I wanted to gather all my questions in one post so I can stop having individual posts.

I would appreciate any input on any of these questions.

1. When I removed the old o-rings, they were intact but a little stiff. It worries me that this may not be the source of the leak, although I did find a little pocket of oil a little beneath the o-ring. I was expecting to see a trace of oil leading to the o-rings.

2. I bought the timing chain kit for $100 and it came with the whole shibang. Should I replace all the sprockets and chains? I read that the factory chains should last the life time of the car and I fear that this chain may not be as durable as the factory chain. Also I did not remove the secondary cam chain/gears. Should I disassemble those as well to replace the chain/tensioner/sprocket?

3. I did not remove the upper pan for this procedure even though the FSM called for it. What is the reason for removing the upper pan? Is it because to ensure a perfect seal when putting everything back together?

4. I did the both valve cover gaskets about 4 months ago and the upper pan 2 months ago. The moon seals still look like they're in good shape as well as the valve cover gaskets. Would it be okay to reuse them?

5. How exactly do I bleed/prime the tensioner before installing them?

any other tips or suggestions you guys have for me?

thank you to everyone who responded!

 

You are right there anyway. Replace them and know that you have one less thing to worry about for the future. The fact that the o-rings are hard means that they are aged and will start leaking sooner or later even if they haven't already.

Just do the tensioners. VQ30 series motors just keep going. There's a guy on here with 400K miles on his 2001 Maxima and there' s even a 3rd gen guy (yes I know, different motor, but still NISSAN!) with over 700K on his motor.....both have original internals. Besides, adding the sprocket and chain makes an already complicated job much more so.

No idea to all those. Hopefully someone else can chime in.

 

For the Upper Oil Pan (UOP) I learned the hard way to remove it before attempting to reinstall the TC and half moon. It is a mess when you have the TC all setup with RTV then the aw shucks moment arrives and you get to start over without the UOP. Amazingly the FSM is correct.

 

thanks for your guy's response. I will probably take off the upper pan to ensure a good seal.