You have a 1989 Nissan sentra XE hatchback with a 16 l engine Intermitantly the car's engine will start to stutter and shake at idle and spit while making black exhaust smoke if you rev it any ideas?

I as well have a 1989 Sentra that would do the same and the problem was that when the engine got warm, the oil started to leak into the distributor. The oil would mess up the ignition timing, hence the poor idle and non burn issues. Take apart your distributor and see if there is any oil in it. It is very easy to take off the car, 2-12mm bolts DO NOT turn the engine over while the distributor is out, and make sure it goes in the same way it came out (rotor pointing in the same direction). Good luck!