1991 Nissan Stanza GXE

"THE STANZA"

The Long Story

      This was my mom's car for 8 years. When I was 16 the transmission when out. Thermostat went out and mom drove it overheating for awhile, no realizing. My dad said if I paid for it to be fixed, it would be mine. So after a thermostat and transmission, this beast was mine. 210,000ish miles. I drove this car my Junior year and Senior year of High School. My Senior year the head gasket blew within a mile of school. White smoke everywhere. Another fix due to that stupid thermostat. So... had the head gasket replaced. 220,000ish miles. Drove the car the following summer and some of the fall. Now my Freshman year of college, car dies again on the way to school. Ran like hell for a few seconds and shut down. Had it towed home. My buds and I tried a ton to get it fixed. But had no luck. Sadly, the Stanza sat in my backyard for a year not running. 241,000ish miles.

      Well, since my Jeep is acting up my friends and I decided to try again on the Stanza. Did some reading and talking on NissanForums. Great guys on there. Turns out that the bolt within the distributor that connects to the shaft, worked itself out. So, put the bolt back in - and she started! Still 241,000ish miles. She wasn't happy when she started, but still ran. She's running pretty rough. What we've done; replaced fuel filter, replaced spark plugs, replaced spark plug wires, Seafoamed the engine, added a de-fouler to a fouling plug, cleaned the Mass Air Flow Sensor, Added Fuel and Fuel Injector Cleaner, Checked the Diagnostic Codes from ECU - Code 55 - No malfunctions (which is somewhat ammusing), tried adjusting the timing but it's in the best position. This car is being daily driven and has been for about 200 miles now, just over a week. 242,000ish miles.

      I'm still trying little things here and there to get her running right. Seems to always be running on 3, or even 2, cylinders. Idle is rough, but is a little smoother while moving. Also has a massive exhaust leak. It had a leak before sitting, but it's 10x as worse. Sounds exaclty like a go-cart. I'm thinking that when it died, the timing chain might have jumped... Not quite sure. I really wanna get this beast back. Amazing car. 

When She Started

Got a flat tire, and year old gas and everything, but she runs!

Neighborhood couldn't believe it

Notice the vines? From the backyard where she sat

Page One - The Long Story (You Are Here)

Page Two - The Gallery and Work

Page Three - The Wrecks