just bought 240sx need help

[Quark]

hey guys, I just bought a 240sx and found this forum. Was wondering if someone could help me out with some technical issues with my car.

First.

its a 1990 240sx coupe. converted to 5-speed

1. My clutch chatters sometimes if I ride it too long from stand still to 1st gear, also when rolling on 1st gear, the car tends to rock back and forth a little. Now I was under my car the other day and noticed that the transimission crossmember, the one under the shifter is all mangled up and has only 3 of the 4 bolts installed, the 4th hole is so missaligned that you cant fit the bolt through. I heard that this crossmember is different from automatic and manual. So im thinking its putting some strees on the transmission?

2. my water temp gauge on my dash, begins to drop to cold when I am around 4k or more RPM's I dont get it, something loose?

3. my tension rod bushing on the right side cracked and leaking, could this cause my car to pull to the right? ive checked tire pressure and camber, it all looks ok.

if someone could help me out, i really appreciated it.thanks

[leper421]

2. my water temp gauge on my dash, begins to drop to cold when I am around 4k or more RPM's I dont get it, something loose?

Only when driving, or when in neutral too? Try changing your thermostat.

[p00t]

1. Rocking back and forth is normal with the stock clutch. The springs on the clutch disc are very soft. Combine that with soft transmission/motor mounts, that rubber dampener on the driveshaft, and freeplay in the driveline and there you go. Its actually kinda neat, when i had my stock clutch and someone in the car annoyed me, they would get violent bucking ride till they shut up... guess what? it works great

2. Sensor connection is lose, no big deal check the smaller sensor on the front of the intake manifold. Theres two sensors, one is for the ECU, the other is for the dash. If i remember correctly the smaller one is the one you wanna check. But also check the other going to the ECU (both may be in the same condition). You might just have to fix the wire or buy a new sensor.

3. Possibly, but it needs to be fixed anyway cause your steering is probably horrible. (do both sides at once)

[Quark]

the stock clutch thing with the rocking back and forth is normal?but what about the chatter in the engagement? and the crossmember? is it different for manual and auto trans?