sorry to bring this up again, i have found other threads with similar subjects, regarding TB replacement, but i'm not sure if that is my issue.

i just finished replacing my water pump and all three belts (steering, ac, alt), but i did not replace the TB. i'm afraid when i was removing the crankshaft pulley, i may have fouled up the valve timing?? the engine now cranks but will not fire, the cranking does not feel like it is turning over correctly.

i did notice that the TB was rather loose, but am certain that it did not move while i had the cover removed. is it possible that while i was turning the crankshaft pulley off that i moved the valves out of correct timing?

edit: i have also replaced all plugs, wires, and ignition rotor.

thank you for your patience.

 

Does it sound like it is spinning faster than normal? Like there is less resistance from the normal compression you would have. If so, you are most likely out of time. It would have been the right time to do the TB, tensioner and front seals.

 

yes that is exactly how it sounds.

what tensioner exactly? and which seals?

 

The TB tensioner. Always replace it on an old Maxima with the TB or it may come back to haunt you. They can seize breaking the belt wreaking havoc in your engine. You also have 2 cam seals and 1 front crank seal. You have to remove the cam sprockets to access the cam seals. The crank sprocket for the TB should slide off with gentle pressure and you will see the front crank seal. They are only a few bucks a piece and worth it. If they leak oil onto the TB then it can drastically shorten the life of the TB. The TB has to be clean and dry to get the proper service from it. I would recommend getting a FSM if you don't already have one.

 

If FSM refers to a Haynes/Chiltons manual, then yes I have one.
Its what got me thru changing out the water pump and created this timing problem.

Sounds like i still need:
2 cam seals
1 front crank seal
1 TB
1 TB tensioner

Although, I still do not remember seeing the TB tensioner.
<Reads Manual Again>

 

the tensioner is in between the one cam gear and the crank.. i htink towards the front of the motor

 

FSM is "factory" service manual. If the Haynes or Chilton got you through the water pump then it should be able to get you through the TB. The list is correct.

 

yeah it is pretty helpful, as are you guys.

at this point, i am trying to make sure i have all the correct tools.

 

What amount of time is typically required for a TB replace along with the seals mentioned in this post, is it something that can be accomplished in an afternoon? are any special tools required to get this done? thanks in advance

 

FSM stands for factory Service Manual and Haynes/ Chilton doesn't come close to the amount of information that the FSM has about your car. Almost any type of problem your having is covered in trouble shooting section. It's a great book. I have an electronic version of it for 94 it should be good for your car. Send me your E-mail address and I'll send you a copy as an attachment.

 

it is usually an all day job if you are a first timer like me....... when i did it i was 16 years old and it worked out fine for me... the camshaft seals were a pain to remove........ takes lots of patience though and you CAMMOT MOVE ANYTHING WHILE THE TIMING BELT IS OFF... if you do say bye bye to motor

 

i am having trouble getting it to TDC. when i rotate the crankshaft around, the ignition rotor ends up being about 90 degrees from the 1st plug wire, and the manual says they should line up.

also, how could the engine have gone out of time to begin with?
when i started this problem, i was only out to replace the water pump.
could the TB have slipped when i was removing the crankshaft pulley?
and what is the correct procedure for removing the crankshaft pulley w/o letting it rotate?

 

rotate the crank to have piston 1 down but not all the way down then go to ur cams and put those in the correct timin' points then go back down to ur crank and put it to the correct timin' point which is like at the 5 o'clock position. piston 1 should be at TDC on its compression stroke.

now u said earlier that the timin' belt felt loose? then yeah it might of jumped a tooth or 2.

u need a puller to take off ur crank pulley. also make sure that if u disconnected any type of harness from the distributor, reconnect them cuz sometimes u might get side tracked and forget all about it; trust me it happened to me before while doin' this job on my car until i realized i had disconnected a harness. but there is no need to disconnect any type of harness to begin with anyway.

 

like vansskaterfreek said it will take up practically a whole day if its ur first time doin' this.

i've done this about 6 times includin' for a customer of mine which i did his '94 about 3 weeks ago. took me 4 hours to do the complete job with replacin' : both cam seals, front main crank seal, timin' belt and tensioner with spring, water pump, and thermostat.

 

I'm afraid this is greek to me.
How do you move the crankshaft and camshaft independently from each other?
I was under the impression that moving anything with the TB off was BAD.
And what do you mean by having piston 1 "down"? I can't see anything.

 

get a long screw driver that a fits into the spark plug hole and then rotate the crank until u c piston 1 go either up or down. u can also get a flash light and have someone else rotate the crank for u. but its better if u use the screwdriver since it will be easier for u to control the piston. to rotate the crank just put the big nut and washer back on the crank and just rotate it with ur 1/2" drive. and for ur cams u'll need a 14 mm wrench or socket to rotate it as well.

yes it is bad to move all of the components with the TB off but thats only if everything decides to happen very quickly. remember ur the one thats in control of the rotation for the cams and crank so u have to do it slowly.

what i meant by havin' piston 1 down is so that in any case u move the cam gears or it moves by itself the valves won't smash into the piston. the best thing to do in this case is put the motor at the correct timin' points before takin' off the TB and u don't have to worry about the valves hittin' the piston(s). once u put it at the correct timin' marks just make sure to c if the belt jumped teeth or not. if it jumped some teeths just take off the TB makin' sure that the cam gears don't turn really fast to either way and then just put the cams or crank at the correct timin' marks.

i'll try and help u in any way that i can so if u want just send me a pm and i'll help u out. if u need the FSM just go to nissanforums.com and then go to the Maxima forums then into the 3rd gen forums and look for the FSM so that u can download the file and ur good to go.

 

thank you.

PM sent.

 

i just gave up and had a mechanic install the belt for me. everything installed right, but when he tried to start the engine, it continued to miss with no compression. he thinks one of the heads got bent during the procedure, so now i'm screwed.

what do you think? pay someone to rebuild the 188k motor or buy another one? i want to keep my max. he said he'd help install a new motor for $250 labor. is that fair?

 

Ill sell you a head f or rear if you determine its a bent valve or 2. The engine has 217K but ran great when i drove it. Get a compression test done right away.

~Alex

 

If it were me, I would go with an inexpensive JDM engine and have it installed.

 

JDM? tell me more please

 

JDM stands for "japanese domestic market"..[i.e. a motor out of a car from japan]

They tend to have very low miles on them,usually 30,000 to 70,000 miles...


On the subject, there are motors for sale in the classifieds section on here...Some cheap...

 

as this is very true, most jdm motors will not have past 50,000 miles, because in japan after 50k your vehicle no longer qualifies for registration, or inspection, OR emissions standards, and must be replaced for you to continue operating that vehicle. this is why most vehicles come out of japan with 40 to 50k on them (aka ebay motors).

jordanius83, you might want to check your plug rotor, because you can easily position the rotor off. make sure that you put it on the right way, otherwise no start. I'm not talking about the cap, I'm talking about the ROTOR itself. position the crank pulley at tdc(top dead center) for piston # 1, then take the cap off of your engine and look at the rotor position, it has to be facing the # 1 piston spark wire. if not, timing is not off, your ignition is off. If your ignition is off PAST the # 1, then the engine will turn over slower and you need to turn the rotor 90 degrees forward, so its positioned exactly oposite the # 1, but if its off BEFORE the # 1 then it will seem like you have no compression, won't start but just turn FASTER, and you should turn the rotor 90 degrees forward, so it will match up with the # 1 spark wire. if someone has already confirmed that the heads are bent, then sorry bro, you need new heads or a new engine. (better to go with new engine because once your pistons are scored, they don't seem to ever run the same). Usually you can hear bent heads when the engine is turned over, listen closely and see if you hear a whinning noise, that would be your lack of compression and a slight tap of the valves against the piston. let us know bro. I think this could be a serious problem or a very easily fixed problem.
Z-

 

the ignition rotor appears to line up with the #1 piston while at tdc as it should, so i'm afraid the serious problem is confirmed.

i pm'd vansskaterfreak about a vg engine he has for sale.

anyone near tulsa oklahoma who would come by and install this for me?
i'll pay.

 

how 's your compression result? You may get lucky and only have to replace one head. But again, if you can get a cheap engine in good condition, you may just want to do an engine swap.
Good luck.

 

PM responded to!

 

Hope you don't mind if I jump in.......

Man I know what you mean. I have a 93 GXE that just blew a tb. Belt tensioner froze up and the rest is history. We just replaced both the tensioner and the belt. All marks on the gears are at TDC and the belt is aligned properly. Have 0 compression on all 6 cylinders. Anyone have any suggestions on what to do?

 

At best bent valves, maybe some broken head bolts and trashed pistons and bent rods.

 

one thing u have to keep in mind about JDM VG's is that nothin' changes mechanically and hp wise. all ur gettin' is just a low mileage motor. there r no hp gains in a JDM VG i believe its the same thing for JDM VE but in this case a JDM VE has stronger parts compared to the USDM VE. if u want to just replace the engine with a JDM VG and call it a day but be ready to fork out about $600-$1k for the JDM motor. i only paid $450 for mine (non-JDM) with barely 104k miles on it and as a quiet as a new Maxima. mind u before i bought my motor i was able to turn on the car so that i can actually hear how the motor sounds before i told the guy to pull the motor out of the junked max so i was lucky in that part. in a JDM motor u have to be carefull that ur not buyin' something that is already blown or has crap stuck in the coolant passages and what not. if i recall correclty, i think this happened to Jeff92SE on a JDM VE that he bought i think. so be carefull what u buy.