Pyrophilus

Hey folks,

A co-worker tells me that she wants to get rid of her son's 1992 Nissan 240SX. I know that this is maxima.org, but I tried registering on club240.com, and after 24 hours I still did not get the activation e-mail...

I am hoping that someone here can help me.

It's a 1992 240SX that she said she'd sell for $300.
It has 130,000miles automatic.
Son got it in '97 with 30,000 mi. Didn't do ANY maintenance except oil changes every 5000miles.

One thing that bothers me is that there is sign of oil coming out around the cylinder head. Is this something that I can fix, or is there something else that is wrong?
On my '92 Maxima, I have done, control arms, CV boots, upholstry, struts, and brakes (front discs and rear drums).

Will I have enough technical experience to fix this leakage? I am guessing that it's just cylinder head gasket problem?
If anyone has recommendations, then let me know.

This car seems to have original struts, but then it's not front wheel drive, so I am not worried about CV joints or anything. How about engine mounts? The car didn't bottom out (amazingly).

I am tempted to get this car because I realize it has a timing chain, versus a belt, which is something that I chickened out of doing by myself on the '92 Maxima.

If any of you were in my position, would you take this car? (it was also rear-ended, and althought the bumper is pushed in, seems to be bumper cover damage and none to rear quarter panels).

Power steering reservoir looked severely low, but I can't see any leakage (due to the oil slick from the header).

I am thinking that this car needs:
Exhaust (or at least muffler, which is rusted to death),
head gasket (if the oil problem is from that),
Struts on 4 corners.

Is this even worth it? I am thinking that if the experts here think that I might be able to fix at least the head gasket oil leak problem, I might get it. I only have about $500 to spend on this car for fixing...

Anyway, thank you for any help, and sorry again that this isn't actually related to a maxima.

By the way, my '92 auto is leaking trannny fluid, but it shifts fine (actually almost as well as my '01 pathfinder). Should I get ready to put this baby out to pasture? I think tranny gasket is something that will be out of my league (tool-wise, and knowledge-wise).

Thanks again,

-Sage

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

I'd get it.

kcidmil

The 2.4 in that car is easy to work on. Besides anything dealing with the intake manifold. The head gasket is easy though.

Exactly how bad was it rear ended? If the car was rear ended pretty good, it might have warped the frame a little. And that puts the rear wheels out of alignment, and puts strain on the output shaft bearing on the tranny. Which would casue premature failure.

I don't mean to scare you from getting it. The 2.4's have some good torque.

But if the only thing is the bumper knocked in, then just get the alignment checked out.

bonzelite

iTrader: (2)

get the S13. i bought an S14 with a similar bumper pushed in damage. it had lots of dents and ugly body work done, but i didn't care. it ran like a champ and still does. and i had all the body work taken care of. now it is painted and is shaping up. it is new again.

the stuff you mention wrong with it is minor.

get it. you can mod that car WAAAAAYYYYY more than the maxima. and you will have a very sought-after nissan. were i you, i'd be jumping on that. you can always do a 5-speed swap, too. this is common with those.

bonzelite

iTrader: (2)

with the S13, too, you can do a sil-eighty conversion (i assume this is a hatchback). you can turbo the KA or do an SR swap (i'd turbo the KA for torque's sake). man, this is fun just thinking of it. the sky is the limit with this car that is virtually for free.

you can do a 5-lug swap, drop it, get a VLSD; you have endless suspension options. you can get totally awesome body kits for it. i've even seen on the 240sx forums a guy in japan with an S15 front end on the 180sx (S13/240sx). and that was surprisingly hot. everyone who posted wanted to do it.

kcidmil

Yeah the KA engines are fun no matter which car or truck they're in. I had a 90 D21 with a KA24E, and did a few mods on it. That thing would leave tire marks everywhere. And now I have a 02 Frontier with the KA24DE. They messed up on the gearing for the tranny, but that engine still has a lot of torque. And has a available alot of stuff mentioned above. There's one around here that the guy had a Supercharger done on his.

The possiblities for that car are almost endless. And if it's common for the damage you mentioned, then you don't have much to worry about.