19 Years old, Just bought a 1988 conquest!!!!

[austinyoung420]

Hello, Im 19 years old my friends was telling me abou this car his brother had, that they wanted to get rid of, long story short he said it was a nissan conquest? i never heard of that so i did some research, went and looked at it and I noticed the Turbo under the hood, so me and my dad went and looked at it, He didnt want any part of it, he said its gonna need some work(been sitting for 4 years, no brakes)wont start. ect So I said screw it and bought it for 750 cash with title, bought a fuel pump/filter/oil filter and she started right up, it seems to run good but I notice a bogg around 2k rpm when I lay onto the gas? now i have been doing some reading on here and I think the culprit might be one of my fuel injector connectors i noticed mine is being held on by a paper clip...it runs good though it has a clank but from what i read it might be normal and maybe an exhaust leak. but its manufactured in may 88' conquest tsi SHP I belive I have little nobs on the suspension and 225's up front and 245's in the back pretty damn wide, I understand i can't push my stock motor but im looking to do some upgrades like the magna mpi and the 3'' maf and translator but Im kinda stuck this is my first car and I dont know too much but I know more than a little

[NikoFab]

welcome aboard! sounds like you have a nice little project there.

[quickStarion]

Hello, Im 19 years old my friends was telling me abou this car his brother had, that they wanted to get rid of, long story short he said it was a nissan conquest? i never heard of that so i did some research, went and looked at it and I noticed the Turbo under the hood, so me and my dad went and looked at it, He didnt want any part of it, he said its gonna need some work(been sitting for 4 years, no brakes)wont start. ect So I said screw it and bought it for 750 cash with title, bought a fuel pump/filter/oil filter and she started right up, it seems to run good but I notice a bogg around 2k rpm when I lay onto the gas? now i have been doing some reading on here and I think the culprit might be one of my fuel injector connectors i noticed mine is being held on by a paper clip...it runs good though it has a clank but from what i read it might be normal and maybe an exhaust leak. but its manufactured in may 88' conquest tsi SHP I belive I have little nobs on the suspension and 225's up front and 245's in the back pretty damn wide, I understand i can't push my stock motor but im looking to do some upgrades like the magna mpi and the 3'' maf and translator but Im kinda stuck this is my first car and I dont know too much but I know more than a little

 

I would stay away from the car. It has been sitting for 4 years. The gas tank is probably filthy, the lines are terrible, brake system toast, wheels dry rotted, injectors clogged or leaking, compression may be terrible. Your dad is right, stay away. Honestly people looking for a car at that age (I'm 23) have goggles on and see what the car could be and not is. You will be sinking more money fixing this car then buying a better example. Only time I would say go for it, if the car is rust free, interior is clean, and the body work is amazing at which point I would be willing to work on the rest. Otherwise just keep looking. Maybe keep the car for a parts car and look for a better example to keep on the road.

Edited May 28, 2013 by quickStarion

[vbrad511]

You'll be fine if you TAKE YOUR TIME and do things right. You really need to drop the tank and check it all out. Make sure it's clean inside. Flush the lines, change the filters, the oil, the antifreeze, the belts and hoses, and most importantly, go through the brakes. You are liable to find many other demons hidden in the car, but SQC is THE place to help you work out the kinks.

[JAinsworth]

It sat for 4 years and you have it running somewhat...I say good to you for bringing it back to life. I would assume with SHP struts it is an 88 or 89? Sounds like the secondary injector isn't firing. It is the one with the green/blue housing injector. Buy a set of injector clips and replace the two you have. Also, clean the prongs on the injectors and put a little dielectric grease on them. Good luck. Jimmy

[taeisallin]

good luck with the car. i had my first when i was 18. now im 36......

[austinyoung420]

thank you all for the warm welcome! I actually just got back in from messing with It, Just to make it clear I already dropped the tank and

it was very clean I replaced the filters and fuel pump, also the oil filter and i changed the oil, my Dad is an expert for technician 35+ years and he said it sounds like it runs good, but maybe the exhaust leak, he said he doesnt know too much about them I feel like I have learned a lot from reading this forum, Im ordering brakes and pads and caliber rebuild kit, theres a leak somewhere though, I drove the car and the tranny seams good the clutch seems good other than It needs to be bleed too. Tires are great less than 300 miles on them I mean I guess it runs good because I took it out the other day and I went to break it sideways and it started doing donuts I just need help with fine tuning things and fixing my power windows,rear brakes, dash buttons nothing too major other than the windows not rolling down or at all. Over all Its very nice black leather seats are real hard and the drivers is cracked alot broken..oh well Im in love with Starquest already, and i want to do a lot to it, but I really want it to be an awsome Daily Driver i get my License on the 17th of june!

[vbrad511]

Good that you're getting ahead on the maintenance. For the exhaust leak, look at the rearmost port on the manifold. The rear studs are prone to pulling out and then the gasket blows. Should also let you know if you plan on beating the daylights out of the car it won't last. It's 20+ years old. Another important point is make sure the cooling system is up to par and the fans are kicking on. If ANY of them aren't, don't drive the car until you've gotten them fixed. Heat is the worst enemy of our 2.6's. They pop head gaskets and crack heads if they get too hot...and it doesn't take much.

 

Words to live by

 

Fast

Cheap

Reliable

 

You can only pick two.

[austinyoung420]

Yes I believe all the fans kick on, I know they all work I tested them separately, I want to do something about the Maf though so i can swap out my air cleaner and hard piping too, bov, boost control, then work my way up to maybe another manifold, turbo, intake manifold? I just wanna know where to start and how much my motor can stand, the odometer said 120,000 but it said that 5 years ago and the car sat for 4 so it guess around 135-50k is a good estimate

[quickStarion]

Don't do a Maft without a wideband. Replace the rubber lines and vacuum lines. Go through the bushings. Change the oil, tranny fluid, and diff fluid.

[Squrlsquash]

I have a similar situation

 

i am 19 and at the moment have 2 cars that dont run

bought an 85 300zx with 190k miles on it, decided to rebuild the engine so i bought a Starion (that needed "just a little" work to get on the road for a daily)

 

here i am 6 months later with a nissan with the engine half rebuilt

and a Starion with a new engine, that im just now getting ready to start up

 

basically been borrowing cars to get around- not ideal

point is, make sure you have a daily if you buy one of these cars... a daily that works anyhow

 

best of luck, would say they're a blast to own- but havent driven mine yet

my next car will be one that at least runs from the start

[Dad]

Good luck Buddy, Your dad will come around and get hooked on the Quest! I did!

 

Dad

[austinyoung420]

HAH thanks guys my dads just a little weary on it he knows there known for blowing head gaskets and like i said he thinks it runs decent for what it is, I really want to know more about the Different throttle bodies and manifolds???

[quickStarion]

HAH thanks guys my dads just a little weary on it he knows there known for blowing head gaskets and like i said he thinks it runs decent for what it is, I really want to know more about the Different throttle bodies and manifolds???

 

There was only one intake and throttle body for these cars.

[austinyoung420]

Thanks for clearing that up! now What does it take/whats the easiest route to making a throttle body set up and or intake manifold, I just got inside from running my car down the street without the MAF hooked up, didnt like that too much And I also noticed That 2k rpm studder goes away after my engine is warmed up..

[tux]

I hope you have deep pockets. welcome to the addiction.

[austinyoung420]

lol Thanks I just got back from the scrap yard and I pulled a inline MAF I had to leave it there because i didn't want to buy it and not have it work but what do i need to know about putting one of those inline maf's so i can run a different filter? this one was off a van? my friends chevorlet lumina has the same one same connectors but they dont look the same as the conquest, do i need the MAF translator too?

[JAinsworth]

If you go with a GM maf, you have to have a maf translater. You will need a wideband a/f on it so you can tune it. Jimmy

[austinyoung420]

thanks ill keep that in mind im taking it slow right now

[JAinsworth]

The maft you pulled if it isn't from a starquest or a turbo 1st or 2nd gen g63, you will need a translator. The GMs are not plug and play. jimmy

[Squrlsquash]

from experience working on a starquest that isnt running yet, id just get it driveable with whats in there first. just about everything i did to upgrade it before i had driven it, ive had to take off or redo many times

 

id suggest taking on projects one at a time once its driving - and read up on whatever you want to do before starting

[austinyoung420]

Its running, im working on the brakes right now, and trying to figure out how to change my tranyy fluid? Im getting my license in 2 weeks and Everything should be good by then!

[Squrlsquash]

drain bolt in the middle of the square pan on the bottom of the transmission (24mm or something thereabouts i think)

fill bolt is on the left side of the transmission (from the back of the car) and is right next to the clutch slave cylinder (17mm) i found it best to use a breaker bar on this one

 

once drained, pump fresh fluid into the fill hole until it starts pouring out- then close it all up

 

make sure its on a level surface so the fill hole is level to the transmission's reservoir

 

good luck

Aaron

[ephalants]

Hey I'm 18 and I have had my 87 quest for about 6 months. I had that same problem with my engine and it turned out to be my ignition system. Just tune it up and it will run ALOT better. I couldn't pass a proud before my new distributor, wires, and plugs but I beat an s4 the other day!