I am having trouble with my maxima, i replaced timing chains, and water pump. sense then the car will not crank up. i have checked the timing twice and it appears to be perfectly in time is there anything else that it could be. if any one has any ideas i would love to hear them i have also checked my cam and crank PS, i have checked all my coils. i don;t know what else to try thanks in advance for everyone help.

Chris

 

Did you get a ses light? If not i say pull codes anyways and that can help you also.

 

it hasn't thrown any codes what so ever but i will try to pull codes again and see what i get.

 

ok so the CEL wasn't on but i did get a code for knock sensor. will this stop the car from cranking at all. also pulled spark plugs all of them were dripping wet with fuel.

 

Ok, no KS will not affect crank.

Here is what you need to do:
Remove plugs and let sit for a while. If they are drippin wet then you really need to let it set over night or for a long time. Gas will evap out of the spark plug holes.
Dry Plugs
Put back in, and start.

 

ok so i have pulled the plugs last night and let the car set until today it set for a little over 12 hours with no plugs. i also took a long grill lighter and stuck it down the plug holes and lit it got a little poof on about 4 of them. before i put the plugs back in the car i hooked up my timing light and turned the motor over, #1 coil is firing when the crank is on the 15º mark. is this right or am i 15º off??????

put the plugs back in and still no fire and still lots of fuel on plugs.

 

IIRC its TDC intake +10degree and exaust -10degrees

 

It sounds like spark is your issue. Did you have the engine out? or do the timing in the car?

If you did it in the car, then first--congrats, that a PITA--second, I am not sure why you would not get spark (if thats the case). Perhaps make sure you plugged in the Crank position sensor (REF). The one on the accessory side of the engine, not the one in the transmission.

Give us more detail, or even post a pic. Yo uwould be suprosed what the .org eagle eyes can see in a nice, clear pic.

 

So we know you have fuel. Have you checked for spark and compression? No start condition after messing with the timing components definitely calls for checking the big 3.

Why did you replace the timing chains?

 

alright i replaced the timing chain only because the car had 145k and i did this engine out of the car so i didn't want to have to pull the motor again to replace the timing chain. i figured i was changing the water pump why not. alright well i am getting fire on all cylinders. i have plug is all the coils packs and put the plugs in it. i turned the motor over and every cylinder fired. so in my mind i fuel i have fire i have air. so i can't figure out why it isn't running. i am not sure i fully understand 91parkave is my timing right at 15º ????????

 

Timing chain shouldn't ever need to be replaced, waste of money IMO.

So, you didn't check compression?

 

IIRC at TDC (top dead center) your intake cams should be 10degrees advanced, and your exaust Cams should be 10 degrees retarded. so 15 degrees is not correct, hopefully though it something else like a crank sensor not triggering or cam sensor fault, make sure your connections at the harness are intact first before you go on about the timing issue

 

ok i just done a compression check and this is what i came up with starting with #1 cylinder:

facing the car back of engine left.

120, 180, 130

facing the car front of engine left.

0, 160, 150

i think i am in trouble.... what makes this happen i did a compression check before i started on the car because i thought the head gaskets were bad. the compression was 180 +/- 10 on all the cylinders........ this is over my head, easy fix or new engine??????

 

Well, looks like you have to recheck the timing chain alignment and camshaft sprocket alignment.

Each sprocket and each chain has mating marks.

All this stuff is in the EM section of the FSM.

 

Well at least you are getting somewhere. On the cyl's with low or no compression, you can add a little oil top them. If the compression goes up, you have ring problems.

Now, because all you did was timing, I think that's your root cause and your compression should most likely be fine when thats sorted out. You dont have a pic of your timing once you put it all together perhaps?

Also, was your slack in the timing chain on the tensioner side? If not, you could have done it right, but the chain could have jumped some teeth.

 

i dont have any pictures but there was slack in the chain but i cant remember which side it was on

 

I'd put my money on a timing problem also.

Did you make sure all the marking line up? also after you installed all the components back on did you rotate the crank (with the outer timing case off) to see what is going on and make sure it didn't skip a link?

make sure the marking on the crank line up, on the cams line up, and check the lobes too. But I wonder if there is another problem also, with the timing off you'd get bad compression number but you would still get numbers. a 0 on cyl#6 (if I'm counting it right) doesnt add up.

How many times did you do a compression test? Hopefully more than just one time.

 

That would be cylinder 2, I believe.

 

was picturing it the other way. cyl#2 should read some kind of compression.





test your cam/crank sensors (make sure they didnt get damanged or go bad)

 

i have tested the cam/crank sensor twice and then got a local shop tech to test it as well to make sure i was doing it right all test say that they are good.. i did turn the engine over several times to make sure that it would not jump timing but now with all this i fell that i might have been turning the engine the wrong way and that might be my problem i am going to drop the engine out one more time is there anyone in the Raleigh/Smithfield area that has done this before and would like to make some cash i will have the engine out of the car and ever tool needed to get things right. i really don't want this timing to be the end of my max. If you are in the area and would like to make some cash doing this PM me. If no one is in the area i will post pictures and hope that everyone hear can help me though this. i called the nissan and there tech didn't tell me much but he did say that no one likes doing the timing on maximas because they are so hard to do. well pics to follow soon.

 

also on the compression check i turned the engine over about 6 times on each cylinder with the starter and also had ever pulg out if this makes any difference

 

post pics. I hope you were turning clockwise.

when you get the motor out of the car and the outter timing case off. rotate it so that the crank lines up with the marking for TDC, then take pics of the cam sprockets and lets see if its off.


edit: yea, compression check is done with all sparks out of the engine

 

yea if you were in atlanta i'd help you out man but do what mdeezy said just take the cover off and take some pics

 

ok i have the engine out and i have taken pictures. i can see, plain as day it is out of time by 180º on the cams. the crank is at TDC. please advise on my chain tensioner i hear something that sounded like the chain hitting inside of the case when the engine was in the car is everything look good with the chain tensioner.
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sorry for the multi posts i had to figure out the pictures

 

if I'm seeing right, that is waaaay off.

remove the timing chain and set each bank and the crank to tdc. then put the chain back on, rotate many times to make sure all is alright. then seal back up and install. Make sure all the markings line up.

download the fsm if you dont have it.

 

I had one bank (the main sprocket for that bank) off 90 degrees when I did my waterpump (...don't ask) and my engine still runs like new, even after spending a bit of time trying to start it. No apparent damage

 

agreed ^^^

easy way to find TDC take spart plug out of cylinder #1 stick a skinny piece metal down till hits the piston, roll the crank pulley till the rod is at its highest point, then set your cam gears to TDC and you should be good to go.

 

even easier on the crank there is a marking that lines up with that square part on the crank (where the crank bolt goes in). then the crank is set.

do each bank also, align the lobes on cylinder #1 to look like this " / \ " same for cam 4 on the other bank. Consult the fsm for additional information.

 

ok this is after i timed it. also on on the timing chain tensioner i noticed when i was turning the engine over with the starter that it was smacking really bad and was loud i think i am missing a piece but i have not found a good picture that will let me know does anyone looking at this notice anything wrong

 

listen and try to identify where the smacking is coming from. Its natural for it to make noises, coliding type noises but nothing too loud.

how are you turning the engine over with the starter? Best way is with the crank bolt and a long brake bar.

double check your timing before you seal it all back up, this job is much harder with the motor in the car. Line up the color links on the chain with their respective locations to help to visually see all looks well.

how do the lobes look? cyl 1 & 4?

 

i hooked a battery up to the starter to turn the engine over i have tried to time this car 3 times now and ever time it changes time on me so this time i used the start to make sure it was jumping off timing when it engaged. the noise is coming from the tensioner it is louder then i have ever heard it be in the past. i just thought there might be some plastic piece that goes between the metal on the tensioner and spring.

 

alright so i think i have finally got my timing right..... now for some bad news i have no compression still on the number 2 cylinder..... could this me bend valves from the timing beeing off?????

 

one other thing that might have something to do with the compression or not. i had to replace the exhaust cam on the front of the engine. can this make a difference i got the cam from a local junk yard.. just didn't know if this would make a difference or not.

 

yes (*edit- to post#34). And from looking at the very first pic in post #31, it was still 3 links off on that bank.

 

VQ's are short money, easier to pop in a new one than get a cam from the junkyard imho.

 

well as far as the cam goes i wantted to get it right away and it was only 14.99 at the local LKQ junkyard so i got...... well i think with this compression problem i am having now if i put the engine back together and put it in the car its still not going to run or at least good anyway.... does anyone here have a spare engine for sale i am going to check the classifieds now..... thanks for all the help and if any new ideas come up please let me know.

 

Where abouts are you located, I might have a few kicking around..........

 

i live in North Carolina