Ok, here's the skinny...
I just bought '95 Max SE with 180,000 miles for $800 fully understanding it needed some work. I used to have a '91 SE back in the day and miss it. We're not really looking for another car but I saw this as something I could tinker with and see what I could learn. It was pretty gross and poorly cared for. I'd like to give it a second chance on life )

So far I've confirmed it needs a new front driver side CV joint (axle) which I plan to do myself and that should take care of some awful noises. It's spitting out code 1-3 and the radiator fan kicks on and off for no reason so I'm gonna change the engine colant temp sensor. It's also got code 10-8 which is the Evap canister purge volume control valve. Haven't figured out if I need to change that or not yet to address it.

I can deal with all this stuff but I'm worried about a rattle/chatter I hear upon startup which wasn't so obvious back when I looked at the car. Usually, it dissappears in about 2 seconds. Sometimes it goes on for a minute or two. Hard to tell but it sounds like its coming from the area to the left of the valve cover/intake manifold. Could this be timing chain related? When I looked in a service manual I about dropped at the work involved in servicing it.

If it is timing chain related am I doomed? Can it be serviced by a dealer for a cost reasonable for a car of this age? Or is this car destined to be driver as is until it dies?

She cleaned up real nice. You can see her here:
http://www.mywirelessdeals.com/maxima1.jpg

Thanks,
Chris

 

if it helps, i could probably record a sound clip of the noise i'm explaining and post it

Chris

 

I've heard quotes of 400 +, sorry man i need one too. If you find something reasonable in the New england area drop me a line Sox4wseires@aol

 

Chris -

Good find! $800 for a maxima in descent condition is a great deal.

The noise you're hearing is timing chain related, but its not that bad. The timing chain tensioner uses oil pressure to build tension. As it gets old, it takes longer to do this job.

You can replace the tensioner without removing the engine from the car, or the timing chain.



The tensioner is on the left hand side of the picture, between the crank gear and the cam gear.

I've never had to change one, but I don't think they cost that much, and could be an easy weekend job. There are several members that have done this themselves ('Stephen Max' comes to mind).

Good luck!

 

It is very common for older 4th gen Maximas to have a worn timing chain tensioner which results in the kind of sound you are hearing. My 95 had the same sound, although it only lasted a couple of seconds after startup. I changed the tensioner over the labor day weekend and it cured the noise problem, and it seemed to have cured a somewhat erratic acceleration between 3-4000 rpm as well.

Changing the tensioner is something you can do yourself, but the limited accessibility makes it a bit tedious. I found that moving the power steering reservoir out of the way helped a lot. You'll want to use a 1/4" drive ratchet and sockets. Also, be sure you have a magnetic pickup tool just in case you lose a bolt or the tensioner plunger down inside the timing case. You'll be able to get it back out with a magnet, but you might have to fish around a bit (in my case, quite a bit). Get a Haynes manual if you don't already have one.

 

Heh heh. When I had trouble fishing the plunger out of the timing case, I remembered this picture and tried to get to it by going to the thread where you posted the link, Eric, but as you may remember, the org was down that very weekend. Fortunately the Haynes manual has some pretty good pictures, too. The FSM with its line drawings was useless.

 

I guess they assume someone using the FSM knows enough about the car to not need a real picture, but that's something that's always bothered me about it. You wouldn't think it would be that much more work than paying someone to draw all that.

How far down did the plunger get? Could/Did it fit down into the oil pan?

 

No, I removed the oil pan hoping it had fallen all the way down, but it got stuck at the bottom of the timing chain cover cavity about the level of the crankshaft. I think it was safe there, but I was relieved all the same when I got it out.

 

I remembered reading that as soon as I posted the question.

Did you ever consider removing the timing chain cover to do the job? I haven't looked, so I don't know how do-able it is with the engine in the car. I would guess you'd just have to remove the side motor mount.

 

Thanks guys!
I have about 10 people who are just dying to tell me 'i told you not to buy it' so this gets me one step closer to rubbing there faces in it when its done.

Quick question for Stephen Max, I just peaked at it real quick as I only had a minute. Looking down in the timing area, is the tensioner behind a small black plastic cover with 4 bolts holding it on (about 3" wide by 4" tall)? It's right behind a power steering hose?
How much did the new tensioner cost?

Chris

 

Yeah, that's it. The cover is metal, and it is black. I think I paid either $35 or $50 for the tensioner.

 

Stephen Max,
I was reading your other post that had more detail on this and the water pump you did. I'm nervous about the plunger that fell off after you gave up trying to hold it in place with a push pin. If you could do it over again, do you feel if you tried longer to get the pin to work you could have and avoided the whole mess of the part falling down in?
Is the plunger something that is already there and you are not changing or is it part of the new tensioner?
Maybe once I buy the part and see it then it will be more clear.
Chris

 

Yeah, I think I could have gotten the push pin in if I had tried harder. The difficulty lies in pushing in the plunger against the spring tension far enough to get the push pin in the little hole. Plus it's difficult to get both hands down there without obstructing your view. I think if you used a long screwdriver to push against the plunger, that would free up space for your other hand to get the pin in. I got impatient.

Yes, the plunger is part of the tensioner mechanism, along with an internal spring that will also pop out if you let it.

Eric, I considered removing the timing chain cover, but the Haynes manual said you had to remove the intake manifold and some other stuff first, and I was too lazy to do all that.

 

from that picture that is a damn fine looking maxima for haveing 180k and only costing 800$

good luck

 

Ok Stephen,
I finally got the part and now that I see it everything makes more sense.
The plunger or spring you lost down into there, was that the old one or the new one? My new part has the thumb tack already in it so I'm assuming I just slip it in so that the round chain guide part slips into it and then pull out the tack to release it to add pressure? To remove the old one do I need to get a tack into the old one to keep it from falling apart inside? Was that what you had wished you had done?

Just trying to save a headache.
Also, my part came with a new chain guide as well, I'm assuming I can't put that in without taking the whole timing cover off,etc and just discard it? See pic of what I bought..
www.mywirelessdeals.com/timingtensioner.JPG
Chris

 

You are correct, the only way to replace the guide is to take the timing cover off.

It would be best to try to retract the plunger and lock it in place with a pin before removing the old tensioner. I found that difficult to do (actually I never accomplished doing it) because of the limited space down there. I think if you get a long screwdriver or pry bar you can push on the plunger with it while your other hand is trying to get the pin in the hole. Another problem is when your hand is down by the tensioner it blocks the view, so you have to be able to do it by feel only.

Another way that might work and would definitely be eaiser if it does work is to have a strong magnetic pickup tool on the plunger as you unbolt the tensioner. Then try to ease the tensioner out while the plunger is being held by the magnet. Might work, might not.

At any rate, if you do lose the plunger and spring down inside the cavity, you should be able to eventually retrieve them, even if it takes a while. Just be sure to have a telescoping magnetic pickup tool handy. I ended up bending mine so that it would go all the way down to the bottom.

Good luck!

 

does anyone know how much it cost from the dealership.

 

Do you mean the cost of the part or to have it installed? I paid $54 with tax for the part. I was originally told $70 a few weeks back which may have been the 'bendover' price. Since then I have gotten to know the parts guy better and when I paid for it the cashier said $54.

No idea what it would cost to put in. I would think a skilled technician who has done them before could do it for an hours labor. Somehow I doubt thats what they would charge though.

Chris

 

Stephen,
Hopefully you check this today (Sunday) so I can finish this up.
I'm 90% done but have a question.
Old one is out no problem and new one is in. No parts fell in (I'll explain the method I used later once I get this done).

Please see picture at the link below of the new installed tensioner. I'm ready to pull the pin out (still have to tighten the bolts) and allow pressure on the chain guide. It looks pretty much lined up with it etc and should be fine, BUT I don't think once its released I'll be able to see as much of the plunger coming out of the new tensioner as I did on the old one. There was a good 1/4 inch or so of it sticking out before. When I pull back on the chain guide as hard as I can there is still very little space there. Maybe once the spring is released and the engine starts it will work out a bit more but is there any way the timing chain & guide might not be seating correctly? I've worked it with my fingers and it seems there is no way for it seat any better and allow more space.

I know I'm probably OVER reacting but once I pull that pin I don't want to take it out again and I definately don't want to hear a big CRUNCH the first time I start the car.

www.mywirelessdeals.com/tension.jpg

Thanks!
Chris

 

Oh yeah, one more thing.
The 4 bolt cover that allows you access looks like it had some kind of gasket material on it when I took it off (it fell apart and most if it fell off). Did you apply anything to it when you put it back on like liquid gasket or something or just put it back on?

Chris

 

Hi,

I also need to do the tensionser replacement on my 95 SE. I've been using Mobil 1 synthetic and have the rattly sound initially. My questions are - 1) did the tensioner fix your noise and 2) what do you have to remove to place it. I see you post about removing the one little cover to get access - I haven't checked yet, but do you need to remove any engine components to get to this? In other words, is it a long or difficult job?

Thanks!
Tom

 

No engine components to remove except the Power Steering reservoir.
I'll do a full write up on it once I'm done. Hoping to hear back from Stephen Max today but if not I'm gonna have to just close it up and try it the way it is.

It's not impossible, but its not as easy as an oil change either. But with directions its very doable. I'll let you know if my noise goes away.

Chris

 

Well, sorry, I didn't see this till today, but your picture shows exactly what I saw when I did mine. You look fine.

 

I disconnected the hoses from the power steering reservoir to get them out of the way. Other than that, all there is to do is remove the cover.

It's not particularly difficult except for limited space. Just pretend you're a surgeon doing heart surgery or something.

I haven't had the rattling noise at all since I replaced the tensioner.

 

I'm all done and my noise is gone!

Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou Stephen Max

I gotta say when I started it the first time I almost fainted because the noise was worse than before! Also the idle surged up and down a couple times which was wierd. BUT, I shut it off and then restarted it and its all set. Maybe oil just had to really work into it the first time to get it working properly.

I also removed the power steering hose. I actually took the 3 bolts off the reservoir as well to make it easier to get the hose off but that was probably unnecessary. I jacked up the front a bit and slid my oil pan under it to catch all the power steering fluid draining from the reservoir. When I was done I filled the hose up first with fresh fluid before connecting it again and then filled the reservoir.

Regarding having any pieces fall in, its not that big a deal to avoid if you know it could happen. I'm sure Stephen didn't expect it which made it increase your odds to have it happen. I was real nervous about it and did something kind of wierd but helped ease my mind. Once the cover was off but before I removed the tensioner, I took a real long piece of duct tape and kind of fed it in to the area just under then tensioner. I didn't use tape to make it stick to anything, but rather just to fill the void there making it much harder for anything to drop down before I could grab it. But it wasn't really necessary in the end. If you loosen both bolts halfway and then remove the top one first, you can tilt the old tensioner upward instead of downward as you remove it. You can then just keep your finger on the plunger (just to keep it from popping out, you don't need to keep it squeezed in) as you remove the bottom bolt and then remove it. It didn't even pop out until I had it out and was playing with it for a while. It was pretty gummed up but not horrible. You could still move it in and out with your finger. I know for a fact that my car was not well maintained before I got it so I would bet this problem arises sooner if the car had poor oil change maintainence at some point of its life (but maybe not).

I think thats about it. Its really not hard at all, just a little tight in there. Like Stephen said use a 1/4" ratchet for it. I think everything was 10mm including the power steering reservoir bolts which I had to use a wrench on since I couldnt get a socket in there.

It's so great not hearing that rattle anymore!! Mine definately lasted more than a couple seconds after startup so it was pretty bad.

By the way, in case anyone has a hard time identifying the part to order mine was Nissan part #13091-31U26 and it was $52
If you can get it without the chain guide, you might save a few bucks.

Now my next repair is the axle (CV joint) and I may actually get to DRIVE IT!

Chris

 

I have to do that too .... or I can live with the noise