well one nite as i was driving, i was low on gas but decided to put the fill-up off till next morning. The following morning, my car started but died right after. So I tried restarting it about 3 more times and gave up. After being stuck at home, my friends came over at nite and I tried starting it up again but it didn't work. We pushed it to the nearest gas station and i filled up the whole tank and it still didn't work. The dash lights and the headlights were turning dim now so we figured it must be the battery that's out now. We tried jump starting it but it still didn't work so we took the battery out and took it to Pep Boys to run a test. The results said that it was a bad battery so I bought a new one (ProStart) and installed it. But after that, it still wouldn't start. And at the last try, the engine started to smoke up. It came from under the engine. So we gave it a rest and this morning I had it towed to a body shop that I always go to. I visited the car in the afternoon and the engine was halfway taken apart. So i was like wat the heck is going on? I asked him and he said the belt inside the engine (chain belt?) needed to be replaced and estimated the cost at over $1000. Is this right? He said it'd take about 5 business days for it to be fixed. Maybe there's something else wrong with the car that he didn't get to yet? I'm pretty confused and worried about this right now so if anyone has any ideas on wat's going on, please inform me. I miss my car already.

 

How many miles on the car? You have a chain, which should last the life of the engine - this dude might be taking you for a ride. The gas thing might be unrelated, running low on fuel wouldn't cause the engine to smoke. You might wanna have them check the fuel pump (why'd you go to a body shop for something like this?).

 

if he's referring to the timing chain, then he's full of **** because replacing that does NOT take that long

 

was there alot of vibrations when hte engine started up? if so then it might be the chain

 

Did the smoke smell 'electrical'? Might be you fried your starter motor. Not good to crank engine more than 20 seconds without stopping to let it cool some.

If he truly said 'The Belt' he is an idiot. If your chain did snap/skip you might have other mechanical damage as well. (thats why some people say chain lasts 'for life of engine'.) Did you actually give permission for this work, and accept his vague the 'over 1000' estimate? This sounds scary alright.

 

why did he call it a chain belt? belt....belt.

 

maybe because he thought he was dealing with someone that didn't know that the maxima has a timing chain,not a belt, and felt that the customer would better understand the problem(or buy his BS) if explained this way.

 

first off this guy's a friend of my aunt's so I don't think he's trying to rip me off but there could be a possibility where he doesn't kno wat he's talking about. But I really hope that's not the issue and that after he's done fixing it everything will be alright.

BigNick: i have 152k on my car.

CullenJ76: Well like i said before maybe there mite be other stuff that needs fixing cuz I don't think that the timing chain smokes up if it needs to be replaced.

kevlo911: Well there was a lotta vibrations when the engine caught on and then died out right after but when it didn't catch on, there wasn't that much vibration. Just slow cranks as if the car sounded unhealthy.

hurleybob: The smoke didn't smell electrical but it smelled like fluids burning. The mechanic thought it might be the starter too but he checked and it wasn't. Well being that he's trustworthy in my book, I did let him do it for 1000 bux. Dang that's so much money~!

 

http://www.rpmrons.com/nissantiming.html

www.newnissanparts.com

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....t=timing+chain

these might help.

 

well i got my car back and i paid the guy around $930. He said the problem was the timing chain tensioner. And an easier way to get to it was to remove the waterpump. So wat he did was remove the waterpump, then replace the tensioner. And then he replaced the A/C alternator belt, P/S belt, and replaced the crank seal. And now he tells me that the A/C compressor isn't good and that it's making a big whining noise in my engine (which there is but i wouldn't kno if that's the problem.) But he didn't do that yet.

Parts Costs:
Timing chain tensioner - 66.53
waterpump - 100
coolant - 10
A/C belt- 16.35
P/S belt- 10.65
Crank Seal - 6.52
*Labor - 700

These numbers sound correct? Am I getting ripped off? Well, at least i'm happy that I finally get to drive my car.

 

You just got jacked for around 400 bucks...

- The tensioner is a 10 minutes job, if that. There is a cover for it near the motor mount (simular to the waterpump cover).

- Was the waterpump bad? Unless you were leaking fluid, there was no need to replace it. Even if it was bum, a waterpump job should run $350 at the most.

- Were the belts due to be changed?

- Not much of a friend if they charge you for coolant...after these ridiculous charges.

All in all, I'd say you got taken; unless he didn't explain what he did for you correctly. I had dropped my tensioner spring into the timing chain cover - I had the whole damn timing chain cover removed and the waterpump replaced for around $700 from a regular shop that I've never been to.

And finally - is (was, I doubt you can tell during the winter, unless you fog up the windows) your AC working? Leave it alone if it is.

 

damn. I need to get myself a Haynes Manual. This sucks. And yeah the A/C works. But is that loud whining noise supposed to be there? Cuz in my opinion, the engine's pretty loud but I just figured that the CAI was sucking air which caused more noise (cuz I can hear the CAI on the side). And considering the fact that the car's not a lexus or one of them quiet engines, I thought it was normal.

 

Hey, be nice...our engines are quiet when everything is normal, whining or grinding or anything else is not good.

 

hmmm...damn it, more problems...how much it to fix the A/C compressor?

 

I replaced my tensioner, pump, thermostat, and belts for 200 bucks in parts. Took me about 5-6 hours

 

Sorry bout your luck, but **** many people pay $930 every month or two in new car payments and think nothing of it. Hopefully your max is in good shape now for a long while.

I have a question though regarding this 'failure' of the tensioner. Looking at the pics in my Haynes manual I just can't see how any sudden 'failure' of the tensioner would cause total loss of ignition/power like this!
So for my education, has anyone else experienced such a total breakdown like this due to tensioner failure; or can explain such? Also, without (uggh) pulling the timing cover how could someone actually diagnose this condition?
Thanks, Bob

 

How cold was it in Torrance CA when you had your fuel low? It being winter I wonder. Wonder if you just had some slush in your fuel lines.

 

no torrance during the winter time is usually mid 40s so i highly doubt that there was any time of slush in there.