# Need advice on '87 Stanza 4wd wagon



## Cheshire_Cat (Jul 30, 2005)

I'm considering buying a Stanza wagon that I found on CL. My roommate had a 4wd wagon years ago and I really liked it (until he wrecked it). I've been looking for a car that is AWD, has the room for parts and PA gear, and that also gets good mileage and I can put a ton of miles on. A 4wd Stanza wagon seemed like an obvious choice, so I started searching for one.

I only found one near me though. It's an '87 with only 109k miles listed for $550.

The good:
Only 109k miles
New tires
Good battery
fairly straight
Shifts well
Brakes well

The bad:
It smokes like crazy. Lots of blue, quick-moving smoke (not white, sweet smelling cloud-like smoke). It also runs pretty rough and doesn't have any power. It starts up fairly easy though. Unfortunately I didn't think to bring my compression tester when I checked it out today. Also the exhaust system is shot, so the smoke is coming out from everywhere under the back end. 

Additionally the owner said he had a crack in the exhaust manifold welded, but there is still a significant amount of smoke coming from the exhaust manifold area.

The front floorboards are wet and I couldn't tell if it's coming from the windshield or the fresh air intake.

Needs driver side headlight

Has a cracked windshield (doesn't obstruct driver's view)

What do you guys think? It sounds to me like the motor is shot, but I don't know much about Nissans. It's possible there's a common issue that causes the motor smoke and seem like it's destroyed, but all it needs is a new PCV valve or something. You tell me.

How tough is a motor swap in these cars and do I look for the stock 2.0L or is there a better motor that drops in there with little to no modification?

Any advice, opinions, etc. are appreciated.


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

My personal advice would be to steer clear of it. The "Wally Wagaons," as they were called by many Nissan techs, was a descent vehicle in it's day, but the 4WD versions were pretty rare and a lot of parts for it will be hard and/or expensive. It definately sounds like you need an engine by your description; a compression and leakdown test would confirm. The 2.0L is a "CA" engine which was used in T11 and T12 Stanzas in FWD form and the last one of those in the US was 1989. I can't think of any other engine that will drop in without major modification. Mechanically, the CA engine was a bit of a pain to work on, IMO. Of course, you can do what you want with your money, but I would suggest something newer and easier to maintain. If you need a 4WD vehicle, perhaps a Subaru or a Pathfinder/Xterra?


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