front drive shaft failing, part discontinued?

zeph

zeph

Member
Car
2005 FX35 AWD
My 2005 FX35 AWD (<190k miles) is near senior-citizen status, but I still love driving it, there simply isn't anything like it. The shop just told me the front drive shaft is bad and needs to be replaced, but the part seems to have been discontinued? Anybody got any suggestions? I really would love to keep the car running for many more years, but I'd rather retire it before it turns into a money pit. Thanks.
 
Totally agreed with onthemove's comment. There plenty of parts available. Look it up at rockauto.com.
 
Thanks for chiming in, guys. FX parts do seem to have been discontinued on infinitipartsusa.com but this is third strike for this shop anyway. The car is a little worse every time I get it back from them.

Looking for reputable specialist in the LA area, btw. Talking with Precision Z tomorrow.
 
If you are anywhere near him you can take the FX to William at Carzone auto repair in Van Nuys. He is an Infiniti Master tech running an independent Nissan/Infiniti shop. I know him from the Infinitihelp forum.
 
Thanks for the rec, I've emailed them.

I see you have 2005 FX35 AWD? That's what I have. How many miles on yours? Is it your daily driver? Have you had issues?
 
At one time there was a service bulletin about that propeller joint. Regardless through, take it seriously enough. Shaft, or joint, or pumpkin, mine blew apart up in there. It totaled the car and needed new diff, engine, trans, and driveline back to the transfer case.
 
zeph said:
Thanks for the rec, I've emailed them.

I see you have 2005 FX35 AWD? That's what I have. How many miles on yours? Is it your daily driver? Have you had issues?
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Mine has about 135000 Km (about 84000 Miles). I have a work vehicle that I use during the week so the FX only see's the road on weekends. Absolutely pristine condition. Just replaced the dash myself and plan on keeping it for at least the next 5 years. After all these years I still love my FX.
 
porkandbeans said:
At one time there was a service bulletin about that propeller joint. Regardless through, take it seriously enough. Shaft, or joint, or pumpkin, mine blew apart up in there. It totaled the car and needed new diff, engine, trans, and driveline back to the transfer case.
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Eish...not much I can do at this point. I'm taking it to the shop on Tuesday, hope the drive there won't be the nail in the coffin.

IlovemyFX said:
Mine has about 135000 Km (about 84000 Miles). I have a work vehicle that I use during the week so the FX only see's the road on weekends. Absolutely pristine condition. Just replaced the dash myself and plan on keeping it for at least the next 5 years. After all these years I still love my FX.
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Good to hear. I remember mine still felt like new at 85K miles! Different story at 190K though, hope I'll be able to revive the old battleship. If not, I see a Nissan Leaf in my future lol.
 
So I got a quote for a new front drive shaft at $538.38 incl. tax + $180 in labor, seems not to egregious, as the shaft has to come from TX he says. I'll see if I can take it to Car Zone on Friday. Thing is, I can't be running around much longer with a failing drive shaft, and the valley is a 60 mile round trip every time.

Apparently the last shop didn't fix the oil leaks properly, this guy says there's still visible leaks all over. Also says that because it's an AWD, the axle runs through the oil pan and the whole thing (engine/trans) would have to come out in order to find and fix possible leaks, yikes...

FX hive mind, is that correct? He showed me the diagrams and it looked legit enough. But he says taking the whole thing apart, find and fix, and put everything back together is like a 16-hour job...
 
zeph said:
So I got a quote for a new front drive shaft at $538.38 incl. tax + $180 in labor, seems not to egregious, as the shaft has to come from TX he says. I'll see if I can take it to Car Zone on Friday. Thing is, I can't be running around much longer with a failing drive shaft, and the valley is a 60 mile round trip every time.

Apparently the last shop didn't fix the oil leaks properly, this guy says there's still visible leaks all over. Also says that because it's an AWD, the axle runs through the oil pan and the whole thing (engine/trans) would have to come out in order to find and fix possible leaks, yikes...

FX hive mind, is that correct? He showed me the diagrams and it looked legit enough. But he says taking the whole thing apart, find and fix, and put everything back together is like a 16-hour job...
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If you don’t know how to work on cars, I’d get out of that FX. These mechanics will eat you alive.
Multiple oil leaks?
Drive shaft for $500 plus?
There around $150 at any number of parts stores and I doubt he can detect as much as I doubt there are multiple oil leaks.
 
Thanks for that feedback, I talked to Carzone as recommended by IlovemyFX and got a better quote from him, but maybe you’re right, my wife sure thinks so lol.

Is that thing about the oil-pan correct, though? That the front axle runs through it?

It’s just hard to give up on it. Nothing else out there like it right now, short of an $80K Macan.
 
zeph said:
Thanks for that feedback, I talked to Carzone as recommended by IlovemyFX and got a better quote from him, but maybe you’re right, my wife sure thinks so lol.

Is that thing about the oil-pan correct, though? That the front axle runs through it?

It’s just hard to give up on it. Nothing else out there like it right now, short of an $80K Macan.
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Then don't give up on it. Get under there and see for yourself. Get a jack and some stands. Get some strong degreaser and spray the bay top and bottom. Spray it off with a hose and if it's not really clean, do it again.
Drive it to work or wherever and get back under it with a flash light and see what's going on, locate the leak. You might have an axle seal leak, maybe a valve cover gasket leak or a main seal leak. If it's dripping from multiple points on the bottom of the engine, it may simply be giving the appearance of multiple leaks but it's just a valve cover leaking which is common. A shop will charge you $1-$2k, parts and labor, not counting your driveshaft issue and that's assuming they're being honest.
Read and research what to do about these problems (got'em both on my main thread FX35 - onthemove MOD's not sure what page(s)) and see how inexpensive it can be to make these repairs.
 
That sounds good, but I'm a bit of a klutz. I replaced the CPU in my computer and thought I did a great job but somehow I lost RAM slot 1 in the process. At one time I figured I could fix my keyboard (instrument), and did a great job disassembling and finding the problem but upon reassembly I found I had some parts left over.

As much as I love tinkering with stuff, my track record is less than stellar in this regard.

But your thread is very informative, thanks! I think I'll have to have this driveshaft fixed regardless, but try to educate myself some more before going down the rabbit hole of infinite repair jobs.
 
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