Newb from Arizona.

[erick240sx]

Ok, so i just bought my first car a couple days ago, its a 1990 Nissan 240SX Hatch. I honestly love it so far, its fun to drive to say the least. Ive been into cars, and ive been into 240's but id never thought id own one. I paid $2,300 for it. With that all said, i have a couple of questions for you guys regarding the engine. I noticed that it was leaking very small amounts of oil, not a whole lot, but enough for me to notice it. Im still learning my way around the engine, its a KA24e single cam, but i would like to swap it soon. OK, back to the oil leak, its slightly under the pasanger seat to the left. I have pictures. If theres a 'how to fix an oil leak' thread out there which im sure there is, please direct me to it, so i dont waste time. Only thing i dont like about the car is those headlights.... I hate them actually. 140k miles on it, ksport springs and a 5 speed manual transmission. Btw, my name is Erick and im from Arizona. If you can also direct me to a place where i can get OEM headlights, quarter panels and front bumper thatd be greeeeaaaattt

[AZhitman]

Welcome aboard, fellow Arizonan!

First off, all the body parts, including the HLs, can be had from a wrecking yard. I use www.car-part.com to find cars in the area, or just head down to Broadway every Saturday and hit the U-Pull-It yards until you find what you need.

The oil leak could be tougher... Looks like it's running down and along other components, so it could be anything. With a SOHC engine, it's gonna be tired anyway.

You can pull the motor and completely re-seal it (new front / rear main seals, oil pan seal and VC gasket) and that'll eliminate 90% of any likely leaks. Before doing that, I'd recommend a compression test to see if it's even worth re-sealing.

Here's your homework for the next week: www.240sxtech.com

Read, read, read. You'll know more about your car than 90% of owners and you'll be better-prepped to tackle any projects. We'll be right here to help.

[erick240sx]

Thank you so much!
I honestly don't want to pull the whole engine, so im going to hope that when i do the compression test, everything works as it should, if not, then the car is going under the knife. What numbers should it put up with the compression test?
Ill head over to junkyards to look for parts this weekend so ill keep you guys posted on that. I have a lot of learning to do haha but itll be worth it, i need to learn it anyways. I need wheels pretty bad too, wire bead is showing on one of my tires, so if im going to change the tires i might as well pick up some wheels that i like, im probably going to do a 5 lug conversion on it, so ill keep you guys posted on that as well!

[erick240sx]

Scratch that, got the numbers.

[daemonyk]

Here's your homework for the next week: http://www.240sxtech.com

+1 for 240sxtech. Heaps of valuable info.

[erick240sx]

Took her to emissions today.... No bueno. Where can i go so they can fix her up so she can pass?

[pepesilvia]

......If you can also direct me to a place where i can get OEM headlights......

please make that top priority. dayum those headlights are uggggryyyy

[AZhitman]

Took her to emissions today.... No bueno. Where can i go so they can fix her up so she can pass?

Your garage.

Plenty of articles here on making a SOHC KA24E pass emissions.

[blkvrtswp]

+1 for your good taste in not liking those frog-eye headlights.

For the oil leak, try tightening by hand the oil pan and valve cover bolts. Do not over-tighten, but if they are loose oil will get out and drip down and make a mess like you seem to have.

[erick240sx]

Taking her to get a diagnosis, cleaning the vacuum lines as well as the oil. Using throttle body obviously on the throttle body to clean it up, new injectors and that should be enough to pass. Arizona is pretty strict on emissions.

[erick240sx]

Ok so here it is:
Took the 240 to get it checked out to see what i needed to do to fix it up and pass emissions. Got a call back this morning, wasnt good. They said with the obvious stuff that they could see before even performing a diagnosis, i would have to replace stuff like a temp sensor, re route vacuum lines and other things inolving my fuel system. They said replacing and fixing all of these would give it a really good chance of passing emissions. They also told me it would cost around 700. So what im asking is this, if anyone from arizona want to help me out and maybe help me fix all of these parts, that would be amazing. Im still learning, im reading more about tech stuff, but i need to replace all of these soon, before my permit passes and i end up spending more on getting new permits. I can compensate for any help i get, and i really need the help, i dont want to sell it just because maybe some small stuff that could of been replaced by someone with knowledge didnt get replaced. So any help would be great, and let me know what you guys can do. I will do my share and read more, so maybe i can do it myself, but i need tools and also senior knowledge, i cant do this all by myself but i can put in a good amount of work. even if it means me going to someones house, using their tools and them telling me what to do, ill do that. Thanks alot guys.

[AZhitman]

Erick, what part of the Vslley are you in?

I know most of the local 240sx experts, and I've got someone in mind that should be able to get you squared away.

[erick240sx]

I honestly need some help bad, i dont want to get rid of my car to be honest with you. Im on the east side of the valley, 48th and Ray.

[AZhitman]

Cool. I'll get you someone's contact info. I'm sure he'll help out for way less $ than that. He's a good dude.

[erick240sx]

Appreciate it.

[blkvrtswp]

Did you already buy injectors? If yes consider that lesson #1 - NEVER buy parts until you know for SURE that they are the cause of the problem. As soon as I saw that I said there is some wasted money.

Good luck with the fixup. Emissions and vacuum line routing is pretty simple for someone who knows the engine. I had to buy an emissions can on ebay to pass the visual in NY - I threw dozens of those in the trash at the shop years ago.....

[erick240sx]

I havent bought anything yet, waiting on AZHitman for the contact info

[AZhitman]

It's in your PMs.

[mechanicalmoron]

Why do they think you need all this re-routing and such?

Sounds like they want your money, unless the motor got worked over like the headlights and hood did.

[AZhitman]

Probably has some mis-routed vacuum hoses.

It's never as complicated as the waterheads at Emissions make it out to be.

[erick240sx]

Exactly. Im taking it in to Greg's shop in tempe when he has the time. I am replacing the slave and master cylinder myself today, because my clutch lost all pressure.

[mechanicalmoron]

Exactly. Im taking it in to Greg's shop in tempe when he has the time. I am replacing the slave and master cylinder myself today, because my clutch lost all pressure.

....You can just look to see where the leak is, and do one.

And make sure the pedal connecting rod didn't just come loose somehow.

[erick240sx]

I replaced both because they were both leaking. I replaced the master first, i got nothing after trying to bleed it, after i replaced the slave as well, i started to get pressure and my clutch works now, however, i dont think i bled it enought, my clutch release point is really early, im thinking its because either i didnt bleed it all the way, or i need to adjust that rod. Which i dont know how to adjust haha

[AZhitman]

Have you read the FSM yet?

If not, this is going to get real aggravating for you (and the people trying to help you).

The clutch rod spins, once you loosen the jam nut. Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey.

[erick240sx]

I bled it until clear clutch fluid started coming out, but i ran out so i worked with what i had. Should of been prepared...

[erick240sx]

I will do that haha that might just be the only thing i need to do. Im trying to cause the least amount of head aches for me and any one who is helping me out so i will do my fair share of studying haha

[AZhitman]

I bled it until clear clutch fluid started coming out, but i ran out so i worked with what i had. Should of been prepared...

If you ran out, did you run the reservoir empty?

[erick240sx]

The resevoir is filled to the appropiate ammount. It never ran empty when i was bleeding it, if it did, we would of had to start over again.