My lovely 93 SE (170,000 highway miles) is at the mechanic having two broken studs on each exhaust manifold bank removed, manifold resurfaced, and gasket replaced for $700 parts and labor. Does this sound reasonable? My good reputation mechanic says he hears the timing chain slopping about because it is stretched and need to be changed (really two chains) with the tension guides and water pump (labor already there). Nissan dealer says they never change the timing chain on the SE but perhaps they never had a 93 SE with 170K. Anyway can my trustworthy mechanic be correct and is $1,700 too much for parts and labor for this service. And should the "Ain't Broken Don't Fix" apply here. Please advise.
Thansk
Dave Brieff

 

You could get a another engine installed for cheaper!

 

The chances of him actually hearing chain slop is really slim

 

i agree it would have to be really bad to hear that

 

I have to agree with internetautomar here. However, if you NEED the timing chains and just want them to do the labor, I've got both the smaller and bigger chain sitting here with nothing to do (they're brand new, btw) that I'll sell to you for a great deal. PM me and we'll discuss it.

I bought the set when I first got my car, thinking that'd fix it. Come to find out, I needed an entirely new engine.

 

OUCH! 7890

 

Yeah.... tell me about it! But in all fairness, I had no inkling what an "interference-type" engine was at the time, and figured that once I replaced the chains, I'd be good as new.

 

Could be the timing chain TENSIONERS are worn out, allowing the chain to rattle around.

 

I think that's what my noise is.

 

If your going to do 2 chains, you might as well do all 3