92 SE engine problems... Any help/ideas?
 

Hey Guys...

Well, as sad as it is, but my 92'Maxima SE seems to be having engine problems and I don't have money to put into it. As I posted before, the problem is pretty loud engine knocking (valves) when the car warms up. It just started happening a little over a week ago, and the car hasn't been driven in this condition. The oil pressure seems to be dropping once the oil warms up (oil light comes up and pressure drops to 7-10 psi at idle. For some unknown reason, the engine runs absolutely great (not a single tick) and has great oil pressure right after the oil change (I tried it 2 times). I would change the oil (new filter), car drives like new for 2 days, then it starts knocking again. I ended up changing oil and doing engine flush twice in the last week.

I had a few ideas about it originally:
1) clogged oil pump pick up screen
2) bad oil pump

The first one is about $150 repair or DIY the other one is probably around $500. Mechanic looked at it and said he has no idea what it is until he tears down the motor, which will cost quite a bit... but he said that more than likely it's one of the things mentioned above.

The car has 160K miles on it... and the worst part is that engine was replaced 1.5 years ago and it had only 82K miles when we got it (so right now about 98K miles on the engine).

The body is absolutely perfect - it's a southern car, so there isn't a single rust spot on the body. Shiny paint throughout. No dents/scratches. Interior has leather that was repaired (it had tears on it) and looks pretty good.

Everything else works. Transmission shifts great - no slipping, very smooth shifting. Heater works too. Sunroof/power windows/locks... that's about it.

Also, I ended up spending a small fortune on normal maintanence stuff in October/November of 2003. The car has new tires, brand new battery, new fuel pump, new front suspension, new left lower control arm, new left drive shaft, tie rods and recently changed rear brakes (including calipers).

What are my options at this point? I really do not have even $200 to put into it and was actually planning to sell the car anyway, since I do not need the car (live on campus).

Should I part it? Sell it for parts (as-is)? Put it on Ebay? How much should I expect to get for it? Would getting $1200 for it be realistic?
Anyone here would be interested in picking it up and putting it back on the road? If you have time and space to work on it - it will be a great car and will probably make it to 200K miles easily.

By the way, I am in Michigan (Ann Arbor).

Thanks for any advice,
Dmitriy

dude, just wait, i couldnt aford at first to get my car running perfect, then i waited til i had the money. $200 isnt bad considering that the car is worth 3000 in running condition.

dont part it out, just wait til you have the money, im sure you can do it all for cheeper than that, like a junked oil pump...

$1200 IMHO is to high,
Price out a JDM motor with the install labor.
and start saving.
As you said you don't need a car right now, so you can let it sit while you accumulate the neccessary funds to fix it.

Well... if it's just sitting there, I have to pay for insurance and registration.. still money. Also, JDM motor will probably be worth about 3-4 times more than the car itself.

Also, oil pump itself is not expensive - it's the labor to install it (about 8 hours).

internetautomar, what's a realistic price I should ask for the car? I don't really follow the prices on these cars... but I saw them selling around $2000 or a little more in good condition...

registration you do have to keep up,
But depending on where you live you can not put insurance on it because it is not being driven.
a JDM should only be about $500

To give you an idea on car values.
mx with bad trans couldn't sell for $500
I paid $200 for my 3 cylinder max.
So personally I'd keep it , screw the insurance and put my insurance money into the motor.


This may or may not be legal where you live and I assume no responsibility for following the above recommendations

A motor, JDM or not is about $1000. This is a VE, those aint cheap like the VG.

All depends on who you talk too :D

You telling me that you can get a JDM VE for $500? Sh!t, that would be worth it for the VTC's alone.

After a few phone calls and some strings being pulled.

Well.... if you can get JDM VE for $500 with relatively low miles (under 80K) and in working condition... I might actually consider it. Can you tell me whose strings need to be pulled? :)

where you at?

I assume it's auto ("shifts smoothly") If I'm wrong i might be interested. Maybe even be interested in auto...... Does it drive reliably or is it totally handicapped? I don't know if you're actually selling. There are lots of recomendations to keep it, but if you want to sell I may be interested.

internetautomar,
I am in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

xveganxcowboyx,
The car is an auto. I think I am selling it if you are interested. Everything in the car is reliable... it drives, but with the noise it's making it's probably not a good idea to drive it.

ummm...VTC's are nothing to be worried about, let them tap I do and my motor has 280,000 miles...you do not need to fear man.

That's not VTC's

shipping in the motor is gonna be the cost prohibitive part of it.
I just got quoted $895 from the first place I called and they don't know me.
So I have no doubt in my mind that I'd be able to find one for about 500

What's involved in the JDM swap? Is it a straight drop in?

Shipping on the motor is only around $90-100... I've already had one motor shipped to me from SC to MI for that much... it came on a crate in a truck.... I guess it's a pretty common thing to do.

What's the difference, anyway, between JDM and US motor? Where do you even find JDM stuff? I thought it's normally way too expensive to even think about for older cars.

A JDM motor in our cars is the same thing just usually with lower mileage than is easily found in yards here

[QUOTE=dmitriy]Hey Guys...

*******

Too bad, I am living too far away from Michigan. Otherwise, I would pick up your car for around several hundred bucks.

the car is gone! sold it locally for $850.