So heres the deal, my sister, who is slightly older than I, is getting her drivers license. She bought her first car a 98 Nissan Altima with 202k Miles on it.

Now to set the stage, she bought this off her boyfriend's brother's girlfriend. She got it for $700, and had my grandfather look at it. Both of them sadly know nothing about cars and she got stuck with a less than admirable car. I drove it around the block to put some gas in the tank, and I noticed it was reving up despite my foot not being on the peddle. After I started it again, it was normal. Then I drove it some more, then it started having problems shifting out of second. I pulled over, let it sit, restarted the car and it was fine again, shifted normal. Then I drove it some more, it was overheating, or so said the gage as it was on H. I immediately pulled over and let it sit. A few other things I noticed is the fan will run after you shut the car off, and with continue to run until you put the key back in the ignition turn it to pre-start and off again. Also it has an alarm which really doesn't make it easy to start the car, and I'm ripping that out Sunday. Finally the driver's window won't go up, but goes down, thinking bad switch.

Well thats my story, now any ideas on why its acting the way its acting? I have some ideas, but would like to hear from some more mechanically inclined guys than I. I feel bad for her and want to get this car in decent condition for her driver's test on the 21st if possible.

 

if she would have bought an american car that would have never happened. especially if it were a blazer!

 

That sucks..

So many problems..

I agree with Lord_Moore..She should've gotten a Blazer..

 

I don't think it's the fact that it was a foreign car, so much as that it was poorly maintained. Any car that is poorly maintained will go straight to sh*t, American or otherwise. I owned a '98 Nissan Maxima, and it drove like a dream (until I totalled it -- LOL).

Now, Dan, to answer your question -- it sounds like the car has multiple issues....

Issue #1: First, the transmission is obviously having problems of some sort. That one thing alone is very bad, and would prompt me to not buy the car in the first place (unless it had great restoration potential, which is a different story). But to be optimistic, always look for the cheapest solution first -- meaning, check the tranny fluid level. I named this issue first for a reason, because if the problem is still there, your sis needs to seriously ask herself whether throwing any more money at this car is worth it to her. Unless she plans on keeping it for 5+ years, I would not bother rebuilding or getting a new tranny. I would instead push it off a cliff or part it out, to at least recoup some of my losses. Sounds like this is exactly what her beau's bro's girl did -- pushed it right off on her. IMO, not cool at all.

Issue #2: Overheating means something in the cooling system is bad. Check in this order: 1) Coolant fluid level, 2) leaky or clogged radiator hoses, 3) water pump (generally okay if fluid isn't spilling out of it), thermostat, heater core. Heater core is probably also okay if there's no spillage coming out of it. As for the fan, that may actually be normal. I've seen some cars which have electric fans that will operate even when the engine is off, usually when the car senses that the engine is really hot, which you said it is in your case.

Issue #3: Would need more info about the alarm, though it does sound like a non-professional installed it. If so, then ripping it out may be a good idea. But what exactly was it doing?

Issue #4: Yes, check the window switch, but it's more likely the power window motor that's inside the door. This is a fairly common problem. I replaced this myself in my Grand Am once, and it was a pain in the **** but doable. If you're not mechanically inclined, then pay a professional to do it. If you screw this one up, it could get more expensive.

Issue #5: Oops -- I missed the revving issue. There are several things that could cause this. It could be the fuel injection, the throttle itself, a timing problem, or one of a few sensors. (Folks, if I missed anything, feel free to chime in.) I'm a little surprised that it does this without tripping a dash light. It may be worth plugging in a code reader to see if anything comes up. Otherwise, you could be troubleshooting this problem all day.

 

the over reving could be directly linked to the tranny and not an engine problem at all. My brother in law's car(1999 chrysler 300 M) would rev way up before slamming into gear, this was an input and output drive shaft speed sensor. It could also be a camshaft sensor going out. Although I don't know much about foreign cars and their sensors.

As for the overheating, wasn't there a recall on a model of Nissan radiator caps? something about them blocking a hose at the top?