Timing belt(Gates Brand) popped/snapped while cruisin along at about 25 mph thru my neighborhood....Just returned from a 40 mile drive with no problems nor indications!!!! I'm gonna be looking to find the culprit and I'm thinking my brand new tensioner is the problem or where the problem began....Dam 5000 miles and then this.....I love timing chains for a reason..... I'll start remove the timing covers to inspect my damage along with my heads! Do I hear a reason to upgrade to titanium valve spring retainers???? As well to JWT hi rpm springs? Gearhead saga, you gotta love this sh!+...........

 

ha HA! the laws of physics fight back!

 

sorry this happened but the word is "damn"

 

Oh, geez

 

the words not damn, its son of a fking shiz *** b1tch

god that sucks funny thing is my timing belt was done 6 years ago/70,000km ago but reading all of the snapping threads, im getting it done Monday or Tuesday instead of early next year because im paranoid lol

 

actually this is more fitting

 

Damn dude that sucks... hope you figure it out

 

Sorry man, but do what I did and throw a VE there.

 

Look at it this way. If it were a chain driven engine, VE for example, you are almost guaranteed that at some point it would fail without warning. Then the easiest thing to do is replace the entire engine, if you can even find a good one for a good deal which is hard to do locally. Then once you have the engine replaced, you risk the same thing happening all over again.

In your case, assuming the bottom end of the engine is fine,you simply find a VG with good heads at the junkyard. Buy them for under $100, plus new gaskets, OEM BELT and tensioner, throw them on your block, and you're good for another 60k miles assuming you install everything correctly.

In the end you save hundreds do a lot less work, plus it won't clack when you get it done. And if you're super paranoid about it happening again, swap the engine with a non-interference VG from a Quest/Villager.

 

ugh. im a total stress case when it comes to car engines. (with that many moving parts, how can stuff NOT constantly go wrong ) so ive been kinda worried about my timing belt since i bought the car in mid april. i have no clue as to prior maintaince records. after reading all this im going to buy the belt tomorrow, and pay my buddy to show me how to replace it ASAP.

 

you could be the first to drop a 13b rotary in a Max, minimal moving parts

 

a couple of other parts to buy: tensioner pulley, spring and stud. I have my doubts on whether the stud is really needed, but it is so cheap ($2.29: http://www.courtesyparts.com/13070b-...4-p-42252.html), why not?

 

when i get mine done Tuesday, i want to try to get everything done while the engine is out. i know the water pump is one thing, but is the tensioner pulley is another thing to do?

HAHA FOO! you meant to put the pulley link but pasted the quote reply link

 

whups...
Thanks. not sure how that happened...
yeah, I do; it's two hours past bed time.

 

Bed time: 10:00pm? What are 60?

 

Oklahoma is a hour ahead of me so its 1230ish AM there.

dont forget to take your dentures out

i be knocking out too, have to work tomorrow

 

What are 60? sounds like its past your bed time as well

all your base are belong to us

 

ahhh, thanks. anything else y'all think i should do while im that deep in the engine?

 

Yeah replace that water pump.

 

Doesnt Nissan recommend replacing the cambelt every 4 years or 100,000km (60,000 miles) whichever comes first. Technically you should have replaced it 2 years ago.

 

my user manual says every 2 years or 100,000km for the timing belt. i dont think thats right though, everyone says every 100,000km or generally 6-7 years whichever comes first. usually people just go by mileage even

 

Talking about timing belts, I need to do mine this summer. It had 178000 miles on it when I got it now has 192000 miles and have no idea when it was last changed.

 

Yah Im thinking of the same thing. I bought my car with 175,000 miles, and it now has 229,000. I dont have any Idea when the last time it was changed, although when I got my water pump done the mechanic said it lookd good at 200,000 miles.

 

Like I said the day before yesterday I'll help you change those seals next weekend.

 

Well to thoses that are interested! Found the culprit which caused all the problems and drama, after removing the topend today....The tensioner stud bent and allowed the timing belt to move inward up against the rear timing shield and tensioner spring stud (small stud) where it was worn down until it slid between the tensioner and the block! The popping sound was the tensioner being released once the belt slipped off it....here are some pics, # 2 cylinder intake was the only valve bent, but I'll have that changed and the JWT springs installed.....

 

more pictures.....My dirty broken engine!!!!!!!








CMax03 Getting busy!!!!!!!

 

Now that is a strange one! ...................... imo the tensioner's rear is supposed to sit flat against the block's face, and with that situation there is no way for the bolt to "bend" - only way that can happen is if the tensioner was not installed/tightened properly

Afraid that further confirms the fact that the tensioner was not tightened - if the tensioner is properly tightened down, the tensioner spring can have no influence on the tensioner and cannot move the tensioner pulley around at all.

Something is wrong with the mounting surfaces of that tensioner/block if in your opinion you tightened it down properly

 

Dude, that SUXXX!!! How do you think that stud got bent in the first place?

 

Maybe from the Cloyes Timing belt I installed originally....Or adjusting the tensioner with the allen wrench, No biggie.....Next install will involve alot of loctite....for sure! I got everything tore down today and I'll be getting that #2 intake valve tended too along with those Hi Rpm JWT Valave springs setup at thier proper install height....True Gearheads gotta love this ****!

 

cmax is a girl? woooah. haha.

 

at least shes not one of those girls who wont even touch a engine bay/doesnt pop the hood ever lol

 

so a frigging $3 part trashed your engine... that's a bitter pill :/ i gotta make sure i got a new one for when i put the Z's engine back together so i don't run into the same problem.

 

Wow that really sucks... I'd also bust out an FSM and make sure everything is torqued to spec... for example, when I'm gonna do something I've never done or rarely do; I print out the necessary pages from the FSM and I highlight the torquing order and torque numbers and then laminate it. Once I'm done I just save the laminated printouts onto a binder for future use. best thing is that you can wipe the grease or dirt right off without worrying.

 

i'm with LvR here.
the spring pretty much does NOTHING once the lock nut is tighten on the tensioner.
this is not one of those set ups where you can just let the tensioner do it's thing you set the tension and the pulley will do it's thing.

yes change the stud(s)...very important.

 

I take it you have posted the mechanical situation just as you found it when you removed the covers?

If so then this particular pic also further tells you that the tensioner was loose/improperly adjusted - the eccentric cam on that tensioner usually lands/sits about 90 degrees from the position it was found in that picture

 

Did a $3 part thrash my engine? No, it caused a bent intake valve on # 2 cylinder and that's it....New tensioner stud, new valve, JWT springs and gaskets, not too bad,.... but it could've of been worst! I'm ready to get busy, there will be LOCTITE @ the next party!!!!LMAOS!!!!

 

Been thinking about this statement...not feeling it sir! One is much more prone to catastrophic than the other.

 

Cmax03, was your motor making any sort of odd noises from the belt rubbing before this happened?

 

according to what he told me no there wasn't. It just happened around the corner from his house. Luckily he was in his neighborhood and not on the road.

 

True, that would be the VE. Search for Maximas on Craigslist several times a week for 5 years and you'll agree.