to me with the trunk open and the drain plugs pulled out. Trying to dry it all out right now before I start puting paper towels down and testing with the hose. It's a significant leak though. I could see a water line HALFWAY up my full-size spare.


So back to hot humid day. I decide to refresh myself by starting the car and turning the A/C on. Nope...warm air only coming out.


I don't hear/feel the compressor coming on so it's prob a bit low on 134a, but i just had it on the other day working fine. I don't have time to mess with it between laying sod this weekend and kid's bday parties. I'm also sick of fixing cars. I just want to turn the key and go.

I still have a large exhaust leak at the muffler to fix as well. I just can't find an exhaust shop locally yet.

It's been hard to justify getting rid of a reliable car that is paid off...but all these little things are starting to make me look harder at just trading it in. Didn't really want 2 payments right now

 

And not even 10 mins later now the A/C works fine. Hopefully a fluke. I think i remember a long time ago it did something like that. Lets cross our fingers.


Trunk is drying nicely now. Parked it in the sun so hoefully it dries out in the noontime sun and heat. I'll need to clean the spare as it's so slimey i couldn't even lift it out of the car. Weather striping in the center of the trunk is loose, so perhaps that's the culprit.

I really want to get 1 more year out of this car if I can.

 

I been there with stuff going wrong. Than you fix it and your happy. It's a cycle just take it easy and fix things as they come up. I try to spend about 2hrs a weekend messing with the car to get it how I like.

 

I know. There really is a sense of satisfaction when you fix things. I need to make some time and go through the car and make a list and just tackle them. I proba have a few extra things i didn't list yet, but for the most part the engine and drivetrain are fine (knock on wood) so it's hard to overlook that.

I really gotta get the exhaust fixed. It sounds good, but I dunno how you guys with aftermarket exhausts do it! I want my car quiet!

 

my trunk filled up with water as well.. same exact symptoms.. I am guessing its a design flaw.

 

Was it your trunk seal? I think that's what my issue is. Not confirmed yet though.

 

I think it was the seal. The trunk is designed to divert water to both sides of the trunk, leaving a large area in the middle perpendicular to the flow of water/air. I am guessing this is the source of wind-driven rain getting up and over the seal.

 

Makes sense. I think that's my issue when i run through auto car washes.

Yes..i know I should hand wash...but given infiniti's crappy soft paint and 120K miles of highway driving...a car wash is the least of my worries

 

you have a older fox, you cant tell me you dont like playing with cars. Yea maybe its not on your time but these are all minor problems to deal with VS $300-500 monthly payment.

My X isn't perfect either, i have a airbag fault now, i can clear it but it will come back in a hour or 10 days. Then i have a bad fuel gauge sensor or sensors. So i dont know how much exact gas is in my tank. This is a little annoying and costly, driver's sending unit is like $150 but pass side sending unit has the pump and everything, so thats about $400 or so. I cleaned the contacts and it didn't fix crap.

 

dang.. i'm in the same boat.. great deals on new G37's right now..
10-year my anniversary with my car was 3 days ago..

car is great, but i can't figure out where this minor vibration is some from on the suspension.. spent $1200 already on compression rods and lower control arm.. figure I need the steering rack fixed.. that'll be another $1500.. sigh...

And at 137k miles.. i know other little things are going to start wearing out...

car payments are making me think.. the car is probably worth about $5500 now.. probably worth $4300 in a year.. that's about $100/month for the next year in depreciation.. and say it costs an average $100/month for repairs in the next year.. that's still less than a new car payment.. I mean, financially, it makes sense to keep your car.. I need this car to last 2 more year, then buy a porsche or something..

haha.

 

Yeah, but installing aftermarket cylinder heads and a camshaft if not the same as maintainence and minor repairs on a daily driver. Plus if don't feel like working on the Fox...i walk away for a week or so.



But i understand what you are saying. A little bit of wrench time here and there is still cheaper than a payment.

 

I had the same issue with water getting into the trunk on my 03. I had a friend run a hose down the back window while I had a flash light looking through the ski hole opening. I had all the trunk carpet panels and trim removed with just the weather stripping in place.

I found water coming in from the rear of the trunk where a panel of metal comes together with another. This panel runs from just under one rear taillight to the other and along this panel there are raised portions of the metal I guess to increase rigidity, and through this raised openings was where my water was coming through.

I took clear silicone and ran it along the entire length of the seem and making sure I had the raised portions filled in. After letting dry for 24 hours I ran the same test with the hose I did not see water come in. I did leave one plug out of the wheel well just in case the water finds a new route so it can drain on its own.

 

When it rains, it pours! Be glad you only have minor problems to fix! Within a year, I've had to change my battery, replace the crank sensor, stereo, and starter, and then recharge my a/c, all one at a time. Oh, and a few bumpers. And something else, I forgot what it was, but it was kinda pricey.

I had the problem with water in the spare tire area as well, and it out to be rain water. I never had as much water back there, but my fix was simply tightening the spare tire down.

 

Agreed. On the walking away thing.


You know after you posted this, i started to make a little mini list of issues and god dam it, it keeps getting longer.

-Driver's auto Up doesn't work, goes into that pinch protection.
- My OEM navi now has a mind of its own. Works when it wants to or crawls back into its hole when it doesn't.
- Airbag light is on for a intermittent fault
- Found couple of paint chips that rust has formed
- Scraps noises after both my front bearings were done.
- Water pump cover shows a little leak.



Still cheaper to fix one problem a month VS a payment. As long as it STOPS this list of minor annoyance.

 

I had the same problem with my 03 and 04 sedan as well before. When I was cleaning the trunk after I bought the cars there were water where the spare tire is.

I have an 05 now and I'll check tomorrow if its the same thing. Haven't checked it since I bought it 2 months ago.