Multiple issues with my car, need some help.

[BenKenobi]

So I started out in the newbie thread... But this may get complicated...

The stats:

1989 240SXKA24E engine, everything stock except for some sort of aftermarket muffler208k miles5-speed

Pictures: http://chrisgarcia.com/gallery/v/other/cars/240sx/Car has been repainted from what the guy I bought it from told me.. Doesn't seem to be one of the stock colors for 89 at least.

Anyways, on to the issues:

Known problems:* Both wheel bearings in back are bad.. very bad.* One of my calipers is sticking, but not all the time.* Valve cover gasket needs to be replaced.* Leaking brake fluid, likely out of aforementioned caliper.

Things I know are problems, but don't know what is causing them:* Bad gas mileage (see banner link in sig for historical data)

* Vacuum leak (engine idle will randomly go high, pumping brakes makes it go down)

* Occasional popping noise at right front wheel when weight is shifted on/off. (like when turning, pulling into a driveway, etc -- possibly wheel bearing?)

* Occasional crunching noise at left front wheel when turning stationary. Sounds like when you turn the wheel and there's a rock under the tire.

* Steering wheel intermittently shakes at 55-65 mph .. Possibly alignment/balance

* Grumpy in the morning -- Starting the car in the morning requires keeping my foot on the gas to keep it from stalling. Also very hard to maintain a steady rpm until a certain point where it becomes very easy (closed loop?)

* If I rev the engine (fully warmed up) in neutral, it sometimes feels like something is holding it back from revving fast... Hard to explain. Not sure if that's a problem or my imagination.

There's some other things I can't think of off the top of my head... That should be enough to have fun with though

If you check out the fuelly profile, it shows a history of what I've done and its (lack of) effect.

Thanks!

[nicc_dett]

hope your ballin.my 240 doesnt have THAT many problems, but it has gave me lots of trouble and parts arent cheap.im 16, had my car for 1 year and dumped about $7k into it

[DRS_S13]

Its really not bad. The popping is your cv axles. Just replace the wheel barrings. The valve cover gasket is just bucks. I mean the car is old its gonna have problems. If you want mint with nothing to fix buy a brand new car.

[blacksrjdm]

So, looks like you have some work to do... Normaly, what we would do here on nico, is to assess the problems and then do a write up on all that we have fixed on our cars. It looks like you have a pretty good idea of just what you need to fix, now it is time to get to fixin.

Get some wheel bearings.Get some new calipers.Get a valve cover gasket.

Bad gas mileage....Uh, its got 203000 miles and you want great gas mileage??? Do a good tune up and maybe you might see a slight change.

Popping and crunching sounds are probably the bearings.

Steering wheel shakes... it will with bad bearings and you cant align it with bad bearings.

Auto 240s are not going to rev up fast in any gear.

Fix it up and let us know what you think then.

[mrzabala]

Well the other things like your brakes and valve cover are easy fixes so you can deal with that yourself noob. As for the fuel from what information you have given, I'd thoroughly check your fuel system.

This steps I would do twice, once they car not running and the other test when car is running and warmed up for pressure and so you don't have to keep giving it gas.

Fuel pump - Make sure the sock is attached and fastened- Check the Feed and return Lines for cuts, pinch wear, and fastened.

Fuel Lines - From above it will turn into hard lines running along the frame and up against the the strut tower.- Fuel filter should be replaced.- And just to be safe replace your rubber lines with new fuel lines and clamps.

Fuel rail & injectors- If your really up for it remove your fuel pressure regulator and replace it. Or you can test it with a pressure tester and I believe KA's have a psi of around 35-45, check FSM- Replace your injector O rings as they get old and will leak pressure and is one of the symptoms you have to give it more gas.Check around the hard lines for any leaks or any pressure coming off.- If your low on cash or just a jew than go to a junk yard and snag injectors, extra screw, clamps, and fuel pressure regulators (fpr). I don't recommend snagging lines and fuel filter unless you like to be slapped across the face several times.

Good luck noob and may you get the motivation and actually fix your car.

[shanelach]

Pretty much everything has been covered so uh.. ill buy your mudguards to help you financially

[mrzabala]

Bad gas mileage....Uh, its got 203000 miles and you want great gas mileage??? Do a good tune up and maybe you might see a slight change.

Popping and crunching sounds are probably the bearings.

Steering wheel shakes... it will with bad bearings and you cant align it with bad bearings.

Auto 240s are not going to rev up fast in any gear.

Fix it up and let us know what you think then.

Hey noob, its a 5 speed. If your going to help someone out be more accurate. Steering wheel can shake do other things than your wheel bearing lust. Ball joints, Tie rods, brake rotors warped, steering rack and column bushings.

And 200k+ is nothing. This SOHC actually last longer than DOHC in terms of the mileages I've seen. Crunching sounds wont be your wheel bearings, it will most likely be your axles or your brake pads scorching your rotor from being seized. Popping on turns or moving your wheels with your hands left and right with play will be a good indication of wheel bearings.

[mrzabala]

If anything let me know whats up. I'm leaving for the Air Force but will be back in 2 months (end of March or early April) so if your selling it I'll buy it off you.

[SR24DET]

Its all covered but I still want to chime in. You know what to fix. Do you know how to fix. Wheelbearings are $100 each. Thats just the part. To fix it yourself isnt hard, it just takes time and a press.

Valve covers are about as simple to do as any.

A calipur is not to expensive. Also replacing them are super easy. 2 guide pins and 1 bolt and you got yourself a new calipur.

As far as the steering wheel shaking. Thought could be anything in the front wheel assembly. You could have a bad alignment. bad balance on your tires. Bad tie rods. Bad ball joints. You got the picture.

Give that baby a tune up!

[del82]

Most of it has been covered, I'll give you some ideas from personal experience, seeing some of the stuff come through at the dealership:

Known problems:* Both wheel bearings in back are bad.. very bad. replace them.* One of my calipers is sticking, but not all the time. replace them (both)* Valve cover gasket needs to be replaced. answered your own question* Leaking brake fluid, likely out of aforementioned caliper. when you replace the calipers, do the pads too and have the rotors turned, this removes the possibility of fluid soak in the pads getting you killed someday

Things I know are problems, but don't know what is causing them:* Bad gas mileage (see banner link in sig for historical data) after 208k miles, your engine is decrepit. the cylinders may test fine on a compression test, but under load your rings are giving up faster than a drunken prom date. time for an overhaul. also, see the next question:

* Vacuum leak (engine idle will randomly go high, pumping brakes makes it go down) also causes the above problem, and that's no small vacuum leak. check the power brake booster check valve, it should only flow in one direction, and check every fat vacuum line you can find for cracks or splits. might think about heading to the auto parts store too, and buying around fifteen feet of the smaller line (make sure the inside diameter of the hose is the same as a piece you bring, and cut it in half mid-line so you're not looking at the half crushed rubber in the connecting ends. p.s. this part sucks.

* Occasional popping noise at right front wheel when weight is shiftedon/off. (like when turning, pulling into a driveway, etc -- possibly wheel bearing?) either some retard forgot to tighten up a strut or spindle mount, or (more commonly) if its tight turning you're talking about...grease your steering stops.

* Occasional crunching noise at left front wheel when turning stationary. Sounds like when you turn the wheel and there's a rock under the tire. there's probably a rock under the tire bad description, really

* Steering wheel intermittently shakes at 55-65 mph .. Possibly alignment/balance jack up the car and grab a wheel on top and on bottom and tug up and down, there should be no play. that's wheel bearings. next, check the tires for balance, this is the usual. thirdly, check the name brand of the tires on it. if you've never heard of them, you may want to think of replacing them. cheap brands are cheap because they skimp on the proper process of forming tires, or they re-tread them. this can cause belt-separation issues that you may not be able to see outside the tire.

* Grumpy in the morning -- Starting the car in the morning requires keeping my foot on the gas to keep it from stalling. Also very hard to maintain a steady rpm until a certain point where it becomes very easy (closed loop?) most likely related to the apparent massive vacuum leak. open loop OBDI is a set fuel map, usually only with variable idle, and cold start injectors. once closed loop takes over, it's able to compensate for AFR, although you should have a check engine light on once it warms up. check to see that the bulb hasn't blown out or been removed.

* If I rev the engine (fully warmed up) in neutral, it sometimes feels like something is holding it back from revving fast... Hard to explain. Not sure if that's a problem or my imagination. that's your decrepit engine telling you 'i got nothin left, boss!' fixing the vacuum leaks will help a bit, but again, a lot of your combustion gas is escaping the rings and ending up in your PCV system. speaking of, check your PCV valve next time you tinker with your car. if its grimy inside (probably), replace it, its probably four bucks. also, you may as well replace the rubber grommet in the valve cover where it goes in, those are notorious for leaking on old engines.

So, in short, yes your engine *should* be retired, but honestly you could probably drop around $300 and have it running properly again, not counting labor. If you can't afford to overhaul the engine now, its a short order to fix it up to spec, and just drive it till you have the money for a swap or rebuild. Personally I'd recommend a swap...that POS truck motor that the American 240's come with cant even hold up to a stiff breeze.

[BenKenobi]

Fuel filter is on my to-do list for sure... How hard is the other fuel related work? (o-rings, fpr, etc)

A coworker is going to replace the bad caliper for me as a favor.. Just have to figure out which one is bad which is hard to do when it only sticks intermittently. I may also get him to remove the hub assys so I can bring them to a shop to be pressed. It's just a scheduling issue.

I think the vacuum leak is the big one that's gonna elude me and provide the most challenge.

Oh the other issue I remembered: When I turn right I get this metal on metal (almost sounds like brake vibration/resonation) sound that is pulsing and changes speed with the wheel speed.

[del82]

FPR is easy if its easy to get to, the O-rings are a huge pain and shouldn't actually need replaced anyway.

Again, replace *both* calipers. Things that come in pairs tend to fail in pairs. One may go bad, but generally the other isn't far behind. It'll save you a headache in the near future.

You'll want to look for those vacuum leaks. It's a pain, yes, but it'll show the most difference. Chances are its many, many more than one leak, but finding the cracked larger hoses will fix most of that issue. (and don't just wrap electrical tape around them, seriously it doesn't work) Along this line, check the PCV as mentioned earlier too, they tend to leak air.

That metal on metal is most likely the bearings that you already know are bad. You'll want to get to those quickly if they're that far gone, if the bearings come apart, the wheel *will* come off, probably taking part of the rear axle with it. If you don't have a press, you can save some money by taking the spindle and braking assembly off yourself, then taking the hubs to someone with a press to do the rest.

Hope its warmer there than it is here, that's a long weekend

[BenKenobi]

Again, replace *both* calipers. Things that come in pairs tend to fail in pairs. One may go bad, but generally the other isn't far behind. It'll save you a headache in the near future.

It'll probably get done eventually .. I may just wait until I can buy the other caliper and have him do both. He's buying one for me (in trade for a steam machine), which is why I was trying to get away with one.. But I can probably wait until the tax refund comes in and have him do both for me at the same time.

Quote »You'll want to look for those vacuum leaks. It's a pain, yes, but it'll show the most difference. Chances are its many, many more than one leak, but finding the cracked larger hoses will fix most of that issue. (and don't just wrap electrical tape around them, seriously it doesn't work) Along this line, check the PCV as mentioned earlier too, they tend to leak air.[/quote]Any tips on finding them? Only trick I've heard of is spraying starting fluid or carb cleaner along the lines until your idle goes nuts (since it just sucked in flammable fumes)

Quote »That metal on metal is most likely the bearings that you already know are bad. You'll want to get to those quickly if they're that far gone, if the bearings come apart, the wheel *will* come off, probably taking part of the rear axle with it. If you don't have a press, you can save some money by taking the spindle and braking assembly off yourself, then taking the hubs to someone with a press to do the rest.[/quote]The MoM noise is coming from one of the front wheels (probably FP), those wheel bearings are doing ok.. nowhere near as "audibly bad" as the rears.

Quote »Hope its warmer there than it is here, that's a long weekend [/quote]Some days are pretty nice.. Some days it's too hot though .. No A/C installed in the car.

[del82]

The carb cleaner trick works decently well on larger leaks, on smaller ones its much less noticeable; what I'm actually talking about is feel around all the larger vacuum lines for cracks around the ends where they mate to the different parts. It sounds like its quite a large leak, or multiple smaller ones.

For the small lines, honestly its just less work to run down to the parts store and buy the line and replace it...its ALL dry-rotted due to age, it just hasn't all given up on you yet. Doing this is also a preventative measure.

As for the grinding...well, honestly if it's only when you turn right...I don't really know. I'd maybe check the rotor splash shield to make sure it has clearance all around the rotor...actually, does the noise increase with speed like the rear bearings or is it doing it even when the car is stationary?

[BenKenobi]

Y'know for some reason splash shield is what I imagined it was .. When I picture something resonating, that would do it. I'll check it out.

It only does it when in motion and turning right after a certain point... Enough to notice when I'm parking or making 90 degree turns, but not when I'm coming around a curve.

The noise doesn't increase in pitch, but the pulsation increases in speed .. Like it's a certain part of the wheel/rotor/whatever that is rubbing it every time it comes around.

I don't think it's wheel bearing related... I could be wrong though .. The rear ones are pretty loud right now, so the front may be worse than I think simply because I can't hear them.

I suppose for the small vacuum lines my best bet is studying the vacuum diagram in the FSM? I'll eventually invest in a Chilton's manual (I'm used to Haynes, but they don't seem to make it for my car) ... Are all the smaller lines the same inside diameter?

Someone further up mentioned being motivated to fix the car.. Trust me, the motivation is there. I just don't have the time or money right now to do anything.

Also PCV Valve has been replaced recently (if you "view all fillups" on that fuelly profile, it shows when and what mileage things were done)

[del82]

The small lines usually come in three flavors, two are technically for vacuum and the other for window washer fluid, but as best as I can tell there's no definite 'this is for' in terms of the lines. Best way to check is to cut one in half and match up the inner dimensions with the new line. The old stuff will usually be slightly expanded from age and petroleum contact, but grabbing the closest size generally works fine.

You won't actually need to study the vacuum diagram if you're just replacing lines...the trick is to do one line at a time, so you don't mix yourself up, same as with spark plug wires. That said, the diagrams can give you insight as to where to route the lines, if they've ever been moved this can sometimes be a problem. You don't want them laying on anything that gets even a little hot if you can avoid it, as this will cause them to get brittle faster. Usually there's plastic clips on the valve cover for the lines, and thin metal mounting strips elsewhere to keep them away from the intake/exhaust and the block. If you're missing them, coat hangers make a good solution until you can scour the junkyard for the replacements, or change around the routing. Just cut em with some extra length, and bend one end into a loop to fit the mounting bolt through, and make a "U" out of the other end, to hold the lines in place.

In terms of money, this is all cheap work, but labor intensive. Especially the vacuum lines...its an incredible pain, but pays off in the end in gas mileage. All depends really on how long you plan to have the car in it's current state.

Note on the wheel bearings, up above I gave the procedure to check them, they should have almost no play, if they do (the feeling when checking is similar to the wheel not being completely bolted on) then they're bad regardless of whether or not they make noise. Well, either that or someone didn't put them in properly, which is also surprisingly common.

[BenKenobi]

You won't actually need to study the vacuum diagram if you're just replacing lines...the trick is to do one line at a time, so you don't mix yourself up, same as with spark plug wires.

I have literally NO experience doing this sort of thing actually ... I'd be using the diagram to tell me WHERE the lines are .. I did do some glancing though and it looks like a lot of it is just following components around .. Some of them look kinda hard to reach though.

[del82]

Ha ha ha....yes, yes, they are hard to reach. A nightmare, in fact. I wouldn't dare work anywhere but a rod shop or a new car dealer for that reason, I avoid doing that stuff like the plague. It'll probably take weeks to track down all the bad lines, but it's worth it if you plan on driving the car as it sits for awhile, especially with gas prices bouncing around the way they are. It takes a LOT of time, but its not generally an involved process. Follow line while tugging on it until you find the other end, pull it off, cut new line, replace, rinse, repeat. If you get to a line that refuses to pull off the nipple, heat it up with a hair dryer or some hot water, or just slice it along the length of the nipple with a razor blade.

P.S. I am not responsible for any fingers you may lose while doing this

[BenKenobi]

Been a while.. I replaced the fuel filter and lines on each side of it today, so hopefully that helps something...

I noticed the master cylinder may be leaking where it bolts onto the brake booster and the brake booster itself looks corroded and rusted/nasty ... Wonder if that could be the source of my vacuum leak.

*edit* Upon further inspection, it may just be a combination of leaking fluid and crud. I'm gonna take some sort of cleaner to it and see what's under the dirt when I have time.
Modified by BenKenobi at 2:01 PM 1/18/2009

[BenKenobi]

After taking a quick lookver, a friend of mine suggested the timing may be retarded. So yesterday I advanced the timing a bit without measuring and the performance gain was significant.

Today I got a cheap little timing light from Harbor Freight ($15) and measured it and was still about 15* BTDC ... So I cranked it back a little more to 20* BTDC ...

Next week I should be getting a bunch of work done since tax refund money will be in on Friday.

[BenKenobi]

Pretty much everything has been covered so uh.. ill buy your mudguards to help you financially

I'm gonna be making a trip to a junkyard with a '91 in it within the next couple weeks. If you'd like I can grab 'em for you.