1997 Infiniti Q45
Asked by Bryce Jul 13, 2016 at 10:25 PM about the 1997 INFINITI Q45 RWD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
So there is a guy trying to sell this 97 Q45 says he is willing
to sell it to me for $200 says the only issue is he drove it
with low oil and apparently it shut off on him and he says it
is a safety features in the infinitis that stop your engine
from blowing up. Since I don't know much about these cars
I was wondering if this is true or not and if not what would
cause it to shut off and also he hasn't tried to start it again
since it shut off and hasn't changed the oil or even tried to
drive it any advice from anyone?
6 Answers
Not true. Drive any car without oil and your turning that motor into a boat anchor. Most motors will shut off when they overheat, which is what I suspect happened to this engine. Then again, the knock sensor may have shut the motor down, and one of the thing a knock sensor measures is timing, and timing will suffer in a motor lacking oil. When you run a motor for any length of time with low oil, you will get a lot of carbon deposits, sludge, and gunk in an engine. Those won't go away just by topping off on oil again, especially in small tight oil passages. So if, and I mean IF, this motor does run again after checking it over and topping off all fluids, it will likely have a much shorter life. BUT that isn't reason alone to pass on this deal. If the body and interior are decent, you can always drop a new replacement engine in there. For 200 bucks, this is still a good deal. Just remember, anyone who runs a motor on low or no oil and is this blasé about it, is likely a knucklehead and did no maintenance whatsoever. Figure the trans was also run on low fluid, and the car needs a lot of other servicing and plan accordingly.
Would it be worth it to drop the motor and put a new one in and how difficult would it be?
That depends on the body and interior. If it's nice, then yes it's worth it. But before going straight to the replacement engine, you may be able to save this one, it needs to be gone over by a mechanic, it may need a tear down and rebuild, or it may need a good degunking and oil treatment. Difficulty really depends on your experience level with handling what may become a big project car.
If it has been run low on oil it is probably toast. Keep in mind that Infiniti parts are damned expensive and may be difficult to find for a 19 year old vehicle.
At $200, I would suggest that depending on your financial situation, you have little to lose. Keep in mind however, that if the vehicle is in bad enough shape that the current owner is willing to let it go for such a pittance, there is likely a long list of additional, as yet uncovered "needs" that you'll need to shell out for in the short and long term. The second generation is a great car and if you can find a well-maintained, low-mileage example, they are a tremendous value when compared to their Lexus and Acura counterparts of the same era: smooth, quiet, powerful V8 engine, lots of standard features, great interior, and generally reliable. You can pay nearly twice as much for an LS400 of the same vintage, condition and mileage; and an RL only has a V6 and is not nearly as luxurious, IMHO. But these cars are rare, so parts can be expensive and the market for aftermarket parts is slim.