NorthWet

It is unlikely that a ring cracked during storage, or even on start up. The oil rings CAN get gummed up from sitting, and often just fresh oil and some driving will clear that up. The PCV system getting clogged/restricted/gummed up is a likely cause. The PCValve itself may be stuck open or closed.

Any 88-90 EA82 turbo engine out of a sedan or wagon or 3-door will swap almost directly in. ( might be minor wiring connector differences.) ANY EA82 turbo engine from 85-90 vehicles will fit, but might need some of your current external parts (intake manifold, distributor, and/or pulleys) swapped to it. It is unlikely that your engine needs replacing. The oil smoke is almost certainly a temporary issue. Where is the smoke coming from? If out the tailpipe, it might just be oil that seeped into the combustion cambers over the long storage time. It might also be the result of a plugged up PCV system. If the smoke is coming from the engine compartment, is is likely that the "oil leak" has leaked all over the exhaust system during storage and is being burned off.

The axle splines are different and the final drive ratio is different/incompatible (unless you change your rear diff to one from a turbo model).

Copper core is superior in all ways except cost and weight to aluminum core. Dual-row core is hard to find, generally need to search on a TURBO model, and only provides perhaps 50% more heat-transfer capacity (diminishing returns on multi-core radiators).

+1 on symptoms and car details. You can get a screw-in block heater that takes the place of the right-side cylinder block's coolant drain plug. Should be relative cheap... $30-40.

Existing transmission might not need much of a fix. Was there an obvious leak? If so, deal with it. Either way, then refill with ATF and see how it works. Unobvious (non-external) leak is often the vacuum modulator (not what the parts books call it, BTW) having ruptured its diaphragm, allowing ATF to get sucked into the intake. Diagnosis is to remove vacuum hose off the modulator and see if the inside of the hose is wet with ATF. Modulator is located on the right side (US passenger-side) of the tranny, just above the tranny-to-pan joint. Grossgary seems to be the best source for air-suspension info. Search for his write-ups/posts. I would guess that the O-rings are likely leaky. Does the suspension settle downwards overnight? If so, I think that points to the struts themselves.

IIRC, the original bearing was multipiece, and the replacement is the one piece.

bump

Bump.

I have a daughter going to college in SF Bay Area, and she could use a car. I have WA-state Subarus that I could provide her, but I am at least 20 years out of touch with the CA-state's CARB regs regardling 49-state cars, or older CA-state models. Do cars age-out of the CARB regs, and if so, after how many years? Is it just plain impractical to try and register a 49-state car in CA, especially in the SF region? Any info from Golden State members would be greatly appreciated. and... "Go! Banana Slugs!!!" :banana:

BTW, I LOVE the Maxima alternator in my XT. No messing with the pulley at all.

The 18 inch thing is almost certainly NOT an electrical consideration per say, but rather a practical, mechanical consideration. The longer the length of a piece of wiring, the more likely it is to come in unsecured contact with an object that might cause physical damage to the insulation, thus causing a potential for shorting out the wire. A fused circuit becomes more critical as the potential for abnormal current flow increases... as in, shorting a power wire to ground. Cheers!

Have you checked the Coolant Temperature Sensor (CTS)? The connections on them to corrode.

Basic answer is yes. The engine is non-interference, so no damage will be done when a belt breaks or one gets messed around with.

93 in the USA is an SPFI, using an optical-encoder in the distributor and all timing set by the ECU. Static advance in the 20-25degBTDC is normal.