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New Purchase - 2001 Infiniti QX4


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I picked up a 2001 Infiniti QX4 and am looking for tips on what to look for in terms of maintenance and upgrading for offroading. This is my second QX4 (previous was a 2000 with the 3.0 that I trashed off road. Seriously. Picture being stuck in a lake bed for 8 hours in August in FL. Plus more.) and my 3rd Pathfinder overall counting my old R51 with 2" of lift on 33's. I can say I am pleasantly surprised by the 3.5 in this vehicle as compared to the 4.0. It's not the same, but it's very enjoyable. My biggest questions is, what should I be on the look out for?

 

Currently, I have a rear main seal leak and another oil leak to track down. The passenger HID does not work, even with new bulbs. I haven't diagnosed the ballast with a mulitmeter yet, but I am almost positive it's Headlamp Battery Saving Control Unit that's creating an issue based off of the symptoms. I am also getting a burning/ rubber smell occasionally. My work keeps me busy enough I haven't had time to really dig into the issues yet (owned for 3 days). Everything else is in fantastic condition. 

 

 

As far as future lift is concerned, I will be piecing together and welding my own sub frame drop and rear lift. I am on the fence for WJ coils or AC coils and spacers for the rear. I am looking to run 285/75r16 Maxxis Bighorns / Buckshot II on 4.5 inches of  lift. I may try to build my own coilovers out of Bilstein 5100's for the front and use matching shocks for the rear. Next option is KYB  shocks and spacers. I have a Warn 10k winch already and would like to run it as well. 

 

Looking for thoughts, tips, and tricks for the 3.5 LE / QX4's. First priority is maintenance issues then lift. 

 

Otherwise, glad to be here and look forward to hearing from you guys. 

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First off...you need to service the powervalve screws by backing them out and applying loctite to them. There’s a known issue where they can fall into the motor and cause catastrophic damage. The iacv gasket should also be replaced to avoid frying the ecu. Also....join the npora Facebook group. Far more activity on There. As far as rear coils....I’d go with wj coils or Land Rover coils. Depending on which Land Rover coils you get they will net you anywhere from 2 to four inches and are muuuuuch cheaper than ac with similar spring rates. If you’re gonna do an sfd....you won’t need front spacers as you’ll be building steel spacers as part of the sfd. Ac coils would work just fine for the front and lots of people use them with up to 6 inches of total lift 

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Hi, I just purchased 2001 QX4 in January. The car was in decent condition but I performed the maintenance just for peach of mind. Here's some items that needed work on mine:

 

-Oil Cooler Leak - Needs a new ring seal. <12 dollar part that you can find on amazon and a 15 minute job. 

-Replace all differential fluids and transfer case fluid

-New coolant, air filter, & oil change obv

-Replace trailing arm upper/lower - pretty easy job

-Cam position sensors were throwing a code - replaced both 160 dollars and 10 minute job

-Rear Glass Struts - lot of people don't notice that this, 30 bucks on amazon 5 minute job

-Replace the serpentine belts - bought the 2001 pathfinder specifically to avoid timing belt issues

-New coils in the rear, struts in the front, and shocks in rear when lift was put in

-Replaced brake pads in front, new drums and shoes in rear, regreased the wheel bearings and then added warn hubs

-Replaced interior lights with LEDs both roof lights and lights behind center console & clock

-Added refrigerant

-replaced fuel filter - cheap part and easy job as its an in-line fuel filter so you don't need to remove the fuel pump at all

-Replaced the spare and got new AT tires and wheels all around

-

Future Plans

-Oil Leak from Valve Cover Gasket - plan to fix in the future but advisable to replace Knock Sensor, PCV valve, IACV gasket while you're at it

-Coolant hoses and water pump - keeping spares and waiting until failure

-Adding a hitch for a tow point

-Rocksliders

-Probably upgrade from 31inch tires to 32


Hope this is helpful.

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6 hours ago, abhavsar said:

Hi, I just purchased 2001 QX4 in January. The car was in decent condition but I performed the maintenance just for peach of mind. Here's some items that needed work on mine:

 

-Oil Cooler Leak - Needs a new ring seal. <12 dollar part that you can find on amazon and a 15 minute job. 

-Replace all differential fluids and transfer case fluid

-New coolant, air filter, & oil change obv

-Replace trailing arm upper/lower - pretty easy job

-Cam position sensors were throwing a code - replaced both 160 dollars and 10 minute job

-Rear Glass Struts - lot of people don't notice that this, 30 bucks on amazon 5 minute job

-Replace the serpentine belts - bought the 2001 pathfinder specifically to avoid timing belt issues

-New coils in the rear, struts in the front, and shocks in rear when lift was put in

-Replaced brake pads in front, new drums and shoes in rear, regreased the wheel bearings and then added warn hubs

-Replaced interior lights with LEDs both roof lights and lights behind center console & clock

-Added refrigerant

-replaced fuel filter - cheap part and easy job as its an in-line fuel filter so you don't need to remove the fuel pump at all

-Replaced the spare and got new AT tires and wheels all around

-

Future Plans

-Oil Leak from Valve Cover Gasket - plan to fix in the future but advisable to replace Knock Sensor, PCV valve, IACV gasket while you're at it

-Coolant hoses and water pump - keeping spares and waiting until failure

-Adding a hitch for a tow point

-Rocksliders

-Probably upgrade from 31inch tires to 32


Hope this is helpful.

very nice! let see it

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Here it is! Still a big work in progress but it cleaned up really well for something I picked up for 1800 bucks. I also own a 2014 3.7L Mustang but my QX4 is way more reliable. 1201826617_Qx4Pic(1).thumb.jpg.ba9b1a358727b9c8d05d1e45a02b62bf.jpg

Edited by abhavsar
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22 hours ago, abhavsar said:

Here it is! Still a big work in progress but it cleaned up really well for something I picked up for 1800 bucks. I also own a 2014 3.7L Mustang but my QX4 is way more reliable. 

 

Man 1800 for that... is nice. I got mine for 19 and it ddnt have racks or nice wheels... good find.

 

 

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56 minutes ago, theApex said:

 

Man 1800 for that... is nice. I got mine for 19 and it ddnt have racks or nice wheels... good find.

 

 


Thank you! It was actually bone stock when I bought it. Was used by as a Mall Crawler. It was throwing a code for a camshaft position sensor and the guy who owned it before me took it to the dealer and they quoted him 1300 to replace both sensor and solenoids which is why he was selling it since he couldn't get it smogged with the code. He wanted 2200, I offered 1600 we agreed on 1800. 10 minutes and a $80 sensor from O'reillys later and the code was gone. All other mods were done by me. Probably put in 3000 in maintenance and mods including lift, wheels tires, etc but it runs like a dream, knock on wood. 

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