# Nissan Sunny



## DAniel62 (Jul 15, 2005)

Hi, im new from New Zealand.

I got some toubles with my 1989 GA15S nissan sunny 4wd saloon with the B12 chasis, and theres no forums on sunnys so i thought it may b appropreate to ask here?

I was driving around (low rev's and nothing too hard on the engine) and it started missing and running like shit, so i cheack leads and plugs but nothing made a difference. I found it was only running on 3 cylinders so i got the last one compression tested and it only had 60ponds in it. I was told that i could have burnt the valves or the rings need replacing which both thing are almost out of my price range.

So i thought mayb the best option is to replace with another engine. Can anyone give me motors that will be able to bolt straight in without any mods done? or give me any info on this situation would be great.

Cheers 
Daniel


----------



## mille-16i (Jun 16, 2004)

Any single cam GA should be a straight swap but if you are there you might as well step up to the GA16DE just have to do wiring mainly. Got any pics of your Sunny.


----------



## DAniel62 (Jul 15, 2005)

Ok thn, whats the DE version? is it injected? i found another engine the same as mine except its a 1992 twin cam would that still fit straight in? 
I was sure how to host the pics straight up on to here so i put it on aonther site. 
http://groups.msn.com/TheCoolGroup999/automotive.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=130


----------



## mille-16i (Jun 16, 2004)

the DE is the GA16DE out of the B13 chasis it will bolt pretty much straight in but you will have to do wiring it is twin cam and multi point fuel injected good for 110hp in the states don't know about in New Zealand.


----------



## Nismo87R (Mar 25, 2003)

sell me a grill like ur please?????


----------



## Red_Coupe (Mar 20, 2003)

you could go with a strait swap and get a JDM GA15


----------



## DAniel62 (Jul 15, 2005)

Nismo87R said:


> sell me a grill like ur please?????


Nah sorry i dont have another one, whats it for?


----------



## DAniel62 (Jul 15, 2005)

Yeah i dont like the sound of wiring, i hate doing ECUs and all that. I found a GA15 1992 twin cam for quite cheap but wasnt sure wether it would be a straight swap for my GA15 1989 SOHC?


----------



## mille-16i (Jun 16, 2004)

is it injected or carrbed also what is yours may not be that bad on wiring most of us just deal with the USDM GA16DE


----------



## DAniel62 (Jul 15, 2005)

Its carrbed, same as old one. Cos if i got a injected engine i would have to get a whole new loom etc to accomadate for the ECU?
How hard is it to chande the engines over? is it just a matter of taking every thing out and conecting it all back together the same?


----------



## Popkorn (Nov 16, 2003)

If you're doing like for like it's cake.


----------



## nismob12 (Feb 4, 2005)

*compression*

You need at least 145psi for the cilinder to fire om normal gas with no turbo 




DAniel62 said:


> Hi, im new from New Zealand.
> 
> I got some toubles with my 1989 GA15S nissan sunny 4wd saloon with the B12 chasis, and theres no forums on sunnys so i thought it may b appropreate to ask here?
> 
> ...


----------



## blownb310 (Jun 10, 2002)

DAniel62 said:


> Its carrbed, same as old one. Cos if i got a injected engine i would have to get a whole new loom etc to accomadate for the ECU?
> How hard is it to chande the engines over? is it just a matter of taking every thing out and conecting it all back together the same?


 It should bolt right in. The only thing I had to do was grind a little bit off of the right front top engine mount bracket to clear the wider twin cam cylinder head. other than that, it went right in. 

Oh, I forget to mention, your car is really cool. I've never seen a 4WD Sunny saloon [sedan]. We had 4WD Sentras here for three years, but in wagon models only. I love mine. :thumbup:


----------



## Biscuit (Mar 5, 2005)

I did the JDM GA15 SOHC swap and it was easy as hell. Only problem you might run into is gettin the tranny seperated from the engine and gettin the thing out.


----------



## DAniel62 (Jul 15, 2005)

Ok then guys, conviced me to do it myself, have any tips/tricks with anything that i may run into along the way? Or and special order of doing things?


----------



## Popkorn (Nov 16, 2003)

Take your time. Don't drink too many beers. :cheers: Rather, wait til you're done tinkering.... :cheers:


----------



## mille-16i (Jun 16, 2004)

as with anything take your time have a manual and have money for I did not think of that's cause you will have them I have been involved with engine R&Rs as long as I can remember and I still forget things like yeah i will need a exaughst donut oops.


----------



## DAniel62 (Jul 15, 2005)

I have finally got my engine and got around to start attempting to take old one out. Have almost stripped every thing off old one, except for the water pump and inlet manifold which i found were almost impossibe to get to the bolts (will try agen tomorrow). But one thing i was wondering was do i have to take the gear box out with it? or can i just unbolt the engine for it and lift that out seperatly? I was told its much easier to take the gear box in all out but it mean take the suspension and CV boots etc appart. I want to do it the quickest easiest way ofcourse and i am diffiantly no expert on doing it. 
Cheers Guys (oh and girls ofcourse).


----------



## mille-16i (Jun 16, 2004)

there is not loads of room between the crank pulley and chassis so it would probably be eaier to pull the engine and tranny married instead of divorced. the half shafts are not hard to pull the biggest problem I had with mine is getting the driverside to slide out of the hub.

Off topic ? did any of the 2wd sunnys in New Zealand in the 87-90 years get rear disc brakes? Trying to get my hands on a set of rear spindles for a B12 with factory rear discs thanks for the info.


----------



## DAniel62 (Jul 15, 2005)

ok thanks for your help. I would imagine not because the ones we have in NZ are really just peices of shit thats everyone laughs at, they were never really sports cars to need better brakes.


----------



## mille-16i (Jun 16, 2004)

DAniel62 said:


> ok thanks for your help. I would imagine not because the ones we have in NZ are really just peices of shit thats everyone laughs at, they were never really sports cars to need better brakes.


Sounds like ours bummer, hope all goes well with your swap


----------



## DAniel62 (Jul 15, 2005)

i went away in the middle of doing my swap and i have come back to finishing it. I had i buy a new clutch cos other one was pretty worn but now i cant get the friggin' gear box back on the engine. Every thing all lines up its just not going to slide on. It was a bit of a mission getting it off but now seems impossible to put it on with out taking the inlet manifold off or unbolting the transfer case. Do i need to do one of these thing to get it to fit? I got my mechanic mate ( hes pretty good and own his own workshop) and he doesnt even know what the problem is. U guys know any thing about this?


----------



## mille-16i (Jun 16, 2004)

make sure the clutch disc is centered in the preasure plate also lean up the allighnment dows that mate the tranny to the engine block also make sure that they did not get damaged if all is well gently force it to go also spin the engine a little using the crankchsft bolt this will help line up the slines of the tranny and the clutch. Good luck.


----------



## blownb310 (Jun 10, 2002)

I think I know the problem you're having. It wouldn't be apparent to anyone who's never removed a trans on a 4WD Sentra. It's probably not a matter of the clutch being aligned properly, it's a matter of fitting the trans/transfer case assy to the engine itself. They do not slide together on a horizontal plane like any other FWD Nissan. Because the transfer case sort of "wraps aound" the back of the block, you have to almost "twist" them together at an angle. It's hard to explain but I would never try it with the engine in the car. It definately has to be done on the shop floor. OK, I did do a Sentra 4WD clutch on a customer's car once and left the engine in, but it was a bastard and I'll never try that again. In any case, you might have to grind a clearance notch in the corner lower edge of the block, just enought to get them together. Stick with it, you will get it. It will be worth it, twin cam 4WD Sentras are lots of fun.


----------



## DAniel62 (Jul 15, 2005)

Blownb310 thats exsacly the problem im having and i know what ur talking about...it needed to be twisted off which mean twisted back on too. I have been doing it on the shop floor and we played around with it for ages! But can u go into futher detail about the clearance notch? because theres one thing that is slightly different and that is a little 'eye' (i spose u wuld call it) with a whole thro it right beside one on the holes for the bolts on the engine block. On my old engine have of it has been cut or ginded off on my new one it hasnt. It doesnt seem to be affecting any thing but is this what u r talking about? 


Also just a little off subject i was wondering if yous could give me any details on the GA15 DOHC engine such as hp and stuff. DO u know what the front wheel to rear wheel drive ratio is in my 4WD. 

Cheers


----------



## blownb310 (Jun 10, 2002)

DAniel62 said:


> Blownb310 thats exactly the problem im having and i know what ur talking about...it needed to be twisted off which mean twisted back on too. I have been doing it on the shop floor and we played around with it for ages! But can u go into futher detail about the clearance notch? because theres one thing that is slightly different and that is a little 'eye' (i spose u wuld call it) with a whole thro it right beside one on the holes for the bolts on the engine block. On my old engine have of it has been cut or ginded off on my new one it hasnt. It doesnt seem to be affecting any thing but is this what u r talking about?


Yes, it sounds like it. If that extra "eye" hole is causing the interference, I'd trim it to allow fitment. I really don't remember what I ground off mine to make it clear, but it was definately in the area near the outer bell housing bolt and where the block's dowel pin hole was. I just looked at it closely and ground off a bit of the corner of the block. No harm in that, and it went together fine afterwards. 




DAniel62 said:


> Also just a little off subject i was wondering if yous could give me any details on the GA15 DOHC engine such as hp and stuff. DO u know what the front wheel to rear wheel drive ratio is in my 4WD.
> 
> Cheers


 We never got the GA15D here, so I don't know what the specs on it are. The US cars all got the GA16DE's which are all port injected, no throttle bodies ar carburetors. Our 4WD B12 wagon's have 3.70 rear gear ratio.


----------



## DAniel62 (Jul 15, 2005)

ok thanks ill give it a try.

3.70 doesnt really mean much to me... like whats the percentage of the drive go to the back wheels. I thought that they much but quite even between the front and back cos it just never seems to get suck that all the wheels start to spin at the same time. Like in comparison my mums primera will very rarely spin the front wheels and wont go half the places i can take my car!


----------



## blownb310 (Jun 10, 2002)

Oh I see, you meant the torque split between front and rear. Well here the '87 and '88 B12 4WD wagons had a button in the shift handle for engaging and disengaging the 4WD. They would be 50-50 locked together. No limited slip diffs in these cars. 

In '89 and '90 they did away with the switch in the shifter and went with full time AWD. They did this by adding a viscous coupling at the front of the rear driveshaft, the same way Subaru does in the WRX's. Because it is a fluid coupling, I don't know what the torque split is. I think it varies accoording to load. 

I have added a Subaru Limited slip rear differential to my car, so my drivetrain matches the WRX's we have here. They too have a VLSD center and rear diff, with an open front diff.


----------

