Need help with my Pride and Joy!

[msholty]

I'm 22 and got my 93 Nissan 240 SX red convertible about 4 years ago. It didn't run well mostly due to sitting for 3 years. It's up and moving now, however my dad has been doing most of the repairs... and well let's say his drug addiction is prompting him to do so. As a result he has Jimmy rigged sooo many things and is really just ruining her :( She is pretty clean, all stock and I want to take good care of her but don't know much about cars.

I would love to get some help from some of you Nissan wiz's on here. I have been working to replace all the things he has done to her but she recently started winding out and won't shift out of 1st gear. (I'm assuming from the late night "burnouts and slides", as he calls em, all night) Other than the tranny going out, is there anything else I can check in hopes that it's not going to be a new tranny I need??

I appreciate all the help I can get! I hate to be the streotypical girl who needs help but you gotta start somewhere and I LOVE my car and have every intention of learning how to take great care of her.

Thanks!

[Edwin562]

So what you are saying that your a chick? with a 240?

[Darren]

That's why i don't let anyone else drive my car...

Make sure there is still Automatic Trans Fluid (ATF) in the trans. Without it, it won't shift, and will most likely eat itself.

Good luck

[adicarlo]

That's why i don't let anyone else drive my car...

Make sure there is still Automatic Trans Fluid (ATF) in the trans. Without it, it won't shift, and will most likely eat itself.

Good luck

Wait are we sure it's auto? Can you stick it in first gear or drive? If so does it just sit there and rev without moving?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

[silverarrow27]

Either case, I would check drain the transmission regardless and put new fluid in.

[silver350z05rb]

all convertibles s13's are automatic from the factory,unless of course swapped over to a 5 speed manual, if its swapped over, it might need bleeding or of course tranny fluid,also like stated above, check the auto tranny fluid.

[adicarlo]

all convertibles s13's are automatic from the factory,unless of course swapped over to a 5 speed manual, if its swapped over, it might need bleeding or of course tranny fluid,also like stated above, check the auto tranny fluid.

Gotcha, didn't know about the factory set up. If the car will go into gear and move in first gear but not shift to second then I could definitely agree with the Automatic transmission fluid (ATF) being low causing this. If the car goes into gear but just revs then it sounds like a torque converter issue.

[msholty]

Ya, I definitely know now not to let anyone else touch it now. he gets all cranked up and was just tearing it apart for fun and putting it back together :/ His dumbass couldn't figure out how to put my door panels back on and WOOD SCREWED THEM BACK ON!!! That's when I discovered drugs were involved lol ANYWAY.....

Fluid is good, if anything it kinda looks a little too full. I'm going to make sure it's level just in case but just replace it for god measure. It is an automatic. If the tranny is taking a shit I am debating making it a 5-speed but it's a bit out of my league at the moment..

It moves into first and goes about 10mph but the RPM's just keep climbing. I let her sit for a while and drove her this afternoon and she shifted perfect. Let her sit again, and she went about 20mph and the RPM's started climbing again. I tried starting it in first, moving it to second and then drive but it stayed pretty consistent at 20mph. So again, I shut it down and started it up about 30 min later and she drove fine.

What would I do about a torque converter issue?

[msholty]

Thank you everyone for the help too.. REALLY appreciate it

[zerodameaon]

I say being a Vert lover myself, that you should get this car far away from him before you lose this rarer 240sx forever.
I had issues like this myself on my 93 convertible with 150k and took it to a shop I trusted and turns out the trans was just to worn to be consistent once it got up to temperature. I know this might be a bit out of your ability but it might be time to learn to drive a stick and convert it over or pay to have the auto rebuilt. There is plenty of resources on here and other forums on how to convert it over, the hardest part is really just getting all the parts needed and another knowledgeable person to help.

[msholty]

Ya it's about 160k right now. I was already leaning toward converting it and looking for parts. I have a friend who said he can help me swap it, but I'm really determined to stay hands on with her and learn as much as I can. Driving a stick isn't an issue, I just wanted to be sure it was truly time to replace the transmission versus checking the fluid, a fuse, or the torque thing.

Can anyone elaborate with the torque issue?

[msholty]

Products I Love / my babyyy love (http://pinterest.com/pin/27514247694111858/)

[msholty]

Oh ya and he put 14's on it.. (Got a flat tire and drove it on the rim, ruining one of em) I found 2 of the stock 15's to put on the back so the mph would finally read correctly but are there forums for parts here? I would really like to find 1 more stock 15in rim

[zerodameaon]

There is a market place on here, but being in SoCal your better off going to a junk yard or craigslist for stock parts unless you can find someone local selling SE rims. Based on that picture your starting off with one clean vert.

[msholty]

I recently moved to NorCal, but I have friends down south, I'll do some shopping and have them pick up parts if need be. Thank you, I've had shitty luck with craigslist lately, lots of flakes, but I'll give it a shot.

Ya besides the wood screws and rims I try to take good care of it, thanks.

[adicarlo]

1. i have a set of se wheels on my car and temporary rollers. I'll hit you up when i toss them in case your down.

2. when it comes to automatics it's a whole different league seeing its based on pressure systems which can be dramatically adjusted by temp. Your torque converter pretty much transfers power from the engine to the transmission and removes the power connection between the engine and transmission while stopped. This is based on a fluid pressure system that is forced by turbines within the converter. Spin the converter by reving the motor which spins the turbines inside the converter which applies fluid pressure causing the engine to connect to tranny.

if your torque converter is clogged or screwed up (worn out) u may not be getting enough pressure to fully engage the engine power (like a worn clutch). Thus the 20 mph crawl ur car does. fluid holds less pressure as it boils (the reason why we use racing brake fluid during) track days. So as the temp rises you could be getting less connection thus accounting for the lower speed.

These are your options as i see it:

1. flush the transmission - draining the fluid doesn't get all the fluid or build up out so flush the system.

2. get it diagnosed by someone who has experience with these things - automatics can be a pain in the ass thus the reason why i only know or deal with basics. anything more than a couple hundred to fix ( which it' typical more than that with autos) toss it.

3. 5 speed swap - find a transmission, pedal assembly, master clutch cylinder, master clutch line, slave cylinder, clutch kit, flywheel,trans mount (not sure if there the same), pilot bearing (should be in clutch kit), alignment tool, and basic tool it and go to town with the 5 speed swap!!!

done ranting.

[kornaz]

Could also be the speed sensor. I had a vert long time ago, it would not shift to second sometimes, and after reading forums, a lot of people reported the problem being the speed sensor, esp. on the '93s. Also, just in case, check the throttle position sensor. And last, but not least, read the codes. Might be bad circuit.