Help 1997 Q45

[devinkw]

I need some help guys well just some good advice. I have my mother hand down 1997 Infiniti q45 which she bought as a lease return in 1999. She owns 2003 q45 which runs perfect however mines is giving some problems.

It has 155,530 miles on it and my Mechanic says that I need to replace my Knock sense which he claims will cost $1500 to replace in addition to that I think the transmission is slipping and the cars is kinda sluggish to take off but then sometimes it takes off like a rocket. Also the car had a major oil leak which is causing my timing chain to make ticking noise however the car still runs in relatively okay condition considering all that has happen . And the power steering is leaking in addition to the speakers one side of the car is starting to go out. And to be honest I have not been putting 91 octane in the car.

Please someone tell me what I need to do to make the care last for 4 years or more I am college student and I really don't want to buy a new car right now plus I am one the few kids in college with a car this nice and would like to keep because the girls love it lol .

So someone please tell me what type of repairs should I do to put the car in showroom condition and how much should I expect to spend.

Thanks guys

[Infinitiexpert]

You should perform a transmission service first, that should be inexpensive.

Now with the sluggish problem it is the knock sensor, but the quote you got from the mechanic is way to expensive. The sensors are about $200 each,and the labor shouldn't be more than 5 hrs.

[devinkw]

Now what about this timing chain and the ticking noise its making how much will it cost to fix that and what parts will I need?

[Infinitiexpert]

I don't see how an oil leak can cause the timing chain to make noise, there are other components that will go bad and make noise before the timing chain, like the lifters or VTC valve, but I can't tell you what it is until I heard the noise.

[devinkw]

Well the car was running on no oil so thats why the mechanic said the timing chain went bad

[dranobob]

InifinitExpert is well the expert around here, but my first advice would be get a second opinion. If the second mechanic (without you mentioning the first mechanics recommendations) says the same thing...then you'll know.