Posts in Year 2022

Drive Belts & Pulleys Replacement on the Infiniti G35 Coupe

Since the day I purchased the Infiniti G35 Coupe, there was a belt squeal on cold starts that would go away after a minute of the engine getting warm and would not appear until the next cold start. After some research, I found that it was due to the main drive belt not being tight enough.

The previous owner had replaced the alternator before my purchase, but had used his uncalibrated thumb to test for the belt tension. I wanted to make sure that the belts were new and proactively decided to replace the idler pulleys as well. This post talks about how to do that. If you just want to check and adjust the belt tension, you can skip to the last section.

This job is actually relatively easy, and can be done within an hour or two if you have the parts available. However, my car has some rust and the adjustment bolts needed replacement, which delayed the process for me.

Lower Oil Pan Replacement on the Infiniti G35 Coupe

I did another oil change on the Infiniti G35 Coupe but the oil leak that was happening from the oil pan drain bolt did not stop, despite replacing it with a new washer. So it was time to replace the lower oil pan so that the oil leak would stop.

This job is actually very easy, and can be done within an hour if you have the parts available.

Fix CEL codes P1128 and P1130 Boxster by cleaning MAF Sensor

The Porsche Boxster S started showing a check engine light (CEL) in May. I used an OBD2 code reader and saw that the codes were P1128 and P1130.

Luckily for me, there was an article in the May-June Porsche Club of America magazine (Figure 1) that mentioned this exact issue in their tech Q&A section.

Turns out it is related to the intake, and the easiest test is to clean and/or replace the mass air flow (MAF) sensor. Since a new MAF sensor is about $150-$270, I decided to clean it first to see if that fixed the issue.

However, based on other research it could also be an evap leak but this post is about the MAF sensor cleaning.

19 inch Wheels Install, Bucket Seats and Window Tinting

Over the last two weekends, I did a few important changes to the Infiniti G35 coupe. The original coupe came with a set of 20 inch aftermarket wheels and tires (Figure 1). So I procured the original 19 inch Forged Rays (Figure 6) from a seller about a hundred miles away a few months ago for $450, through Craigslist, which was a bargain. As you can see in Figure 7 that the 19 inch wheels look pretty good too.

Moreover, I also procured a pair of reclining racing bucket seats (Figure 9) made by Procar by Scat for about $280 on Facebook Marketplace. However, someone pointed out that these were knockoffs so I did feel a bit cheated! :( Oh well! These seats were in a Chevrolet Chevelle, so at least the brackets and sliders that came with it can be sold for something, and they look original since the part numbers are engraved on them.

To make myself happy, I decided to get the windows tinted on the car. I had been waiting for a while and feeling lazy to get it done and this Memorial day weekend I paid about $275 to get it done. 20% tint on the driver and passenger windows (Figure 8a), and 5% tint on the rear windshield (Figure 8b) and the strip on the front windshield (Figure 8c).

First Autocross in the Miata in 2022

I went for an autocross in the Miata today in the Norther New Jersey SCCA (NNJR-SCCA) club at Metlife Stadium.

I found the course to be more difficult than the earlier courses and it had several sharp turns. My performance (Figure 3) was not as well as I had hoped as I came last in my class.

Getting a Rebuilt Title for the Porsche Boxster 986

I procured the Porsche Boxster with a salvage title on Copart as described in an earlier post. The car had a big dent and a broken tail light and in the pre-COVID-19 pricing era, the insurance company decided to total it and sell it for salvage.

However, nothing much was wrong with it as you may have read in the several earlier posts and I fixed most of the dent and paid a mobile body shop to fix the rest. Once that was done, the car was ready to go through the process that is for converting a salvage title to a rebuilt title in the state of New Jersey. A rebuilt title is a clean or standard title with one of the fields mentioning that the car had a salvage title earlier. The process to get this is pretty simple but slightly expensive.

Coolant Pump (Water Pump) Replacement on Porsche Boxster 986

In an earlier post I demonstrated how to go about testing for coolant leaks. I initially detected a cracked hose but even after temporarily sealing it with JB Weld and conducting the pressure test again, the system still leaked at the same spot. After discussing with 986forum members, I decided to try changing the water pump, thermostat, replacing the main hoses near the engine and change the serpentine belt anyway. This would remove all the issues and would make the system as good as new. This post describes the water pump and thermostat replacement process.

Boxster 986 Parts Catalog

To download the parts catalog of your favorite Porsche vehicle you can visit https://www.porsche.com/usa/accessoriesandservices/classic/genuineparts/originalpartscatalogue/ and select the model of your Porsche.

I selected the Boxster (986) and 1997 - 2004 values in the form and hit the DISPLAY button, as shown in Figure 1 below, which downloads a PDF.

I am mirroring the PDF here in case it disappears.

Moreover, I am also mirroring the radio CDR-220 manual here.

Perform Coolant Leak Test on the Boxster

Since buying the Porsche Boxster S, I had not done a coolant flush. After driving it for about 1200 miles in the last 2 years, one day I saw the engine overheating light blink on the dash. Turns out there was a major coolant leak and it was causing the engine to overheat. The Boxster has 142,000 miles on it and the leak meant several possible things &emdash; damaged hoses, failing water pump or cracked coolant tank.

To determine the correct cause of the coolant leak, I needed to conduct a coolant pressure test. This post demonstrates how easy this test is and how to go about doing it.

Oil Change on 4th gen. Toyota 4Runner V6

I purchased a 2008 Toyota 4Runner Limited (4th generation) with the 4.0L V6 engine, in June 2021, to replace my aging and failing 2005 Dodge Ram 1500. In the five years I owned the Ram 1500, I never towed anything. I did use the truck to carry some large and heavy loads but that is so rare for me now, that if you run the numbers it is cheaper to rent a truck from Home Depot for that purpose. So I went with a 4Runner with a V6 engine, since I have always wanted one and unlike a 5th generation Runner it had the multi-mode 4WD with locking and unlocking center differential. I also have never been off-roading and hope to go someday this year with the 4Runner.

I had driven it about 5000 miles in 8 months and it was time to do an oil change, since the oil change MAINT light was blinking on the dash. This post outlines how to do the oil change in a V6 4th generation 4Runner and it is very simple.

Debadging Emblem on Infiniti G35 Coupe

In an earlier post we plastidipped the front grille and emblem on the Infiniti G35 coupe. To apply plastidip on the rear emblem, I first decided to debadge the car trunk. This was done in case I did not want to put the plastidipped emblem back on the trunk. This post quickly describes how to debadge a car so you can plastidip the logos correctly.