BewstAdd1ct

and this is the reason im buying an 02 maxima for a third car.


yesterday while i was at work, my g/f calls me in my maxima saying that it wont start. it was running rough, she thought it needed gas, filled it up and then it wouldnt start. hmm...


time to go on a road test. i show up at the gas station, try and start it and it spins over real fast. yep, timing belt is broken. i call my svc advisor and get a tow truck coming. i go back to work, car shows up at the dealer about 30 minutes later.

so, another advisor who used to wrk at nissan tells me my valves are bent, because its an interference engine. i havent torn much into the VG, so i wasnt sure, i looked it up...

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Valve Clearance | 0(0) |
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yep... i was disheartened. everyone in the shop who knew nissans told me my valves were bent also... this car had been really good to me. i put monroe sensatracs on it, replaced axles for broken CV boots, and performed some maintenance when it was due... but never a major failure. its got 140000 on it, and i thought the previous owner had replaced it, i bought the car with about 120 on it IIRC.


so... time to tear into it. i get the upper cover off... there it is. but its tight. its not broken... wtf.

so i crank it over, it doesnt move. hmm. i get the lower off after fighting with the main pulley and theres the belt, with a section of missing teeth, right on the crank pulley. (the shop foreman called it too )

so i get the belt off, and run a leakdown test, just to get a guesstimate on how many valves ill need.

cylinder 4, 0%

wtf...

cylinder 2, 0%

ummm, okay.

cylinder 6, 5%

i pull the tester out with air, to make sure its flowing properly... yep. tester is working and calibrated properly. a t this point, im happy. even if the rear bank is fuxed, its only one cylinder head to do a valve job on. so im happy.

and what do you know, the rear bank is all 5% or less. O M F G.

finish the timing belt, with new water pump and 3 new belts. $83.75 later and its alive again.

and all i can say is 'wow'. this car has been REALLY good to me. and thats why i wont sell it. ill always have a reliable beater.

yay

maximapitko

lucky bastard

Pervis Anathema

iTrader: (8)

Holy Shizzle. You got LUCKY.

Scope

iTrader: (5)

I wish I could get that lucky instead I break trannies.

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

you lucky somebeatch

VEvolution

Wow, I wish I was THAT lucky!




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Alex_V

WOW you are lucky. With my luck if a T belt broke a least 1 cyl per bank would shoot a rod.

You might want to at least pull the rear valve cover and get a new seal or use some rtv on it. All 3 of max's are leaking, the 166K is only a little, the 187K would start to worry me and my parts car with 217K is leaking oil egnough for a steam of burn oil on the front and rear valve covers. I think all maxs have this problem its just not very noticeable untill after 200K. I already RTV'd the 187K max and thats the only one im keeping, so im good for a while. Nice save on your max

Now what about this 383 s10? Mine has the stupid 2.2L ><

~Alex

Phatsta

and then some...

OMG this makes me start to worry about my TB

Wiking

Your g/f can really handle THE max. Marry her!

EdzMax

Thats why I'm getting mine done 2morrow!!!!!

Phatsta

....

camron21

Good stuff!!! Unfortunatley it's a lot of us that have been on the opposite side of that news!!

twinkle

iTrader: (1)

thats why i did mine last weekend :-D

maximagxe90

i had my done a month and half ago

BewstAdd1ct

yep, both are leaking, but not enough to worry me. its mostly cake, no burning or anything. i wonder if itll just seal itself up

that sucks... my 4.3 wasnt enough for me.

but yeah... vortec 350 from a 99 suburban punched out, high compression and some other goodies. its 'in the works'.

GRNMAXDMON

iTrader: (1)

u lucky S.O.B. good thing i did both my max's timing belts last month actually the motor from my '93 which went into my '89 i did it like last month and if i haven't changed it sooner the belt would have snapped cuz it had a massive amount of ugly crack on it. as for my new motor that went into my '93 the belt was fine but i didn't want to risk it so i just replaced the main gaskets from the top end of the motor along with the water pump, thermostat, and timing belt.

Alex_V

I wish, tho its usually not to much of an issue. Only my max with 217 burns a little from there. Im just going to snug down all the easy to access bolts and see if that does it. That means the whole rear manifold and like half the front. Should be easy egnough....



For V8 goodness in a s-10!!

Still got that 4.3 and computer you can sell me.. ..this hamster wheel must die...(i do have a carbd 4.3 to put it, but its really old and mpg would suck) I do have a VG I could fab up to put in, it should be better then the 4.3 by a little and get 2x the gas milage lol.

~Alex

Wiking

Weirdest g/F on earth [positively so]: her b/f does not do the least basic tuneups, and she can nicely cut that belt w/o any harm in the engine. Whata woman!

Pervis Anathema

iTrader: (8)

.

BewstAdd1ct

bah, i do maintenance... i just thought it had been taken car of.

i have the 4.3 PCM, i left the 4.3 behind, no one wanted to buy it and i moved and didnt wanna bring it with me. the harness im using to splice the 6.3L harness into the trucks body harness. but... i picked up the harness, pcm and engine (with a spun #4 and #8 bearing) for right around $350 shipped.

i dropped about $2700 on parts and machine work on the engine and assembled it myself. seriously, if youre gonna pull the 2.2. out, just toss a v8 in. the swap kit is like $160ish. ck out s10v8.com youll need a radiator and an e-fan too. you can get a 4.3l rad.

Red89maxima

Hey guys I'm new to this whole Maxima thing! I've always been a straight Chevy guy and nothing but! My question is; I just bought a 89 SE and have no idea when the belt was changed last. I took a look at it and it looks fairly recent, but do I chance it? Or should I just change it.

And I would say that I'm fairly mechanicaly inclined ( as I have built 3 vehicles from ground up) Whats it gonna take to change the belt? I know I can do it, but is it worth the headache or is it something that I should just give to a shop and let them have their way with it?

Wiking

Depends how much its worth, how long youre gonna keep it: belt change is my first DIY in any car I purchase old... The manual's belt change guide is confuzean: in the end half inch bend down between cam sprockets is what counts; 20lb down force. Some say its better to make u own marks, maybe so. Water pump swap is also 'easy' todo while down there...

goldymax

I would say your were LUCKY.I bought my 93 max in Jan 94 (used w/11000 miles). At 68,000 I decided to chane timing belt, had a pretty good shady tree mech, change it out, total parts and labor (changed everything nissan said to change), about $300.00. TWO WEEKS LATER, the belt broke, $2,500.00 later all is well again.Today it has about 125,000 miles and I am wondering if I should change it again or leave . Any opionions??????
Randy

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

change it yourself.
it's cheaper than a new motor or a new car

EdzMax

Well, had my belt done on friday & the guy told me it was the orginal belt on there!!! This car has done over 200,000 km's on 1 belt. He told me that it's teeth were so worn down, he couldn't tell which belt to replace it with. I know this belt hasn't been changed cause the dealership I bought it from never had a cam belt change on the records. You want to talk about luck, here you go! Plus, the water pump was still in very good nick & the other pulleys were good too! I love this car!!!!

Red89maxima

Yeah I'm going to. How long should I set aside for this job? Normally?

Wiking

That sentence is hollow. I would let smbdy else check what has been done and how. There are two possibilities for 3gen max belt types: round teeth for round teeth sprockets, squared belt on squared... There is no need to open the whole assy, just take out upper cover screws and any obstacles, bend it open and check. Also verify the tightness.

For me the weekend mech swap time was one work day, about 7 hours. But then, dont ask jeff...

BewstAdd1ct

it took me about 4 hours to retime the engine, replace the timing belt and water pump, run a leakdown test on all 6 cylinders, clean the spark plugs, replace 3 acc belts and set ignition timing, and fill and bleed cooling system.

this is my first timing belt on a V6, and my first time doing anything major to a VG engine, but i also am an ASE certified tech and have a slew of tools.

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

See that's how we cheat

CyMax

iTrader: (5)

YEP, but tommrow my Max is going to get the belt changed, you scared me!!!!!
I guess I'm lucky after a AC nightmare on the Femme's last car , I now have a Mechanic for a b!tch!! Hello free labor on the goodies!!!

BewstAdd1ct

whaaaat?


oh yeah, suggested labor time is 5.8 hours and thats if the engine is already timed, doesnt include w/p replacement or any engine tests...


its not cheating, its being gooood

EdzMax

Yeah, I know that & this knew that too. Like you said, theres 2 types of belts that can go on my ride. Well, he was saying that the belt was so worn down, it was hard to tell which belt to put on. I trust this guy, have been going to him for about a year how & hes done better work on my car than other mechs!!

Wiking

Maybe I put it this way: only one belt tooth type fits u engine.

Look carefully on the teeth, even stealership mechs cannot comprehend this higher order enigma... Yes, they provenly think any type fits any vehicle.

EdzMax

There are 2 versions of the maxima here in New Zealand, VE & the VG engines. So, ure saying that the I got will fit on both engines?

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

no, the VE has 3 chains, and no timing belt