Initial maintenance advice after buying '90 Sentra XE
First post here, so swing away!
I'm picking up a bone stock 1990 Nissan Sentra XE tonight (automatic trans, unfortunately), with 71K original miles on it, and I have exactly zero experience with Nissan Sentras. I'm wondering if there is anything for general maintenance I should do from the start, just to be sure this low-mileage Sentra gets a fair shot at becoming a high-mileage Sentra eventually.
The current owner has had it since it had 24K on it, and said he runs seafoam in a full tank of gas once a month to keep things clean. Is this something I should continue with the car? Seems a little anal to me.
Otherwise, it shouldn't be due for timing chain/water pump/etc for another 30K miles....I'm assuming that's right, anyway.
Sea foam once a month seems a little anal to me also, the car is 22 years old with 71k, I dont know how long heahd it but either was he hasnt been putting that many miles on it month to month! If I was you I would do a budget run through for my own peace of mind.
1) Clean/inspect and bleed brakes
2) Pull and inspect plugs, replace if necessary
3) Check coolant- drain/ flush and replace if you need to
4) Oil change- Personal preferance, i always like to start of with one so i know where im at
5) At 71k i would imagine the chances are hes never had the trans. serviced, drain the fluids, pull the pan check the inside of pan to makesure its clean and you dont have anything weird going on, replace the filter and gasket and fill her back up
6) Filters, fuel and air
Im sure im missing somthing but for about a hundred bucks and an afternoon of your time you should be able to knock this list out. It will give you a good starting point for your maintainance and give you some insight on what going on internally (ie. condition of plugs, bottom of trans pan, condition of brakes etc.)
Worst case everything looks good and you have some peace of mind!
Good luck
__________________ Why pay somebody to do something you can do? Laziness is an expensive habit and fear costs even more, there is no greater reward than the accomplishment of doing it yourself and learning something new...
Good luck, let me know if you find anything that doesnt look right
__________________ Why pay somebody to do something you can do? Laziness is an expensive habit and fear costs even more, there is no greater reward than the accomplishment of doing it yourself and learning something new...
Nissan's don't have AT "filters," just a screen. I would just drain the ATF and refill with genuine Nissan Type "D" ATF, or an aftermarket ATF that is recommended for Dexron II (not regular Dexron III ATF) applications, such as Valvoline Maxlife or Castrol Multi-import ATF. I also agree that monthy adding of Seafoam is a bit much and, IMO, a waste of cash. Timing chains and water pumps don't have a set mileage interval for replacement. Water pump should be replaced if it leaks or the bearing is failing. The timing chain, itself, rarely needs to be replaced, but there have been some problems with high mileage GA16DE upper timing chain tensioners failing. I would consider just replacing the upper chain tensioner only as a preventative maintenance measure, based on the history of these tensioners. Major services are scheduled at 30,000 miles on these vehicles and a service schedule is usually listed in the owner's manual, if it still has it. When tuning up, stick with genuine Nissan or NGK replacement parts for best results.
I wouldn't know where to start looking on this forum for an answer, and I've gone through this particular thread and didn't see this come up, so I'll just ask. You'll groan, but I'm going to ask anyway.
This 1990 Sentra XE came stock with 13" rims and tires. In looking around the internet at rims, I've seen a lot of 14" options listed as fitting this car. I have no interest in getting stupidly big rims, or dropping the car down....I'm too old to want to crawl out....but my question is what size tire would work with a standard 4x100 14" rim that wouldn't have any negative affect on anything in the suspension or anywhere else?
Stock suspension- 195/55/15, good balance of getting a lottle bit bigget without rubbing issues... just my 2cents
__________________ Why pay somebody to do something you can do? Laziness is an expensive habit and fear costs even more, there is no greater reward than the accomplishment of doing it yourself and learning something new...
just reread your post, i believe as long as you stick with a 195 series your going to be so a 195/../14 if thats what your looking for, just pick a rim with a close to factory offset
__________________ Why pay somebody to do something you can do? Laziness is an expensive habit and fear costs even more, there is no greater reward than the accomplishment of doing it yourself and learning something new...
I wouldn't know where to start looking on this forum for an answer, and I've gone through this particular thread and didn't see this come up, so I'll just ask. You'll groan, but I'm going to ask anyway.
This 1990 Sentra XE came stock with 13" rims and tires. In looking around the internet at rims, I've seen a lot of 14" options listed as fitting this car. I have no interest in getting stupidly big rims, or dropping the car down....I'm too old to want to crawl out....but my question is what size tire would work with a standard 4x100 14" rim that wouldn't have any negative affect on anything in the suspension or anywhere else?
The 1990 Sentra SE Coupe came with 14" alloy wheels and P185/60R14 tires.
Finally, I got the 1990 Sentra XE tonight, and it runs well, smooth, quiet, all that good stuff, and I expected that from a car with 72K on it. I'm not going to worry about new tires or rims yet, because the guy just put brand new winter tires on it, so I'll ride those until I'm more comfortable with the car and how everything feels. For now, after a bit of highway and city driving around, nothing sounds or feels funny. All I think I'd like is better shocks on it....they're kind of clunky on any little bump in the road, but nothing crazy.
This may sound simple to experienced guys, but I'll toss it out here: this 1990 Sentra XE runs great, but when I come to a stoplight and leave it in Drive, the idle drops a little too low...not to the point of dying, but lower than it should be, and almost to the point of chugging (but not quite). If I shift into Neutral at a stop, the idle is perfect. Any ideas on what might be causing this? Thanks.
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