Teach Me: B14 Sentra

So, I think I may have made a poor decision in encouraging my girlfriend to purchase one of these a while back. She needed cheap, reliable transportation. I wanted to get a Saturn due to my experience with them, but her priorities (aside from cheap, reliable) were working A/C and a not-trashed interior. I wasn't having any luck finding one but came across a B14 Sentra GXE Automatic that seemed to be in decent condition. According to my quick googling, these seem to fit the bill. So, she picked it up.

Unfortunately, not only has it had numerous failures that I consider ridiculous for a car made in 1995 with 130K on it, but its also a complete bitch to work on. So far:

-Water pump failed. I had to take it to a shop. I couldn't possibly get in there to remove enough of the old gasket to ensure a good seal. I'm not sure how the shop did it without pulling the motor.
-Alternator failed. berkeley the belt tension system in this car. -IAC valve failed.
-Just tonight on the drive from NC up to the DC area, the dimmer switch failed causing all of the instrument cluster to go dark. Some wiggling got it to work again at full brightness, but its a band-aid at best.

So all of the above is me just venting a little bit. Tell me - what else should I be expecting?

Also, I need to do a tuneup on this. It feels like it has somewhere around 60hp based on how much it struggles to maintain speed on hills (constantly has to kick down to 3rd or 2nd) on the interstate, yet it starts, idles, cruises just fine. What do I need to do besides plugs, wires, air-filter? Distributor cap? Rotor? Is the ignition timing adjustable?

They are not a powerful engine at all, I would imagine they are terrible with an automatic. I have only driven a manual one, and unless you shifted at almost 7k it wasn't real easy to get it to move very fast. The one I had was an older one, it had the same engine though. I think the only things you are missing are new CV boots every 20k or so, and the front seal failing so it leaks about 0.5-1 quart per 100 miles and coats everything from the right front wheel underneath the car to the trunk and rear bumper with a thick layer of oil. Other than that it was pretty reliable, the only other weird thing I can remember is that a couple times it completely lost electrical power when you would try to start it, then a few minutes later it would start right up and be fine again. It got wrecked with 330k and still ran great, it was a 5 speed though and would have needed the transmission rebuilt for the second time soon after that.

my wife has a '96 200sx se. . . it has been quite a work horse all things considered but the main problem we experienced with it was the upper timing sprocket wore so bad it barely had teeth left. it was amazing it never jumped time to be honest. I fought that job with the engine still in the car because alldata said that was the fast way. . . you think the water pump was bad?? HA! . . . anyway, after that job the oil pan gasket never did seal back up so I pulled the engine and did all the gaskets over again when we decided to put a new clutch in. not sure if the chain tensioner was to blame but it was replaced the first go round anyway. . . and now it's a little noisy on startup sometimes so I have my doubts about the timing chain tensioner design.

otherwise we have had all the same issues you have described, dimmer switch. . . cheap from rock auto. . . especially with the grm discount alternator failed once. . . I don't really see any problem with the belt tensioner but thats just me. cv boots are a common thing but pretty easy. replaced the balljoints (entire control arm. . . dumb) recently. Overall I like that little car, granted, it's a 2 door 5spd but still, i'd take it over any saturn ever built. . . ever.

My dad bought a 1977 Corolla new with an automatic. I told myself I would never have a 4-cylinder auto. His next car was a 1979 Datsun 210 4-speed. It was a world of difference.

I feel that water pumps and alternators are minor......

Travis_K wrote: They are not a powerful engine at all, I would imagine they are terrible with an automatic.

Datsun310Guy wrote: My dad bought a 1977 Corolla new with an automatic. I told myself I would never have a 4-cylinder auto.

I don't think that its just a weak engine. Something must be wrong with it. Is the ignition timing adjustable? My DD Saturn automatic 4 cyl. is roughly the same size, weight, and has a whopping 9hp more than the Sentra, yet feels like it has double the power. It doesn't need to drop a gear (or two) on any of the same pretty minor hills @ interstate speeds.

Now it likely needs a starter. The internet consensus is that this job is "difficult". Yay!

berkeley this car

Sounds like the car is a PITA. Get something easier to work on, or something that at least pays dividends for it's share of annoying tasks, like a Maxima. There's nothing worse than being your own mechanic and having a PITA car when you could have an easy one.

Honda. Accord.

Seems like all I do on this forum is recommend Honda Accords and Jeep Grand Cherokees.

I've got a '95 Maxima that is about to be for sale. All of the big stuff has been done, I'm only selling to have money to put into my 280Z project. You anywhere near VA Beach?

beans wrote: Honda. Accord. Seems like all I do on this forum is recommend Honda Accords and Jeep Grand Cherokees.

honda accords are great.

My brother doesn't give a E36 M3 at all about his car and abuses it neglects it unlike anything i've seen and it still runs rather well after 200k miles. Though he did destroy one transmission in the process

My '97's at just under 190K. Seems like it's lived a pretty decent life swilling the magical brown stuff Honda puts in their VTEC juice.

Vigo wrote: Sounds like the car is a PITA. Get something easier to work on

Yup. Its in the works. It will probably be either a dirt cheap Saturn (if she wants me to work on it), or she might stretch a little to get a Prius. Prius is hard to find cheap enough, but I've seen a few 1G recently down below the $5K mark. Probably plenty of other decent options, but I am familiar with the Saturns, and they are a piece of cake to work on.

Sell it, give her your car, DD this:

http://forums.rawlinsnet.net/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2012

A Prius was by far the absolute worst car I have ever driven lol. For that type of car a Neon would likely be good too, they arent hard to work on and the one we have has been reliable, only 3 trips on a tow truck in 380k, 2 of which were for failed fuel pumps, the other was for a failed water pump shortly after the first timing belt replacement when the dealer didnt change it when they should have.

beans wrote: Sell it, give her your car, DD this: http://forums.rawlinsnet.net/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2012

That car is a pretty good deal, but I'm not interested in a toy/project DD.

Sounds like the one you have is a little beat on but most of the problems are still typical of any higher mileage car. The water pump/oil pump and the rear main seal are the biggest PITAs you are going to come up against. If you don't over fill the oil the rear main seal shouldn't be an issue.

The PCV valve, chain tension-er, VC gasket, MAF, O2, dist, cap, plugs/plugwires, bushings, motor/trans mounts, power window switches, tie rods, ball joints, wheel bearings, tires, shocks, oil, brake fluid, brake pads, rotors,coolant, temp sensor, T-stat, trans fluid, are all some things that might be worth changing when you get around to it. They will go out some where between 100K and 200K. Again that is pretty much any car, you might get lucky and not have to mess with some of it, still not that bad if you ask me. Under a 1K in parts for 100K miles isn't that bad, hell most SR20 guys give these GA16s away after a motor swap. If you aren't in the rust belt you could keep it running off of free motors/trans until the end of time.

beans wrote: Honda. Accord. Seems like all I do on this forum is recommend Honda Accords and Jeep Grand Cherokees.

Well, you have to recommend the Accord because it is the best appliance car ever built, which makes it a great wife/gf car.

You have to recommend the Jeep because they'll kick you out of Toledo if you don't.

A Prius was by far the absolute worst car I have ever driven lol.

A prius is boring to drive if you either: a. have no idea what's going on with it mechanically/electrically, i.e. dont understand it, or b. have absolutely no interest in how cars work and just want them to give you XYZ experience with no regard to what's going on behind the curtain.

For someone who doesnt CARE about how it works, or driving dynamics etc, i think they are one of the best cars on the road. I would love to get my lady out of our Magnum and into a Prius, but we prefer not to spend that much money on cars (a used prius still goes for more than what we got the magnum for).

I have driven a chevy volt and I though it was a fine car, but I still say the prius was awful. The interior is uncomfortable, the feel of the steering and brakes is terrible, handling is terrible, etc. Its probably a good car for someone who wishes they could live without a car but can't for some reason, or for someone who commutes in heavy enough traffic they never go over about 30 mph to save gas. I think its mainly awful because its a toyota, i have driven a couple newer camrys and I felt the same about those too.

I guess it is just different ways of looking at it. I also think a prius is really similar to other toyotas in general, i just dont think of that as awful. I think they are great cars for certain kinds of people (which add up to hundreds of millions). I put the Prii a notch above the rest of the more mundane toyotas because of the more interesting/advanced technology in them. And honestly, they are probably among the MOST reliable of all Toyotas.

ProDarwin wrote: So all of the above is me just venting a little bit. Tell me - what else should I be expecting? Also, I need to do a tuneup on this. It feels like it has somewhere around 60hp based on how much it struggles to maintain speed on hills (constantly has to kick down to 3rd or 2nd) on the interstate, yet it starts, idles, cruises just fine. What do I need to do besides plugs, wires, air-filter? Distributor cap? Rotor? Is the ignition timing adjustable?

Based on my experience, you can expect to lose the cooling fans somewhere in the next 50-75k.

Ignition timing is adjustable. When i got my first GA16 Sentra, it was way down on power. Timing was somewhere around 5deg ATDC.

ShadowSix wrote:

beans wrote: Honda. Accord. Seems like all I do on this forum is recommend Honda Accords and Jeep Grand Cherokees.

Well, you have to recommend the Accord because it is the best appliance car ever built, which makes it a great wife/gf car. You have to recommend the Jeep because they'll kick you out of Toledo if you don't.

Haha! Accord's are pretty fun with a stick, too. I love mine. Great blend of "appliance" and fun. Hard to fault a mid-90's Honda's 'personality.'

Grand Cherokee's are built in Detroit, not Toledo ;) They're just the best SUV ever built, IMO. The WJ's(99-04) chassis was actually partially engineered by Porsche!

They're just the best SUV ever built, IMO

Learn something new every day, i guess..

So, apparently if you start a B14 and move it a very short distance (i.e. over 1 parking space) and shut it off, it floods itself. GF had to take my DD to work because I did not have time to diagnose this yesterday. Fixed it when I got home with LOTS of cranking at WOT.

New car search has been accelerated. We are in semi-rural NC (Winston Salem), so there isn't a lot to choose from locally.

ProDarwin wrote: So, apparently if you start a B14 and move it a very short distance (i.e. over 1 parking space) and shut it off, it floods itself. GF had to take my DD to work because I did not have time to diagnose this yesterday. Fixed it when I got home with LOTS of cranking at WOT. New car search has been accelerated. We are in semi-rural NC (Winston Salem), so there isn't a lot to choose from locally.

Yeah. And badly. Luckily I've had practice in the past from driving cars with quadrajets on them...