i hate my car!!! need advice

[XXX4life]

ok so right now i'm really depressed and really hate my car and cars in general right now. let me start from the beginning last january i bought a 90 240sx hatch and it was burning oil and gas really bad and the clutch was gone, so i found a 91 DOHC motor to swap in, so my friend and i swapped it and everything went fine after sorting out timing issues and a dead MAF, but then it was running good untill i burned through a half of tank of gas in 75 miles, put a new o2 sensor in and now i get 100 miles on a half a tank, then when i got the new motor home i saw that all the valve cover bolts were stripped out and i was like no big deal i'll retap them, well tonight i finally got around to retapping them after i pulled out my plug wire and the hole was filled with oil! so i retapped the holes and they are still stripped so now the head is Fed! i'm so fed up with this car, all i want is to have a car that is reliable and not have to worry about, i'm really trying to keep myself from going out and buying a g35, so i'd like to get my 240sx to be reliable and running good, so my options are try to find a newer low mileage ka24de or just bring it to a shop and have them swap an sr20det and be done with it, i really wanna push it off a cliff right now :(

[civicsi2]

whats the matter with the scion. Get a honda. Its just luck dude, poping in another motor isn't to cheap. just take it to a shop and pay the money to get it fixed. Then you'll be done with it for awhile. Thats what i do when it just goes to far, give it to someone else and say at least its done the right way and if it doesn't work you can bitch at them.

Just blame it on Oregon weather.

[XXX4life]

nothing is wrong with the scion but the wife drives that, so i need a reliable car

[Prelude Guy]

My take.....an old car like a 90 240SX is not a good idea to have as a primary car. This may sound wrong to say to most of you...but the 240SX was not a good car from the factory. :bite: *ducks* It's a cool car, and has MAD potentional...but it's not the most reliable. :dunno

With that said, I would get a more reliable car (Honda makes some REALLY reliable cars, or a Toyota) as your daily driver.

240's are good cars to have as project cars. It's a car that can be MADE into something nice. That's why I bought mine. However, you will need to put money and time into it, but to accomplish this, you need to have another car available while you work on the 240/it's in the shop.

I have an 01 325ci as my nice weather daily driver/weekend car. I bought a 92 Prelude that needed a lot of work for a low price. I practically rebuilt the whole car, using my 325 as my daily driver as the Prelude was being worked on. Now I use my Prelude as my daily driver/track car. I picked up my 89 240SX as my new project car since I am done modding/rebuilding my Prelude. I will use my 240 as my daily driver/bad weather car. If it breaks down, I will hop into my Prelude during bad weather days/ 325 during nice weather days. If i didn't have more two cars, there is NO WAY I could have the patience to deal wityh a car that works one minute, and then not the next.

Based on my experience, 240's are VERY finneckie (sp?) They run well one day and then act up the other. (e.g. I went over my friend's house to let him try my MAF on his 89 240. His car sat for approx. 2 months and his MAF stopped working. Then we put my car back together and I tried to fire it up. NOTHING!! It had NEVER done that before. I had to hit the starter for it to work. lol) It should not be used as a daily driver if it is your only mode of transportation. There is NO WAY I could've done what I did to my Prelude had I not had my 325.

If I were you, I would get another car and keep the 240. The nice thing about the 240 is that it is actually going up in value as time progresses. It's a car that you can sell later on if you feel you can't restore it, and actually turn somewhat of a profit on it.

I bought my 240 with this idea in mind. I knew that the prices were going up. I figured I might as well buy it since the body and interior were in AWESOME condition, keep it, and if I decided that I didn't want it/couldn't restore it, I could very easily sell it off for MORE than what I paid for it. Fortunately, I can sell it for more than 2x what I paid for it. :w00t:

I hope this helps....if any. :)

[kandyflip445]

I would SOOOOOOO get a g35 if I could...

[XXX4life]

well here's the deal, i could afford a g35 but i don't really wanna get into $30k of debt for the next 5 years i'd rather spend $5k making a 240 reliable, my last car was a 99 jetta that i had about $30k into and after rebuilding it time after time to make it faster i couldn't do it anymore and finally gave up and sold the car not running for $3500, yes thinking about it makes me wanna kill myself. so then i got the scion to have as the one nice reliable car cause the payment is super low so i was thinking i'd have the scion as the nice car and my 240 as my daily and fun car but lately it's just been headaches after headaches

[idlafie]

ok so right now i'm really depressed and really hate my car and cars in general right now.
....bought a 90 240sx hatch and it was burning oil and gas really bad and the clutch was gone, so i found a 91 DOHC motor to swap in,
....then it was running good untill i burned through a half of tank of gas in 75 miles, put a new o2 sensor in and now i get 100 miles on a half a tank,
....then when i got the new motor home i saw that all the valve cover bolts were stripped out and i was like no big deal i'll retap them, so i retapped the holes and they are still stripped so now the head is Fed!

i'm so fed up with this car, all i want is to have a car that is reliable and not have to worry about, (

WHOOOAAAA THERE big boy....don't pull out the 357 just yet!!! :loco: :loco:

You can fix the head by installing a HELICOIL kit...see attached link to see what they look like.
http://www.ezlok.com/
http://www.zacm.com/brand/helicoil.htm
Take the valve cover bolt to your local auto parts store, (pick a GOOD one where they KNOW their sh*t), and ask them if they carry a Helicoil kit for your head. Tell them the amount you need and ask them for the tap that goes with the Helicoil kit...it should come with one already.
Click on the attached link for instructions on how to install the helicoil kit..
http://www.toolsnextday.ltd.uk/Helicoil_Kits/helicoil_usage.htm

As for your crappy gas mileage, that's easy...check your engine coolant temperature sensor & the harness that it connects to. Also check your fuel pressure regulator ALONG with your injectors. I've posted so much information on this problem that I should have memorized the thread numbers by now, but unfortunately I haven't. Just do a search in the TECH section with my Zilvia handle...you'll find it somewhere in there.

Anyhow, don't give up on your car. It's a hell of a lot more reliable than what everyone else says...Download a FSM, read it & you'll be able to figure out how to solve your problems lickety split!!!....

If you need more info on the crappy gas mileage, just shoot me back...I'll clue you in on things to check...

ID
:faint: :faint: :faint:

[undercoverdjay]

Wow, I've never had any trouble with my 92 KA24DE when I had it. I could see the SOHC being a tempromental engine with the head gasket issues and all. But when my S13 was running the KA24DE, it was a great engine. I dont feel that 240's are finicky cars, they usually have power hungry kids as owners who know fuck-all about them. I know people who swapped in their SR20DET's and have all sorts of electrical probs. Go figure with do it yourself wiring. I'll let you know how my SR turns out. Until then, just do what idlafie says and do it yourself. Most of the time, its easier just to take it to a garage. Seeing how it is the same engine an altima has and all. Good luck dude.

[XXX4life]

thanks for the links on the helicoil, my friend was telling me about that but i never knew how it worked. it looks like i'm gonna have to pick one up.

as far as the gas mileage goes, i still have an open vaccum source that i can't figure out where it goes so i think that's a big part of it, my FSM is in mail so hopefully when it comes i can figure that out

i'm just frustrated i'm too busy for stupid car problems now :(

[Dream240]

i'm just frustrated i'm too busy for stupid car problems now :(

I feel the same way right now! I'm so pissed at my car , I've decided to sell it. I'm just fed up with putting so much time and energy into it and not feeling like it's giving me back anything. Plus I'm tired of spending money on it and it's still not getting where I want it to go. Plus its become a mileage whore an now all the stuff I did to it a couple years ago that should have lasted longer are all worn out so instead of getting a turbo, I have to replace the suspension, tranny parts, and engine wear parts.....arrrghhh!!! Fuck it..anyone want it??? :(

[Vatche]

ok so make your scion(cheap economy car) your daily....and use some common sense, a 240 project car even with a swapped motor isnt going to solve your problems, it will be a used motor and that will have problems too....if your motor is fucked, then get a new one but expect problems....my car is always broken, i complain , but i dont care that its broken cuz i know it will break.....either put the money on your 240 and have it done right the first time....or dont complain about how much another new car will cost you and go buy it....some people dont have the choice to even buy a new car....and i dont have the money to fix mine....let it go at that....learn about cars a little and understand they wont ever be reliable if you dont treat them right, and even if you do they will break once in awhile.

[SlideStar]

You get what you pay for. You need to decide how important this 240sx project is to you.
If you don't want to shell out big money for an SR or get a cheep KA, what about a CA18DET ??
They're almost as fast as an SR and super cheep to get. Most people jump on the SR band wagon
and sell their perfectly good CA18's.

"....5 years i'd rather spend $5k making a 240 reliable" Won't 5K buy you a whole new 1990 240sx??

[sciamop]

-- Get a low mileage SR clip (<80K miles) + rear subframe w/ LSD from a reputable dealer (ie Jarco). Transfer everything that you possibly can off of the clip (front suspension, tie-rods, front hubs/brakes, fuel pump, etc, etc, etc). $3400 shipped
-- Get a new radiator $226 shipped
-- Replace belts $70
-- Replace battery $50
-- Replace hoses $30
-- Replace fuel filter $12
-- Replace air filter with a K&N $100
-- Replace exhaust w/ stainless unit $600
-- Purchase rear struts $150
-- Replace random $hit $400 (tires/wheels/brakes)

Instead of driving a thrashed hi-mileage 240sx time bomb, you'll be driving a bulletproof low mileage 240sx for under US$5K. The best thing about the whole JDM thing is that you are basically doing a light restoration on your car; and if YOU do the work, you'll know it was done right (or wrong).

The light resto S13 will be as reliable as a $5K Toyota, Honda or BMW daily driver. If the S13 does break down, you'll be a little more enthusiastic about working on it/spending money on it than a fucking stock Toyota Tercel...

Todd
93 Coupe (light resto)
90 Coupe (time bomb)
"Reliability is rubbish on a car that's over 10 years old."

[XXX4life]

yeah i'm really thinking about an sr but the ca18det seems attractive to me b/c i keep hearing how easy it is to get parts for, but that involves another engine swap which i really don't have time for :(

[sykikchimp]

Man, it's like you are repeating the exact thoughts I've been having lately.

I've been spending bookoo bucks on the whore, and what does she do when I come out for work yesterday? *cough**Cough*SPIT, COUGH, die... everytime I crank it, it starts, then dies..

I thought, Man, FUCK THIS SHIT. I could sell the car, and part out a bunch of the performance parts and come out with like 8g's, then add a couple grand, and easily afford a g35 payment. I just ccan't stand having that kind of debt. :(

..so what am I gonna do? I'm taking it to a mechanic, and saying.. FIX IT. then I'll be out a few hundred bucks, but hopefully the car will be running right again.

[XXX4life]

and the thing is mechanically my car runs great, it's all the stupid shit like striped valve cover bolts, a vaccum line that i don't know where to put, stupid shit like that is what's pissing me off :(

[s14 blacktop]

I felt exactly the same way about my car! I wanted to take the sledge hammer to it and throw some gas on it and let it burn!

BUT then I heard about the SR20DET! thats when things changed.
I bought my motor and rear end for $3400 (everything in the engine bay, the rear axles, driveshaft, LSD) NOW my car is the main focus, it is a bad ass project, and now with the sr engine in it I think its more reliable than a honda!!! I used to be a honda guy

[Dream240]

You know if you want to go CA18, you could find a 87-89 pulsar SE, SUPER light cars with the CA18 power plant and the possiblities are endless. Plus they're SUPER rare. Only thing is that they're FWD, good for the strip and smoking on the freeways, but not much else. I personally love those little suckers....just can't find an SE here on the west coast!!! damn it....

[Var]

Fix the stupid problems. My KA has 167K original miles and i have put it through some hard driving. Since you took the trouble to put this motor in, at least use it. Run it into the ground. Drive it till it burns oil or throws a rod. Every motor swap has problems like this. You are looking at the least downtime by fixing it. SR swap is not a solution, it's a just a different list of problems. Just go read the tech threads if you dont believe me.

[Dream240]

Yeah my Ka has about 190k original miles and still runs like a champ. I've noticed some power loss over the years but that's to be expected. I'm going to do a compression test this weekend to see where it's at. not planning a rebuild or swap until it takes a shit. At least just fix the problems and source out a back up motor for when it goes poop. That's your cheapest option.

[SlideStar]

Only thing is that they're FWD, good for the strip and smoking on the freeways, but not much else.

...haha not what I had in mind, but close...
A CA18DET CLIP off of a 88-92 180sx or silvia will cost you around 500.00
How much will it cost you to put it in?? If you have a clip it won't be much,
you could do it in a weekend.