stinga

I have a '94 Maxima GXE VG30E engine, it has 125,000+ miles on it. I am considering getting the timing belt replaced along with the tensioner and thermostat. I believe they didn't do the 120K maintenance since the thermostat seems to be sticking (long warmup times). I have some questions that I need answers since I have not done this before(i.e. bought the maxima used). 1) Is the best place to have it replaced is at one of the Nissan dealers here? If not, who? 2) What all should I ask them to replace? i.e. get the water pump replaced as well? 3) What costs should I expect? i.e. how much more does water pump add to the final costs? 4) Lastly, is there a way for them to check if the timing belt was replaced recently since I bought the car with 118K miles on it? THANKS A LOT.

Other questions I need answers are:
1) What other common mechanical problems might I encounter? Tranny is being rebuilt as we speak.

2) The front left CV boot is torn and grease has left it. I heard that some might just wait on replacing it til the joint breaks down since it will only cost a little more to have the whole joint replaced. any other opinions? AND no, there are no clicking noise as wheel turn right now.

3) The rear drum brake shoe pads are worn. There's probably less than 5mm of pad left. Should I get those replaced soon? How much stopping does it actually provide for the whole car? Recently, I was involved in a slow accident (<35mph) where it was lightly drizzling and slamming on the brakes, left me skidding since it locked up. I have replaced the front disc brake pads, but are the rear pads extremely important?

WOW, that's a lot to ask in one post. Of course, you don't need to answer all, just those you feel comfortable in helping me with. I really appreciate all the help you all can provide. I'm just frustrated and want to really make a lot out of this car since I'm investing in big bucks to rebuild the transmission. All help is much appreciated. Thanks and best wishes to your car(s).

89sks

I just did mine myself. I'd go to the dealer, or a reputible mechanic you trust. There are several things that can and probably should be done while theyre in there getting to the Timing belt. I replaced my radiator hoses,On the VG there is another "C" shaped hose from radiator hose intake to thermostat so get a new one of those too. I did this because I had to drain the cooling system anyway. Thermostat, water pump, go ahead and get new drive belts for Alternator, AC, and powersteering/water pump since they have to take the old ones off. New timing belt tensioner along with new timing belt. Might as well have them change out camshaft seals and crankshaft seal while there in there, like a $4 part each. Most of the labor is in getting to the Timing belt, so to change these other parts out that are made accessable when everything is removed to get to the timing belt doesnt add that much in labor. The dealer will often quote you like $269 for the timing belt but once they have your car in the shop they will tell you "since we have this all apart we can change this and this to save you money" which is true but you can be looking at anywhere from $500-$900 for the job. Each dealer will quote you a slightly different amount for items like the h20 pump and other parts and their labor may be slightly higher.

Just to complicate things, the last time one was done on my car my Dad had a dealer in TN do it and they messed it up. He took it to a second dealer that said the belt had jumped and timing was off. So the original dealer who did the work only adjusted the timing way off to one side to compensate. I could tell because distributor was twisted all the way as far as adjustment goes and the front cam sprocket was off by three teeth upon removal of timing belt cover!!!! So, even the trusted dealer can screw things up. Car runs much much stronger now!! Correct timing alignment of all sprockets and acutal timing set correctly via distributor (now in the middle of adjustment range). If you do it yourself its a real pain the first time. When the search feature comes back check it out.

Good luck!

Vscoggin