I am currently looking at a 1990 Nissan 240sx coup , red with 102,000 miles with a five speed. It looks to be in great shape. I am test driving it tomorrow. What should I look for in my inspection of the vehicle and what are your opinions on buying this car and future plans if I should? Thank you.

 

my friend has a 240sx fast back w/ 100k+ miles. so far he's had to replace o2 sensor, starter, spark plugs, and brake pads. word of advice, if you do any diy repairs, don't use the chilton altima/240sx manual! the spark plugs and wire length have to be strictly oem or the engine starts misfiring. as for future plans, i can tell you what my friend has in mind... nismo 2 way lsd, kei office coil-overs, nismo steering w/ removable hub, nismo rims, and of course sr20det motor swap.

 

PM Lexusrules, he has had a few 240SX's.

 

First thing, obviously, to check in a 5-speed with that kind of mileage is clutch and synchro wear. Make sure the clutch engages fairly quickly, doesn't slip, and doesn't chatter or vibrate. Make sure the RPM stays constant at a given road speed in any gear. If it doesn't, that is a sure sign of slippage. For the shift linkage, first try shifting slowly, then try quicker and quicker shifts. In general, the longer you go without gear grinding, the better shape the synchros are in.

 

I just bought an 89 240sx fastback shell (no engine or transmission) last week. Body is fairly straight. I'm waiting for an SR20det front clip to come in so I can begin the fun stuff.

 

One of my friends had a 1990 240SX with high miles and he liked it very much. Unfortunately it is now dead because the transmission has gone out. It was originally an automatic and it was obvious that it was dying because the car would not shift smoothly at all under any driving conditions. He decided to replace that transmission and put a manual in and, but now that transmission has gone bad also. I purchased a 1990 300ZX 4 years ago and I have liked it very much, however I just purchased a GS400 and will need to be selling my 1990 300ZX with 120,000 miles on it. I feel that Nissan has quality cars. Just be cautious about the condition of the transmission and if the car has a factory spoiler, it is notorious for holding moisture and there is sure to be rust under or around it.

 

Some of the (more major) things that frequently go wrong on those cars are the fuel pump and air flow, too. if you're looking for the S13 shape car, the later year has the twin cam engine as opposed to the 1990 that you're looking at. make sure it idles correctly too (idle air ctrl valve)

 

Those are fun cars. I almost got one about a year ago, but ended up with a GS300 instead. Make sure you check all the basic wear items: spark plugs, belts, hoses, etc. If any of those are in bad condition then it's just a sign of how much the car's been neglected. Also, if you can, crawl under the car and examine the frame. If you do plan on doing the SR swap, make sure you do lots of research on it first. The KA is a great motor and pulls hard. The SR does have a lot more power, but I've heard that they don't last.

 

The SR20 has about 100x more aftermarket parts than the KA motor. It's only recently that people have started to really focus on tuning the KA24 but it's still relatively "behind" compared to what's out there for the SR. If you *do* get the SR20 swap, go for either the S13 or S14 motors....don't bother w/ S15 or it's 6 speed tranny. S13 is the non-ball bearing turbine out of all of them but if you plan on upgrades, it sort of doesn't matter what you have so you can go w/ the red top motor because it's cheaper.