New guy with questions.

[jblountak]

Hi all,

My wife and I just picked up a 2010 QX56 4x4 over the weekend. It has 140K on it, and is a little rough around the edges, but for the most part in good condition. There are a couple issues, that I have questions about though.

first: The trim in the drivers side headlight that normally covers the parking light has fallen out of place and is sitting in front of the low beam...is there anyway to fix this without baking the headlight apart or buying a new one?

Second: The steering has a bit of a vibration at speed, are there any steering components that wear out faster than others, or at the age/mileage is that just to be expected?

Third: The air suspension in the rear is completely collapsed, and the compressor doesn't come on...Is the compressor usually the culprit in this situation or is the ride height sensor more likely the cause? (There is no check suspension light on.)

Fourth: I usually like to add a transmission cooler to vehicles of this age...is there a preferred cooler for these rigs?

Finally: Does anyone know of a plug and play remote start for the 56? I'm not afraid of wiring, but on something with this many gadgets, and can-bus system, I would prefer a plug and play as opposed to splicing wires.

Thanks.

I also found yesterday, that the button for the front and rear sonar sensors is always flashing...I'm guessing a sensor went bad?

 

[marctronixx]

1. Hard to visualize without a photo over the internet. A new part may be the best way.
2. Has the car been aligned? Tires road forced balanced ?
3. Hard to say over the internet. Bags/hoses could be rotted, compressor could be faulty. Fuse? Wiring? Have you done any inspection on the system?
4. Since the car has the tow package, i think theres a tranny cooler already on board. I dont have any info on what brand of cooler..
Finally: theres a couple out there. Viper have one for example. A local radio shop can recommend.
Bonus: yep sensor could be faulty. Wiring could have issues. Have you looked at the obd port for any trouble codes?

Private sale? Did you know of all these issues prior to purchase? Owner have any maintenance records?

 

[jrm5f2]

1. Hard to visualize without a photo over the internet. A new part may be the best way.
2. Has the car been aligned? Tires road forced balanced ?
3. Hard to say over the internet. Bags/hoses could be rotted, compressor could be faulty. Fuse? Wiring? Have you done any inspection on the system?
4. Since the car has the tow package, i think theres a tranny cooler already on board. I dont have any info on what brand of cooler..
Finally: theres a couple out there. Viper have one for example. A local radio shop can recommend.
Bonus: yep sensor could be faulty. Wiring could have issues. Have you looked at the obd port for any trouble codes?

Private sale? Did you know of all these issues prior to purchase? Owner have any maintenance records?

I second all of the above!
For the remote start there is a company called Fortin you can look into. I use them for my 2011 QX56 it is a true plug in and play. The only wire I hade to splice was the wire to the Start/ Stop button. It comes with a computer that communicates with car that you can program to your liking. This system can use the original key fob or any other key fob you want to use.

 

[jblountak]

1. Hard to visualize without a photo over the internet. A new part may be the best way.
2. Has the car been aligned? Tires road forced balanced ?
3. Hard to say over the internet. Bags/hoses could be rotted, compressor could be faulty. Fuse? Wiring? Have you done any inspection on the system?
4. Since the car has the tow package, i think theres a tranny cooler already on board. I dont have any info on what brand of cooler..
Finally: theres a couple out there. Viper have one for example. A local radio shop can recommend.
Bonus: yep sensor could be faulty. Wiring could have issues. Have you looked at the obd port for any trouble codes?

Private sale? Did you know of all these issues prior to purchase? Owner have any maintenance records?

Thanks for the reply: Since I first posted, I have gotten in touch with lightwerkz in NJ, and they can fix the headlight issue for around $200...so much better than a new assembly for $1200.

The car hasn't been aligned, but looks like it could use one, so I'm thinking the shimmy is an alignment or balance issue...I am planning on slowly replacing all the bushings and wear items in the steering and suspension, just to freshen up the car anyway.

I didn't think to start at the fuse, I always have a tendency to jump to the worst case problem instead of starting at the simplest...I haven't started trouble shooting the air suspension yet, however I am figuring out what parts I need to replace the plastic hard lines with braided stainless air lines just to eliminate one of the points of failure in the system.

Good to know on the trans cooler...I will probably still replace it with a more efficient one, but it makes it that much easier if all the plumbing is already there and I just have to swap out coolers. (Mine does have the tow package)

I actually found out from the PO the other day that the truck already has a remote start system installed.

As for the sensor...I haven't started troubleshooting this yet either, but I'll have to get the laptop plugged into the truck soon and see what I can turn up.

I bought the truck from a family member who disclosed all the issues they knew about, but they aren't very technically inclined so most of the issues they were unaware of. They have always had the truck serviced at an Infiniti or Nissan dealer, and I do need to see if they still have records of the maintenance...I'm not complaining about the condition of the truck...they had the dealer put on a whole new exhaust system, oil change, and new drive belt before they sold it to me, and they basically sold it to me for $500 over the cost of the service.

______________________________

 

[keg97]

For #2- check the shocks. Many of us had "bump steer" that was fixed when we changed out the front shocks to Bilsteins. We replaced them at 30K or so and the problem was fixed.

 

[marctronixx]

agree on bilsteins!!!! they are the TRUTH!!

 

[jblountak]

1. Hard to visualize without a photo over the internet. A new part may be the best way.
2. Has the car been aligned? Tires road forced balanced ?
3. Hard to say over the internet. Bags/hoses could be rotted, compressor could be faulty. Fuse? Wiring? Have you done any inspection on the system?
4. Since the car has the tow package, i think theres a tranny cooler already on board. I dont have any info on what brand of cooler..
Finally: theres a couple out there. Viper have one for example. A local radio shop can recommend.
Bonus: yep sensor could be faulty. Wiring could have issues. Have you looked at the obd port for any trouble codes?

Private sale? Did you know of all these issues prior to purchase? Owner have any maintenance records?

Sorry, I responded to this, but the response never showed up. So attempt #2 here we go.

1: I talked with one of the more well known headlight modification shops, and they quoted me $200 + shipping to repair the headlight...so a lot better than $1200 for a new assembly.

2: I do think the alignment & wheel balance is off (especially the way the rear tires are cambered from the air suspension being flat.) So that is likely where I will start, but I do plan on slowly replacing most of the bushings/mounts in the truck as they are all fairly old at this point.

3: This situation has changed, as I hooked the truck up to a trailer the other day, and heard the compressor come on...However, the suspension didn't raise at all, so new bags & lines it is. I think I'm going to try and get a set of custom braided stainless air lines made, to eliminate one source of failure for the system.

4: Thanks for the info on the system. Since asking, I've found an online parts diagram, that does show a decent sized transmission cooler from the factory...I may still upgrade it, but this had moved further down the priority list.

5: I talked with the previous owner, and found out that the truck already has a remote start system installed...so no longer an issue

6: I haven't tried tracing this down yet...I did find out that the obdII reader I use has a Nissan/Infiniti expansion that I can buy for $75, that will give me access to those sensors, icc system, air ride system...basically all the modules that the factory techs can access; I just can't write into those modules...so I'll probably buy that at some point.

7: NEW PROBLEM - The cruise control system completely stopped functioning. both green and orange lights stay on whenever the cruise system is turned on. I went through the cruise self diagnosis procedure and got codes 20, 12, & 103. 20 is a Can-Bus error, 12 is a VDC control unit error, and 103 is laser sensor fail error. I reset the codes, and #20 came back immediately, but I haven't tried the cruise control since resetting the codes so they may all come back. Does anyone know if I unplug the laser sensor if the system will default to normal cruise? I've got a 12 hour drive in about a week, and would like some form of cruise control...

As for the previous owners...I bought the truck from a family member who upgraded to a brand new qx80. The truck was always dealer maintained, but the previous owner isn't very mechanically inclined, so they didn't know any of these problems existed. They did put a brand new exhaust system on the truck before we bought it, and sold the truck to us for $500 over the price of the service, so we got a great deal...Now I just need to fix up the stuff that has been neglected.

 

[marctronixx]

The CANBUS is serial in nature so if you disconnected the FLIR (laser) it should still cause the system to not work.

There is a procedure in the manual that you can do to use the cruise as the standard ‘dumb’ cruise, which is what youre asking. Maybe try that.

______________________________

 

[keg97]

The ICC cruise didn't work for us in our 08 for the last year or two. Wasn't worth the $$$ to even look at it.

 

[BlackQX56-2010]

For #2- check the shocks. Many of us had "bump steer" that was fixed when we changed out the front shocks to Bilsteins. We replaced them at 30K or so and the problem was fixed.

Which Bilsteins did you use? I have a 2010 as well, and my area has notoriously bad freeways. I get a little jump on several of the bridge joints, and I've seen a few comments recommending Bilsteins to fix it, but there are a few part #'s that fit.