Vacuum hose collapsed.
Carburetor Solenoid lead disconnected.
Plug Wires were as expected well shot. I have since replaced with Bosch Triple Silicon Lifetime plug wires.
Starter motor replaced as was making a slight groaning noise again a lifetime warranty product fitted.
Battery and terminals replaced as looked too old!
Timing Belt and camshaft and crankshaft seals replaced;again I chose parts with lifetime warranties.
The seals were replaced upon advice from my mechanic as there was a small oil leak which would have over time saturated the actual timing belt thus weakening it eventually to the point of snapping!
The breather system was non existent;I un-clogged the breather pipes myself (mud like deposits throughout the entire pipes!!)
This is what had caused the large amount of oil in the actual filter box!
Check your breathers people!
The car idles at 3000rpm upon start up my mechanic fixed that f.o.c.
The seats are ultra wide and surprisingly still very very comforting and supportive.
This is by no means fast, but if you do not care about looks and prefer reliability and zero depreciation this is probably the best bang for the buck out there.
Parts are extremely cheap on the net.
I paid $1400 for this car and was happy with that price as I know it will do double that and some.
A friend had an old Nissan and he got 500k miles on the original gas engine!
There is zero rust anywhere as it has always been in Texas!
I plan to spend money on this car and am gonna rebuild most of it.
I can see this car running in 10 years time no problem even though I do 30k miles a year!
This car is where the clever money goes;go ahead buy one.
I wrote this review. Update 5000 miles later I still have no major problems. This car is doing 85 plus miles a day 7 days a week. I have the standard electronic box overheating problem. this is inside the distributor and has been replaced. All that is needed is to replace the standard E16 distributor cap and rotor for the ones off of a 300zx as these caps are ventilated which I am informed by 2 nissan mechanics will solve it cheaply. i am very pleased with my purchase and the car payments I am saving will soon enable me to set up my own business. like I say this is where the clever money goes.
I have a 1984 Nissan Sentra 5 speed standard shift wagon that I bought used in February, 1995. It has a very reliable engine, and I put 100,000 miles. on it before the mechanic broke the speedometer cable while replacing the clutch two years ago. I have replaced the clutch twice in 7 years and my wagon has a chronic problem with the shift handle loosening up because of bad linkage. It is impossible to shift into reverse unless you use both hands to shift. Reverse is way over on the right. I looked in all of the junkyards to try to find another linkage for it and all of the 1984 Nissan's that I found were bad just like mine. It also has a problem with the front exhaust pipe loosening up' and I have had that fixed 3 times.
Wow a fellow Wagon owner! Thankyou for the tip regarding the speedo cable. I am having my clutch replaced next week and will pass the information on to my mechanic. I have put 12k miles on this car in 5 months and it still starts first time, Yes there are vacuum leaks/hesitation, but by easing off the gas the car plods along albeit slowly. OK when up to speed. Fairly quick off the lights due to the weight to power ratio. I am a newspaper carrier and this is ideal transport as there is no depreciation!Incidentally I wrote the above review.I intend to use this as a workhorse for many years.Well worth fixing up.
Update on my original review, I did have a problem with the speedo cable when the clutch was fitted! The mechanics managed to disconnect it from the dashboard. I have since fitted a new fuel pump, carburettor and clutch. It is having both front axles and rotors replaced tommorow, for a very cheap price. This vehicle is now very well fixed up and will give me many years of cheap motoring. After all, There is zero depreciation to worry about! I highly recommend an old rice burner as a day to day workhorse hack.
I Have a Nissan Wagon 1984 I call her putt putt. She is an Automatic. It has 211,000 mile and going strong. I live in Alaska and she has never failed to start no matter what the temperature . I hardly ever have to do repairs. Basic repairs and rebuilt the carberator. I have had to have the front cv joints fix only twice since we have had her, which we are the only owners. Love this car, would love to make it to 500,000 miles. We shall see.
These are superbly made vehicles. The last model year that was actually made and imported from Japan. I am the author of the above Survey. I absolutely love driving this old vehicle. My friends may comment about how they think it is starngled by too many Emission Controls.Yet, they would never understand. I have actually out dragged a Bmw 520i from the Traffic Lights uphill no less, all the way to 50 plus MPH before he could even get close,and he was trying. The engine noise from an E16 is absolutely superb. This Vehicle loves a good thrashing now and again. Of course, I make sure it is very warmed up and has near new oil before I would dream of going over 4000 revs.
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