Tell me about the '03 Sentra SE-R Spec V.

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Jim Prower

Jim Prower

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Well, my Nissan 200SX rolled over 150,000 miles a couple weeks ago. She's also consuming oil at a rate higher than I'd like. I think it's time to get a newer car.

I did a quick search and found a B15 SE-R near me.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.j...ype=b&num_records=25&cardist=6&standard=false

Now, here's the thing. it has 97,000 miles on it. Certainly, it'll be a fair bit better than one with 150,000 miles on it, but what can go wrong on these? Particularly mechanically. I don't really mind if the electrics are crap.
 
The 2.5L in these had two main issues:

1) Butterfly valve screws on the secondary runners in the intake manifold would vibrate loose, potentially getting sucked into the engine and doing lots of damage.

2) Catalytic converter on the exhaust manifold (pre-cat) could potentially break apart, and could get sucked into the engine upon engine braking.

I believe both of these were taken care of by Nissan, but they are also easy to prevent by simply loctite-ing the butterfly screws and replacing the OE exhaust manifold with an aftermarket header. Other things I would watch for are crappy Nissan paint, leaky trunk and I've heard of a few have fuel pump issues but it's not widely spread.

Not a bad car, good amount of torque and good suspension makes them a blast to drive.

On the other hand, I would recommend a 2000-2001 SE model. 👍
 
I was gonna say the 2000 and 2001 NON SE-r with teh SR and 5spd. Though the only way I could own that body sentra is if it had a vq in it.
 
Well, don't exactly have one of those for sale near me, at least, that I know of. If you can find one within 50 mi of 61571, do tell.

I don't have to buy it now, but it's something to look into, and the price is about what I'd feel comfortable paying without financing - not really sure I want to finance anyway. Budget is about $7,000 outright before taxes. Manual tranny's the main thing.
 
I like the 03-04 SE-R, I call it the baby Skyline. R1600 is correct on the numbered points.

I'd say go for it as long as it checks out. :D
 
Anything Manual's hard to find. It's a rural industrial area dominated by GM W-bodies and pickup trucks. we're not cool like the city.

I might take a look at it Friday or perhaps sometime this weekend, if I can get my dad to come with me. He's a bit busy though.
 
Unfortunately, the 03-04 is where the cat issue came out. I'd only get one if they replaced the cat under warranty already.

If you're getting this as a daily, it's a reasonably good car. Fun to drive, has the all-important limited slip differential (and it being helical, requires no more maintenance than a regular differential), and lots of torque.

If you're getting it as a project car, forget it... the QR25 is weaksauce in terms of modification. Skinny rods, long stroke, poor breathing... get an SE with the SR instead and boost that sucker up. :D
 
It'd be a daily, definitely. I figure I'm not gonna have the money to sink into seriously modding full-size cars any time soon.

This is definitely something to check out. How does one know if the cat's been swapped?
 
You would probably need the VIN and call the NISSAN hot line to check the status of the car.
Manual SE are very rare within 200 miles of you. That sucks.
 
Awww... no VQ swaps in the near future? :lol:

Perchance, don't want a Mazdaspeed Protege? Similar speed, same age, also equipped with a helical limited slip. And it steers nicer, too.

The kicker is it comes with a subwoofer. Everything is better with a subwoofer.

The turbocharged engine isn't as stout as an SR, but if you're not modifying it, it should be more than enough.
 
If the first catalytic converter hasn't blown out and clogged the second one yet, it will eventually. I would recommend the NISMO header to solve that problem, because a clogged exhaust can be very harmful to an engine.
 
niky
Awww... no VQ swaps in the near future? :lol:

Perchance, don't want a Mazdaspeed Protege? Similar speed, same age, also equipped with a helical limited slip. And it steers nicer, too.

The kicker is it comes with a subwoofer. Everything is better with a subwoofer.

The turbocharged engine isn't as stout as an SR, but if you're not modifying it, it should be more than enough.
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Find one. >:3
 
Jim Prower
I figure I'm not gonna have the money to sink into seriously modding full-size cars any time soon.
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Hardly a full size car. :lol:

My SE weighed just a bit over 2600lbs. Not bad really, and it handled pretty good although I was rocking Spec-V shocks with Eibach springs and Eibach sways.
 
eSZee
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.j...e=b&num_records=25&cardist=183&standard=false

Outside the budget though and the color is iffy.

http://autos.yahoo.com/used-cars/ma...el=mazdaspeed_protege&make=mazda&distance=200
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Those are...a bit far away. I'm in Peoria (Washington, to be specific) Illinois, don't really want to go all the way to indiana to look for a car.

The MP3 wouldn't be bad to search for either, though.

R1600Turbo
Hardly a full size car. :lol:

My SE weighed just a bit over 2600lbs. Not bad really, and it handled pretty good although I was rocking Spec-V shocks with Eibach springs and Eibach sways.
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Well...I wasn't so much referring to the size relative to, say, a Chevy Impala, I was more referring to the size relative to, say, My Kyosho Mini-Zs or Losi Micros. R/C cars. ;)

I did a drive-by look at the car today. No obvious exterior rust. I'll have to give it a closer inspection, perhaps tomorrow after work. Plan on calling them, at least, this weekend and seeing if they have anything on it.

However, feel free to keep looking. Zip Code 61571, 50 miles or less, and don't be afraid to look for cars with similar pep, and gas mileage, in good condition. I'm open to ideas, so long as they're manual transmission. I'll continue looking myself.

EDIT: just ran a carfax on it. Nothing about the cat converter, so that's probably original to the car. Might be a negotiation point.
 
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Well, the $50-$100 you spend on getting there can be haggled off the price. You can't limit yourself to local pickings.
 
eSZee
Well, the $50-$100 you spend on getting there can be haggled off the price. You can't limit yourself to local pickings.
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This.

When I search for cars, I usually look within a days drive. Find way more cars that way.
 
Jim Prower
Find one. >:3
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Build one. Lots of P5s with MSP swaps. :D

Oops... you aren't going that way... :lol: ...yeah... problem with the MSP is rarity. Even rarer is one that hasn't been modified to hell or blown up... or both.
 
Okay, I've got a carfax on the SE-R right now, and I went to give it an external once-over. Tires are no-names (Triangle Tires?) but have plenty of tread, don't think they're all-seasons though. Paint has some minor nicks and scratches in the doors. Interior looks clean. One-owner car, hasn't been in a wreck, did live in Chicagoland, which isn't encouraging.

The main reason I'm worried? My 200SX let out a huge puff of smoke as I pulled up to the house. It's not smoking any more, I'm HOPING that that's just me having overfilled the sump a little after changing the oil this past weekend.

EDIT: Yeah, I overfilled the sump. :P
 
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Well...would that mean I drain it and re-fill it? For that matter, I got one of the Valvoline oil-change jugs and a can of 4-cyl Engine Restore. That's not THAT much over, is it?
 
Depends on the capacity of the pan, or more specifically the recommended level when doing an oil change. Assuming your car is a GA16, that should be 3 3/8 quarts with filter change. Those jugs are usually 5 quarts aren't they?

If that's the case, yes you might want to drain and re-fill.
 
bugger, that IS a great deal more than a jug.

alright, yeah, we'll see what it's like after a week, then do that.
 
The 200SX takes 3.5 quarts of oil (with a filter change, which I assume you did). The Valvoline oil change jugs are 5.1 quarts, and I don't know how much engine restore stuff is in a can. So yeah, you're just a bit overfull. If it were mine, I'd get another jug of oil, drain it all out, add 3 quarts (the filter is tiny), check the level, and add from there.

EDIT: Tree'd horribly.
 
Jim Prower
bugger, that IS a great deal more than a jug.

alright, yeah, we'll see what it's like after a week, then do that.
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It depends where you got the jug. Walmart jugs are 5 quart, autozone(advanced too?) jugs are 4quart.
 
It was a 5.35 qt Valvoline jug. Yeah, It was overfilled.

unfortunately, that jug now has the old oil in it.
 

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