Nissan 240sx...should I buy?

Alright folks,

Some prefacing is in order: I need another car like another hole in the head (and I've got several already, apparently). I'm not terribly excited about this example, but do like some rear drive goodness, and it's nicer than the wagon I'm driving currently.

The car in question is a '90 240sx 5 speed hatchback. It's listed at $600. The guy say's the junkyard will give him $250 for it (hard to believe...but whatever). he tells me "it just stopped running one day...no funny noises, it just stopped running and wouldn't start." It shows 214,000 on the odometer. I asked "how many quarts did it burn between oil changes (stating that I would expect a car of this age an mileage to burn some) and he claimed it didn't really burn or leak oil.

I figure it has a spark or fuel issue.

The body is pretty straight except for the passenger quarter panel which has been pushed in just a little bit (fore and aft of the wheel...just a bit). The clear coat has proclaimed emancipation from the majority of the body. It needs paint, badly, and in the past tense.

I've done enough research to know that this engine does not have the desirable motor with the D in the name. I also know it probably puts out DOUBLE the power of what my daily driver now puts out, and probably gets better fuel mileage. The body doesn't display any serious rust (I see from searching here that under the master cylinder is the tell-tale place to look...and it looks clean enough) and the interior would clean up to be servicable. It would probably need struts, and a couple of the tires are pretty much done for.

If he'll sell it to me for $300 AND I think the fix will be something common and simple (fuel or spark related)...I'd probably buy it.

Any more $ than that (like if one of the college drifter wannabees buys it for more), or if someone tells me "Stay away from a 200K mile KA24E!"...I'll just pass.

Is there anything else to look for or know about these cars?

No need to scream "Buy it, it's cheap!" because I already know this, but have already talked about holes in the head and all...

Thanks, Clem

Fuel pump fuse is a likely candidate. Have run into that on 240SXs several times.

That being said, buy. Swap KA24DE. Get rid of ugly pignose front, cheap paint job, and it's a great DD. Hatchback or Coupe? I absolutely love the "cheap" possibilities of these cars. Turboing a KA is so easy a caveman can do it. J30 rear end swaps in (with axles) and includes a limited slip.

There's the drift tax to consider... it's the one reason I would never own a 240, just the shape of the car is enough to get you pulled over and investigated.

Once running you can likely turn for a tidy profit since the kids are crazy about these with 5 speeds for Drift-mobiles.

Strong engine with good reputation of reliability. At 200k reliability really boils down to how well it was maintained (in my opinion.) They are timing chains, not timing belts but there is a known issue with plastic timing chain guides.

Resourses:
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zeromain?id=5

I owned a '97 automatic until it had 140k miles on it. It was an enjoyable and reliable car. MPG is only so-so with consistant mid 20's.

Well...I'm not aware of a drifting event or venue within 100 miles of my town.

I do realize that my main competition as a potential buyer would be dorifto posers...so that's what I'd call the drift tax.

It will very likely be gone before I decide weather or not to low-ball the guy (though I really think $300 is at or above the true value of the car as it sits)...but I'm fine with that, too.

Good deals come along fairly frequently...so I can be patient.

Though, I do like the thought of driving a 240sx...I've liked them for years (since I found out they were rear-drive about 15 years ago).

Clem

What's the bolt pattern on 240sx wheels?

Thanks,
Clem

4x114.3.

The body style up to '94 is known as the S13 and are all 4x114.3

'95 to '98 the body changed, know as S14's
On these the base version continued as 4x114.3
On the SE version they went to 5 lugs.

Sounds like a potential money/time pit, but those are neat cars. The lonly thing that's kept me from buying one is the aforementioned ricer/drifter association, and the fact that like hot Hondas and Acuras, thieves love them.

Watch the "frame" rails near the back for rust. If the rocker panels are rusty, the "frame" rails will likely have holes that you'll need to patch.

The KA motors are pretty solid, Nissan used them for their small trucks. Forged rods and crank. Lots of people are strapping turbos to the twin cam KA instead of doing the common SR-20 swap.

Speaking of which, swap possibilities are endless: twin cam KA24-DE, SR20-DET, 2JZ-GTE, or any RB series engine. All these have been done so often it's easy to find someone who can walk you through every little step. My personal fav is an LS-1 / 6-speed swap. But that's my answer to everything.

Aftermarket is huge and Nissan produced a gazillion of these motors, so parts are usually reasonable and easy to find.

The drift craze drove prices up, so if you've found something half-decent for under $1000 and it only needs a fuse to get it running, I'd grab it.

KA24DET > SR20 > RB20.

lesabre400 wrote: The drift craze drove prices up, so if you've found something half-decent for under $1000 and it only needs a fuse to get it running, I'd grab it.

I'd say this one is approximately 1/2 decent. certainly not 2/3 decent. Probably better than 1/3 decent...but maybe not.

That's a big if on the fuse being the fix, I figure, but stranger things have definitely happened.

I'd be buying it assuing the engine is SHOT (not really, but for budgeting purposes) and I could part it out to at least break even if that was the case (certainly a "5 speed swap kit" could net me the purchase price back).

If I got it to run, I would probably just drive it as is for the forseeable future...It would be a driving appliance. If you need an appliance, it helps if it's fairly fun in stock form, I suppose...

Clem

It sounds like it has already been drifted into something solid to cause the body damage. Id plan on the engine being blown up and the guy just wants to get rid of it so he is making it sound like it could be gotten running easily. You might get a pleastant supprise, but a supprise is what it would probably be. it sounds you like are aware of that already though. I see tons of those with welded diffs and drift damage around here. I even saw a twin turbo rx7 with nasty paint and body kit driving on the street with both rear quarter panels drifted into oblivion. for $300, it cant really hurt though even if it turns out to be complete junk.

From looking at the car, I don't think it's been "drifted."

I think it was driven by a kid in high school and brought to college. I think it was maintained as needed to pass inspection (it has a newer looking tailpipe/muffler, but the front struts seem done-for). Now that it has quit running, I think he bought another running car and needs to move this one to a new home. That's what the situation looks like to me...but who knows.

I would seriously consider giving this car a $50 foam roller paint job, cleaning up the interior, and driving it (not necessarily in that order), as long as it doesn't have a rod knock or other catastrophic calamity.

Of course, if the engine does turn out to be shot, I could replace it or pass it on down the line to the next automotive ADD projectaholic like myself.

Clem

Clem,

Make damn sure you check for rust one the front frame rails where they turn up at the firewall and at the rear where they turn up above the tank and muffler areas.

I made the mistake of checking for rust on the ground, at night, with a flashlight and missed the large majority of the rust that plagues my car.

Luckily, with all the drifters out there ready to buy one, I don't mind the idea of fixing the rust if and when I've got a garage and welder.

I put over 320k miles on a Z-24, which is the predecessor of the KA. If you think KA don't like to rev, drive a Z-24.

Nissans also have fusible links, check those,. They should also have a fuel pump relay. When i went to get my truck back on the road after a few years in the back yard, I had trouble with no ground signal to the fuel pump. It would fire if I poured gas down the TBI, it just wouldn't run. A real electric repair shop fixed it with 3 hrs labor and some wire.

If the motor is not salvageable you can find KA24s for sale everywhere for next to nothing! Not to mention SR20s, CA18s, RB20s, etc etc

What I would do is clean it up a little bit, make it run right and sell it to some drifter wanna be kid for WAY more than you have into it! haha

and that would probably not be hard to do... especially if you take it someplace where the drift scene is big

Careful on assuming that you'll get a high resale on it.

I thought it would be easy to resell my 89 Coupe with the rare two-tone color and no drift damage...but most of the forums where I'd sell such a car quickly wanted pictures of the rust.

Rust free shells, on the other hands, bring a slightly higher price.

So yeah, it still depends a lot on the rust issue.

Don't discount the fact that the 240SX is pretty fun car either. It may not be as light as a E30 or a Miata, but it's still lighter than Mustang or Fbody and RWD.

I have given this a couple days. I was thinking about just saving up about 10x the cash and buying something like an SC400 sometime in the next year.

I'm going to contact the guy today and see if he still has it. if so, I'll offer to bring him $300 cash for it and see what he says. I'll "let it brew" if he still has it and doesn't accept right away.

I looked for rust in the area under the master cylinder and didn't see anything alarming. I'm sure it's rusty, to some extent, but certainly nowhere NEAR the extent that I expect from a 20 year old car in Missouri.

Well,

This one has already been sold. No worries here.

I greatly appreciate the input and discussion from all of you!

Thanks,
Clem