Oil recommendation: 1991 Nissan D21 truck

[RDY4WAR]

I recently retrieved my grandfather's (RIP) truck from down in Mississippi. It's a 1991 Nissan D21 with the 2.4L KA24E engine and 483,211 miles on it. It's been sitting up in his barn since he passed away 2-1/2 years ago. I drug it out, put a new battery in it, some fresh gas, and after some hesitation, it fired up. I'm not sure what oil is in it as the old man had a tendency to run whatever was cheap and within arms reach. I know he wasn't the best on regular maintenance either. I've seen him go 30k miles on the same oil filter, he was that cheap. It was a quart low of black oil but sufficient enough to drive it on the trailer and back it off at home. It has a noticeable valvetrain tick and misfire when cold. It's probably just from it sitting up for so long and fresh oil and plugs may make it go away.

I just don't know where to start with this thing. I don't intend to drive it regularly. I mostly just want to bring a little part of my grandfather's legacy back to life. I don't even know what oil filter is on it. It's half white, half rust. From what little I run it, I haven't noticed any leaks though there is a lot of buildup around the valve cover and oil pan gaskets.

Any recommendations?

 

[aquariuscsm]

I'd go with qsad or pyb 10W30.

 

[jakewells]

castrol gtx 10w30 or pyb 10w30.

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted by RDY4WAR


I just don't know where to start with this thing.



1.Brake fluid
2.rust.

The mechanical stuff wont get much worse if you arent driving it, so I'd give it a lower priority, but I'd probably put a 15W-40 HDEO in it for the detergency.

Lifted one of those (rare locally) on campus here. Look pretty solid.

 

[53' Stude]

QSGB 10W30

 

[dave1251]

10W30/40 what is on a sale. OCI 5K.

 

[quint]

Is that 483,211 on the original engine and original timing chain? Never seen a single cam KA24 go that far. A lot of the high mileage KA24E's developed slop in the timing chain which then takes out the chain tensioners, which allows the chain to rub on the chain cover and wear a hole right into an interior water passage in the block. Coolant goes right into the oil pan, and that is that. Seen several do this. They usually give plenty of warning when this is pending, the chains get quite noisy when they and the tensioners get worn.

If you dont feel like messing with the valve clearances, Xw-40's will usually keep the valves fairly quite. My dual cam (KA24DE) starting ticking pretty noticeably about 5-6 years ago, and I've been too lazy to re-shim the valves to quite them down. Of all the oils I've used, M1 0W-40 seemed to keep them the quietest, so I've been sticking to that most of the time.

The KA24 engines will pretty much run fine on anything you throw into them.

 

[RDY4WAR]

I don't know if the chain and tensioner has ever been replaced. When I started it though, it didn't notice any sound from the chain. Just a noisy valve.

 

[MRtv]

For that black oil I'd put in whatever cheap stuff I could to get it cleaned out. Two good short 1000 mile OCIs maybe. Meanwhile all the fluids get changed. If it would run downhill if it got poured onto the ground it comes out and new goes in. Tranny, differential, brake fluids all out and new goes in. Coolant too should get a refresh. I'd consider that timing chain getting replaced too. Maybe a new water pump while you're at it. If this is to much money wise maybe it is time to let go of the emotional part of keeping grandads truck and you move on. If you want to keep grandad alive with you a bit longer get this done. DIY could save you lots of cash here. For me I would think of it as my grandad looking over my shoulder while I fixed up his truck. You'd be surprised the conversations you could have with him while imagining all this let alone all the memories flooding into you while working on his truck. Oh and a good wash and wax would't hurt. Enjoy your truck.

 

[RDY4WAR]

I plan to replace the timing chain and tensioner along with regular maintenance items like plugs, wires, pumps, etc... I can do all of the work myself. I'll drop the plan to have a look inside and change the oil pump while I'm at it. The clutch feels weak so I'll probably drop the trans and replace it. It needs new weatherstripping and tires. It'll take a bit of work.

I'll drive it maybe 750-1000 miles a year.