I hope the org can shed some light on this issue for me. I have already searched the org., internet and other Nissan forums for 3 weeks and haven't found any answers that directly relate to the problem I am having.

I have a 96 Maxima with the VQ30DE. I replaced the head gaskets and had the cylinder heads resurfaced and a valve job done. My problem is not being able to rotate the crankshaft once the timing chains are installed. Someone suggested my camshaft brackets might be in the wrong places. There is a number on each side of the cam brackets. Do they indicate anything? They seem important does anyone know about them? Even better does anyone have an idea why the crankshaft will turn before the timing chains are installed but not budge when once they are installed?

The camshafts are set to TDC and so is the crankshaft following the intructions in the FSM.

 

For reference I was able to upload a video of the cam brackets, sorry if the numbers are hard to see but I'm if you know what they mean the clarity won't matter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WttrVPSlnrY also

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Boq9NZKpE88

I thank you in advance for any help you can give me!

 

yea those camshaft bracket have to go back where you took them off,
i just got finish putting cams in my car and i mix a couple of them up and when i try to spin the crank it didn't want to turn, lucky i had sheet of print out where i number those cam bracket, when i switch them over the egine turn over

 

By chance does your brackets have a number on each side and/or a letter in the middle of the bracket. I had kept the brackets and bolts in an egg carton and was very cautious and careful about getting them mixed up. However I think my problem is whether I've placed them back in the right spot but not in the right way. I'm not sure if that would make a difference but it might.

It's strange I have numbers and letters but no one else does. Each bracket contains a letter A,B,C,D,E,F,G,J,K,L,M and P. It seems like some sort of order but what order, I'm glad you wrote yours down, good thinking on your part. I had each egg cart labeled and bolts placed in a whole I made with the bracket right next to each and still some how they got mixed. Wish me luck while I make sense of these clues. Thanks for the reply at least I know now it's gotta be the brackets like yours was.

 

There should be a letter stamped in the metal. Use the illustration in the FSM to put them in their original positions.

 

i have number on mine but i don't see any letter on mines

 

Thank you for the reply, would you know where in the FSM? I've looked through the EM section and haven't seen it unless I over looked it. Never mind I found it. Mine are in the right place. I'll check again and make sure the letters are facing the same direction.

 

Do you still have that print out? Maybe it would help me see which ones are in the wrong spot.

 

Yeah ill take a pic of the paper an email to u

 

Thank you for your help, I do believe I've corrected the problem of my crankshaft and camshafts not turning once the timing chain was on issue. The first bracket on the right (back) bank was put in wrong. The letter "A" on the bracket was facing the wrong way. I just turned it around and torqued it down then checked all the other brackets. They were all in right, I put the timing chain on and manually turned the crankshaft. The crankshaft and camshafts were all turning together finally! I can't believe 1 bracket could prevent everything from turning. Moving on to installing the timing chain cover and everything else. We'll see if there will be any other hang ups hopefully not.

 

Those Camshaft bearing caps not brackets and yes they should never be mixed up with any others.....1's are closest to the sprocket 4's @ the end of the head! They should have arrows on them as well ref to the cam sprocket (front)

 

I haven't seen any arrows on the caps only a number on each end and a letter in the middle.

My caps starting from the right (back) bank exhaust to the left (front) bank have these characters on them. Below is how they appear. Each number is next to the bolt hole on each cap and the letter is in the middle. If I uploaded it correctly the video or pics I posted up above should give you a good idea of what they look like. At this point everything is rotating with the crankshaft however the rear bank seems to want to pop forward a tad when the lobes roll of the valves. Not sure why. Thanks for any all help!

Exhaust: 8 2 2
A B C
1 5 3

Intake: 1 2 2
D E F
1 7 2

Intake: 6 8 3
G J K
1 2 2

Exhaust: 1 2 2
L M P
6 6 6

 

That good that u figure it out.
I just got my car running but I think my timing is off
it shakes. At idle