Infiniti Q45 sun visor repair (not replacement) due to suspected engineering flaw

The guys over on the Nissan Infiniti Owners Club seem the most helpful on Q45 repair issues so I'll just summarize that complete removal & repair & replacement instructions for the Infiniti Q45 sunvisor engineering defect have recently been posted to: NICO Forums > Nico General > Infiniti General > Q45 sun visor repair thereby saving about $450 dollars in replacement costs for new (but still defective) visors.

The specific URL to that Infiniti Q45 sun visor repair thread is:

For the second time (first was the fuel pump removal & repair & replacement procedure) this NICO owners club has been of tremendous assistance on specific Infiniti Q45 repair issues, so I heartily recommend you peruse NICO forums:

Alora

This was posted to nico

with many pictures (and other ancillary helpful hints); but, for the USENET & YAHOO crowd, here is the FACTORY suggested R&R of the 1990 Q45 Sunvisor Assembly:

1. Remove the driver-side front and rear door Kickplates (see 1990 FSM pages BF-22) by prying on the metal cover plate & removing the #2 phillips screws holding the kick-plate plastic to the doorway threshold.

1. Move the driver-side front seat bench and back-rest as far forward as both will go (so as to clear the way to the B Pillar Garnish).

2. Pull the driver-side shoulder mounted seat belt as far out as it will go, securing the end so that the seat belt hangs loosly (out of your way).

1. Remove the B-Pillar Garnish by prying first at the top to pull the two horizontally parallel metal clips away from their holes in the B-Pillar ... then prying at the middle of the B-Pillar Garnish to remove the middle set of two horizontally parallel metal clips ... then at the bottom to remove the last two of the six metal clips holding the B-Pillar Garnish to the B-Pillar. Lastly, unhook the B-Pillar Garnish from the kickplates in each driver-side doorway (if you did not previously remove the front and rear driver-side kick plates).

2. Lay the B-Pillar Garnish across the floor in front of the rear seat of the Q45 (the seat belt is still attached so you will not remove the B-Pillar Garnish from the car).

Note: You really do NOT have to remove the kick plates nor do you have to remove the center & bottom portion of the B-Pillar Garnish ... just the top portion needs to be pulled outward about 3 inches ... but the sunvisor R&R job is easier if you remove the entire B-Pillar Garnish (as stipulated in the FSM). Remember, I'm showing you the ritualistic domino method here, as stated in the FSM & TSB (as stated in prior NICO posts, you could get away with just cutting the wires being the vanity mirror since a REPAIR entails cutting the wires anyway).

1. Remove most of the driver-side doorway cloth-encased two-ply rubber weatherstripping by pulling it away from the door frame with your hands. You can stop at the dashboard as you do not need to go lower (to remove the A-Pillar Garnish).

Note: It helps to have removed the front and rear driver-side doorway kickplates (as stated previously); but it is not required.

1. Remove the A-Pillar Garnish by pulling, one by one, on the 6 metal clips (you'll likely break one or two in the process), starting from the B-Pillar and working your way toward the A-Pillar and eventually down to the top of the dashboard for the last of the 6 metal clips and a single plastic post which fits into an alignment hole in the A-Pillar itself.

1. Place the A-Pillar Garnish on the back seat of the Q45 to prevent damage.

Now move your attention to the front seat center console roof-line components. (Remember, all you're trying to do is remove the Front Roof Garnish with the sunvisors attached.)

1. Gently pull off the small 6 x 2 inch plastic centerline sunvisor off the rear-view mirror assembly horizontal J hinge.

1. Pry off the square plastic escutcheon over the rear-view mirror attachment point in the center of the Front Roof Garnish.

2. Remove the hinge for the centerline sunvisor by removing two #2 phillips head bolts (the only bolts in the entire R&R procedure) holding the J-hinge to the rear-view mirror assembly.

1. Remove the rear-view mirror assembly by removing the three #2 phillips screws holding the rear-view mirror to the roof.

2. Pry off the Sunroof Control Panel Switch Assembly and disconect all three connectors ... one white connector will be for the driver & passenger front map lights, another white connector will be for the sunroof mechanism, and don't forget the all-important third black connector which is for both sunvisor vanity mirror lights (this black connector is NOT attached to the sunroof mechanism; but the hole left by removing the sunroof mechanism allows you to access this black clip which is located just above the rear-view mirror in the space between the Front Roof Garnish and the Roof).

Note: If it wasn't for this black connector, and the desire not to cut the sunvisor vanity mirror wires ... you wouldn't be removing all this trim in the first place.

1. At this point, repeat all the trim-removal steps for the passenger-side of the Q45.

Note: If you are replacing only one sunvisor, you can get away with not removing the entire Front Roof Garnish; which means you do not have to remove the kick plates, B-Pillar Garnish, doorway weatherstripping & A-Pillar Garnish of the opposite side; but, I repeat, the proper ritualistic domino-theory of the FSM stipulates to remove the Front Roof Garnish with both sunvisors still attached (that's why they say it's heavy) on each end.

1. Remove the small plastic escutcheon covering the J-hook for both the driver side and passenger side sunvisor horizontal post.

Note: The sunvisor J-hook is the small plastic hook on each side of the center of the Front Roof Garnish which keeps the sunvisors in place when swiveled down.

1. Remove each sunvisor J-hook by removing the one #2 phillips screw holding it to the roof.

1. Finally, remove just the two larger #2 phillips screws holding each sunvisor (both driver side and passenger side now) pivot point to the roof of the Q45.

Note: Leave the smaller pivot point #1 phillips screw alone; this screw only holds the sunvisors to the Front Roof Garnish (not to the roof itself).

1. Back to the B-Pillars, pry off the 1-inch diameter white plastic anchor clip holding the Front Roof Garnish to the B-Pillar.

Note: This puny clip, one on each side of the car, is why you had to remove all that B-Pillar & A-Pillar trim!

1. Now the Front Roof Garnish is ready for removal (with both sunvisors attached). At this point, the FSM & TSB admonishment about the garnish being heavy should be taken to mean the weak garnish, by virtue of it's material and the holes cut out in its centerline for the rear-view mirror and sunroof control switch, is VERY WEAK IN THE CENTER, expecially with the two sunvisors on the opposite ends exerting downward pressure on the weak garnish.

So SUPPORT both sunvisors (which are still attached to the Front Roof Garnish in this classic factory-stipulated ritualistic R&R process) while you maneuver the Front Roof Garnish around.

Note: You now have only clips (nothing bolted or screwd in) holding the Front Roof Garnish to the roof.

1. To remove the Front Roof Garnish, first pull horizontally BACKWARD toward the rear of the Q45 with both hands on the Front Roof Garnish and your body sitting in the driver's seat leaning across the center console (take aspirin as a prophylactic against lower back pain before this step).

This horizontal backward maneuver will unclip the four evenly spaced three-fingered spring clips holding the Front Roof Garnish to the roof via the sunroof ledge. (Note, because of these 4 three-fingered clips, you can not remove the Front Roof Garnish by pushing horizontally forward!). You just have to know this.

1. Then, to finish the removal of the Front Roof Garnish with the sunvisors still attached, you now have to change your motion to a horizontal side to side yank and pull so as to clear the B-Pillar attachment points (which are those white 1-inch diameter butterfly clips previously removed).

Note: The Front Roof Garnish is not clipped in at the windscreen point. It merely fits into a groove provided for it at the roofline. Also note, if you forget to remove a single screw or clip as described above, you will NOT be able to remove the Front Roof Garnish. Lastly, if you forget to unclip the aforementioned three harness connectors, you will also have a problem removing the Front Roof Garnish.

1. That's it (whew!) You now have the Front Roof Garnish removed with the two Infiniti Q45 sun visor assemblies still attached, as stipulated in both the FSM and in the TSBs.

Very Important Note: The 20-step removal detail described here is vastly more complete than the six-step process outlined in page BF-26 of the 1990 Q45 Factory Shop Manual; and it's even more complete than the more detailed nine-step ritualistic domino sequence outlined in the aforementioned TSBs.

Note: Reassembly is the reversal of disassembly (literally, just work backward from above).

Note: I was going to post my detailed photos of each of the steps above; but you can see why (at least tonight) that would take me HOURS to complete. Also note, I REPAIRED (not just replaced) both visors, running into a host of issues all by themselves - one of which was the el cheapo metric die set I originally bought made a royal mess of the passenger side sunvisor aluminum post - so I had to run to Sears to purchase a better Craftsman set ... they only had English in stock - so I cut the passenger side to 5/16 x 24 inch (with the driver side cut to a metric 8 x 1.25). Call me unbalanced if you will.

Additionally, I learned the DEALER was a CHEAT! They had replaced the passenger-side sunvisor INCORRECTLY! Yup. All they did was CUT THE WIRES in the roofline (as I noted in my el quickie not-recommended shortcut on NICO prior). The nerve of them. They didn't even cut the wires unevenly; nor did they even solder them. Heck, they had more than one inch of copper intertwined together (there should only be a few millimeters). I replaced their crappy twisted-wire connection with a set of soldered press connectors (as will be explained some other day). Sigh. If you can't trust the dealer, whom can you trust? (Nico ???)