Nisan - Sentra :: 1996 - Very Low Mileage At 68k Miles?
Mar 18, 2014
I have a 96 Nissan Sentra with about 68,000 miles on it (awesome, right?). This car is a trooper and has been with me for several years. I live in Pennsylvania where there is a yearly inspection requirement -- mechanical in addition to emissions. I took it in last week for inspection. My mechanic, who is a great guy I trust, tells me I need about $500 worth of work in order to get it to pass inspection: a new exhaust from the catalytic converter back, a tie down of some kind (engine?), and a rod that I believe connects the wheels.
This car blue books in Fair condition at about 1000. It's in Fair or less condition. I don't have very much money at all right now, and I'm trying to decide if I should sink it into fixing the car and hoping nothing else major breaks soon, or spending it on a down payment for a new(er) car. It would be a no-brainer in favor of the newer car if my mileage weren't so low. I don't know a whole lot about cars but I'm trying to educate myself—not sure if the age of the car or the low mileage wins out on this one.
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We started having problems first with the car dying at stops, and having to be restarted. We had the oxygen sensor cleaned, and it stopped that problem. Then my ABS lights came on, and my cruise control stopped working. When the car was cold and I tried to take off (forward or reverse) the rpms would not go above 1000, and the car would only move like it was idling. I read in a closed discussion on this forum that it was the stop light switch under the brake pedals so we got one and changed it out. Same problems.
So we thought we had a bad one, so we exchanged it, and the tech at the Auto Parts store said "Maybe you have a fuse out." We changed the stop light switch again, same problem. We found a blown fuse marked "stop light." It is a $2.70 fuse, 10 amps. We put it in, and the brake lights worked. I planned to put it in the shop the next day, having read that it could be the air inlet sensor, the throttle body needing cleaning, the transmission, the transmission fluid....anyway, I had to go to the store this morning, and the ABS light was out, the cruise control was working, and the car no longer ran in "limp mode."
Before you do anything else, change the fuse!
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So I have a 2003 Nissan Sentra which was given to me by my family and it's main issue is how much oil it is burning constantly. I find the car to be a lot more safer and reliable than my previous vehicle a 98' ford taurus. I have my 1 year old son with me daily so his safety is my #1 concern especially when we are in the car so whatever I must do to fix this issue, I am ready though I am hoping to not have to replace the engine. The car is currently at 176,653 miles as of right now. I have done a lot of research on this issue in these past months and this is what 'lve come up with.
I have seen a lot of blogs regarding similar issues that their nissan sentra was burning massive amounts of oil due to the manufacturer's precat. It has been said to relieve the vehicle from its oil burning issue to change the precat to a header so one of my questions is would you find that to be the most reasonable answer, to change the precat to a header?? I was told the precat in my car had been changed previously so I inspected the car myself due to finding the mechanic had replaced the precat with another precat thus making no change to the issue at hand. I am getting really tired of feeding my engine oil when it just guzzles it down in a day or two. Here are some questions i have:
Would changing the precat to a header be the most reasonable solution to ridding this oil burning problem?? (if thats the case this would really relieve me over the stress i endure from this car)
I currently use SAE 10W 40 High Mileage engine oil; the owner manual says to use A) SAE 5W-30 viscosity oil for all temperatures & B) SAE 10W-30 or SAE 10W-40 if the ambient temperature is above 0*F so after using choice B, would changing now to SAE 5W-30 be a good idea?
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My car stalls repeatedly while I am driving. I quickly put it in neutral and start it again. This can happen 4 or five times on a 30 minute trip, or sometimes, not at all. Someone said it could be the Mass Air Flow Sensor or Meter. Tried a new one and the car is still stalling.
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The first time I turned on the AC this year, the car ran like normal for about 5 minutes. After that, I was coming to a stop light, I put the car in neutral, and it shut off. I could only get the car running again after I turned off the air. Then it would shutter very hard while idling. So far I have change the fuel filter and put cleaning stuff in the gas tank to clean the fuel injectors. When I tried running it again, it ran for about 10 minutes and stalled again. The car is a 1996 Nissan sentra. Check engine light doesn't come on, and the car has had regular oil changes. There is 191,000 miles on it.
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I have a 1996 Nissan Sentra GXE 1.6L automatic. It fails to start intermittently. It does not matter if the engine is hot or cold. It does not turn over and it seems the whole car has lost power (no engine warning lights, no power locks, etc).
I have taken the battery to be tested and it comes out "good." Once I put the battery back in, the car starts and power is restored to the entire car. The starter (1-month-old) and alternator (1-year-old) test out good also. I changed the inhibitor relay, but the problem occurred again 2 weeks later.
I also noticed one time when I attempted to jump the car with the negative jumper cable attached to the engine block of the dead car or to the negative battery terminal of the dead car, the car would just click (as though attempting to turn over). However, when I connected the jumper cable to the exposed part of the dead car's negative battery cable (right next to the battery cable connector), it starts.
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After driving for about 15 minutes the car starts to lurch. regardless of the speed. it gets worse if and when i accelerate. If i rev up the engine, it feels like a lose in power and also like something in the engine is skipping. I changed fuel filter under the hood and the strainer on the fuel pump (not the fuel pump) thinking they might have been clogged up and the engine wasn't getting enough fuel.
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My 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan after many years of good gas mileage has become a guzzler. Has gone from 19 mpg to 10.2 mpg. Have had injectors cleaned, fuel system checked. What else can I have done? I really like this car.
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1996 Nissan Sentra GXE, 147,000 miles. Automatic transmission. When I start moving after starting the car, I hear an ominously loud single clunk coming from the area around the right rear wheel. I start the engine, no clunk. I release the parking brake, no clunk. I put the car into gear, no clunk. I take my foot off the brake and begin to move, CLUNK! And that's the last I hear of it while I'm driving. There are no rattles, shakes, or other problems as I am driving. I can stop for a traffic light, and there's no clunk when I start moving again. Shift into reverse, and there's no clunk. Hit a pothole, nothing.
It may be worth mentioning that I have a huge hole in the right side of my muffler (seriously - I can stick a few fingers into it) which I am not going to repair. And that is because in five weeks I am going to be buying a new car. I've arranged time off from work to do all the running around from bank to dealer to insurance agent to DMV, and I'll have enough cash at the ready for a large down payment. So I am very reluctant to have any work done on this car. So what it comes down to is can I 'baby' the Sentra as much as possible and use it as little as possible over the next few weeks, or am I in danger of losing a wheel (or something) at any moment?
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In the past year or so mileage on my Honda Fit (08) has decreased at least 100 miles per tank full. Changed spark plugs, put in additive, changed air filter. Tires ok. I have 120,000 miles on it...
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I bought a 2012 Prius new and averaged just under 53 miles per gallon for the first 15,000 miles regularly. I have a long commute so my driving mix of city/highway is pretty consistent. When starting the car one morning there was a fairly loud series of clicking sounds from the engine compartment, which then stopped. From that point forward the mileage has dropped to just under 50 mpg. Same driving habits. I am bringing the car if for it's 20,000 mile check up shortly. Any ideas if something happened to the battery I should ask about? It is still under warranty.
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I just recently bought a 96 XLT 4WD Aerostar. It's got about 158,000 miles on it. It's got a few problems I wanted to ask about.
1. When I'm on the highway, once I reach about 82 or 83mph the transmission seems to slip into neutral. Does fine around the city and every other speed on the highway but once I pass 82mph it slips and revs really high. Could it be the torque converter?
2. Clicking while turning sharp and reversing while turning. I figure it probably needs new cv joints?
3. The gas mileage seems terrible. I still have my Ford Econoline 250 and that seems to be getting better gas mileage. What might cause the mpg to be as bad as 12mpg on the highway?
4. The speedometer goes nuts after about 40mph. Is that an easy fix?
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I have a Nissan '04 Altima. Last winter, in temps near zero, my power steering seemed to go out. It worked fine when it got a little warmer. Figured maybe a stuck valve or something on the pump. Works fine sometimes and sometimes it doesn't. Asked my mechanic to check this out when I went in for my last oil change. Not sure they checked anything (it was working when I brought it in) they recommended a fluid flush. Did the fluid flush, it continued to work for a few days, then stopped working again. What could cause this so I can have them check specific components.
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My odometer has quit working but sometimes will run a few miles. The truck has about 100,000 miles on it and the speedometer works fine.
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I've had my XB 5-speed for nearly a year and 10000 miles. It as been dead on reliable and fun to drive. My gas mileage has varied from 26 to 31 in mixed driving and from 32 to 35 on the highway. I use premium fuel only because I can get it without ethanol. My fuel mileage also increased a couple of mpg due to getting the power robbing ethanol out. True it is probably not enough to offset the extra expense but I like not having the stuff in my car. My only dissatisfactions has been with the transmission gear ratios. They are way to low. This torquy engine could easily do with a ratio that would drop about 500 rpm for more relaxed highway cruising.
As it is, though, my XB will go up any hill or long grade without breathing hard! Another is the instrumentation. I don't mind the center mounted set-up but speedometer and trip meter for mpg ratings are both inaccurate. My speedo reads about 2.5 mph high and the fuel mileage read out has about the same error, also on the high side. I have the stock 16" tires. The clutch has a narrow engagement band and can be difficult to be smooth on. The car is fairly quiet, is comfortable and this years hot, humid summer has shown it has one of the best air conditioners I have ever experienced in a car. I thought it might be an electric unit rather than a belt driven compressor because there is absolutely no perceived drag when the compressor kicks on.
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I had my transmission fluid changed because it was leaking from the pan. I did the job myself but called VW to confirm how much fluid I needed. They told me the wrong amount but we realized that after we did the job.. they did the repair for a huge discount and I only paid $200 bucks for the work for them to "fix" what they messed up. Volkswagen did it and I got the car serviced at the end of April basically. now its the first week of July and under 90 days since the car was service and now it is shifting hard between 2nd and 3rd gear or 35 miles to 45 miles per hour. The car isn't throwing a transmission code I have a vag com and there is no code coming up on that.
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How many miles can be driven after the computer tells you have zero miles left to empty? Or rather how many gallons do you think is left in the tank after the computer says you're empty?
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My 2006 GS300 has oil burning issue after 80k miles now my odo is at 110k miles. I have changed my oil every 5000 miles, keep burning about 1 quart every 1k miles average. Literally burnt about 20 quarts of an oil with premium fuel. At 105k miles, I had replaced my bank 2 sensor 2 after the check engine light and vsc light came on, reset the code those lights came right back on.
Check the code again, found out bad cat converter between passenger side sensors. The recalls has been done at 65k miles at dealer. My questions are :
-What would be the cause of burning that much of an oil? No leaking on floor or bad smell.
-Is burnt oil causing the failure of cat converter?
-If I replace the cat, will it go bad again?
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I have a 98 Nissan Sentra every now and then when I get in it to start it I get nothing but if I hold it or turn it to the off position a few times it will start, what this could be....
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I have a 2000 Nissan sentra and I have times when I will drive for couple days and then it won't start it will just crank over and over but won't fire I have had it to several people but no answer replaced the fuel pump relay switch but nothing
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I've got a 1997 Nissan Sentra GXE (Standard). Recently, my car decided to stop starting. Here are some of the symptoms:
1) If I would go down a hill and come to a stop, or even if I was slowing down to come to a stop at a stop sign or light, my car would turn off over 50% of the time. It would usually always start back up, until last week. My car turned off as I was slowing down to turn into the mall. I was able to coast into the parking lot.
2) When I turn the key it clicks and makes a "rrrrrr" "rrrrrrr" sound.
3) I was able to get the car started once after I pumped the gas so I don't think it's a fuel pump issue.
4) The automatic windows, lights, and radio still work so I'm ruling out a battery or alternator issue either.
5) My car couldn't be jumped or push-started.
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