noobie here

[pacotaco345]

I just purchased a 91 240SX SE with the twin cam motor and an automatic transmission. Believe it or not it really did belong to a little old lady and appears to have not much more than normal wear for the 180,000 miles indicated on the clock. It seems to be pretty solid with no timing chain death rattle or anything like that, however there is a small but noticeable vibration that starts at about 30 and continues all the way up the speedo (I know it may be a balance weight, but I haven't checked that yet, any other ideas would be appreciated). Also, there is a thumping noise coming from the right front that occurs about half a second after the brake pedal is pushed, and I have no clue what that could be. Otherwise the car is great, and seems to still be screwed together pretty well. I'm looking toward swapping out the automatic for a five-speed eventually, tightening up the stock suspension and maybe squeezing out a little more power. My budget is limited so I'm hoping to accomplish all these things at minimum cost. I have access to all of my dad's time, tools, and facilities so that isn't a problem. If you have any thoughts or ideas, any reply would be great. Thanks

[OutToWinPAHC]

Welcome to Nico, make sure you check the stickies and search the site for good info. a 5 speed swap is covered in the stickies and I recommend it (even thought technically I rock and "auto")

[Frankenfourty]

For the vibration that starts at 30mph, check your driveline. Check your u-joints for play, and see if the shaft is dented at all.

For the problem under braking, pull off your wheel and get a pry bar and check your suspension parts for wear, i.e. ball joints, control arm joints. Pry a little bit on them just to check to make sure there is no play, and you don't need to be very aggressive in prying. It could very well just be a warped rotor too as warped rotors are common, but its always good to check your suspension anyways.

[Mangid]

I had a vibration in the steering wheel that started at about 45 and didnt stop until 60. I installed new tie rod ends and got an alignment and that fixed it 100%. Jack the car up under the front crossmember and wiggle the tires while they're free in the air, if there's any play then replace whatever's worn out.

[pacotaco345]

The diff in the car also sounds dry, I'm probably going to check to see how much is in there tomorrow, but is this a common issue? Also is it very hard to replace the gaskets in the diff?

[ca18detgabby]

could be a LCA rattle

could be bushings

could be a Motor mount

it has 180k. do some routine matinancec and clean up everything. Should be fun and solid ride.

pics?

[jdmwojo]

my 240 also had a rattle when i bought it so i took it to a mechanic an all mine was, was that the spark plug wires came loose and he tightened them up and it ran great with no rattle hope i helped a little good luck with the build neway.

[pacotaco345]

I just gave the suspension a once over and everything is a lot tighter than I thought it would be. How do you post pictures, I clicked the icon and all that came up was [IMG][/IMG] and I can't figure out what to do with that. Help would be great. Thanks.

[Steady_One_S13]

Welcome newbie!

If you haven't already, download photobucket and load pics to it (ur account). Take the IMG code (copy) and paste it in the post reply (here). Hit the post button and voila.