Buying a 240sx

[kewlblue]

I'm just looking into buying a 1991 240sx 5 spd. Not sure which trim level but it is a fastback and I'm told it has power everything, a sunroof, cloth interior, LSD, and the HICAS four wheel steering. It has 137,000 km's (approx. 85,000 miles). Because I have been stupid enough to buy a car with out a thorough check before (stupid POS Miata!) I decided that I should look around the interwebs for any useful information on the car. I know there was a recall for the seatbelts but nothing else that I can see. I've also pieced together somethings to look for from various threads on this site.

Quote »There are some things to look for when buying an s13. Mileage is normally not a very big issue as the KA is known to go well over 200,000 miles if maintained properly. I wouldn’t recommend buying one with super high mileage, but if you are assured it has been properly maintained, then you should be fine.Listen to the engine at idle. If it makes a “Marble Rolling in a Tin Can” noise coming from the front of the engine, that would be the timing chain guides. These are plastic and are deemed unnecessary by Nissan. They will eventually break off if not removed. There is a great write-up here on nico that shows how to take care of this issue by removing the guides. It is about a 3hr. job and is fairly simple if you are mechanically inclined.Rust is also a common problem. For rust check the bottom/frame rails first don't leave or even think of buying if you don't do this. Also check the strut towers, wheel wells, and lower doors. The worst one is on the hatchback. If the hatchback has a factory spoiler, then there WILL be rust under that spoiler 90-95% of the time. The factory spoiler is foam and it will rust your hatch to no end. It is better to find a hatch without a spoiler, but if your baby has a spoiler, you can probably find a spoiler less hatch here in the nico classifieds. Check the trunk pull the carpet off. If you think its just surface rust poke at it see if it is really solid. Also check under the muffler. Floor boards also rust out. Inside the rear fender below the antenna. also check down in the rear fenders for any corrosion, water, debris that kind of stuff.[/quote]Any recommendations of what else I should be looking for? I am somewhat mechanically inclined, I'm just not sure if there are any known problems that I should be looking for.

[sebazztard]

rust rustrust rust

check frame rails for rust

check floor pans for rust

check towers for rust

check gas tank straps for rust

check subframe to unibody area for rust

check driver side frame rail near the fender for rot holecheck passenger side fram rail near the fender for rot hole

check to see if leaking oil at the crank shaft seallisten to hear chain rattle at the top of the valve cover (remove guides)

check to make sure the headlights, fenders, hood and bumper line up correctly to determine if its been in an accident...also check radiator support for straightness.

i can check out a 240 in about 2 minutes to determine if its a go. good luck, hopefully its clean. 91 se is a great model

[kewlblue]

Okay, thanks! :-)

[Oversteer Obsessed]

Make sure alignment is all good also.

[Dire91]

If you find a car that is a 5 speed swap make sure he did everything right, like switch the ecu, installed everything right etc...I had a bad experience with my 240sx because the previous owner did the worst 5 speed swap I've seen.

[S13Joe]

Try to stay away from a car thats been swapped to 5 speed, you don't know how the previous owner may have done it. Many people cut alot of corners. Good luck with finding a car, i just picked one up yesterday, I'll put up pics in a thread later.