MODERATOR EDIT: Merged threads.

 

Hello all,

I am a newbie to Infiniti G but I have owned many Datsun 240Z, 260Z, 280ZX, 300ZX and stopped there. Yes I am old
I just bought a 2007 G35 Sedan for $6000. It looks like new in/out but has 150K miles on it with the original clutch. Could you help answer a few
questions at the end of the post?

The first owner kept the car until 130K miles and sold it. The second owner kept the car for another 20K miles and sold it to me.

It looks like the car was trouble free until 110K miles:·
111K – Replace Alternator belt, A/C and Power steering Belt, auto tensioner and idle pulleys. $1000
112K – Replace after market PS pump $700
116K – Replace front brake rotors plus pads and cabin filter $1150
123K – Replace 4 Tires $1300,
TPMS sensor - $250
Lower Coolant hose + comprehensive coolant service - $380
125K – Car fish tailed and hit the curb. VSC came on and stayed on. Wheel alignment required and reprogram steering angle sensor to zero to clear the sensor. $200
126K – Replace AC compressor assembly and AC condenser $850.
127K – Bulb lights burned out above 3000 rpms - Still burned out today.
130K – Performed Oil change. Fed up with the constant expensive repairs for the past 20K miles. Sold the car.

The second owner used the car for 20K miles in 1 year.
Reason for selling, 3rd child on the way and need a bigger car. No problems during these 20K miles.
When I went pick up the car, I saw his kids with his 8 months pregnant wife. Super nice family. So he was truthful in needing a bigger car.
He pointed out that he had a small coolant leak a few weeks back. Took the car to an Infiniti dealership for an inspection @ 149K miles and repaired the leak.
But there were other issues that he didn't repair.
The inspection report identified the following issues:

Rear brake at 1mm - recommend replacement
Right subframe shows leak -– Need replace + align.
Steering and suspension need attention - There's no recommended repair so I am not sure what attention I need to pay.
PS fluid and Brake fluid look dirty - Recommend replacement.
Radiator hose leaking - Repaired

The car drives very well and straight, but the exhaust noise is super loud during acceleration but quiet while cruising. (previous owner removed the mufflers).

Questions:

1. The car started having many issues at 110k. It seems like the original owner got fed up with continuous expensive repairs and sold the car. Are these issues normal for the G35 at this age?
2. The car is running strong and straight and I didn't see any leaks. Are the issues reported the Infiniti inspection report serious and need to be repaired right away?
3. Did I just purchase myself a lemon and expect more problems to come?
4. Is there a way to reduce the exhaust noise besides installing 2 new mufflers?
5. And lastly, do you know where I can download a free owners manual?

Thanks for your feedback.

 

Sounds like a fair price but I have to warn you, this is a luxury sport sedan.

luxury = expensive maintenance

sports car = expensive maintenance

If you are paying a mechanic to do the work then it's going to be an expensive vehicle to own since these things do require regular replacement of parts because sports car design typically means more maintenance, especially the multi-link suspension components.

Everything is more expensive, brakes, struts, tires, interior components, engine components, etc compared to a econo-box type of vehicle that uses a simple macpherson strut suspension and a 4 cylinder engine.

Performance car parts aren't designed with longevity in mind, they are designed with performance in mind and it comes at the cost of the longevity you would find in a basic car.

If the clutch has 150k on it it's almost definitely due for a replacement, get on the highway at cruising speed in 6th gear and punch the throttle wide open, if there is a little jump in rpm but the speedometer doesn't match 100% then the clutch is starting to slip. Typically it starts as a little jump in rpm then the speedo "catches up" and it gets progressively worse over time.

What does this mean "bulb lights burned out above 3000 rpm, still burned out today" ?? Which lamps exactly, instrument cluster backlighting on the tachometer above 3k? That would require a new instrument cluster or someone that knows how to solder LED's onto a PCB, it's not a replaceable lamp.

Also what does "rear subframe shows leak" mean? There is a large square frame under the rear of the corner that has 4 large bushings to mount it to the chassis, there is also a large bushing in the middle that carries the tail end of the differential, this is known as the "rear diff bushing". If that's the one that needs replacing it's a fairly expensive (but easy) job, it just takes quite a few hours of work to remove the muffler, driveshaft, cv axles, drop the diff, saw out the bushings, install new. People usually upgrade them to poly bushings for a performance upgrade along with them being a life-of-the-vehicle part.

Brake fluid should be getting replaced every time the brakes are done. Since it's due for brakes I wouldn't worry about it until you do them. PS fluid just use a turkey baster and suck the reservoir out and refill with new fluid, so this once a year or so.

Does the car have tailpipes going all the way to the rear bumper? A "muffler delete" is fairly common on those HR equipped G35 sedans, it's cheap and doesn't sound terrible. They just cut out the muffler and replace it with straight pipes. However if there is no pipes and they actually just REMOVED the muffler then you will want to get the pipes extended to the rear.

"steering and suspension needs attention" is one of those sports car problems I was talking about. Probably every single bushing is shot, possibly also wheel bearings. There's probably 15 hours of labor involved with replacing everything on the front/rear combined and with aftermarket cheaper components it's still about $800 worth of parts.

That should give you an idea what to look for. I strongly suggest a pre-purchase inspect at your local Nissan/Infiniti dealership to make sure there isn't anything else.

 

Thank you so much for spending the time answering my questions. I am going to test the clutch using your method. A long time ago someone told me if the car can be moved from a dead start using the 3rd gear without problem, then the clutch is still ok. But I have no idea if that is the correct way to test the clutch.

For the exhaust noise, I can see the the long tailpipes going from the catalic converters to the rear bumper with no mufflers. Are there noise reduction devices (more affordable than mufflers) that can be inserted into the pipes to reduce the noise without impacting the performance?

Thanks you.

 

It's still going to be loud with a muffler delete (sounds like that car has a muffler delete). Personally I wouldn't worry about it though unless it really bothers you. It's a performance mod and is fairly common on these cars.

The 3rd gear clutch trick made more sense on older vehicles with a lot smaller gears, the G35 has some LONG equally spaced gears with a very high top speed, 3rd gear will take you faster than those older cars could manage in their top gear. The highway 6th gear pull (basically anything like +55mph 6th gear, stomp pedal and watch for rpm jump) is a lot better method on these vehicles. It removes the torque multiplication from gears, get the car at the start of the powerband and see if you can push through the clutch. If you do it on an incline it's even better since the engine has to work even harder to accelerate.

You can also get a quote from a local shop to add a muffler, also check online marketplaces like Craigslist of Facebook market to see if anyone is selling the stock muffler, you can then sell (maybe trade) your muffler delete for probably as much as you buy the stock muffler for. Here is what the OEM setup looks like, what you're probably missing is just those large mufflers at the end right next to the tip.

 

Ok I merged the two threads together since the other one didn't really belong in the coupe section.

I see in this thread you posted that you previously owned the 240, 260, 280, 300.

This car is very similar. The 350Z (Z33) was the next iteration of the Z car, it was built on the Nissan front midship platform that was shared with the G35 (V35), internally the chassis is referred to at the "Z33 and V35 chassis". The Z car was 8" shorter overall but other than that the parts were almost 100% completely interchangeable aside from the interior differences, same powertrain in both vehicles, same suspension, heck even the exhaust was interchangeable with an 8" spacer added if you wanted it on the G35.

The 350Z started out with the VQ35DE engine same as the G35, later it got the VQ35DE REV-UP engine which was also used in the G35, next came the VQ35HR engine which is the same that the 2007-2008 G35 sedan came equipped with when the G switched to the V36 platform in 2007.

The Z car then got it's next generational improvement to the Z34 chassis sold as the 370Z, the G35 was renamed to the G37 and both cars came equipped with the VQ37VHR engine, the G37 continued to use the V36 chassis until 2017 (later named the Infiniti Q50 and Q60) when it switched to the V37 chassis. The 370Z is still built on the Z34 chassis.

I hope this helps explain the correlation between the two and why the G is considered a sports car / sports sedan.

 

Your knowledge on these cars is amazing. Thanks again for sharing your expertise.

I have never done any mods so this is the first time learning.... muffler delete = performance mod
I'm actually getting to like this loud noise during acceleration. It makes me feel younger like a high school kid.
My concern was that the loud noise would get me in trouble with the cop.

 

Well to be fair a muffler delete on MOST cars is incredibly raspy and harsh, on the 2007-2008 G35 sedan however it doesn't sound bad at all. As long as it has the factory catalytic converters and factory resonator, if it has high flow cats, or test pipes, or if they also deleted the resonator in the middle then it will probably be too raspy and sound bad.

 

I tested the clutch using your method: "Get on the highway at cruising speed in 6th gear and punch the throttle wide open, if there is a little jump in rpm but the speedometer doesn't match 100% then the clutch is starting to slip. Typically it starts as a little jump in rpm then the speedo "catches up" and it gets progressively worse over time."
It looks like the clutch is getting near its end of life and needs to be replaced soon.

I plan on getting the parts and have my regular auto mechanic to replace it for me. please let me know what parts I need and where to order them. I also like to have smooth and precise gear shifting. So besides replacing the clutch, are there other transmission parts that I should replace at the same time?

Thank you for your advice.

 

Usually a clutch kit will NOT come with the throwout bearing and pilot bushing for the crankshaft, the HR motor uses a concentric slave cylinder with a built in throwout bearing. Since you likely are going to be using a stock style clutch and not getting a racing clutch you're fine with the OEM concentric one. It has a pretty high failure rate on people using a really stiff pressure plate for high power applications and they make a delete kit for it but you don't need that.

If you want to retain that "oem stock feel" that it's got right now you MUST get an OEM-style dual mass flywheel. A lot of kits are going to try to sell you a single mass flywheel, it's cheaper getting a single mass but it won't feel the same, it will definitely feel more racecar and not nearly as smooth since there's less inertia to transfer into the transmission and no dampening from the dual mass section. Plus there will be varying degrees of clutch chatter with a single mass and that doesn't sound like what you're trying to do with this car.

There isn't really anything you need to upgrade, the stock equipment is very well matched to the application, you should get a price at your local Nissan/Infiniti for the components needed as well as cross checking those part numbers against online Infiniti parts dealerships like www.infinitipartsonline.com which is just the storefront for a dealership in Arizona.

Then compare against reputable aftermarket manufacturers like Exedy and Luk.

A final thought about the dual mass flywheel however, the stock springs are notorious for failing in basically every DMFW, look up how one works and you'll see why. Single mass flywheels are definitely more reliable and longer lasting and you can get them in close to the same total weight as the stock DMFW which helps with the inertia problem you typically find in lightweight single mass ones.

They are also SIGNIFICANTLY less expensive, I'm betting the OEM flywheel is about $800 and a LUK aftermarket one will probably be half that price. A single mass flywheel is usually closer to $250.

The complete clutch kit with a LUK flywheel, an exedy or LUK clutch/pressure plate, a CSC throwout bearing and the pilot bushing will probably be around $800 worth of parts.

Check out what prices are like on Partsgeek, they're pretty reputable and I know they're a LUK/Exedy vendor.

You should also seriously consider replacing the clutch master cylinder, it typically will not last through a second clutch and since the mechanic is already going to tear apart that system might as well DO IT ALL.

 

In the original post, I incorrectly stated Right subframe leaking. Called the dealer and they said it was the Rear subframe bushing leaking. $2800 to replace it 🥴

is there a less costly option to fix this bushing leak?

 

I'm guessing they are talking about the rear differential bushing, I don't think the subframe bushings themselves are goo-filled.

Basically what that bushing is, the rear differential has 3 mounting points, two forward bolts/bushings that go up into the subframe and a stud sticking out the rear of the diff that goes through the leaking bushing in the subframe to keep the differential from twisting under load. Basically what "traction bars" did on older solid axle muscle cars. The OEM bushing is filled with a hydraulic goo to keep noise/vibration/harshness from the differential from being felt in the chassis but it's a very poor design considering how much load is applied to it.

Pretty much everyone ends up replacing that rear diff bushing with a polyurethane one, it is a performance improvement but it's a LOT more effective than the OEM goo-filled one. There is a very minimal amount of increased NVH and it's worth it, the rear feels so much better with a poly since there is practically zero differential twist and a poly bushing will last the life of the vehicle. Typically they are sold as a kit to replace the front two large bushings that are pressed into the diff housing as well but those are less prone to failure. Personally I would do all 3 since it's only about 30 minutes more work to drive out the front two bushings and put in poly ones.



You should verify with the dealership that this is indeed the bushing that's leaking, here is where it's located on the vehicle. It's not a difficult repair but it is a little time consuming, the first one I did was probably 6 hours, you should probably have an independent reputable shop install the bushing rather than the dealership (someone who specializes in performance upgrades) but get a quote from the dealership for cost of install if you provide the aftermarket bushing.



You can see in that picture that the bushing ruptured and dripped all the goo out, this is typically what you look for to see if that bushing is blown, you can look under your car and verify this for yourself too but sometimes if the underside of the car has been thoroughly washed/scrubbed there won't be anything visible like that photo.

If you don't want to jack up the car to check you can lay down and reach under the car with your phone to take a picture of it.

Here is an edited version of an earlier picture in the thread with the location circled.

 

As for what brand to get, the most popular ones are Whiteline and the Z1 Motorsports bushings. I'm biased towards Z1 Motorsports I've bought a LOT of stuff from them over the years and they make some quality components.

https://www.z1motorsports.com/z1-pro...s-p-10356.html

You can see how the differential is sort of buried up in the subframe and will need to have the CV axles unbolted, driveshaft, exhaust mid pipes, sway bar, etc. It's not a difficult replacement but it's a lot of stuff that needs to be done so you'll have a few hours of labor tied up in it.

 

Is there anything that you don't know about the G35 ? :-)

 

Sure, I just learned that the coil pack boots come off and can be replaced separately from the coil There is ALWAYS more to learn.

Most of this stuff is actually fairly basic information once you're familiar with the platform.

Some day when you want it to go faster get a good dual cold air intake system, high flow catalytic converters, and an Uprev tune.