Need advise

[brewski_143]

Hey guys I'm new on this forum because I'm looking to get anywhere from an 02 to an 05 Sentra SE-R Spec V. I know every car out there today has their good points and their bad points. I was hoping everyone could tell me what they like about their cars and what they dislike / have had problems with. So far what I've heard is that the 02 5th gear has problems and that the secondary throttle plate holding screws tend to back out because they're not lock tighted in as they should've been from the factory. I love these cars so far, I'm just wondering if theres certain years or models, or 6 speed spec v vs a 5 speed se-r that I should stay away from. FYI: My previous cars include a 00 civic SI, 93 Del Sol with a JDM swap, and an 04 WRX. Feel free to compare to any of those cars.

[nametakennow]

Check the common issues sticky at the top of the page. That's going to tell you all the common issues.

Additionally, the grounding on B15s is utterly awful, so the battery terminals often get covered with corrosion very quickly and that can cause it to act like it has a dead battery.

Stick to the Spec V. The extra gear and, more importantly, helical limited slip are nice to have. Specs of that time had the same slalom speed as WRXs. It won't drive like the Si or Del Sol practically at all, as the engine is set up for torque moreso than top end.

[VMPhil]

The Spec is a different animal from the cars you previously owned as NameTakennow said.

I have an 02 SpecV I have locktited the butterfly screws on my car and have replaced the stock header. So far it has been fairly reliable. Its quick from a dead stop (torque helps) and handles pretty good. I dont have any issues with shifting. some people with 02-03 specs seem to have issues with gears grinding in 3rd gear due to syncros but i havent experienced that. The 04-06s dyno slightly higher than the 02-03 and have more consistant dyno runs thanks to a revised knock sensor. Although i personally like the appearance of the 02-03 spec better.

[brewski_143]

So from the looks of it I will be looking for an 02 - 03 ser spec v since they look a lot better. Then when I get it I will make sure the secondary butterflys are locktighted catch up on all the scheduled maint, throw a good ground kit on there and drive it. Would I have any problems if I just took the secondary butterflys out completely? Then in the event it has a synchro problem I guess I'll just have to pull the transmission, rebuild it, then I might as well throw an aftermarket clutch in while im in there. Thanks guys. I'm still open to opinions from anyone.

[nametakennow]

Butterfly removal is also an option, yeah. Not sure how to go about it though. I assume it's probably easier to just loctite them.

[brewski_143]

Do you happen to know if removing them causes any kind of drivability issues or the check engine light to come on??

[nametakennow]

No CEL/SES, drives fine as far as I've ever heard.

I figure the butterflies are there for a reason (i.e. - the car makes more power with them), though, so I'd keep them.

[VMPhil]

I think the feasibility of this has been tossed around by a few and what was found is, you will probably will lose low end power by removing them completely. they only open during high RPM driving and acceleration.

[brewski_143]

Thanks guys. What I'll probably end up doing is running the car on a G-Tech and getting hp, tprque, and 1/4 mile numbers. Then I'll take them out completely and try and get the same kind of numbers and see if theres a difference and end up going with whatever gets better numbers. All of this assuming the CEL doesnt come on and it doesn't have any drivability issues. The only reason I'm thinking of trying this is because on other cars such as an integra GS-R and the WRXs and STI's theres been proven horsepower and torque gains because they are more of an emmisions thing. Its usually somthing about generating more turbelence in the incoming intake air. Plus it will cost me $0 to do it. Who knows maybe I'll find out some valuable information that will help others.