Can you believe it has been almost 2 years since I went through the dealer fiasco that lead to replacing the 99 Maxima's engine with one from a wrecked 95 model?

It was during the 2013 Thanksgiving holiday when problems started with the original 99 model's engine having low compression, clogged cats, and a couple of leaking injectors. So I replaced the original 99 model engine with one from a wrecked 95 model with under 78,000 miles. So far so good and no issues for approximately 20,000 miles. The 99 Maxima is my son's daily driver to/from school in another town.

So this week we've had some torrential rains that led to some street flooding. I think he got caught in some high water on the way home Tuesday or Wednesday. He said the car was sputtering while driving up a hill after one of the heavy rains. So I take the car out for a drive and it ran fine until after I had it warmed up for about 30 minutes, then I notice a slight miss at idle and under load going up a hill in 3rd gear. No codes though. So what could this be?

Since the plain copper NGKs that I installed in 2013 now have over 20,000 miles I decided to pull the plugs take a look and replace them with some NGK v-powers. At just over $2 each (w/local discount), how can I resist?

The first three plugs on the left bank looked great. The insulator tips looked like the picture of perfectly burning plugs. The gap was still 0.044. However, two plugs on the right bank (3 and 5) didn't have the same white grayish look on the insulator tip as the plugs on the left bank. I figure those may not be burning quite as hot. Since I had a couple of extra coils in my workshop, I decided to swap in different coils on cyls 3 and 5 to see if it matters. For the random misfire, when I pulled the coil on cyl #5, I found some drops of water along the boot. So I took a rag covered screwdriver and dried out the water from cyl #5 spark plug tube. So then I put everything back together and it starts up and runs great. No random misfire or popping. Problem solved.

Next Problem

When I started the engine I could hear the dreaded "timing chain slap" that is caused by a weak tensioner. Oh great.

Why didn't I replace the tensioner and guides when the engine was out a couple of years ago? It was because the guides looked like there were on an engine with less than 80,000 miles and the engine showed so little wear compared to original. That was a good assumption for a while.

So now I understand original replacement tensioners are no longer available through Nissan. The design changed somewhere along the way as so I've been told. That means pulling the timing cover for new guides and tensioner. My RTV job has held up so well over the past couple of years. That engine is dry as bone. I don't want to touch it!

So my question is has anyone tried using Mobil1 0w40 with some BG MOA to give a weak tensioner a little help?

 

I did my water pump recently at 200 k miles. There was no chain noise. I removed the spring, then stretched it less than 1/8 inch. I figured that the stretched spring would compensate for chain wear or what ever.

I'd suggest doing only enough work to deal with the tensioner, then reassemble.
Probably the easiest and cheapest fix at this point.

 

I agree. I had the tensioner replaced on the I30 at 225,000 miles. That wasn't a big deal. Though I understand I had purchased on of the last "original style" tensioners that was left before the design change.

BTW - The M1 0w40 with BG MOA did seem to help reduce the start up noise after I changed the oil this afternoon. There is still some rattle at about 2500 RPM though. I hope it doesn't come apart and wipe out the engine.

 

i've had chain rattle since i got my max back in 05 with 129,000 on her and she currently has 275,000. she has the original water pump, starter, and coil packs and i've done bg moa every other oil change and she quiets down after she warms up. it does work, my only problem is oil leaks, so it's kinda pointless even though i only lose about a half a quart or so between changes the bg helps to keep the oils viscosity from breaking down so i bet that's what keeps the tensioner from getting out of hand as well.

 

What is MG moa? Somehow an extinct giant bird from New Zealand driving a classic British sports car comes to mind.

 

Ok ok, Big Moa, by its self

 

BG MOA

 

Anybody know how that compares to Tufoil?

 

I don't know how it compares to any other additive. I actually bought it at the Nissan dealer about 3 years ago. It sat on my workshop shelf until a few days ago. I almost gave it away last summer. I'm the last person to use any type of oil additive.

This morning I started the Maxima and no rattle. I still can't believe the difference it made. I don't know if it was the M1 0w40 or the combination of that and MOA. Whatever it is, I sure hope it lasts. I've got both sides of my garage tied up and have no room to take on a TC guide and tensioner project until way into 2016.

 

Craig, This item is about twice the price of just the tensioner and you get a guide you might not need but this might be worth it it cuz you get the tensioner you likely need.



Also you might wanna try a 0W or 5W 30 instead of the 0W40.

With you getting noise at 2500 RPM, that indicates "to me anyway" that you might be having a flow issue internal to the tensioner mechanism.

 

Long story but I actually have a new tensoner in the box that looks like the one in the picture.

I bought a new water pump and tensioner for replacement during the engine swap. Since the tensioner was removed during the water pump swap, I wanted to replace it. Somehow the original tensioner design changed that prevented the new tensioner from being used. Since the new tensioner would not line up I wanted to use the new tensioners plunger, but that would not work.

The mechanic who did the swap said the original tensioner was fine. Naturally I was leery about the old tensioner after engine had been sitting for so long without being run. The old tensioner worked ok for almost 2 years.

Looking back, I regret not having tensioner and guides replaced with the new style while the engine was out during the swap.

 

I think I should run a oil pressure test just to verify there isn't a low pressure issue developing.