My wife and I are going to be making a 1200 mile road trip in our '94 Altima with 160K miles (NC->FL->NC), and we'll be pulling a small trailer on the return trip.
This car has had a few problems lately, which I've been able to fix: New plugs, New distributor (Bad O-ring, the thing was full of oil!), new radiator, pulled the pan on the transmission, new fuel filter, new knock sensor... But I'd like to know if these cars have any other major problems that I'm likely to face.
The ECM currently does not show any codes other than 55, which I understand to mean all systems go.
The timing chain makes a slight slaping/rubing sound at idle. I'm told this is due to a faulty, or failing oil pressure-operated tensioner. Do the timing chains ever fail? How often? I assume this is an "interference" engine.
Every now and then, the car will stutter and nearly quit when at idle. This problem doesn't seem to be temperature-dependent. It'll do this even when the engine is good and hot. It does seem to happen only when the engine was just started.
Do any of you Nissan techies see any red flags in the above, or know of a common problem that's likely to crop up? Thanks for helping me to milk that old Altima just a little more!