85 Sentra 1.6l, 151k, unknown miles on oil

Of course. Not insulting your intelligence lol However, if you can get it to crank with starting fluid with enough times it "Might" start flowing again. Maybe the old pump needs a good ol priming. However, If it's a mechanical pump then I'm sure it'll need replace anyways.
Nah, you weren't insulting my intelligence. I've never worked on a carbureted engine before, and I'm simply a shade tree mechanic. So I've got more to learn than I know. I've already bought the pump. It was cheap. But I do have to remove the oil filter to get to it and not sure how challenging it will be to replace, especially with old fuel hoses, etc. I suppose there could be an obstruction in the hoses too! I'll take all the advice I can get. :)
 
The PH3614 and PH3600 have a bypass and are better choices. I would avoid the PH3682 like the plague.
Why avoid what it calls for like the plague? It calls for 3682. There is nothing "better" about your choices. I have a '93 and the 3682 are still readily available, but not at Walmart anymore.
 
Yeah...I read it more than once and it still doesn't make any sense to advise not using what the OEM specifies but OK I guess, whatever.
 
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Here is its state when we found it.

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After a little wash.

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if non ethanol is available, it's going to be appreciated in this car along with some Gumout Regane HM fuel additive. Drain the coolant, and refill at least twice, the brake fluid needs to be changed and baste and replace steering fluid. I think the blinker fluid will eventually need a change along with greasing muffler bearings. Check with @TiGeo as he's our unofficial in-house Liquimoly expert as I am sure this car could benefit from the LM MotorOilSaver product. Get a throttle body spray that's for GDI w/ PEA; it will cut the crude easier and you won't need as much as it's going to clean easier and you won't need to use as much. I would flush this engine,maybe a quart of @High Performance Lubricants EC40 and use in conjunction with a high mileage synblend/full syn like M1HM or the new Valvoline Black bottle HM 150+.
 
@Greasymechtech

I for one could use a re-explanation on what you said:

"Uses a 3/4-16 non-bypass filter. Can use the Toyota/VW PH3614 sized filter, or if there is room, the Ford/VW PH3600/PH2870a. Don't rely on the OE bypass valve. Its usually varnished/sludged seized and useless leading to issues common to all the Datsun/Nissan PH3682 engines."

"The PH3614 and PH3600 have a bypass and are better choices."

Are you saying the 3682 has no bypass valve, or that the 3614 and 3600 have better bypass valves?

Actually, I started searching and found this old thread:

How do I know if the 1.6 in the Sentra has a an internal bypass on the engine block? I'm assuming by your answer that it does not, but how does one find out this information?

Thank you, sir.
 
By the way, this 1985 Sentra resembles an AMC Eagle. Albeit, without the all wheel drive lift kit. I remember seeing them on the road quite a bit when I was younger in the late 80's early 90's. (y)
Yes! I don't remember there being a hatch version.
 
@Greasymechtech

I for one could use a re-explanation on what you said:

"Uses a 3/4-16 non-bypass filter. Can use the Toyota/VW PH3614 sized filter, or if there is room, the Ford/VW PH3600/PH2870a. Don't rely on the OE bypass valve. Its usually varnished/sludged seized and useless leading to issues common to all the Datsun/Nissan PH3682 engines."

"The PH3614 and PH3600 have a bypass and are better choices."

Are you saying the 3682 has no bypass valve, or that the 3614 and 3600 have better bypass valves?

Actually, I started searching and found this old thread:

How do I know if the 1.6 in the Sentra has a an internal bypass on the engine block? I'm assuming by your answer that it does not, but how does one find out this information?

Thank you, sir.
You can use the 3682, however the 3614 and 3600 are better suited, here's what I gather from @Greasymechtech post:

The engine's internal bypass valve can malfunction and therefore using the alternates 3614/3600 can mitigate failure due to having their own built in bypass valves. It sounds redundant but it's actually an extra layer of engine protection, in the event of an internal engine bypass failure.
 

The 3682 and its equivalents from competitor brands do NOT have a bypass valve.

Your engine relies on a filter mount or oil passage bypass. All Nissans using the '3682 filter have an serviceable oil filter bypass, usually during a rebuild. Its usually a simple ball/spring and clogs/sludges/varnishes either open or closed.

Use the 3614 or the larger 3600 if it fits. The 3614 fits the 1.4T from VW all the way up to the 4.7 from Toyota and is more than enough for your engine. The 3600 is for Fords that use the FL400s. These filters have the bypass valve. You want a working bypass. You'll get that with each new filter and won't have to worry about the block built in bypass.
 

The 3682 and its equivalents from competitor brands do NOT have a bypass valve.

Your engine relies on a filter mount or oil passage bypass. All Nissans using the '3682 filter have an serviceable oil filter bypass, usually during a rebuild. Its usually a simple ball/spring and clogs/sludges/varnishes either open or closed.

Use the 3614 or the larger 3600 if it fits. The 3614 fits the 1.4T from VW all the way up to the 4.7 from Toyota and is more than enough for your engine. The 3600 is for Fords that use the FL400s. These filters have the bypass valve. You want a working bypass. You'll get that with each new filter and won't have to worry about the block built in bypass.
Thank you so much. That makes perfect sense now! One thing I'm hopeful for is no sludging inside. The previous owner tells me he changed the oil every 3 months regardless of mileage. I have a hard time believing he did that consistently for 25 years, but you never know!
 
Good point on the varnish!

With your new fuel pump, run a temporary hose on the suction side into a clean gatorade bottle full of gasoline. I bet it'll fire right up.

It was probably already half-varnished on the previous owner when they parked it.

If you can get a blow gun with your air compressor, try blowing air down the line to the fuel tank. You should hear it bubble/ hiss if it's working right. If it's varnished up, now you know for sure. And if you're very lucky, you'll shoot whatever's plugging it up, free.

That's a very nice upmarket trim with better seats and wild rims!
 
Update: I got the new fuel pump on (it was a pain in the butt to get replaced!). The old one was definitely bad. The spring lever was jiggly and would not blow air out of the return when pumped. However, the car still would not start and no fuel was pumping into the filter. Finally, we poured fuel in the carb and it fired right up. After a bit of re-application to keep the engine running, the fuel filter finally got some gas pumped into it and it kept going on its own.

First impressions: idle started off high and smooth. Probably around 2500 rpm. There was whitish exhaust smoke. We let it idle for several minutes and it finally settled down to around 2000 rpm, but then started hunting around between 2000 and 2500 rpm. At that point we cut the engine and called it a night. Any thoughts or ideas? I know what white exhaust smoke typically means, but we also had no coolant markers in our UOA. Could it just be blowing out crud from sitting around so long?
 
I would get one of the radiator pressure test kits and make sure that the coolant system isn't leaking into the engine. The white smoke usually means that the engine has water getting into one of the combustion chambers so it sounds like you might have a leaking head gasket. You could also get one of the testers that checks to see if there is combustion gasses coming into the cooling system. Both test kits are cheap and the tests are simply to do. If you want to go further you could do a compression test on each cylinder. If you have a leaking head gasket that should tell you which cylinder it's on.

It also probably wouldn't be a bad idea to pull all of the spark plugs and take a look at them and see if anything looks abnormal. At that point I would also just install new spark plugs while I had the old ones out.

The high idle speed might be due to air leak due to rotten spot (or vermin chewed hole) in one of the air hoses on the engine. Or simply a hose that's not plugged in.

"I know what white exhaust smoke typically means, but we also had no coolant markers in our UOA."

If the water (coolant) is leaking into the head (or possibly into the intake system) and being blown out the exhaust system you probably won't have any measurable amount in the engine oil.
 
@Greasymechtech @Fla and anyone else reading. The manual gearbox fluid recommended for this vehicle is GL-4 75W90 gear oil. Any idea if the gear oil should contain or NOT contain limited slip? It seems that most of the major brands (eg Valvoline) already contain the limited slip. Was it Motorcraft fluid that you had to buy the limited slip separately and add it in?

Depending on where I look, I also see Synchromesh recommended. Is there a specific fluid type that would work best for this vehicle's manual transmission?
 
GL4's for manual transmission do not have LS additive.
Pennzoil/GM synchromesh fluids are NOT thick enough and some variations do NOT have a GL4 rating.

If its running fine and you want to change the gear oil, use the Redline MT90 or Amsoil MTG. Another option are the 75w85's from your Nissan and Hyundai/Kia dealers.


Pretty sure GM and Mopar parts have a 85 or 90 grade GL4 MT specific fluid.


Some other options.

Subaru dealer will have an MT specific non-LS GL5 75w90 that'll work too.
 
I considered backing the car down the driveway and back into the garage as a test, but I checked the existing transmission fluid and it was well below the check hole, so decided to scrap that idea and wait til I can drain and fill next weekend with the Red Line MT-90 I ordered.

Interestingly, we hadn't started the vehicle since last weekend, but today, it wouldn't start til we poured a few drops of gas into the carb. Once it started, it kept running for the several minutes we had it on. We stopped and started it several times over the course of a couple of hours and it started fine each time. I'm guessing once all the fuel in the carb evaporates, we'd need to prime it again with a few drops. That's probably not normal. :)
 
I considered backing the car down the driveway and back into the garage as a test, but I checked the existing transmission fluid and it was well below the check hole, so decided to scrap that idea and wait til I can drain and fill next weekend with the Red Line MT-90 I ordered.

Interestingly, we hadn't started the vehicle since last weekend, but today, it wouldn't start til we poured a few drops of gas into the carb. Once it started, it kept running for the several minutes we had it on. We stopped and started it several times over the course of a couple of hours and it started fine each time. I'm guessing once all the fuel in the carb evaporates, we'd need to prime it again with a few drops. That's probably not normal. :)
One other point of interest: no white exhaust smoke this time. Maybe there was just water in the system that burned itself out?
 
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