# 4x4 Sentra Wagon



## Guest (Aug 6, 2002)

ok so i got this 1987 sentra 4 wagon, and its four wheel drive. the transfer case has an electric thing mounted on the back side of the engine that engages and disengages it. anyways it stopped working, my chiltons manual has no information on it, and neither does the nissan dealership where i live. does anybody know ANYTHING about the four wheel drive systems on these cars? I need help bad.


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## Dropped89 (May 3, 2002)

give me a couple of hours and I can see what i can come up for you. man you got an awsome car there.


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## Guest (Aug 6, 2002)

awesome car? your kidding right?


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## Guest (Aug 7, 2002)

heres what it looks like, except mines light blue...

http://www.landingauto.com/photos/c244a.jpg


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## Dropped89 (May 3, 2002)

nope im not kidding i think that car is bad ass... i would love to own one. i like cars like that.
i meen look at it its got so much potential 

www.jjvphotography.com/Sentra its basically my car with a hatch

and you have 4x4 bad ass car man

think about hte handling possabilities


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## Guest (Aug 7, 2002)

well it does handle decent... the motor is totally gutless though, a 1.6 i think. But hell, it has 190,000 miles on it. It was previously owned by mechanics so it was taken care of.

I havent driven it in over a year, it needs a new halfshaft and a new rack and pinion. But my cadillac limo is needing too much money put into it so Im trying to decide if i want to buy $700 worth of parts for the sentra or spend $2000 on a new motor for my hardbody.

I really like the sentra for highway driving, shit i think it got close to 30 mpg. And it has lots of room, thats good cuz im into loud car audio.

But like i said its totally gutless, but i havent been able to find anything to increase performance on it.

But thats why i joined this forum, so any input i can get will be considered.


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## RiceBox (Apr 30, 2002)

Those cars are cool and rare. The engine is gutless though and there is not much you can do about it.


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## Guest (Aug 7, 2002)

just how rare is it? i know its next to impossible to find parts for


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## RiceBox (Apr 30, 2002)

Not sure how many were made. I don't see many wagons around here and I have NEVER seen one that is 4WD, and there are ALOT of b12s in my area.


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## Guest (Aug 8, 2002)

hmmmm maybe i wont sell it for $500 just to get rid of it


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## Guest (Aug 9, 2002)

that car sounds phat i would love to get my hands on it. never heard of it before


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## Guest (Aug 11, 2002)

well ive only seen one other car like mine in 5 years, and it was identical

maybe i will hang on to it, it needs some new parts but it will cost so much less than my cadillac...

i never new anybody would want a car like this


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## blownb310 (Jun 10, 2002)

I have three of them, an '87 [white], '88 [tan], and a [red] '89. They are fairly rare, and I have only seen or heard of them in the northeast. I'm glad to hear that they are in CO as well. Yes, they are gutless, and mine only get about 25 mpg. I attribute this to the 450 extra pounds of 4WD equipt. and to the standard 4.47:1 final drive ratio. They are not happy going 75 on the highway. They'll do it no problem, but you'll be buzzing the little engine. But I like them in the snow, and I am currently addressing the gutless problem by swapping a GA16DE ['93 Sentra engine], into my '89 4WD wagon. I also have a Subaru LSD rear differential for it [they both use the same R160 rear diff]. A set of AGX's will be next. I plan on doing some rallycrossing with the '89 when it's up and running again. As far as your problem with the electric 4WD actuator not engaging, you have to first make sure all four tires are the same make and size. These cars are very finicky about that. There are Nissan bulletins about it, and many people make the mistake of mixing tires on these cars. More than likely, that is all that is wrong. Oh, by the way, you might be interested to know that Nissan recieved so many complaints of this, that in '89 they actually did away with the in and out 4WD system. In '89 they not only got the GA16i engine [20 hp more], but also full time 4WD. They added a viscous coupling to the transfer case tailshaft to act as a center differential. This is same thing Subaru has on all of it's newer cars, including the WRX.


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## Guest (Aug 13, 2002)

do you know where a guy can get a wiring diagram for the 4wd system? The only book i can find doesnt have anything about it


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## blownb310 (Jun 10, 2002)

Yes, the '88 and '89 Sentra factory service manuals both have a separate section in them for the 4WD system. Oddly enough, the '87 manual does not have any info. on the 4WD's. For the wiring diagram you're looking for, only the '88 Sentra manual will do, because like I mentioned in my last post, the '89's did not have the electronic actuator system. You'll see that the system is actually quite complex, and has it's own control unit. These cars are a bear to change the clutch on. Yours no doubt has had one replaced by now [190-K]. See if whoever had the trans out, remembered to plug in the actuator connector, or if they did any damage to the harness for it.


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## Guest (Aug 13, 2002)

the actuator sits on the backside of the motor right? And it has a rod on a pivot thing that engages and disengages right? I checked everything there and its all plugged in, i just need to find out what wires are what, from the indicator light on the steering column, the button on the shifter, to the unit in the engine compartment.

And has anybody ever changed a rack and pinion out on one of these cars? when i was getting it aligned at sears they said i needed a new R&p, im going to the bank tomorrow to borrow a grand for parts and need to know if i should try to do it myself or pay the mechanic.

Im going to buy: front drivers side cv shaft
fan switch temperature sensor
o2 sensor
rack and pinion

and then all the shit for a tune up: cap, rotor, oil filter, oil, fuel filter, plugs, wires, and air filter.


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## blownb310 (Jun 10, 2002)

Yes, I have changed a rack on a B12 4WD wagon. I am not saying that it can't be done, but I was not able to get the rack out with the transmission in. I did mine, when the trans. was out to replace the clutch. Then it's no problem. Talk to others though, there must be a way to change the rack with out removing the engine or trans. One last thought: it is not terribly uncommon for a high mileage B12 rack to leak a little, and the rubber boots to be broken down from the fluid contamination. I have had customers who had me replace the boots, and got away for several years worth of seepage, without a problem. Sometimes the Sears guys get a little too eager to sell work. I'll let you be the judge of how badly it is leaking, but if you have it done professionally, I feel sorry for the person who gets that job! Good luck.


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## sentrastud (May 3, 2002)

Jay61581 said:


> *And has anybody ever changed a rack and pinion out on one of these cars? when i was getting it aligned at sears they said i needed a new R&p, im going to the bank tomorrow to borrow a grand for parts and need to know if i should try to do it myself or pay the mechanic.
> 
> *


yep i had this done last year. cost me a grand Canadian, because it was leaking and part of it was broken. I had no problems with letitng the dealer do this work.

-Nick


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