1986 Nissan Stanza 4wd wagon from North America - Comments

(mileages approx)

150,000 miles -- Power steering gear bad at time of purchase. Replaced and aligned. Also engine temp. sensor replaced. Rear hatch release/fuel filler door release cable is broken, but never repaired (too much labor).

160,000 -- replaced front brake pads, had to obtain one replacement rotor, turned the other one.

180,000 -- had all 4 (front and rear) CV axle shafts rebuilt. (needed new boots and re-lubed)

190,000 -- installed used power steering pump; original was "groaning"

200,000 -- installed used injectors and injector rail as a set (one of original injectors was leaking from housing)

215,000 -- when replacing timing belt, found right-side motor-mount had failed. Replacing this also "cured" a 2'nd-gear synchronizing problem that I'd noticed.

220,000 -- "head pipe" flexible coupling failed in front of catalyst; replaced. also gaskets at front and rear of catalyst blown out. New ones from dealer are metallic construction. Also pipe from catalyst to rear muffler has rusted through (but not fixed yet).

225,000 -- installed heater core and heater mode cable; original cracked and leaked steam. And 4-way flasher switch sort of "crumbled" while trying to replace heater core.

Also had (unknown mileages) several radiator hose failures, thermostat failure, valve cover oil leak, bad rotor and spark plug wires.

Handling is quite acceptable for a small 4wd vehicle, other than somewhat annoying under-steer. Handling is quite stable on icy/snowy surfaces (though it's only part-time 4wd, so can't use 4wd on "mixed" dry and slick roads).

Ride is better than other small 4wd vehicles I've driven, though road/tire noise can be higher than desirable.

Adequate power, except perhaps in 4wd, where sometimes an odd "rumbling" is audible, some sort of resonance?

Interior still looks very good, despite vehicle's age, though I wouldn't want to take an extended trip (front seat bottom padding is getting more than "firm")

Sliding side doors are "neat", though don't really add to vehicle's usefulness (and have an annoying tendency to light up the "door ajar" light, even when apparently closed).

Biggest complaint: weak defroster just isn't up to high plains ice & snow. Despite new (dealer) thermostat, dealer checks, replaced heater core, rechecks of all control cabling, new water pump, etc. Defroster blows lots & lots of warm air, but somehow just can't keep windshield clear, especially at driver's eye level and higher.

Most impressive: 226,000 miles and still running like a top; minimal oil consumption and reasonable mileage (25-26 miles per gallon commuting, some-times 28-30 miles per gallon highway)

Do you know where can I find rear shock absorber for this car?

(Nissan Stanza Wagon 1986 4WD)

Thank you.

My 1986 also needs a rear strut. Otherwise the car has been the perfect mountain commuter car. I call mine the mole.

Betsy, my 86 stanza van, died at 234k. she needed new clutch and fuel pump. up till that point she had done me right. very little maintenance. up until she died, everything on her worked. if you come across a baby blue van with a fan installed on the rear speaker, she was mine. give her a good home.

Hi! I have owned many Nissan Multi's (Canadian name) they are great and any one who has one will agree. For me I like the four wheel drive models best.I have a 1987 4x4 loaded even power door locks (all 5 doors) thus was a great addition I added myself. To the guy west defrost problem make sure you have control set to outside air not recirculate, buy.

I have a 1988 Stanza Wagon. It has 285,000 miles on it and I plan on keeping it until she finally gives up the ghost. It is my favorite vehicle to drive because the seats are comfortable, it has few blind spots, is totally reliable and gets decent gas mileage. Two of my children drove it while in high school and we have bought new Nissan vehicles (Altima and Frontier) since then, but for some reason we have always kept the Stanza as a back up vehicle. I did have the automatic and engine rebuilt and replaced the rack and pinion steering. The body is still in great shape. I had a little surface rust forming around the lift gate, but a little sandpaper and POR-15 kept it from further rusting. It has absolutely no resale value, but I wouldn't sell it anyway.

Hi, my 1987 Stanza 4x4 has more than 250000 miles.

Heaters/defrosters are useless at -30f, too much cabin space.

The car keeps running, although it like to eat caps and rotors lately.

Shocks are a dealer only item.

Still, I keep driving it and it survives Alaskan winters. Definitely a car ahead of its time.

You can buy struts on partstrain.com or something like that, I think it's parts train. The passenger and driver side are different though I THINK. Not sure.

I just bought a 1986 Nissan Stanza Wagon with only 77,000 miles on it. The rack and pinion is leaking and I am replacing it... but I got a helluva deal. I hope. It should be fixed in a couple days. Got the part on rack and pinion warehouse.com.

I have to say "the mole" is still going strong. It has almost 200k miles on it and it's part of the family. Believe it or not, I'm still looking for rear struts. It's hard to spend $250 on a strut when you originally traded a bicycle for the car. I did find some used ones and they lasted a year. If you happen upon a Stanza wagon and you can get past the popemobile looks of it, you grab it and smile!!! They are quite the status symbol. We put a sticker on the window that says LIVING LARGE.

Thanks for reading this, and if you own one, please post something because honestly I forgot about my original post, and the family enjoyed seeing the comments over the years. I was just surfing for some struts again.