I'm rebuilding my VTC's soon I have them out already. my question is (if anyone knows) in the write up it says something about a tool kit that was sent to all nissan dealerships, to rebuild theese assemblies, does any know what it consists of, or if I can rebuild them without the use of it. And again to clear this up a little better I'm not actually asking about the Rebuild kits like springs and stuff, i'm actually talking about a tool kit that was sent to nissan to help rebuild them. if anyone has any help that would be geat thanks.

 

you don't need it...

just get yourself a big bench vise, i'm sure you can find one at some old factory or something They are absolutely worth their weight in gold when you need them.

Reminder... MARK EVERYTHING REALLY REALLY WELL!

To get the VTC apart:
take a 3/8 to 1/4 adapter socket (instead of ball bearing) and put that on the top, then put two 1/4 thick screw drivers on the bottom (instead of metal mount) of the VTC.. once this is in the vise, just squeeze... see the inside of the VTC has to be pushed out from the outter gear, so that outter gear has to come out and be able to fit between the VTC sprocket.. you will see then when you actually have the VTC out of the car...it didn't really take THAT much force to push out the insides.

To get it back together:
once the insides have been put back, they will stay together... you then need to put on the cap with the two gaskets and squeeze the cap down. The bottom of the VTC will pertrude out ever-so-slightly... this is normal... don't worry.

You should be good to go then.

 

How long has it been (miles) since you did your rebuild? I'm asking b/c its been known that some people had the ticking come back after a while when using the rebuild kit. I'm guessing that they didnt do the job correctly, lineing things up.

 

I had both rebuilt by the dealer. One started ticking again 10,000 miles later. I hope to everything holy that our friend here has better luck.

 

I just did it last night... so maybe 50 miles
I know man, that's what I'm afraid of... all that work and they start ticking again!!!

I'm crossing my fingers... at least the only major investment was time... and not a thousand dollars! But time is money to a lot of people... so take it how you will.

 

You sound like you knew what your were doing, A full write-up would be real nice

 

I didn't use the rebuild kit, but if you wish you can call Kent-Moore and give them the kit number and they'll be more than happy to sell you the kit. The price was about $70-$80. I used just average ball joint adapters that were lying around the shop where I used the press. I also wouldn't suggest the "big bench vise" route because it probably will not give you the ft lbs needed to properly seat the VTC when going back together. I'm going on 14K plus on my rebuild and all is well. When I did my VTC I also did the exh studs and for this reason I opted to pull the heads. Besides the rear main seal, and valve stem seals all other gaskets and seals were changed, engine might be dirty but no leaks Like the TSB suggested I marked the VTC before pressing them apart and for the life of me I couldn't see the big deal to go back in the same spot when going back together. Of course the TSB said so becasue I will cause the VTC to click again. One of my VTC went back dead on to were I mark them. The other was a fraction of a inch off. Due to the internal design of the VTC it's not easy putting it back together in the same spot, as you will soon find out. Good luck, it's not as hard as it looks. You know your mechanical skills so you know your limits.

 

HAHAH did you have that problem too?!?!

the left (front) bank VTC I marked decently, but when I put it back together my outter most lines didn't match up.. I probably spent 2 hours trying to figure out why... the internal lines I made did line up though... I couldn't explain it... after enough time I said screw it... if it makes noise I'll just buy the new sprockets... well when I went to put it back in it lined up perfectly with my timing marks and the key slot on the cam... so I knew I had put the VTC back together properly, but for the lines on the outtermost gear didn't match exactly, they were off by probably 3mm... blew my mind...

the other VTC lined up perfectly, but you can imagine I was SUPER careful on this one.. probably made 20 lines on it to make sure I did it perfectly.

anyways, I'm glad to see that wasn't just a problem I had by being retarded or something.

thanks =)