My car has started to make a "bearing going out" sound (on top of everything
else that's wrong with it! ).

It's not leaking any coolant, so I don't think it's the water pump.

It makes the noise if the A/C is on or not, so I don't think it's
the compressor.

The ALT gauge hasn't changed any so I don't think it's the alt.

I'm wondering if it's the tensioner that could be going bad.

Is there a common item that's prone to going out that makes
the "bad bearing sound"?

Thanks!
Scott

Could be a bad idler pulley?

S

agreed with Sarin...most parts houses carry replacement bearing for the pulleys...then you just press em in...

I just left the Nissan dealer (my power steering cap was finally in!)...

I talked witha tech while I was there and he gave it a listen with
a stethoscope... he said that it was making the most noise from
the water pump but wouldn't rule out the tensioner

I bought a tensioner a while back off of Ebay, one of those "just in
case" buys.

To get the water pump out, are all the parts that have to be removed
to replace the belt the same for the pump?

The timing belt was replaced about 20K miles ago, but if I'm there...

If less parts have to be removed to change out the pump, I'll just do
that (changing out the CHTS is a given).

Scott

Well, I guess I'm getting too lazy in my old age... I decided to take the Max
into the dealer to have the water pump/timing belt swapped out...

I was surprised to find that the dealer was actually cheaper than the mechanic
I normally use if I don't do the work myself.

The pump started leaking so it's a dead give away that the pump is bad (and
hopefully the cause of the bearing noise), and since it has been leaking on the
timing belt, the belt will be replaced while it's torn down that far... the CHTS
will be replaced as well.

I got to thinking the other day that the bad pump should be the cause of the
hot start issues that the car is having... if the engine is running too warm, the
CHTS will tell the engine to run rich to compensate, also giving it too much fuel
during a hot start because the engine is warmer than normal... also would be
the reason why the computer didn't pull any codes...

Maximus goes under the knife tomorrow...

Scott

How much did they quote you?

Timing belt replacement is $370 with another $100 for the water pump...

The CHTS is $30 for the part with no extra labor...

Not too bad really.

Scott

I think I need to pay a visit to your dealer...

I was quite surprised to find the dealer cheaper than my usual mechanic...

The dealer also does a few more steps, like replacing the seals on the cams
where they go into the heads as well.

I feel pretty comfortable with the dealer as well... I've bought parts from
them before and they've always take the time to answer any/all questions
I might have.

Scott

Well, wouldn't you know it?

The dealer called and told me that the tensioner was bad as well!

Go figure... now I have a tensioner for sale if anyone needs one!

Add another $66 for the tensioner...

Scott

Well, my wallet is lighter by $611.40 after yesterday...

The car now has a new timing belt, belt tensioner, water
pump, cam/crankshaft seals, and CHTS.

I was wondering what the heck I was doing putting this
much money into the car when it still has the PS leak
(which I had the dealer find out what it is - the rack
is bad, GREAT!).

Then I drove the car home... MAN what a difference!

All the little idiosyncrasies the car had before are gone!

Hot start issue, GONE!
Crazy idle after starting then settling down, GONE!
No power on the low end of each gear in the tranny, GONE!

The engine feels a little more "weighted" now than it did
before, but it's FAR more consistent than it ever was!

I would never use the overdrive setting of the auto tranny
because the car always felt like it didn't have any power
on that setting, now it has more power in the overdrive
setting than it used to in the "power" mode setting.

The car is an absolute pleasure to drive now, I'm quite
impressed with the car now!

Now it's on to replacing the rack, front motor mount, the front
Monroe struts, and the stripped screws holding the tailight
housings on.

Then maybe I can finally get some tires for the 16" wheels
I bought almost a year ago!

Scott

Hey scott, if you need any info, advice, etc.., on doing that rack, let me know...

Again I haven't decided if I'm going to do the rack myself or not...

The dealer hit me with a price of $550 including the four wheel alignment.

The dealer stated that they would use a third party rack (from Carquest)
instead of their own (Nissan's rack is about a $1000!, not sure if that was
the total cost or just the rack...).

After getting hit for the timing belt, I may buy the rack and wait on the
installation, or if I get a wild hair...

I'll be sending some questions your way if I do it myself... the dealer
states it's a four hour job, aside from all the side troubles, how long
did it take you to get yours installed?

Scott

well, aside form the troubles i had with mine and the parts - like that switch I got from you and so forth - total time if you put it all together, about 6-8 hours...

but i'd never done it before, and I was replacing my motor mounts and oil pan gasket at the same time...so i had to completely drop my cross-member, and exhaust from cat forward...

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the CHTS? Thanks..........

Cylinder Head Temperature Sensor. Basically a sensor in the left (front) bank head that senses the head temperature. Based on that, the ECU chooses a specifc a/f map most optimal for that temperature. Often a faulty sensor causes excess richness or leanness...

S

BTW, it's not to be confused for a coolant temperature sensor. This doesn't even come in contact with coolant.

S

Man I hate to sound dumb but i have an 89 3rd gen GXE and I am not sure where the heck the CHTS is on this thing. Is it under the intake manifold as I suspect it is? I was looking through the chiltons and most of the drawings are for the pre 89 model. Any ideas or pointers would be greatley appreciated. Thanks all

really?

so if my car got up to operating temp and started knocking a pinging and lost alot of power i could very well be this temp sensor?

I dont want to make you feel dumb, but you may want to post this question in the 3rd gen forum

Thats the crappy part. It possibly could be that, along with a ton of other possibilities.

well i have replaced most other sensors so its more likely that or AAV

edit:

trying not to hyjack the thread but could some one post a diagram or something as to where this thing is?