Help: my car sucks

I drive a 2001 Infiniti G20t and recently moved to NY. Got the vehicle insured and registered in NY and needed to get it inspected. The inspection never happened. My car had its check engine light on for awhile and in order to pass the inspection, we had to clear that light. The repair place said the light was on because there was leakage at the fuel filler neck. They tried fixing it, but it didn't work - they had to replace it.

Here's where it became frustrating. They couldn't use an after market part for it; they needed to get the replacement from Infiniti to fix it. They told us that it would take 3 to 6 days for the part to come and would call when they get the part. By now the 10 day period for getting the inspection has passed. We patiently waited like 10 days before we called them and the guy says he will look to see if they got the part and call us back. He didn't call us back that day. A few days later (cuz we forgot about it too) I called the guy back and he says he might not be able to get the part because it's a dealer only thing and told me to call back in two days. So I called him back two days later and he says I'd have to take the car to the dealer to get it fixed because the dealer won't send them the part. The nearest Infiniti dealer is in Syracuse, like 1 hour 30 mins away.

It might have been the hormones due to my pregnancy, but I broke down and cried. Rufledt's stupid 1987 van passed with flying colors despite having way more issues than my car and my car couldn't just because of that stupid check engine light!

So I called the dealership yesterday and asked if they had the part and could replace it. I was willing to drive 1 hour and 30 minutes way to get this stupid car legal on the road. They had to order the part since it's not a common repair they do so they had to check before letting me know how much it was gonna cost me. The guy called me back to say that the part was NO LONGER AVAILABLE.

ARE YOU FRICKIN KIDDING ME? They don't have parts for a 2001 vehicle? This is ridiculous!

So Rufledt has come up with a few ideas: 1) JB weld and hope the light goes off 2) Junkyards - maybe we'll find the part off a abandoned infinito G20 3) order the part from a Nissan dealer from UK or something - the car was sold as Nissan Primera in other countries 4) Lastly, get a used car - BUT we are really tight on the budget and the trade in value on my car would be nearly nothing since it's so beat up (not my fault - previous owner had it for 10 years before I got it and they lived in MA) and has a rusty part that can't be replaced, making it permanently fail inspections.

I wanna cry

Do you guys have any suggestions or know of any junkyard we could find the part from? I drove the car today because I needed to get the glucose test done and on my way back home after grocery shopping, I got pulled over and got a ticket for not getting the car inspected. I don't want to drive my car anymore, not like this.

GRM, help me!!

Leakage how at the filler neck?

Yeah, I'd want/need more info on the real problem. Most times when they fail that test its just a bad gas cap. Try another local shop, hopefully one with a good reputation, this should be fixable.

5) Find out exactly which part needs replacing and if it's due to rust damage, see if one of the frequent junkyard visitors out West can get you one?

There's a good chance that if the part is NLA in the US, it's NLA in the UK, too.

duct tape it.. it's just gotta seal long enough to clear the light long enough to pass the inspection.

Also Infiniti is another name for Nissan and the G20 is a Nissan overseas and likely uses the same part there.

Or hit up car-part.com to find one at a local yard to grab one from.

Sorry I wasn't totally clear - the repair guy said the fuel filler neck needed to be replaced. It was leaking. He tried cleaning, tightening and sealing the gas cap but the check engine light came back on again. He did a smoke test and found out the fuel filler neck was leaking.

wire brush and JB weld the crap out of it... with a layer of duct tape just because.

a shop might not want to do stuff like this because of liability or because they don't want to get a reputation as a shop that hacks things, but you should have no such concerns doing it at home.

Do you know what codes the ECU is throwing? What is a smoke test?

Jb weld fixes everything.

clownkiller wrote: Do you know what codes the ECU is throwing? What is a smoke test?

a smoke test is when they use a smoke machine (clever name, eh?) that pressurizes the fuel system with smoke to help you locate leaks. that's what that port on a plastic line somewhere under your hood with a green cap on it that says "do not exceed 5 psi (or whatever the actual number is)" is for...

I have some JB weld, I just gotta wait until I have some time to look at it, probably not until the weekend, though, and winter is coming!

In reply to novaderrik: Learned something new today! I do the same test on sewers systems with a smoke bomb, and a pressure fan.

fun!

Take it to another shop. In states like New Jersey they're run by State cops; in NY any repair shop that qualifies can be an Inspector. Not all have the same ethics.

novaderrik wrote:

clownkiller wrote: Do you know what codes the ECU is throwing? What is a smoke test?

a smoke test is when they use a smoke machine (clever name, eh?) that pressurizes the fuel system with smoke to help you locate leaks. that's what that port on a plastic line somewhere under your hood with a green cap on it that says "do not exceed 5 psi (or whatever the actual number is)" is for...

They also use them for detecting leaks in window seals/general interior leaks. IIRC, Edd used one on Wheeler Dealers.

I had this happen on a friend's car and JB weld is the answer. Look for a rusty section of the pipe and there are probably pinholes where fuel vapors are leaking out. Wire brush the area, and slather a nice layer of JB weld over the area and it should be patched up enough to keep the light off. Look over the rest of the car while you are down there to make sure the rust isn't eating anything important like brake and fuel lines.

I'm in LA (hence the screen name). I have to go to the boneyard for my stepdaughter's Corolla so let me know what's needed with a picture and the plain Nissan equivalent years and models and I'll see if I can scare up what you need. You can reimburse me through my PayPal account and pay for shipping as well.

914Driver wrote: Take it to another shop. In states like New Jersey they're run by State cops; in NY any repair shop that qualifies can be an Inspector. Not all have the same ethics.

Nj privatised their inspection process ten years ago

I should get out more, obviously NJ isn't on my list of top 10.

Sounds like an evap leak, my wife's explorer has the same issue. I would try the JB wels/duct tape and if that fails replace with a used part. Maybe try ebay if the local wrecking yards don't have what you need.

Join G20.net - they have a car part out section that will have a lot of cars on the surgeons table, ready to donate parts. Often, these cars are from the south/west and have a LOT less rust than a northern example.

turboswede wrote: Also Infiniti is another name for Nissan and the G20 is a Nissan overseas and likely uses the same part there. Or hit up car-part.com to find one at a local yard to grab one from.

FYI in other countries, the Nissan version is a Nissan Primera. You are looking for the P11 model (P10 was 91-98, 99+ is P11)

Has this part shown up yet ? If not I'll start looking around here. But please don't cry again

Skip the duct tape and use the foil type. You can get it in the heating dept at home depot etc.