hey guys, its been a long time since ive messed with the maxima, i believe the timing chain jumped a few teeth when i installed my tt setup, and im wondering if anyone here can help me with how i can easily fix it.

i checked the timing with a timing gun and it looked like this:

---0




---15
---20



---<<where my timing is set

i believe the numbers above are correct, if not please let me know. i have a misfire in cylinders 2 and 3, crank and cam sensors have been swapped, injectors as well, ignitors are fine, and the harness is giving signals to all the appropriate places. now to analyze a solution:

it seems like my timing is far more advanced than it should be. if i loosen the tensioner and rotate the crank pulley CLOCKWISE then it should decrease the timing correct? is this a viable method to retard the timing mechanically? or am i stuck with having to remove the engine and taking the entire timing cover off and resetting it all from scratch?

thanks for the help.

 

Are we to assume that you checked the timing at idle, and properly, not just throwing the light on there?

If so, that's out of spec.


Err...what? Tell me you're not trying to 'adjust' the timing chain by just turning the crank with the tensioner loose. At best, that's idiotic. There is ZERO accuracy with that method.

You're confusing ignition timing with mechanical timing, apparently.

The timing chain never needs to be 'adjusted', that's why there's an automatic tensioner in there.

Though exhausting all other options, a misfire in cylinder 2 and 3 is indicative of the timing chain having jumped a tooth.

Absolutely no need to remove the motor to remove the front cover and reset the timing...

 

that is precisely what i believe happened. the tensioner is controlled through oil pressure, and the motor was without oil for a long time and pressure was not properly built prior to starting it the for the first time. if the chain jumped a few teeth then what other option is there to fix the problem? as i understand it the only way to fix this is to 'un'skip the chain manually. why do you say there is no need to reset the timing? what other option are you insinuating?

 

my timing is off and the mechanic i went to said it was gunna be like 2k to pull the engine and do all the work. he didnt check any engine codes and didnt say how the timing was off. but my car shakes so bad when at idle in Park or Drive

 

check coils first

 

pmohr is right. The only timing that the timing chain can change is the valve timing. Checking the timing with a timing gun will show you the ignition timing, not the valve timing.

 

yes but as i understand it, it is all inter-connected. the cam timing is controlled mechanically through the chain, yes, but there is a cam sensor that reads the position of the cams and feeds back the information to the ecu so it can determine proper ignition timing. if the chain skipped some teeth and caused the cam timing to be disturbed, then the ignition timing would suffer as a consequence. the only solution is to reverse the skip manually so that the cam timing is correct again and the ecu gets the proper signal at the proper time.

 

If the chain jumped some teeth, the ONLY way to fix it is by removing the outer timing chain cover, set the engine to TDC, remove the chain, then set your camshaft gears to the proper timing marks, make sure your still at TDC, and reinstall the chain and check the alignment against the FSM. You can not adjust your engine timing with the cover and chain still on.

 

The Cam Position sensor controls fuel injection timing.
Both crank position sensors control ignition timing.

If your chain has jumped a few teeth, I doubt the motor would even run and you should be throwing CEL codes for both cam and crank sensors and they would definately be out of phase.

 

Indeed. 99% of the time if the chain jumps, it won't run. However if it goes one tooth off (I forget on which of the sprockets), it'll run, just without cylinders 2 and 3.

http://www.asashop.org/autoinc/jan2001/techtips.htm

 

I hope you get this figured out since your car has been down a couple years just because of this. I followed your TT build thread and it would be sweet to see that thing run.

 

You need to start small then work your way up when trouble shooting a problem aka (scan tool) with live data read will tell you what the ecu is doing, if it did jump a tooth sometimes wont start if it does start will run like crap (firing order out of sequence), I rather pull the engine reset the timing on the cams and ignition lot easy to do it with the motor out of the car way faster!! I just put together a dek with 3.5 cams i installed last month.

 

If you really think this is your problem then do a simple, well simple to me, check.

Take the top timing cover off and set the motor to TDC. See if the gears algin with the timing marks for the cam gears. If they all line up while at TDC then that is not your problem.

 

haha, 1 post and hes allready an expert!!!!

 

Post count ≠ mechanical aptitude or experience.

 

^ +1^

 

He gave the most correct answer yet. But, since he only has one post, I guess it does means he is clueless. But, then again, it looks like some people can have almost 1,500 posts and be clueless.

 

HELP!!!!!!!!

I have done a search and I could not find anything. Being new I guess I could not start a new thread yet.

I was removing the timing chain tensioner on a 96 maxima and unfortunatly the piston and spring shot off before I could get it off the motor. They ended up falling into the motor. Am I lucky enough that they fell into the oil pan or am I just screwed?

Does anyone know anything about this? Please I am desperate.

 

They can't make their way into the oil pan (well, not the lower). They'll be stuck down by the timing gear on the crank.

Hope you get lucky with a magnet, otherwise you're going to be pulling the front cover. It's not that bad of a job, just takes some time.

FWIW, been there, did the same thing when I changed my water pump (though I dropped a tensioner bolt, not the piston/spring).

 

used a bendable magnet and was able to retreive both pieces fairly easy. Thanks.

Car is back together and on the road.