Hello people, I'm new to the forum and seek a simple answer about the SE-R (SR20 series) motors. I figure you all should know something here..
the SR20 is an all aluminum motor, or so i have been told.. but it does have steel cylinder sleeves.
Durability is my question here.. I'm looking at two SR20 cars, a 97 200SX SE-R and a 99 Sentra SE-R. Both have about 120k on them. I've heard the SR20 is only good for about 150k??!
Can you please give me the honest rundown on the SR20's durability? If the SR20 motors are not durable, I'd rather just get a car with the tried and true 1.6L steel-block motor, but the extra HP would be quite cool, and these two cars are good deals... Plus the SE-R's look very nice!
ive seen sr20's go well beyond 200,000 miles. these engines are very dependable and durable as long as you maintain it well. as long as the cars are running strong, i would not worry about dependability.
Durability is not a question with SR20's unless they have been absolutely abused. You shouldn't have any trouble with the engines in any of those cars. The 99 is a Sentra SE right? The SR20 is a long running production Engine that lasted 10 years here in the states and saw duty in SE-R's, SE's, and Infiniti G20's. In Japan, it is turbocharged, so it has to be built strong. It uses forged parts where it's competition uses cast. Stock bottom ends have been known to support 500 hp. I don't know if there is a stronger 4 cylinder, 2.0 L motor...If you take care of it, it'll go way past 200,000 miles.
If the SR20 is properly maintained, it can last a very very long time.
that other person would be me!!!!!!!!! i take care of my ride but this past year i have found myself heavy on the foot and she still pulls hard. just take care of it and it will take care of you(plus they really are easy to work on if you ever have problems with em. i have only had to relace the tranny once due to 5th gear pop out)
jorge
jorge
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1991 B13 a.k.a. SR71 Blackbird with gen5 HS , S4's, CAI, courtesy b-pipe, extremePP,lwflywheel and 6 puck madness. 290,860 original miles from original engine(some say original oil) but that is still a mystery
i bought my 92 se-r with 44k on it i changed the oil 4 times, it finally died at 148k. that would be considered serious neglect, and i would suggest periodic oil changes. new engine regularly maintained. i have approx 90k on it and it perrrrsss
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cranium
When push comes to shove, my car is uglier than yours.:)
your not just whislin' dixie. shear neglect, breaks my heart now that i look back on it. on the bright side now i have a block and head to start building. if i can solve a small delema.
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cranium
When push comes to shove, my car is uglier than yours.:)
I take it you weren't trying to kill your engine then... you just didn't understand how important oil changes were? Still, it's impressive it made it 100k on a 25k oil change interval.
I hear yah there guys about neglect. We have two 1995 B13 Sentra's that were bought new and neglect is not the word for it. I've been told they had regular maintenance while under warranty although that was 3, almost 4 years ago...even then I doubt they were. Since then, having the oil changed is a luxury. Seems like everyone in my family just didn't think oil changes were necessary. The Sentra I have was driven by my 3 brothers and sister. Even when I never had my license I was the only one that washed it and cleaned out the inside. Back in Jan 02, 3 months after I got my license(no need before with 4 other driving the same car) it thought I'd do some regular maintenance, e.g. air filter, fix holes in exhaust, get oil changed. Well, I had this done over about 2 weeks and every time I got more and more power...I was actually laughing when I first took it for a drive.
Before Jan. there must have been well over 10,000 miles before the last oil change and I'm sure this wasn't the first time.
My mother's car, now that's a different mess all together. Unless it leaks oil or something needs to be replaced in order to get it changed it's not done. The car has 196,000 Km's(116,250 miles) on the GA16DE engine. The car was knocking/rattling all the time (even after the timing chain guides were replaced). It would stop if you topped the oil up a bit due to a slow leak. To keep the noise away, you'd have to over fill oil. I took it on myself to jack the car up, change the oil and while I was at it, change the transaxel fluid which was never done before, especially after the 116K miles(like I said, neglect isn't the word). I'll admit, she idled a bit better but engine noise was extreme...I guess the gummed up oil was gone and revealed how bad the engine really was.
Well, 4 months of this...(my question...why not earlier...anyway)...the car was in the garage for a week and it turned out the bearings were gone, 5 needed to be replaced for $12 each. The day after when I drove it, yeah...it was quiet but felt sluggish. Then a day later the engine light came on but would go off again after an hour or so driving. Instead of taking the car back to the garage...my parents just keep on driving. After a more than casual cruise with a few members of our local Import club NFImports she started to rattle again just like before. There was well over 500 Km's on the bearing before I went on this short cruise but it sounds as if they failed again. Like I told my father...regular oil begins to sheer down after 1600km's, you can't expect it to last beyond 10,000 Km's, the intervals which it is usually changed.
When I get my car back on the road next summer, the first oil change will be Mobil 1 Tri-syn and after that I think I'm switching to AMSOIL. I read an article somewhere that total cost of a car over it's life span(cost of car, gas, repairs), most people only spend 0.5% on oil changes. It makes me sick so people (my family in particular) expect a car to last while not getting regular maintenance done and think the car will never break down. My mother said she'd never have another Nissan (she wants a Sidekick or some Sport utility...haha, enjoy I say)...although my dad is starting to believe what I say and he says an Altima will be his next car.
Sorry for my long rant...just thought I'd share my experience...hope you learned something.
it's not really that i don't know the inportance of an oil change it's that i would put 2000 to 2500 miles a month on the car and time would just get away from me you know work, kids, wifes need ect.......... no excuse though just didn't care at the time.
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cranium
When push comes to shove, my car is uglier than yours.:)
Yeah, I know what you mean about time and miles getting out of hand. Oh well, at least if you use Syn you'll get a little extra protection out of it. This is one of the few reasons I see for using Syn over Dino oil.
it's that i would put 2000 to 2500 miles a month on the car and time would just get away from me
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