Hey guys,

I found someone that is selling a 93' SE-R for $2,500 at my job. I got to drive and the thing runs great and was fun to drive, luved that 7500rpm redline:D Anyway got a few questions since this would be my daily driver and occasional Auto-X.

Any problems I should specifically look for?
At what point do these engines need rebuilds, this one has 120k miles on which I'm not thrilled about b/c that is alot.

Other then that the car ran great, clutch was heavy and was actually hard to push down then alot of cars I've driven, the interior was kept in good condition (no sunroof though :( ), the engine bay was clean for a 93' car. The body of the car wasn't so good, definately needs a new paint job, It's a burgandy color and you can see the paint peeling, and lots of scratches, even Maaco paint job would make it look much better. Also the front part of the hood looks like it was in a minor fender bender with a high truck. Also the both doors don't close flush with the rest of the car.

I got pictures I can post when I get home.


I apologize if any of the questions are redundant, but I am an impatient person and don't have time to search through the forum since I am at work.

Thanks for any help or input,
Peter

Hey is this the guy from the Lightning forum? :D

120K really isn't that bad for an SE-R as long it has been well maintained (oil changes not neglected). If there's a buildup of gunky oil, it could cause a spun bearing. My '91 has more than 160K on it, and the engine has never been rebuilt (but that will change, but not because of necessity :D). Survived more than 4 hours of track time, although it started burning oil near the end.

5th gear popout is about the biggest problem with SE-R's. More info is about it here: http://www.se-r-list.org/fifth.gear.phtml . Not every SE-R has the problem but it's something that happens without warning. Drive the car at around 45 mph in 5th gear and then blip the throttle a few times. If it stays in gear, it should be OK (but again, it's still something that *may* happen down the road).

The doors not closing is an SE-R thing -- it will most likely need new hinges.

Yea, like slowSER said, make sure the oil was changed regularly. this is an absolute lifeline for any engine. 120k is nothing for the sr20 if its been maintained. many people on this board have over 100K (including myself) and some have over 200k. and same with the doors....a couple of bucks (probably less than 100 for parts) and you can fix those door hinges.

as for the clutch, it would range from a cost of 50 bucks for a clutch cable, to over 500 for a complete clutch job like my car needed. Usually its a bad pressure plate....something about grooves being made in the "fingers" of the plate by the T.O. bearing.

don't worry about the sunroof...from what i've read here, its an advantage in autoxing--lower center of gravity. its a nice little luxury to have though.

also, make sure you don't hear that squealing noise when u start the car. as far as i know, it doens't affect performance at all, but the really loud starter squeal is very very annoying. this can be a pricey fix, but not totally necassary.

motor mounts on high mileage engines need to be looked at too, especially if you are going to the track. you can probably get a whole set for 150ish, i imagine.

hope this helps! if anything, get him to lower the price a bit to account for the repairs. otherwise, that's about what i paid for my car when i got it. i have a sunroof, 116K miles at the time, and i needed a new clutch and starter. but, i got it from a dealer, so the starter was warranteed. price: 2400. good luck

slowSER - thats me! Thanks for the reply guys.

Originally posted by slowSER


If there's a buildup of gunky oil, it could cause a spun bearing.



are you recommending motor flush or am i reading into this?

make sure to check for rust, take out the carpet inside the trunk and look at the sheetmetal there might be a possibility that water has crept into and stayed there,also look at the beams in the front of the car where the bumper connects to.


the 93 classic in my opinion is the best year classic made. reasons being, it still has the high port motor, the fifth gear popout affected 91 and 92's.. i have not heard of any 93's pop out yet. and a good amount of problems the 91 and 92's had like chain tensioner, resistance for the ac switches need changing, fuel pump recalls..yada yada yada

Originally posted by Black93


are you recommending motor flush or am i reading into this?

Just recommending routine oil changes and a switch to synthetic. :)

if anyone is curious here are some pics:

http://captainoblivious.tripod.com/ser/ser.html

That is NOT a 93 SE-R.

If it was a 93, the front bumber would be lower and the rear tailights would be different. Also, I bet if you look at the instrumentation, the speedometer is on the right and the tach on the left, correct? Well, on 93 and 94s, the tach is on the right and the speedometer is on the left.

Check the VIN number. Either your co-worker doesn't know what year car he has or he/she is trying to screw you. (Either that or the car was hit in front and back and it was given replacement parts from a 91 or 92)

Originally posted by dontblameme
if anyone is curious here are some pics:

http://captainoblivious.tripod.com/ser/ser.html

Yeah, it's not a '93. The lower rocker panels are also grey -- on '93-'94 SE-R's, they were the same color as the rest of the car.

This is my old '93 (notice different taillights):
http://www.hmp.net/slowse-r/pics/mycar/caption.jpg

Side view (airdam, uniform color):
http://www.hmp.net/slowse-r/pics/mycar/tscc.gif

My old '92:
http://www.hmp.net/slowse-r/pics/mycar/griffser.JPG

Thanks for that info guys.

It's probably a 92' then. Honestly I don't think the guy is trying to rip me or anyone off, he has doesn't have much car knowledge and I don't get a *bad vibe* from him

update - You guys were right, it is a 92'.

I got a carfax on and it came out totally clean. He still has the car available, so I got to look at it again.

The interior needs a vacuum, some soapy water, paper towels and about 1/2 hour of work.

The engine seems strong for 120k miles, but I have no other SE-R in good to condition to compare to. The transmission shifted smoothly, and I tried to get a 5th gear popout but couldn't (thats not to say it doesn't do it). The clutch is heavier then most cars I've driven and catches just a little bit before you can take your foot off it.

The exterior is jacked up. It's got alot of scratches, paint is peeling in differrent parts. The doors look likey the don't close fully. It's got 2 reasonably sized dents. Basically if I work over some of the dents/scratches and get a $200 Maaco paint job it will do some major just.

Well I told the guy I'll let him know a definate answer on monday. So since you guys KNOW your stuff, any last input would be greatly appreciated.

Peter

I would not get the Maaco paint job if I were you, they are terrible. I know someone who had a Maaco job and literally with 3 weeks it was chipping, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. Anyway I would try to buff and wax the car with Miguers waxes, they are incredable. By the way I noticed you are from NJ, what part are you from?

central jersey. I know Maaco is cheap cheap and get what you pay for, only said that to point out how bad the exterior paint was looking.

slowse-r, did you paint the inside of your rims on the 92? surely they didnt come like that? that looks neat for track or auto-x use.

Originally posted by dontblameme
The engine seems strong for 120k miles, but I have no other SE-R in good to condition to compare to. The transmission shifted smoothly, and I tried to get a 5th gear popout but couldn't (thats not to say it doesn't do it). The clutch is heavier then most cars I've driven and catches just a little bit before you can take your foot off it.

120k miles on an SE-R is really nothing. Mine had 115k miles on it and it dynoed at 131 wheel HP with just an ECU... easily within factory stock spec, and actually on the high end. It felt very strong even before the ECU. These motors will last a VERY long time if basic maintenance is applied. I know 2 people personally who have SR20 cars with over 300k miles on the motor. And I know a lot more than that with over 200k... and a lot of them are not only driven daily but beat on and raced, at the drag strip and road courses. My engine had 115k miles on it when I did the turbo install, and I expect it to last another 100k.

If you didn't get 5th gear popout, there's a good chance you just won't get it.

The stock clutch on SE-Rs is actually pretty light, if yours is heavy chances are you need a new clutch cable.

Originally posted by Black93
slowse-r, did you paint the inside of your rims on the 92? surely they didnt come like that? that looks neat for track or auto-x use.

I didn't, but the guy I bought the rims from did. :)

Interesting history on those rims -- I bought them from somebody in California who used them on a Showroom Stock SE-R. I ran them for a couple years and sold the rims to Joe Henderson of Rosen Autosport fame in '98. ;) He painted them red I think in a drunken stuper to match his red SE-R. They are now known as "the clown wheels."

http://www.serca.org/mid_atlantic/pics/joe.jpg

Joe used them for autocross, open track and road-racing with NASA.

In September, I borrowed the clown wheels from Joe and put on a set of full-tread Kumhos to use as "rain tires" at the Solo II Championships. The brake dust in the pic above (taken in '99) was still on the rims when I borrowed them. :)

funny how that worked out ... if my rims weren't in such good shape i would maybe make them into "clown" rims too :D so maybe ill leave them as they are.... for now:cool:

Update -

Everyone thanks for all of the help. I got the car. I got it for $1750.

So right now the body needs some good paint and dent fixing. The interior needs some work. Switch over to synthetic motor oil. Then plan the mods.

Hmmmm whats gonna be worse, reading through all these posts of mods or going to the DMV to register it?

Thanks again to everyone for the help and for future help.