Parts availability?

[Kaufmann]

I've located a 1982 Maxima Diesel sedan 5 speed with about 300k miles in overall good condition. Even has working A/C!

My concern is the availability of parts. Mainly wearable items such as brakes, clutch, filters, etc. I need to know how easy/hard it'll be to locate parts so I can decide if I should bother buying the car or not.

Were would be the best source? Aftermarket auto parts store or dealership? Any online retailers out there?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[glenlloyd]

I've located a 1982 Maxima Diesel sedan 5 speed with about 300k miles in overall good condition. Even has working A/C!

My concern is the availability of parts. Mainly wearable items such as brakes, clutch, filters, etc. I need to know how easy/hard it'll be to locate parts so I can decide if I should bother buying the car or not.

Were would be the best source? Aftermarket auto parts store or dealership? Any online retailers out there?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The items you mention are pretty widely available from what I can tell. There are some specialty items that are unique to this car that are harder to find, like the alternator that also runs the vacuum pump, that could be problematic.

The good thing is that for wear items this car shares some components with the 200SX, and probably others too...Al? So oil filters, air filters, belts, brake rotors / pads, they're pretty common. Also, you can try the dealership as well. I have found most everything I need at local parts stores or I've purchased a few things online too, like brake pads and shoes.

It's certainly not like owning a Peugeot in the US these days. I personally wouldn't worry about those things as much as I would about the longevity of the engine. I'd ask to see maintenance records, and if he's pretty much done his own work then I'd ask to see his log book...I think most keep a log book of what they've done and when...don't they? I have to or I couldn't remember which vehicle got what, when...

You might ask if he's ever had an oil analysis done...that'll tell you a lot.

my .02
SA

[Dr. Jones]

How much do they want for the car? Will they let you check the compression? I would plan on changing the injection timing belt, front seal and colant about $65 from Nissan, but I think advanced auto has an injection timing belt for $20. I would also replace the glow plugs roughly $60 and change they oil $25 and air filter. Anoter thing to do would be to clean the intake which there is a decent tutorail on this site and will cost you gaskets and carb cleaner and time to clean up afterwards see LD28 Engine: Intake Grunge. And of course if this stuff has been done recently don't bother. Now, for the good stuff my Maxima has about 310,000 doesn't burn a drop of oil, is tight and rarely gives me any problems(see:Injection Timing). As far as parts availbility I had a problem finding a "gasket" for the timing solenoid on the injection pump, but used a copper washer and so far it has worked well. Even if you do buy this vechicle, and for whatever reason something major does break you can post parts here for sale such the IP and the crankshaft which will probably pay for the tune up and price you paid minus your time. If the car your plannig on buying is anything like mine you will probably be very satisfied and I don't what your are driving now, but will probably save money in gas I get 32mph in town. Joe

P.S. If the price is to high, you might take it for a test drive on the highway and see if you can get it to fart(yes, that is the technical term) see:Intake Grunge

[kassim503]

napa auto is great on parts, they had almost everything that i needed in less than 2 days, and the prices are good and everything worked pretty good. brakes, cooling stuff, and the alternator (i actually just bought a new one today.$60) but if u cant find the part, i would try this website, even though it takes several days to get and its a little more pricey than the usual parts store http://www2.autopartsauthority.com/part ... MAX-4D-001

you can change it from a 83 to a 82, and i bet they carry the diesel parts too, im not all that sure.


i would defnenitly go for that diesel max, they run like tanks and ive seen them go upwards of 400k miles without burning oil or losing compression.

[Kaufmann]

I found out about the Max D from a VW TDI email list. A member over there has a friend that has a small used car lot. He came across the car at an auto auction and bought it because it's so unusual.

I haven't actually talked to the owner yet because I won't have the money to purchace it until the end of January and because I wanted to get a little history on Max D's before I inquired about it.

Since it is an auction car, I doubt there is any maintenance history. The car is supposed to be in good overall condition considering it's age and mileage. I thought if it was cheap enough I'd pick it up. I love unusual cars. I currently own a 91 VW Jetta 2 door 1.6D with 254k miles. A rare diesel coupe. It runs good, but needs quite a bit of work. I'm debating on putting more money into it, or buying something else.

Learning about the Max D I must admit I'm turned off by the fact it has an EGR system and requires valve adjustments. My VW has neither. All I have to do is fill it with diesel and change the oil and filters.

[glenlloyd]

I found out about the Max D from a VW TDI email list. A member over there has a friend that has a small used car lot. He came across the car at an auto auction and bought it because it's so unusual.

I haven't actually talked to the owner yet because I won't have the money to purchace it until the end of January and because I wanted to get a little history on Max D's before I inquired about it.

Since it is an auction car, I doubt there is any maintenance history. The car is supposed to be in good overall condition considering it's age and mileage. I thought if it was cheap enough I'd pick it up. I love unusual cars. I currently own a 91 VW Jetta 2 door 1.6D with 254k miles. A rare diesel coupe. It runs good, but needs quite a bit of work. I'm debating on putting more money into it, or buying something else.

Learning about the Max D I must admit I'm turned off by the fact it has an EGR system and requires valve adjustments. My VW has neither. All I have to do is fill it with diesel and change the oil and filters.

Hello
I wouldn't worry too much about the valve adjustments. They do need to be checked, but not as frequently as the manual suggests, that would really be a lot of work. Another nice feature, unlike VW solid lifter engines, you don't need shims to do the valve adjustments, there's a slider in the valvetrain that moves in and out based on the amount of gap you need. It is a hassle to have to do them though, but getting in there isn't a big deal.

Another nice thing about the LD28 is the chain driven cam. With VW, as you know, the whole system is driven off that belt, which can break if you're not prompt with the changing. On the LD28 only the IP is driven with a belt, so if it breaks there's no engine damage at all, it just quits running. To be honest the LD28 is one really good engine, cast iron head, which is something you don't see on many other diesels!

I already drive VW diesels, and I'm very much used to the 50mpg of both my 86 Golf and the 97 Jetta. You're not going to get that with the LD28, especially if has the 3 speed auto tranny. You'll do better with the 5 speed or the 1983 with 3 speed OD auto tranny, but you aren't going to get the mpg that you get from the 1.6D VW...so keep that in mind. On the other hand, the VW doesn't have near the torque / power that the LD28 has either. Wish I would have bought a Quantum TD wagon years ago when I found one!

If you're refining your own fuel then it probably doesn't make as big a difference, but if you're like me and buying petro diesel at the pump, the difference between 29pmg (LD28) and 50 (VW 1.6) is pretty significant.

Then again, just try and find a VW diesel of any kind for under $2k right now, it's next to impossible!

If I keep this car, I'll have to replace my 3 speed auto tranny with the OD tranny, purely for mpg. I can't justify running this thing when I get no better than I do now at 29 mpg, that is unless I were to start making my own fuel.

These are good cars, but with the non-OD transmission / gearing they run the motor at too high rpm. With the torque curve of the LD28 it doesn't need to run nearly this hard to pull the car. I'm hoping that the OD trans might solve this problem somewhat.

At the very least you should go check the vehicle condition and hear how it runs. Make a checklist for specific wear items and then see what the car needs. Also, findout what they want for it, because they may want too much.

my .02

SA

[asavage]

My concern is the availability of parts. Mainly wearable items such as brakes, clutch, filters, etc. I need to know how easy/hard it'll be to locate parts so I can decide if I should bother buying the car or not.

Were would be the best source? Aftermarket auto parts store or dealership? Any online retailers out there?

Until a few years ago, you could buy nearly anything at the dealership, but this is no longer the case. Some things are NLA, like the engine's torque damper, and the power steering hose, but in general things can still be had. If you haven't done so, have a read of the LD28 FAQ that I've started. It will answer several questions you've asked.

Joe, I don't know if the glow plugs are a maintenance item. I've never even heard of a bad one on the LD28 (yet). This isn't the case with other diesels I've owned (VW, GM, Ford, Peugeot, Nissan SD22).