About to join the ranks of 'vert owners, have a couple of questions

[ishkabibble]

Hi everyone-

I became a Nissan fan after I had horrible luck with domestics and was blessed with my first B13. I've now owned 3 B13s, a Hardbody (for sale soon), and was on the verge of buying a mint condition '97 - '99 Q45. Instead, I happened across and bought a 1993 240SX convertible this weekend. I pick it up on Saturday and am pretty stoked to own one of these rare cars.

The car has ~150,000 miles, is red, bone stock, was 1 middle-aged-woman owned. Mechanically in awesome condition with one exception (see below). The body has a few dings, but zero rust (car was stored winters). The interior is functional, but the leather is starting to go, and the dash is cracked. Top is original and in good shape. I paid $2200, which wasn't a total steal, but I felt it was very reasonable.

Hopefully, you guys can help me out with the following:

1. The car seems to idle rough when cold. It's a bit sluggish coming off idle, and the engine seems to vibrate a fair amount. It almost feels like a motor mount is broken, but the car then runs _perfectly_ when warm - no vibration, no noise, nothing. Any ideas at what I should be looking at first? I'm thinking of replacing the plugs and wires (which wires should I get, by the way?) and cleaning out the throttle body.

2. The leather interior is functional for the time being, but the leather is starting to go bad - 13 years in the sun with no leather conditioner. I'm probably just going to swap in S14 front seats and a better rear seat. Is the rear seat in the convertible the same as the coupe, or are they unique?

3. Which route should I go for a cheap intake? Ebay 3" MAF adapter and a universal Apexi filter? Which model # Apexi filter should I get?

Any advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Hijacker]

congradulations on your purchase! just out of curiosity, where did the lady live that you bought this off of? I knew of a lady that lives in Franklin County that had a red vert with leather interior. And given that it had a timing chain done about 2 years ago on it, would put it near the 150k mark.

I would start with a general tune up to fix your cold start issue. Old plugs/wires could be the culprit.

The rear seat is indeed unique to the convertible. The coupe and fastback both had fold down seats.

[DeXteR]

welcome to the fold. you're now a member of the coolest, most friendly subforum on nico.

as far as your idle problem, i had a similar idle problem - sometimes the car would shake and idle as though it were a cammed v8. i started running extremely rich (black mark on the bumper) and it ended up being a problem with my injectors and fuel rail. i just swapped them out and it was gravy again.

for the interior, any seat that will fit is an improvement over the stock vert seats - they're so uncomfortable for any seat time exceeding an hour.

for the intake, i'd go with a cheap ebay pipe and then clamp it and a k&n cone filter on to the appropriate sides of the mafs.

[94_240sx]

1. The car seems to idle rough when cold. It's a bit sluggish coming off idle, and the engine seems to vibrate a fair amount. It almost feels like a motor mount is broken, but the car then runs _perfectly_ when warm - no vibration, no noise, nothing. Any ideas at what I should be looking at first? I'm thinking of replacing the plugs and wires (which wires should I get, by the way?) and cleaning out the throttle body.

When it does again, pull out spark plug wire one by one and find which cylinder is causing this. Most likely, you have to replace an injector.

[Eikon]

Welcome!!!

Congrats on what sounds like a great deal on a 'vert!

Make sure you add your new 'vert to the registry! Check the sticky threads on the top of the forum. Also make sure you check out the other sticky threads... We've got a classifieds thread, a Facts/FAQs thread with tons of useful info, and you can even get the "official" 240sxconvertible.com sticker to put on your new 'vert.

Now you have to post pictures... It's an unwritten rule on NICO. Actually.. I should write it somewhere so that I can enforce it.

Sounds like your questions have been addressed quite well already.. The only small tidbit I would give is that if it's not your fuel injector, you may need to remove and clean your AAC (auxilary air controller unit). Sometimes if it is old and gummed up you may not get enough air when you are on closed loop (startup) and it may stumble a bit. Just use some carb cleaner and water and wash it out the best you can.

Anyhow... Welcome! Enjoy your stay. If there's anything you need help with, just ask!

[ishkabibble]

Thanks everyone. I'll definitely post pics and add to the registry once I pick up the car. It definitely runs like a cammed V8 when cold, so I'll have a bit of sleuthing to do. Thanks to you guys, it should be an easy problem to solve.

tenkawa, I'm not sure which Franklin County you're referring to (VA or PA), but the car is from Frederick, MD. I'm not sure if the chain was done, as the husband didn't keep any receipts.

[Hijacker]

VA. The car just kind of fit a description of one that I knew was garaged in that area. But it's not since you got that one out of Maryland

[ishkabibble]

Alright, picked up the car today. Now for the pics (sorry for the non-picturesque setting, the car is sitting next to my building until I can get some plates on it).

Rear ("240S"?!?!? since the X is missing, I'm going to replace this with a JDM Silvia emblem)

[ishkabibble]

Side

[ishkabibble]

Front

[Logan76]

silvia convert it, for some reason I dont like vert's unless theyre silvia converted, so that means you must begin your silvia conversion RIGHT NOW! lol

[ishkabibble]

Crap interior. Much of this will get replaced eventually.

[ishkabibble]

silvia convert it, for some reason I dont like vert's unless theyre silvia converted, so that means you must begin your silvia conversion RIGHT NOW! lol

I'm considering it, but it wouldn't be until next year at the earliest. I want to get the engine and interior sorted out first.

[Logan76]

Hell for an S13 that interior doesnt seem too shabby.

[ishkabibble]

Hell for an S13 that interior doesnt seem too shabby.

Thanks. It's definitely functional, but it looks a lot worse than the car's exterior does. Maybe I'll spend some time on it and get some seat covers.

My last 2 vehicles (B13 SE-R and a Hardbody) had mint interiors, so my perspective is probably somewhat distorted.

[Logan76]

my S13's gutted, so...my opinion of interior's is so/so at best, I think theyre overated

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Hey that is a nice vert you got there. Red verts FTW!

As for the Silvia conversion, IMHO you shouldn't do it if the pop up headlights are still working fine. I'm seeing way too many conversions. I'm keeping mine cuz I love em but if the Silvia conversion is your thing...go for it.

And welcome to NICO

[Ihiryu]

very sexy! Mine x fell off too. 240S FTW!

[ishkabibble]

very sexy! Mine x fell off too. 240S FTW!

For the car's first long test, I drove to a junkyard yesterday and got the "X" off of another 240. Also picked up some blank trim to replace the "Limited Edition" trim in front of the rear wheels (the LE text is just too early 90's for me). The yard gave me this stuff for free. I'm going to try and glue the X on with some Barge Cement (it's made for repairing shoes).

Also got a mint rear marker assembly (one of mine was cracked) and 2 Sony XPlod 4x6 speakers for $15 total.

That was my first long trip with the top down - so far, this is my favorite car I've owned - really a joy to drive!

[ishkabibble]

I took the car to emissions testing today, and the attendant offered to buy it off me. And then it failed! Hydrocarbons too high.

The previous owner put on platinum plugs and some no name wires, so they might be the culprit. The OEM ignition stuff, z32 fuel filter, and new PCV valve are going on and I'll retest it on Saturday.

[94_240sx]

Hydrocarbons too high.

Your catalytic converter might be bad. Had a same problem with my Mazda and cat fixed it right away. It dropped from 190 to 11. Before that I did plugs, wires and stuff. They just lowered little bit, but not enough to pass. I paid $89 from Autozone with lifetime warraty and paid $45 to weld it on.

[ishkabibble]

They give 2 free retests, so I'm going to do the simple stuff first and pray.

If it fails a second time, it's a trip to my grandparents place in Jersey (they have a garage and the neighbor is a longtime mechanic). I'll do the cat and check out all of the emissions equipment. I found a place that sells the Magnaflow polished stainless cats for about $80.
Modified by ishkabibble at 8:13 PM 11/15/2006

[94_240sx]

They give 2 free retests, so I'm going to do the simple stuff first and pray.

We have only one free retest in Texas. I passed at 3rd time and a guy was kind enough to shut down the computer at 2nd time, so I could come back again for 3rd one. Line was long and it wasn't fun to go visit there 3 times.

[ishkabibble]

New OEM plugs, wires, cap, oxygen sensor, and Z32 fuel filter = HC and CO readings of 0. Car is now plated and titled.

Futher evidence that Nissans are picky about OEM ignition components.

It's still idling weird, so I'll look at things like the AAC next weekend.