New to me '95 Nissan 200sx SE-R

[Cruiserdrew]

Just became the owner of this car-iit's going to be my daughter's car. It has 60k miles and all the records going back to new. The previous and original owner is one of the guys I work with. I had a couple of questions about oil changes and such.

The manual says it gets 3 5/8 quarts of oil at an oil change. Can that possibly be right? My 3 Land Cruisers take 8.5 so 3 5/8 seems like nothing.

Since it has low miles, I was going to switch it to Mobil1 10w-30 and run 5k intervals. Does this seem OK? The manual says the severe service interval is 3750 so I'll be stretching it a bit and the service will be severe (teenager, short in town trips).

I asked a question in the transmission section, but does anyone know for sure what type of ATF this car takes? Even though this is the souped up version of this car, it has an automatic tranny.

I want this car to last 4 years and 2 teenagers. Any other recs?

Thanks, I don't post much but I've been lurking for a couple of years.

 

[unDummy]

Oil capacity seems to be low in many Nissans. Double check with the dipstick since some owners' manuals have misprinted specs causing certain owners to underfill.

An oversized oil filter, if there is room, might be able to stretch that oil capacity to an even four quarts.

Mobil1 10w30 is an excellent choice. If the engine didn't run synth previously, I might do the 1st new oil change at 3k. Then, 5k intervals should be no problem.

Some of the SR20de's had minor sludging problems. An engine cleaning might help. There are products(in the additive section) that you should consider especially since you want to run a 5k severe duty OCI.

 

[WeyounDS9]

That car has an SR20DE (little brother of the famous SR20DET).
The capacity quoted is correct.
For turbocharging and motorsport applications a upgraded, finned, and baffled oil pan is available from Greddy ( manufacturer) and various vendors (driftfactory.com optionimports.com etc), this brings capacity to 5.0 quarts.

But for your aplication the stock pan is plenty.
Those are great little engines deserving on M1 10w-30.

Fred..

 

[rjundi]

I would not worry too much on oil capacity. My old 95 Civic which was sold perfectly running at 210,000 miles (never an engine issue) only had approx a 3.5 QT capacity.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Thanks for the replies. This car is pretty fun, with suprising power from an econobox. It has exactly 61.5k today, I'll change to the M1 this week and do a short forst change at 65k. Thanks for the suggestion. I change all the other cars at 5k intervals so this one will have to get by with the same treatment. Looking through the stacks of oilchange receipts, the oil has been changed every 2.5-3k since new with dealer bulk oil 5w-30 and a factory filter. The first change was at less than 1000 miles! I'm tempted to pull off the valve cover and have a look but it probably doesn't matter since I'm going to run it as is anyway. I still don't know what ATF to put in the tranny though-I'm going to Nissan tomorrow and ask them directly.

 

[Cyprs]

I owned a 2001 Altima, 3.2 litres, about 3 quarts, that is low but it worked great on 3000 mile OCI, I now have a 03 Altima, the capacity on it is 4.2 litres, feel better about that.
Cyprs

 

[Cyprs]

Father's 01 Sentra is 2.7 litre oil capacity, I thought 3.2 in altima was low.
Cyprs

 

[Solo2driver]

The SR20DE usually leaves a quart or so during a drain in the engine...weird, more prevalent in the 90-93 SE-R and NX2000. Not sure how to get it all out except for letting it ALL drain for longer than 10 minutes, be sure to check out the SR20 sites that are around.

A couple of people that I autocross with use Mobil 1 or Royal Purple 10w-30 with great results in those engines, which are know to be riduculously overbuilt from the factory and last a loooong time.

-JamesW
94 Suzuki Swift GT 1.3L DOHC

 

[Cruiserdrew]

I went to Nissan today. The car indeed takes only 3.5 quarts of oil, so that was not a misprint. For ATF they use Dex III. The exception is for warrenty work-then they do use a Nissan Type 4 ATF, which the parts guy said was Dex III made by (of for) Nissan. The speced oil filter is tiny-my old Honda motorcycle had a larger one.

 

[Silk]

quote:

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Originally posted by unDummy:

Some of the SR20de's had minor sludging problems.

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I'd say the SR18 and SR20 had a major sludging problem.Most of them for us come used from Japan and I'd say 50% of them are sludged up - they don't seem to change the oil over there and sit idling in traffic jams I guess.First we know about it is when a customer pulls up wanting us to adjust a squealing belt - it's not a belt squealing,but dry cams because the tubes that squirt oil on them are blocked.I have 2 motors out the back just from last week - the SR18 is sludged,but still a good runner,the SR20 went beyond the cam stage and ran a bearing.

Change the oil often and they are one of the best motors out there.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Interesting. My "new" 200sx with the SD20 motor is pristine under the valve cover. I have the oil change receipts back to new and it got dealer 5w-30 at 3000 (or less!) mile intervals. The guy I bought it from is very organized and had every service receipt for the life of the vehicle. I changed the oil to Mobil1 and peaked under the valve cover. The metal inside looks like new, not even varnished. I only need 4 years of service from it, but the motor looks like it could go a lot further.