# Tough decision



## guitarsage (Mar 26, 2005)

I have recieved my 95 altima GXE for my sixteenth b/day about 2 years ago...I am now trying improve it. It is almost christmas and I will be getting some money  which I planned on using to get a Evo 3 bodykit. But in january I will be getting my taxes back which should be about $700 which I planned on using to get the kit put on and painted.
My problem is that my alty is kinda old and has not had much done to it. It has Around 250,000 miles on it and it is starting to slack in performance such as the trany slipping and ruff shifts, weird noises,etc. Anyways the problem is deciding whether to save my christmas money and tax money combined with some about an addition couple hundred and get some engine and trany work done.

How much engine and trany work can I get done for around $1300 and stuff that will actually make a difference?


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## gfriedman (Oct 12, 2005)

I'm sure any car repair shop will gladly take all $1300 for engine and tranny work you might not need. Here's what you do... START SMALL. Do a tune up as that will give you the most bang for your buck. Plugs, air filter, cap, rotor, at 250k you might need new wires. Check your fluid levels and change/flush whatever needs to be done. Do that then see where you stand. If it's good you saved a ton of loot.


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## guitarsage (Mar 26, 2005)

gfriedman said:


> I'm sure any car repair shop will gladly take all $1300 for engine and tranny work you might not need. Here's what you do... START SMALL. Do a tune up as that will give you the most bang for your buck. Plugs, air filter, cap, rotor, at 250k you might need new wires. Check your fluid levels and change/flush whatever needs to be done. Do that then see where you stand. If it's good you saved a ton of loot.


Yeah, I changed the cap and rotor button, new sp cables, cleaned fuel injectors, changed oil, air filter, and put in new plugs not too long ago, like a month ago. The only thing I really need to do is change the transmission fluid and filter.


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## mcf1000x2003 (Dec 8, 2005)

If u plan on keeping the car for a couple of more years then do a engine/transmission rebuild.Some companies might give u a discount price for doing both at the same time.If u don't plan on keeping the car that long then save your money for a newer car.Funny thing is my first car was a 00 Z28 then every since ive managed to down grade.


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## guitarsage (Mar 26, 2005)

I plan on keeping this car for as long as I can, I like nissans, my dad has a 1982 nissan hardbody pickup, and he has had no problems with it the only thing he did was rebuild the transmission about 7 years ago. The only car that I would get besides my altima would be a 240SX, but my altima has pretty much the same engine as a 240. 
My altima will still fly for having as many miles and as old as it is. This guy at school has a 1972 chevy, he put a 350 small block, racing headers, high octane carb., cold air intake, and pretty much everything you can do to that thing, it looks pretty awesome too, huge flames coming down the sides, the enine is chromed out, huge roof scoop, racing slick tires. But anyways me and him where just hanging out and he wanted to race my altima, and I was like what!? So just for laughs I went ahead and decided to race him, we pulled up to a half mile straight-away, and he floored it, I floored it, spun my tires for about 10 sec. and next thing I know about 1/4 the way down the straight away I was leading and he was about 3 sec behind me and I ended up beating him by about 4-5 sec. So he wanted to go again, so all hyped up, I said ok, and we went back down it, he started of a little faster this time, because I was still spinning my tires then I caught traction and then about a little over halfway through it, I was passing him, and once we were almost to the end, he blew his engine. It's pretty bad when a 350 with about $1000 parts added to it is blown racing a 4-cyl. 150 horsepower car. :fluffy:


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## LONDONDERRY (May 19, 2004)

guitarsage said:


> I plan on keeping this car for as long as I can, I like nissans, my dad has a 1982 nissan hardbody pickup, and he has had no problems with it the only thing he did was rebuild the transmission about 7 years ago. The only car that I would get besides my altima would be a 240SX, but my altima has pretty much the same engine as a 240.
> My altima will still fly for having as many miles and as old as it is. This guy at school has a 1972 chevy, he put a 350 small block, racing headers, high octane carb., cold air intake, and pretty much everything you can do to that thing, it looks pretty awesome too, huge flames coming down the sides, the enine is chromed out, huge roof scoop, racing slick tires. But anyways me and him where just hanging out and he wanted to race my altima, and I was like what!? So just for laughs I went ahead and decided to race him, we pulled up to a half mile straight-away, and he floored it, I floored it, spun my tires for about 10 sec. and next thing I know about 1/4 the way down the straight away I was leading and he was about 3 sec behind me and I ended up beating him by about 4-5 sec. So he wanted to go again, so all hyped up, I said ok, and we went back down it, he started of a little faster this time, because I was still spinning my tires then I caught traction and then about a little over halfway through it, I was passing him, and once we were almost to the end, he blew his engine. It's pretty bad when a 350 with about $1000 parts added to it is blown racing a 4-cyl. 150 horsepower car. :fluffy:


Any car that has that much high milage is going to be a money pit in the near future, unless you can do all the repairs yourself. Save your money you'll need it for college. Just do small things to keep it running as a commuter.
All so posting racing is not allowed, just to warn you before a moderator bans your account.


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## Darktide (Jul 29, 2004)

Doing a cold air intake, headers, and some chrome crap on the Chevy 350 is by far the most pitiful amount of anything you can do to one. I've got one in a 1981 Pontiac Trans Am that is my baby (my Alty is my reliable car). Swapping the cam out, dropping in a lighter crank, aluminum flywheel, pistons, converting to roller rockers... thats to name a few. But you're still dealing with an engine made more for torque than anything else (as most V8's are). If you ever see an old Chevy that was used for drag racing (or ford) take a good look at the hood. You'll see ripples and waves because the torque the engine put out twists the body. But the main point of this is, a CAI, headers, probably an Edelbrok carb and some chrome stuff is certainly not the "most you could do to it". That's almost like a slap in the face to any true Chevy enthusiast.


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## alexnds (Oct 1, 2005)

*tough decision and some advice*



guitarsage said:


> I have recieved my 95 altima GXE for my sixteenth b/day about 2 years ago...I am now trying improve it. It is almost christmas and I will be getting some money  which I planned on using to get a Evo 3 bodykit. But in january I will be getting my taxes back which should be about $700 which I planned on using to get the kit put on and painted.
> My problem is that my alty is kinda old and has not had much done to it. It has Around 250,000 miles on it and it is starting to slack in performance such as the trany slipping and ruff shifts, weird noises,etc. Anyways the problem is deciding whether to save my christmas money and tax money combined with some about an addition couple hundred and get some engine and trany work done.
> 
> How much engine and trany work can I get done for around $1300 and stuff that will actually make a difference?


our car is high mileage. At the very best, most hopeful best, you can go up to 300,000 miles, but you're close to the useful life of that engine and pretty soon, it's going to go. So my advice is keep the car simple and as a commuter car, or as a backup car. Try to sell it privately if you can, to get the most money for it, and that, combined with the $1300 and so forth can be used to buy a "newer" used car, not a brand new car, so as to avoid monthly payment by a college student. If you shop correctly, a 2001 Maxima, with about 80k miles can be bought between $8,000-$8,500 from a private party. The car has a V6, more power and more potential. Essentially, if you looking for a reliable commuter car, and one that can be modified, go for something that has more potential as a starting point. If your goal is a fast car, then rear-drive is probably a better starting point. If you like Nissan, look for an old but clean 300zx. You can probaby get a clean 300Zx and with some minor work, will be a faster car. On the other hand, GM and Ford offer pretty easy to modify 5.7 Liter and 5.0 Liter cars too.

Don't touch this Alima. Leave it as a commuter is my advice. Do a tuneup and keep it clean and simple.


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## guitarsage (Mar 26, 2005)

alexnds said:


> our car is high mileage. At the very best, most hopeful best, you can go up to 300,000 miles, but you're close to the useful life of that engine and pretty soon, it's going to go. So my advice is keep the car simple and as a commuter car, or as a backup car. Try to sell it privately if you can, to get the most money for it, and that, combined with the $1300 and so forth can be used to buy a "newer" used car, not a brand new car, so as to avoid monthly payment by a college student. If you shop correctly, a 2001 Maxima, with about 80k miles can be bought between $8,000-$8,500 from a private party. The car has a V6, more power and more potential. Essentially, if you looking for a reliable commuter car, and one that can be modified, go for something that has more potential as a starting point. If your goal is a fast car, then rear-drive is probably a better starting point. If you like Nissan, look for an old but clean 300zx. You can probaby get a clean 300Zx and with some minor work, will be a faster car. On the other hand, GM and Ford offer pretty easy to modify 5.7 Liter and 5.0 Liter cars too.
> 
> Don't touch this Alima. Leave it as a commuter is my advice. Do a tuneup and keep it clean and simple.


I like this car, and plan on keeping it for a long time. It just needs to look more up to date, and I plan on rebuilding the engine and tranny at the end of the summer. One of my teacher's husband said he would give me the hook up on rebuilding, he is fast and will work for cheap. But with the money I will be getting for christmas, there is no doubt that I will be changing the transmission fluid and filter, and the oil/filter, new and better sparkplugs and air filter. 
It's funny that you would mention a 350ZX, becuase I pass one for sale everyday on my way to school, think it is like a 94 or sumthing


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## bobdole (Oct 10, 2005)

It would not be smart to spend all your Christmas money on buying a bodykit for such a seasoned vehicle. If you really love the car, then great, by all means keep it. If you want to use your money for your car, then use it to increase reliability/longevity, not it's appearance. What good is a sick-looking car with an EVO kit that doesn't run?


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## tm_94altima (Aug 12, 2005)

bobdole said:


> It would not be smart to spend all your Christmas money on buying a bodykit for such a seasoned vehicle. If you really love the car, then great, by all means keep it. If you want to use your money for your car, then use it to increase reliability/longevity, not it's appearance. What good is a sick-looking car with an EVO kit that doesn't run?


Well said.


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## guitarsage (Mar 26, 2005)

I just did a another tune up on it, and checked the fluids to find out that my trans. fluid was almost bone dry! I put in 1.5 quarts and it is still a little low. I also found that my powersteering fluid was low. It seems to be running alot better since I put that trans. fluid in it. I also bought some Lucas oil stabilizer for like $10 and put a quart of that in. The car pretty much stopped leaking oil, runs quieter, shifts a little better, and steers a little easier it seems. I just had new spark plug cables put on while trying to figure out why my car was idleing ruff. I put some Techron in my gas and that fixed the ruff idle, had dirty fuel injectors. Overall I think the engine is running better than when I got the car, so I am going to wait for my taxes and save up and buy the kit and get the car painted. I will be getting another job in the summer time, so hopefully by next christmas I will be able to rebuild the engine and transmission, and get a catback


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## SHIFTVAX (Jan 15, 2006)

guitarsage said:


> I have recieved my 95 altima GXE for my sixteenth b/day about 2 years ago...I am now trying improve it. It is almost christmas and I will be getting some money  which I planned on using to get a Evo 3 bodykit. But in january I will be getting my taxes back which should be about $700 which I planned on using to get the kit put on and painted.
> My problem is that my alty is kinda old and has not had much done to it. It has Around 250,000 miles on it and it is starting to slack in performance such as the trany slipping and ruff shifts, weird noises,etc. Anyways the problem is deciding whether to save my christmas money and tax money combined with some about an addition couple hundred and get some engine and trany work done.
> 
> How much engine and trany work can I get done for around $1300 and stuff that will actually make a difference?


If you really want to mod that car make sure you do a engine/transmission rebuild first off, because there is no way that you should even try to mod a car with that much millaege on it even if it is Nissan! I would just try to keep it running as long as possible, regular matainance.(I had a 90' Maxima with 251,000 miles on it before the timing chain went).


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## guitarsage (Mar 26, 2005)

Can anyone tell me how much it cost them to get their transmission rebuilt? I need to start with the tranny, it's starting to get pretty bad.


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## LONDONDERRY (May 19, 2004)

guitarsage said:


> Can anyone tell me how much it cost them to get their transmission rebuilt? I need to start with the tranny, it's starting to get pretty bad.



I never priced that one out, I would imagine close to 500-600. Are you sure the tranny is bad, Altima trannies are pretty reliable. Sounds like you dumping a bunch of parts into that car of yours


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## SHIFTVAX (Jan 15, 2006)

guitarsage said:


> Can anyone tell me how much it cost them to get their transmission rebuilt? I need to start with the tranny, it's starting to get pretty bad.


When the one on my 90'Maxima went out I called AAMCO Transmissions and they said from 1,000-1,300 dollars to rebuild it. That's a higher end price though because its' AAMCO. I would guesse you could get it done for about $800-1000.00 . I'm not sure if the Altima had an electronic Transmission or not, that charge a little more because of that too.


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## guitarsage (Mar 26, 2005)

I am pretty sure the tranny is going bad. I checked the fluid again and it was almost dry, again... I just put a quart & a half in about a month or two ago, it was still a little low, but not much. I put another quart and half in today, it seems to run a little smoother. It shifts to second at around 5K RPM's which is pretty hard, and while it shifts there is about a 10 second gap before it actually goes into gear. I will probably just go to a junkyard and buy a cheap tranny with less miles and in a little better condition and let that last me until tax time next year. 

I know a person that might rebuild it for me pretty much at cost, very little labor charge cuz they he was my Driver's ED teacher and he said if I needed any help just to let him know.

he offered to give me several parts, including engines and transmissions, but they wouldn't fit my car.


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## KA24Tech (Feb 2, 2004)

If there isn't a substantial leak refill it until it is back up to the correct mark. Also check it after you drive it to ensure the fluid has filled the torque converter back up. Remember the trans holds 10 quarts.

Troy


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## guitarsage (Mar 26, 2005)

KA24Tech said:


> If there isn't a substantial leak refill it until it is back up to the correct mark. Also check it after you drive it to ensure the fluid has filled the torque converter back up. Remember the trans holds 10 quarts.
> 
> Troy


Wow ten quarts! It must of filled the tc, cuz i didnt drive it any after I put some in, just started the car up, then checked it.


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