my time chain tensioners are shot and now they have to replace them....so the first mechanic i went to said its a huge job and said the parts would be like 250-300 bucks and plus labor the total would be 1200..i was like no way thats rediculous for that much labor money...another mechanic said i can get them for 150 and he would chage me like 300 for the job...anyone have any suggestions as to where i can get the parts for cheap and how much the job should actually cost?

 

If the second guy is any good, he's offering a pretty damn good price I think.

 

Not sure on the parts cost but my estimate to remove and replace the tensioner is about 4 hours. I just replaced the water pump and took the tensioner out as part of the procedure.

 

I just had my mechanic change my main timing chain tensioner (i always thought this was the only one that needed changing) and he tried to tell me it was the same as the timing chain itself. i told him about the cheater hole and he looked up the job on his computer and it was listed as 0.9 hours of labor. (he was thinking of the camshaft tensioners) i bought the tensioner at my local nissan for $75 and paid him $70 to put it in (+ tax on both). i can't see it costing any more than that.

 

Thats if you find the right nissan tensioner. The new Style tensioner needs new guide rails and cant fit through the cheater hole

 

i'm pretty sure it's the new style tensioner and it did fit through the hole. i have a 97 (made in 9/96) and the TSB for the tensioner where they updated to the new part was 2/96. i don't know if they changed the size of the cheater hole as well, but mine also shouldn't need the guides since those were upgraded with the tensioner in 2/96. i don't know about the 95's and 96's but i've read about guys doing just the tensioner through the cheater hole that have max's from that year and it solving most of their problems.

 

What what the part number of your tensioner ??

-matt

 

not 100% since i don't have it anymore, but i think it was 13070-31u0A.

 

Kdog - what symptoms do you have?

Bigdog - can you explain the cheater hole technique?

thanks.

 

Take the Cover off that on the side of the motor towards that back on the timing chain cover. (4 bolts) Take out the two bolts on the tensioner making sure to be carfull that the piston doesnt fall behind the cover and make for an interesting next few days. DONT WANNA DO THAT. Once the old one is out, put the new one in. Put some gasket maker on the cover and done

-matt

 

sure, on the passenger's side of the engine there is a black panel on the silver timing chain cover near the back (up by the intake manifold) just behind the motor mount. taking this panel off will give you access to the timing chain tensioner without removing the entire timing chain cover. as matty said, for 95's and 96's the recommendation is that the timing chain guide be replaced along with the tensioner, however some people on here have done just the tensioner and while it isn't ideal, it has been very beneficial for them. if you need specifics on the the process, the how-to sticky has a write-up on changing the tensioner.

 

question: What are the symptoms of the tensioner going bad? I think mine might be going bad, but I just wanna make sure.

 

For the part number do you mean: 13070-31U03 ?
If so, RockAuto has it for about $44 and Courtesy Nissan for $58.

I believe I need to replace this on my 97, but based on the descriptions I don't have to replace the guide (ie. only for 95 - 96's)? If so I'll actually get around to doing this.

 

rattling noise when you start the car up... usually it goes away in the early stages.

I have noticed it rattles when I am low or have old oil in the car.


How many miles do you guys have - those who are changing the tensioner?

 

Mine rattles a bit if I havent started my car in a few days and I start it. It will be rattling when I stop at the light by my house. DEK with 8K miles goes in very soon

 

~122,600 when i got it changed. it was definately the problem though as all my symptoms are gone now.

I know the part # says 13070-31u03, but the box i got from my local dealer had an A at the end instead of a 3. i was slightly concerned by that, but not enough to not give it a try. i wanted it done ASAP since my car sounded so bad, that's why i just picked one up, they had it in stock.

 

it first i was getting a clicking as i was driving and revving high and then the other day i was getting this really loud clicking just as i turned the car on and it was non stop.

 

I have 107K. Mine occurs most often when the car is started after being warmed up previously. It sounds almost like an irregular tapping/clicking sound that raises with the revs - it eventually mostly goes away after a bit of driving. I'm not 100% positive that it's the tensioner but everything I've read points to that.

I'll give the local nissan dealership an email and see which one they have.

 

Apparently there are three tensioners, 1 lower and 2 upper. The P/N's are:
13070-31U03 (lower)
13070-AL51B and 13070-AL51A (upper)

 

I wrote that tensioner sticky & the guy that had his mechanic do it for .9hrs + parts is right on the money. I have a '95 and the new tensioner has been redesigned to face upwards a little to prevent oil from draining out if the car has been sitting for a awhile. It is bigger and the piston is at an angle so it doesn't fit flush with the seat of existing guide rail. But it still works! I'm on my second "redesigned" tensioner and I think I hear a little startup noise again. I have 270k miles on my car, so I can't complain.
However, I started thinking that if the original design of the tension was bad, how is it that the car never made all these noises when it was newer? What actually wears on the tensioner? Why should I have to replace a redesigned tensioner? In theory, the new one should not have to be replaced, right?

So I dug up the old ones & checked them. They are quite simple in design, comprising:

- tensioner body with small oil orifice for engine oil to pressurize it
- spring
- small plastic cylinder inside the spring (I think this acts as a valve to prevent oil from flowing back out the tensioner. It is free to move up and down along the insides of the spring)
- piston
I was puzzled, and took a closer look...aha..there's a rubber o-ring that sits in the tensioner about 1 cm from the edge that forms a seal around the piston. I believe the oil enters the tensioner, push the piston with some force, but because the o-ring is worn, it escapes. Thus there is not enough pressure to take up the chain slack, causing that "playing card hitting the bicycle spokes" noise. Hence, my next project is to source a proper replacement o-ring and use it in my old original tensioner which I kept, and see what happens. Oh. and I'll try priming the tensioner before reinstalling to avoid that initial rattle. Nissan FSM says to hold the rpms at 3K for a few seconds after changing the tensioner or replacing the water pump. This bleeds the air out of the "system".

I'll try to post some pics, of what I'm blabbering about...

In conclusion, read the sticky, there were some helpful hints on how to change it & avoid the piston shooting out into your timing cover. Wish I knew that before