Nissan Largo Friends

A quick hello as I've been up all night working..really(!) and need an hours sleep before an MRI scan at 4.50. You couldn't make it up. And I'm still on call.
Bought a Largo Highway Star rather impulsively last Wednesday after intially failing to win a Toyota Lucida on e bay on Sunday night I had previously been messaging the vendor grabadeal during the Lucida auction and he approaced me off e aby on Monday. I'll be quite straight I don't know a lot about cars/mechanics, but did bring a mate with me who knows considerably more than me. I'm not usually naive-far from it. I'm too cynical generally. However, I had always wanted a vehicle (japanes) like this with a view to doing 'things' inside over time, so that I could hit the road (like Easy Rider but much slower in a Nissan Highway Star.
The vendor seemed a really nice young family man selling vehicles as a side line to his 'day jod' as an IT consultant(which of course can mean anything these days. However he clearly had money as he'd just bought an expensive large flatin the small town of Westbury in Wiltshere, which he was renovating.The Highway Star looked and stull does , magnificent and I could afford it. 1996, 4WD, 2.0 Diesel with 78K (miles)on the clock. For it's age inside it presented a sea of possibilities (nicked line of poetry). My mate who drove me up from EXETER, was unwell and merely looked under the vehicle delsring it looked sound. He then travelled back to see his GP.
A fool and his money. I didn't look at the advisory notes on the MOT. Really dim-I know. An oil leak. Two tyres very close to being illegal. A small hole in the central exhaust, undertrays (don't even know what they are) unsecured and in the next day or so a strong smell of buring oil. I finally looked athe MOT histories he had given me on Thursday afternoon. I got carried away and only asked about service history on the evening after I drove back (which by the way seemed fine-90miles) . It took a couple of days of faffing around to get insured, during which time we fell out! Buyer beware...but hidsight is easy
The Largo is now with my mate in Exeter. A brilliant, honest mechanic. But...I've just tried as starting pint to get an oil filter from Blueprint suppplied through Amazon. It doesn't recognise my Largo and a 2.0 Serena keeps appearring. The vendor said that for mehanical parts the Serena was the same specs as a Largo. He actually knew very little in hindsight and with ny mate ill, I didn't have the knowledge or the RIGHT questions. I remember asking where the dip stick was-"Oh underneath this panel under the passenger seat, but you need a cross headed screwdriver to open it...". Of course on the MOT it said OIL LEAK, but I could only think of the FULL YEAR'S MOT in red on the e bay listing. He hande me the MOT certificate...I didn't look at it.
My mechanic mate rekons it's still a lovely vehicle just not the bargain I thought -as I'm going to have to fork out some serious cash to address the advisory notes.
Parts???!!! Apart fronm e bay individual listings-the best shop on line? Largo and Serena compatible(you know what I mean?) My initial excitement is a bit deflated, but hope this forum will reignite my enthusiasm. I just need some starting advice (apart from don't be a f wit in the future...)

Cheers mates,

Red Eric2014

Welcome along. Is that the 1 with the whole in the passenger sill and a rusty side loading door.

The under trays are the things going underneath from front bumper to the big fan under engine to stop the crap kicking up( i had advisory for them as they were obscuring the testers view)

The burning oil smell / oil leak is probably rocker cover gasket blueprint number ADN16730 can get from local motor factors(stick some gasket sealant on with it aswell).

Type this only ebay and its a service kit they're probably cheaper if you look around or use search facility on here

NISSAN LARGO 2.0 TD 91-99 CD20T AIR OIL FUEL FILTER KIT

Welcome to the forum

First and foremost don't be too put off, with vans/buses/cars this age there will always be things that need sorting!

Hindsight is one of those things lol

Anyways I too am new to working with largos and have found this forum a great resource...

Tyres are easily fixed and dependant on budget and requirements you can pick up a set for not much money at all, the under tray is bound to be down to not being secured correctly this can be confirmed by getting the largo up onto a set of ramps (which your mechanic will sort). Oil leaks can be tricky to track down but it's worth making sure it's not just spilt oil burning off on the exhaust or something simple like that first!

Site wise I tend to use the following for all my jap cars eBay, yahoo japan, Rhd japan, Jesse Streeter etc

Anyways good luck in getting your issues resolved in sure one of the other members will chime in soon

Welcome to the forum!

A quick background, the Largo shares the same engine as the diesel Serena, they both have the CD20 engine in, though the Largo one has an intercooler and a bit more poke. The CD20 is also fitted to the Primera, though the Primera engine has a slightly different ancillary layout (fuel pump belt also drives the vacuum pump, on the early Largos the vacuum pump is driven form the back of the alternator). Some of the other suspension parts are shared with the Serena too (drop links for the anti-roll bar at the front, for example).

For parts try http://www.kimbercarparts.co.uk/ or eBay.

Regarding the oil, most Largos like to leak it out of the rocker cover (the only exception I've seen is the one Sai above looks after, which is nicely dry). This is because the cover is secured with some rather feeble screws (not bolts) and the cover itself isn't the most rigid thing mankind has ever seen, so oil tends to escape past the gasket. You can either look on this as rust-prevention for everything rear of the engine, or fix it - with a new gasket and some sealant. Really, don't worry about the oil leak - it's not a serious problem.

The exhausts on these cars like to leak from three places:

- the rear of the exhaust manifold (the gasket gives way and lets little puffs of exhaust out) - easily fixed by slightly unbolting the manifold, squidging in some exhaust paste and tightening back up
- the flexi part after the downpipe - in which case cut out the old section and replace with a new flexi section - £10 on eBay
- the joint between the front pipe and the rear box - the flange weld to the rear part fails, which can either be welded back on or both ends cut off and a strong repair sleeve fitted.

Most likely yours will be leaking from the flexi part in the middle. This is no big deal, don't panic about that either!

Undertrays are as said earlier in the thread, just trays fitted to the underneath to stop water splashing up onto the drive belts.

In case you're regretting the Lucida/Estima decision, don't. The diesel Estimas LOVE to crack heads. One of my friends had four Estimas, taking good care of the water system to try and avoid this issue. Two failed with obvious cracked head issues, the other two failed for other reasons, but when dismantled for parts (he was taking the heads off for other people to use, that had had cracked heads) - he found those heads were starting to go too. It may be the way Toyota lay the engine on it's side under the Estima, or lack of air flow over it. The Largo has the engine vertically, as nature intended and a whopping great fan underneath it to blow lovely cool air over it if it starts to get hot in traffic. The engine itself is pretty tough, a friend of mine hit a rock on the motorway with his Serena, ripped a water pipe off and dumped all the water over the motorway - put a new pipe on and water in and she was fine. Not all engines will take that kind of abuse.

I would say the only Jap MPV I've had that was "tougher" was the Delica - definitely put together with stronger parts, but not quite as elegant or easy to handle as the Largo.

I got in from work (I'm a p/t defence solicitor-let's get it out of the way as I intend to be a part of this site!P/T not through choice-long story, trying to get out 6 years ago didn't succeed, which is why I'm selling snide phone covers and chargers at a boot fair! However ,I never gave up my Duty Solicitor status, as the people I work for now said 6 years ago when I was planning on leaving forever-I'm 52, from London, was just sick of the whole charade when I tried to get work in charity sector in 2008-don't give up the DS slot (on a rota)we'll pay u x.The firm I was leaving notoriously mean offered me 50% of what the present lot offered. A no brainer. So very well paid for doing the slots each month-court and 24hr PS which I finished about 2 hrs ago-mullered. I talk too much I know. I just always feel a need to explain to people that I didn't go'into' law to line my pockets. Eric's my middle name and politically i'm actually Red/Black! I was able to buy the Largo, cos my uncle John died young from cancer 2 years ago and left me, my sisters, my cousins, aunts etc(we're London Irish from Kilburn/Willesden Green-though I've been in W. Country now 11 years. The inheritance wasn't life changing, but when I lost the relief bank work at the hostel in the voluntary sector... well as I said above what I get as a Duty Sol 2-3 work days (and about 3 days admin that arises from those days) isn't enough to live on. I live pretty frugally. Short of actual crime (and I know a very experienced brief who's been round the block if you're tempted...!) anybody got any 'original' income generating ideas?!
I've had to really work at IT-no computers at school. Even at University 82-85, they were only in the library and I was afraid of them!I wasn't afraid of writing, putting together theory and arguing it over other theory. This is where sites like this show how the world has changed and much as I dislike the unfair world we live in, if I see an opportunity now to make a buck-I take it. I don't think i've sold out:I just have to survive.
WTF has this to do with Largos?! ...Well I wrote a rambling piece (can't help it -it's the way I write0 and i got three very helpful responses. That isn't false praise believe me. I had to read each about 3-4 times to understand the essence of each post (and yeah I think I got each one...BTW .No MrFish it wasn't the one with a hole in the sliding door and rotting sill! But i'm still annoyed with nyself for ...just getting 'too carried away' The converse of that is that I am genuinely excited about something-my Largo-for the first time in ages). What I'm trying to say here is that the information and advice I got was great...because previously I knew next to nothing and if i was someone thinking about buying a vehicle of this shape/approx size (and i was one of those persons for years about Bongos-but didn't have the cash) from Nippon-I would come back to the site and in the worst Capitalist sell out (no must have done worse!) that;s what advertisers buy into!
Initially I tought no one had replied. I felt like tom hanks talking to the tennis ball! But I thank you all=for each of you has brought something different to the table-experience/knowledge which you have generously shared with me. If you dispose of er...the garbage next week I can give you the benefit of my long experience defending 'bin men'! Off line of course,
Sai -putting the largo up on ramps was what Paul proposed Monday. It wasinteresting-F me I'm getting old!- what one of you said about a some emission of oil almost being 'part of the process', an organic thing!
Thank you to the three of you for giving me some sites. Sure I could have found some sites myself, but the whole thing about a forum (and it is a very anarcho-commy concept! is self help and everyone according to their abilities(sorry just quoted Marx). I am truly here cos I have bought a Largo and I want to do a bit of UK travel, which I;ve never really done, at least behind a wheel.
Just before I started my 24hr duty last night I went down to Exmouth about 12m from here to see my pal, Mark: a bona fide Mickey Mouser! Hates Man U. I tell him to grow up. A'yway I've told him I;ve bought a big car and also say to him look mate do you want me to put you on the insurance so you and Cheryl (great lookin girl!) can get away for the odd weekend. I had already offered them both my Micra as a gft (47K REAL on the clock, N reg) and they said they couldn't do it financially. You try and look after your mates don't you? Cos the good ones will do the same back in some form Mark said yeah thata be great mate (say it in a Scouse accent). he got in and f888ed the electric window passenger side! It just froze, cue straight back into Exeter, dump it at Paul's and say Paul do what has to be done. I'm committed now, The money won't last forever.
I lost the Lucida Tony, cos i was speaking to my sister, lost concentration and it was gone, but I didn't know what you know. I don't believe in fate..a happy coincidence I think.
i'll doubtless coming begging for help in a few days, but will post some photos -is that something people like to see i/e. works in progress?I'm going to go for solitary weekends on North Devon coast or Carmathenshire very soon...Is that a tv above the CD player?It pulls out to reveal a screen, but has CD changer embossed on it.

Be lucky lads,

Red Eric2014