21st Mar 2009, 13:16
Hi, my 1987 Stanza 4x4 has more than 250000 miles.
Heaters/defrosters are useless at -30f, too much cabin space.
The car keeps running, although it like to eat caps and rotors lately.
Shocks are a dealer only item.
Still, I keep driving it and it survives Alaskan winters. Definitely a car ahead of its time.
16th Apr 2009, 21:53
You can buy struts on partstrain.com or something like that, I think it's parts train. The passenger and driver side are different though I THINK. Not sure.
I just bought a 1986 Nissan Stanza Wagon with only 77,000 miles on it. The rack and pinion is leaking, and I am replacing it... but I got a helluva deal. I hope. It should be fixed in a couple of days.
19th Sep 2009, 23:29
I have to say "the mole" is still going strong. It has almost 200k miles on it and it's part of the family. Believe it or not, I'm still looking for rear struts. It's hard to spend $250 on a strut when you originally traded a bicycle for the car. I did find some used ones and they lasted a year. If you happen upon a Stanza wagon and you can get past the popemobile looks of it, you grab it and smile!!! They are quite the status symbol. We put a sticker on the window that says LIVING LARGE.
Thanks for reading this, and if you own one, please post something because honestly I forgot about my original post, and the family enjoyed seeing the comments over the years. I was just surfing for some struts again.
9th Jan 2010, 16:24
I bought my 2wd '86 Multi last December and it's been a great little beast/people mover.
Out of the gate I had to replace the alternator, a rebuilt Delco of compatible size was installed, for anyone doing this, please pay attention to the alignment of the pulley, we had to swap with the old one to get it right. It was a bit of a pain to do as it doesn't come out the top. Repair cost was $300 including labour (ouch).
It continued to run well, is very usable space-wise, though the sliding doors are sticking as the three bearings (?) /rollers are getting worn, ditto on the door light.
At 227k it still doesn't burn oil (I've put almost 30k on it so far), and mileage is still 18-26mpg est..
Down side, the 2wd models supremely sucks in the snow with all seasons, I just got a deal on some BFGoorich Nordics that I hope will help a bit, but because they are fairly heavy in the rear, traction isn't quite what one would expect.
The other grief I've had was when the little, teeny-weeny nut that holds the rotor on to the shaft (it is NOT a keyed rotor) fell out. My mechanic friends had convinced me that the timing belt had slipped a tooth or three, so, several hours later, a lot of bad language, skinned knuckles etc., I got the top of the belt shroud off, and upon checking the alignment of the timing marks, concluded that it was not the belt. As an after-thought, I pulled the dist. cap, went to take of the rotor, and lo, what is this little bolt from? DOH!
Put everything back together and voila! ~ It's alive again! Cost me time and a set of intake spark-plugs. Since then it has continued to run, and run, and run.
Small bit about their back windshield wiper motors > they totally suck and OEM is almost $300, anyone finding old wrecked ones, do save that part, a few clips, 4 (I think) bolts and out she comes.
I'm still hunting one, but they are weak and hard to find in working condition.
That's my tale, love my little beasty, and as a single full-time dad on a limited income, I figure I could have done a lot worse.
Would I buy another? Yes, unless I could find a Subaru 4x4 wagon (have had 3) or something similar.
Cheers All.
Serge S.
23rd Feb 2010, 16:31
Got my 1986 Multi a few years back at 70k, and now is still perking along at 239k, but is showing its age, but if I can overcome a few mechanical challenges, I will drive on as I've used it as a tractor skidding logs, firewood hauler (1/4 cord), 200 lbs or so of lumber on roof rack, long drive tripping and general transportation. Yes!!
But has major leak in PS pump hydraulic line (can't get to it!!!) and deep within dash heater linkage snapped and is most inaccessible as well; so we preheat the windshield with space heater in cold mornings.
Any ideas on how to get at the power steering pump short of pulling the front end of the car off or pulling the engine? Thanks for the design, Nissan?
Also, I attempted to increase the idle speed a tad by making 'adjustments' to cables and the airbox, and now when it's warmed up, when putting trans in forward, it dies unless you apply extra pressure on accelerator pedal. Oops! Help!!
8th Dec 2010, 19:48
I cannot find the physical location of the temp sensor on my 1986 Nissan 4 wheel hardbody.. the temp gauge doesn't change..
19th Dec 2010, 22:22
I was just gifted a 1988 Stanza 4WD wagon with 134000 miles and it runs like a beast! I love it. LOL. Perfect for going up to the mountain for boarding.
I want to get a roof rack but don't know what to get. Can anyone help?
29th Mar 2011, 19:00
I've had my '86 wagon 4x4 for nine years now.
When I bought it, it had 199 thousand miles on it and the o.d. was broke so no telling how many it really has.
It still runs great, it needs a few things like struts, air conditioning compressor, but I plan to keep it till it just won't go anymore.
The timing belt jumped on me the other day, and when I looked it up I found that it probably bent some valves. Well that didn't happen and after 200$, I'm back on the road, good as new. So what I read about the bent valves is wrong or I just got lucky as hell.
19th Jun 2011, 22:40
I have an 86 Stanza 4X4 wagon.
The exhaust side of the coil will not fire. The coil is OK and the top wire that plugs in to the back of the coil is hot when the key is on but the bottom wire does not flash on and off when the key is turned over like the wire on the intake coil does.
Help. Where do I go from here? Stuck! Any ideas? PS, the car will start if I jump it, it has a good battery and runs, but when I shut it off it won't start again.
8th Jul 2006, 21:30
I have a 1988 Stanza Wagon. It has 285,000 miles on it and I plan on keeping it until she finally gives up the ghost. It is my favorite vehicle to drive because the seats are comfortable, it has few blind spots, is totally reliable and gets decent gas mileage. Two of my children drove it while in high school and we have bought new Nissan vehicles (Altima and Frontier) since then, but for some reason we have always kept the Stanza as a back up vehicle. I did have the automatic and engine rebuilt and replaced the rack and pinion steering. The body is still in great shape. I had a little surface rust forming around the lift gate, but a little sandpaper and POR-15 kept it from further rusting. It has absolutely no resale value, but I wouldn't sell it anyway.