YACT: Opinions on an 87 Nissan 200SX Turbo

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: Quixfire
Turbos built in the 80's lasted 80-100K miles because of poor materials, seals, and lack of oil coolers. I would recommend adding a oil cooler to your engine if it doesn't already have one and if you do upgrade the turbo see if you can get a replacement with a cooling jacket; runs engine coolant through to cool down the bearings.

well the engine does have piston oil squirters (all Nissan engines from that era did)...I'm not sure if that's what you meant though

 

[thedarkwolf]

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN

Originally posted by: Quixfire
If it is leaking out the exhaust side of the turbo then the exhaust shaft seal is shot and will need to be serviced before the bearing goes bad. This leak will use a lot of oil because it is a high pressure area.

how expensive would it be to fix the exhaust seal?? or does that require a new turbo?

If its leaking out exhaust seal you will have smoke coming out of the exhaust. If your oil drain back is all that is leaking you don't need to worry about it and it should be easy to fix.

Are those turbos water cooled?

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN

Originally posted by: Quixfire
If it is leaking out the exhaust side of the turbo then the exhaust shaft seal is shot and will need to be serviced before the bearing goes bad. This leak will use a lot of oil because it is a high pressure area.

how expensive would it be to fix the exhaust seal?? or does that require a new turbo?

If its leaking out exhaust seal you will have smoke coming out of the exhaust. If your oil drain back is all that is leaking you don't need to worry about it and it should be easy to fix.

Are those turbos water cooled?

I don't beleive so.

Dammit, I really want this car, but at the same time I'm wary of buying it. It's like one half of my mind is convincing me to buy it, and the other half is saying no. Like those small angel/devil things that are shown on tv.

 

[CraigRT]

I am now seriously considering looking for and buying one of these cars..

too much initial D has gotten me into the 80's drift cars....

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: CraigRT
I am now seriously considering looking for and buying one of these cars..

too much initial D has gotten me into the 80's drift cars....

is a S12 200SX a drift car? I don't think it is, but I dunno much about hte whole "drift" scene. Although I have watched all the stages of Initial D.

 

[KokomoGST]

It has a CA18DET? Has RWD? Yeah, drift car... I believe most of the early S13s had CAs too before Nissan went to the SR20DET for the entire model line. There are some tuners and drift shops in Japan that have a buttload of parts of the CA because it did carry into the S13 bodystyle.

It's gonna be a fun car and some shops have tuned it to well over 300hp in Japan.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: KokomoGST
It has a CA18DET? Has RWD? Yeah, drift car... I believe most of the early S13s had CAs too before Nissan went to the SR20DET for the entire model line. There are some tuners and drift shops in Japan that have a buttload of parts of the CA because it did carry into the S13 bodystyle.

It's gonna be a fun car and some shops have tuned it to well over 300hp in Japan.

YEs, the S13s had the CA18DET in them, hence they were called the 180SX. However the car in question has the CA18ET (its a SOHC) and makes a whopping 135hp. Nothing a manual boost controller (Hope Depot style!) and a A/F ratio guage (Radio Shack Style!) won't fix though. Still it won't be fast by any means. I just want a) reliability for a year b) fun to drive.

Actually my question boils down to this: can I identify a bad turbo (whihc is the only real problem with this car) in one test drive? That way if I know its bad, I'll just forget about the car. However, if its working; I'll go on to the next step.

 

[Quixfire]

Yes, look for any type of smoke out the exhaust when driving it. Also listen to the turbo for abnormal bearing noise, you made need to get a stethoscope.

As for fixing a shaft seal yourself, I don't recommend it. Anytime you loosen the turbine shaft nut the assembly needs to be rebalanced.

Good Luck and post some :camera:s

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN

Originally posted by: CraigRT
I am now seriously considering looking for and buying one of these cars..

too much initial D has gotten me into the 80's drift cars....

is a S12 200SX a drift car? I don't think it is, but I dunno much about hte whole "drift" scene. Although I have watched all the stages of Initial D.

i think there may be 1 or 2 in initial D, but i am mainly just referring to the style.. it looks so much like the 86 (our Corolla GT-S) that that's all i when i look at these older 200SX's. i like them a lot... my friend had an 87 Corolla GT-S.. what a great car that was.....

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN

Originally posted by: KokomoGST
It has a CA18DET? Has RWD? Yeah, drift car... I believe most of the early S13s had CAs too before Nissan went to the SR20DET for the entire model line. There are some tuners and drift shops in Japan that have a buttload of parts of the CA because it did carry into the S13 bodystyle.

It's gonna be a fun car and some shops have tuned it to well over 300hp in Japan.

YEs, the S13s had the CA18DET in them, hence they were called the 180SX. However the car in question has the CA18ET (its a SOHC) and makes a whopping 135hp. Nothing a manual boost controller (Hope Depot style!) and a A/F ratio guage (Radio Shack Style!) won't fix though. Still it won't be fast by any means. I just want a) reliability for a year b) fun to drive.

Actually my question boils down to this: can I identify a bad turbo (whihc is the only real problem with this car) in one test drive? That way if I know its bad, I'll just forget about the car. However, if its working; I'll go on to the next step.

heh, whatever man, you can make it fast if you really want to.. the JDM version of this car had what 185 hp or something? they're sweet.. you can prolly do the same to this car, and with 185 hp it would haul ass!

 

[Papagayo]

I remember 1987 200sx was one of the most dangerous cars out there..
It was the hood.. It would go through the winshield and chop you head off if you hit something..

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: CraigRT

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN

Originally posted by: CraigRT
I am now seriously considering looking for and buying one of these cars..

too much initial D has gotten me into the 80's drift cars....

is a S12 200SX a drift car? I don't think it is, but I dunno much about hte whole "drift" scene. Although I have watched all the stages of Initial D.

i think there may be 1 or 2 in initial D, but i am mainly just referring to the style.. it looks so much like the 86 (our Corolla GT-S) that that's all i when i look at these older 200SX's. i like them a lot... my friend had an 87 Corolla GT-S.. what a great car that was.....

Yeah, thats what drew me to this car at first. I saw it from the side, and thought it was a AE86. Then I got closer and saw the badge, it said Nissan. Then I started wondering where the rust was. I'm gonna call the guy up tomorrow and talk to him.