What faults to look for in a used 240...

[Tictakman]

topic says it all. im going to be buying a 240sx very soon and wanted to know where the problem areas were on the 240s. ive heard stuff about the muffler guard rattling and the timing chain. anything else i should know about or look for.

the car im looking at is in Tenn, it has 130,000 miles on the chassis and 70,000 on the newer engine.

what do u guys suggest looking for or asking about?

thanks a lot

Zak

[kapower]

you should look for major body damage that has been covered up; like overspray on windows & in the wheel wells and taping on the body will reveal any bondo by the sound . a carfacts history report would not be a bad idea. most s13's have a rust problem on the hatch beacuase of a spoiler issue. check underneath the spare tire for water. also look for smoke coming from the shifter boot that is a common problem with 240's; most of the time it is just a $10.00 part cuasing the problem (the inner shift boot is usually torn letting some of the burnoff from the transmission seep in to the cabin) or it could be a more serious problem ( transmission seals could be leaking and driping on your exhaust on top of having a torn inner shft boot )99% of the time it is just the inner shift boot. that is all i can think of right now but good luck on finding a new ride

[Fireball240SX]

I have a bondo front end and rear quarter panel...but a Silvia front end will take care of that and the rear if its not that much bondo i might leave it for fun? :(

[HaLo]

check for holes in the floor underneath the downpipe before the catalyser...

also check for rust around the shocks towers, under the spoiler, under the 3rd brake light, etc.

[Tictakman]

arlight that sounds good guys. ill be lookig for that and im gonna look to see if the joints are wok out on the steering components etc. Are the steering racks and pumps good on the 240s? On my od car i know there was a bad history about the rack and pinion going out. Also, is there anything for the engine i should be looking for besides oil and antifreeze leaks?


Zak

[n/arotary]

I would look and see how bad of a timing chain rattle it has, if it has it at all. You can definetly hear it once you lift up the hood. You can do a search for "Timing Chain Rattle" on this board, and find out more information than you ever wanted to know.

[Red]

One thing I found on my 95 is that the muffler is rusting.... The shocks were GONE! not missing.. they just did nothing at all... Skueeky clutch peddle.. (Easy fix tho..) and umm Leaky Moonroof... (I hate that....) Trunk latch rattles.. (I hear thats easy to fix.) and all my O2 things went out right after I got it.... (I wish I had found this form sooner it would not have cost me 1500$$)

It is my 1st car tho... So I have a excuse

Just some things to look at...

[91CRXsiR]

well in the 1.5 years ive had my car

i have

replaced
-starter
-clutch master/slave cylinder
-2 fuel injectors
-front/rear brake pads [ twice ]
-rotors resurfaced
-muffler [ nothing wrong w/ it ]
-tires [ balding when i bought it ]

now things i still need to fix

-timing chain is starting to rattle
-alignment is off
-steering rack is leaking
-engine could use a flush