1995 Nissan Sentra

1995 NISSAN SENTRA
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DAVEG
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My daughter has a 1995 Nissan Sentra with apx 185,000 miles. It has developed a hesitation--or sputter--that happens when accelerating--aspecially around 40-50 mph --seems to be ok above 60 mph. It will also sputter at times when ideling---but only sometimes.
Replaced the spark plugs--and it seemed ok for a few days. The trouble seemed to start after our mechanic replaced a gasket that was leaking oil on the top of the engine. It was "losing about 1 quart of oil a week. --Now it does not leak there--but we are losing about 2 quarts a week. She was using 5W30 --now has switched to 10w40. It helped for about 1 week ---stopped the sputter and bucking or slip that hse was experiencing--but it has started acting up again.
What should we be looking at? Is it electrical--should I loo at the distributor cap? Why would oil level and or type trigger this? Help !!
Jun 7, 2007 at 12:49 AM
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DATSUNRAISED
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It sounds more like bad compression. Is the oil leaking onto the floor or is it burning that much. The thicker weight can help a little depending on where it is leaking from, but that is only a short term fix and can end up making the problem worse.
Jun 7, 2007 at 12:15 PM
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DAVEG
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There doesn't seem to be any oil leaking on the floor--but the under side of the car is wet with oil. The back of the car-license plate etc becomes coated with a dark oily film --- so it's burning oil --Is there anyway to fix the compression --given it has 185,000 miles on it? would an oil additive help?
Jun 7, 2007 at 1:39 PM
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DATSUNRAISED
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You can buy several different products that will help stop the oil consumption. My beef with those is that you really have to think about what it is they do. They are basically clots for your oil. Yes they will help retain the oil; whether it be through gasket leak or excess blow-by, but it is going to clot your engine in general, losing performance and I would suspect that it would also lose engine life. The best bet would be to see if the mechanic will charge full-rate again to get back inside the engine, cause that's where your headed. Valves will probably need honed and piston rings replaced.
Jun 8, 2007 at 1:04 AM
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DAVEG
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As a follow up question--It seems like getting it honed and pistons replaced will be too much money to put into this car.

It has started "kicking" again--and I'm wondering if it is possible to pull the plugs-clean them off--make sure the gap is set-reinsert them and the keep doing that--kind of like a weekly maitenance thing? Would that help to stretch the useful life? It runs fine if you can maintain a steady speed--like 65 on the highway--but struggles as you accelerate--from cold stops--or when you climb a hill.
Thoughts?
Jun 14, 2007 at 12:21 AM