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For Sale : 1993 Nissan Altima with bad engine head

Posted on February 07, 2010 01:09 pm

Details:

I bought this car in November from a car lot for $2000. It drove great for the first two weeks but it turns out that The Right Price Auto sells #%^@ so it stopped working. I brought it to an auto shop and they said it was the head gasket ($800) to repair assuming nothing ells was found. I have a friend who knows about the workings of cars so we dismantled the entire engine, replaced the head gasket, and re-built it oiling, cleaning, or replacing any parts that should be.
The Good News: According to the car lot, the engine was replaced and has only around a hundred thousand km on it. When I rebuilt it there were no rusted or seized nuts or bolts, everything was well oiled and looked like new, and with no spark plugs in, the whole engine could be turned over with vice grips (no grinding, rubbing, or anything like that). It drives again and the original compression issue is fixed. I drove it around downtown yesterday. The car now has a new head gasket (60$), new exhaust manifold gaskets (20$), new distributer caps/spark-plug harness (90$), new belt to drive the alternator/water pump/power steering, new spark plugs (30$), new brakes (130$), new front engine mount 60$ (not installed and it needs 1 more), and 4 new winter tires (less than 1k of use). It also has a new heater block and element and generated loads heat until the below mentioned problems.
The Bad News: after all that the car still burns coolant. The engine head needs to be replaced (something we knew was possible and debated changing but I don't have the 350$). The leak is between cylinders 3 & 4 which each have a compression of 120psi instead of 170. Total cost for the part and replacement at an auto shop is 11-1200$. As it is the car drives fine but spark-plugs 3 and 4 get residue on them which eventually prevents them from firing, the coolant burns leaving residue in the cylinder which will wreck it eventually, and the burning of coolant eventually makes the car overheat (in about an hour after filling it up). The passenger side front door doesn't open from the inside.
My Suggestion: 1) buy the car for a few hundred dollars, pay a shop to change the engine head, and drive away in a 1600$ car.
2) if you have your own shop and have the skills to work on cars buy a new engine head (250-350$) and install it yourself. (it took 12 hours for me to dis assemble the engine and 14 hours to rebuild it and I have no training).
3) buy the car for parts. Aside from the above mentioned, I can throw in 6 liters of full synthetic 5w-30 oil and a filter. The timing chains and sprockets are in new condition. The double cam-shafts are also new showing no signs of wear. All the lifters and valves are like new. The fuel pump, water pump, power steering pump, are all in good condition. The radiator is new. The transmission is also in good working condition (no gear shifting delay, no clunking, no grinding, no overheating, nothing wrong with it at all). And the engine block was thoroughly cleaned and inspected and shows now signs of wear. With the price of Nissan parts, this might be your best option. I was going to keep it and fix it over the summer but now with more than $2500 into it, I used up all my savings and now need to sell it to pay for school.
I'm asking $500 or best offer to cover some of what I put into repairs.

 

 

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