Like I said... The car community doesn't"get" diesels. No, the diesel Sentra is NOT slow as s**t. Nowhere near as fast as your car, sure. Also , the pumps don't fail unless you don't change the fuel filter and it ruptures.. There's really nothing on the car to break unless you're a f.u.. This car goes 65mph in 4th gear and it is a five speed. I just want to get it into another collectors hands.
I'm not knocking them; I was working as a Nissan tech in the 80s when they were sold brand new! The frequency of pump failures I cannot say; in 16 years as a Nissan Master tech and another 15 or so years as an auto technician in non-Nissan shops, I've only run across 4 diesel Sentras and 2 of them needed injection pumps, but that's a pretty small sample to make a judgement. I just remember that the pumps were ridiculously expensive back then....somewhere in the $2500-$3000 range from Nissan and that was back in the late 80s or early 90s? And I didn't say they were slow as s**t, I said they were slow as beans!
Yeah, once they got going they were fine, it was the time it took them to get up to speed from a stop. But, with around 50-60 HP and 75 lb-ft of torque, +/-, it was what it was. It all paid off, however, with the 50+ MPG! Same with the diesel 720 trucks and diesel Maximas in the 80s, those engines were rock-solid when it came to durability! Other than the two pump failures, the only thing else I've even seen fail on any of the 80s Nissan diesels is a few glow plugs and an injection pump belt or two break due to lack of maintenance.
I hope you find someone to give it a good home! I got a soft spot for those rare Datsuns and early Nissans. In NJ, most have them have rusted their way to an early grave. I have an 85 B11 Sentra E16S sitting in my driveway wasting away that I just don't have any time to get to. Let us know how you make out!
