I have a 1990 Nissan 240sx 2dr hatchback.I bought it in dec of 2003, It's been a pain in the butt since then. Here's the list of Items I've had replaced.-2 Fuel Injectors-Master cylinder-clutch, pressure plate, throw out bearing-Struts all around- battery-water pump (Twice) They told me the first one was defectiveabout a week after I had the last water pump replaced the car starts running like crap. It has a real rough idle, the whole engine is shaking from one side to the other. It has no power, hesitates, feels like something is clogged then it breaks through a little, runs smooth for a min then back to the clogged feeling. It doesn't run smooth untill you get upto about 85 mph. To change gears you have to have a high RPM or it feels like it's going to shut off. I've taken it to a shop, but I'm in Germany and it's American specs. They want to charge me over 2500.00 to fix. My husband says no way and we will drive it till it falls apart, like it is. I like this car, I've all ready put a lot of money into it. SO I need help.How do I tell if the head is cracked? I'm replacing the spark plugs today. And will replace the fuel filter next. The exhaust system will have to be replaced as well, the welds are broke in several places and it sounds bad. I don't know a lot about cars, just the basics but I need somewhere to start. Any help would be great.
1990 240SX Engine problem
Re: 1990 240SX Engine problem (annette)
More info to give. The car has 194K miles. Bought it in SC, not sure where it came from.I was driving on the autoban in Germany about 80-100mph for about 30 min. THis is normal driving. When I got off the engine was overheating. I pulled over replaced the anti freeze let it cool off then drove it home. It was also leaking anti freeze on the ground. Took it to the shop. They told me it was the water pump, replaced it. I took the car home it was still overheating and leaking anti freeze. They replaced the water pump again. I drove it home it over heated once the next day as I was waiting for a train to go by. It hasn't overheated again. But that's where it started running so bad about a week after all this happened. I don't trust that shop anymore but there's not another American shop nearby.
The potential for it to be a head gasket is very good. since you overheated it twice once during the extreame conditions of autoban driving. Another thing about the 240 is it is very difficult to purge all the air from it when doing a coooling system repair. This problem has been brought up and discussed on these boards many times. What you need to do is try to purge the air from the system. Also be very sure there are no more coolant leaks. Take a look at your oil and make sure there is no coolant in it. If thats checks ok Get the frnt end of the car up as high as possible get a special bleeder funnel or follow one of the tricks used in other threads in these forums. With it lifted you need to run it till you start seein steam coming out of the funnel. Once it starts steaming goose it from a steady idle a few times then let it idle. repeat this process several times. Till you see the coolant level drop and the heater vents blow hot air after its idled for more then 2 mins. The key though is to make sure its not leaking and doesnt overheat during this process.