Engine Life

[S12-Tengoku-Rally]

I am thinking about buying an 1984 200sx (S12), CA20E, and I was wondering how long the will the engine last me? It just passed emissions with flying colors, single owner, and 130,000+ miles.

[ca18detizzle]

Well.. it depends.. Maybe you have a bad engine and it wont last long? But it could last as long as you want as long as you but some lovin into it. Maintainence is key.

[S12-Tengoku-Rally]

Well from what I heard the owner kept in good condition and in a garage.

[Loofee95SE]

Garage ketp= bad rear main seal. if he don't drives it @ least once a week..that engine seals are going out soon....again...how much are u paying 4 it??

[redamnavit]

Well from what I heard the owner kept in good condition and in a garage.

Around here "garage kept" just means it wasn't parked outside, which is good. 130K on a 20 year old car is pretty low. If that means it was driven consistently but very lightly that's excellent. If it was driven back in the 80s, sat for 10 years and was recently put back into use, there may be some maintenance work you'll have to deal with.

Have you had a chance to look under the hood? Look over the hoses and such for dry rot and cracks. If you suspect it may have been sitting for an extended period check the coolant for rust. Neither of those indicate a bad motor; they're just indicators of a car that's been sitting awhile or has been poorly maintenanced.

Give us a bit more info on the condition of things and we'll be able to help you better.

[S12-Tengoku-Rally]

The owner wants around $300-400. I looked under the hood and it was clean, the owner must have taken great care of it. I am going to go look at it again today, and try to give so more info.

[Loofee95SE]

didu test drive it?? if u didn't u need to u can tell alot about the car just by test driving it . make sure it get to operating temp..look for sign of oil leak, smokes. make sure it go up to 70 mph. pay attention to how the car handles.. again.for 400 bucks...u can spent on somethingelse nonsence, but u got ur self another project...just my.02

[Dattebayo]

you could always buy it for the body and try to drop a phat FJ motor into it later!

Yeah as if you could find one. Dont know if anyone had considered dropping a CA 1.8 liter in that chassis before...

[biosehnsucht]

Dont know if anyone had considered dropping a CA 1.8 liter in that chassis before...

Well it came with a CA18ET as another option in later years... :P

And I'm sure it's been swapped, if nothing else in like australia, they've put everything in everything.

I think someone was doing it here too but I don't recall if it ever was finished? or maybe just talked about..

[S12-Tengoku-Rally]

I went to go check the car owner again today, and it had 263,000 miles on it, the owner said 130,000 in the ad I showed him, and he said it was a typo, thats a pretty big typo.

[redamnavit]

If the body is good and the car runs well I'd give him 400 for it. Try http://www.club-s12.org/ if you're looking for swap info, or just some more detailed advice about the car.

Oh, and just a side note; the car is a live axle, and not IRS, right? I'm not sure if you care but if you're used to seeing '85 and later 200sx you might have been expecting otherwise. I'm pretty sure all of the US '84s were live axle.

[Dattebayo]

oh... i wouldnt call that an engine, i would call it a black terd w/ a turbo.

have you ever seen one? Yuck!