99 Max with 300k plus miles. Original motor. On a cold start, I'm hearing rattle noise from the timing cover. Once engine warms up it goes away. My questions:

Worth it or is it even possible to replace chain, tensioner and guide on that VG. Way too many miles. Anyome ever done it? Or would it be better to start looking for a motor (if I can even find a decent one). It's my father-in-law's old car so it's got sentimental value.

Since the noise goes away, could it be an oiling issue causing oil not getting quickly enough to the the top?

Should I run a thicker oil to see what happens?
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Your problem has a high likeliness of just needing a TC Tensioner. The 99 has a removable panel to replace it without removing the whole TC cover.

Tight place to work but quite do-able. Oil viscosity change isn't the answer.

 

I agree.

It's possible that a bit of crud or deposits are causing the piston inside the tensioner to stick.
The piston does become free once the engine is warm.

Two options.

1. Remove the tensioner, dis assemble it and clean throughly.

2. Replace the tensioner.

I advise #2.

The job is a tad difficult, but doable.

 

I dont know if Your trolling, but I would say with 300k on the VQ, not VG. Odds are in your favor to adjust the oil and keep the filter changed. Roll on until it dies. These VQ's are cheap these days $350 or less. You will have 3 times that in o.e parts and time to do just the timing. Question of the day: What fails first, the Oil pump or bearing #3 ?

 

I’m in agreement re: the chain tensioner but I’d also suggest that you rule out the belt tensioner.

Although I’m not sure what process you’ve gone through to determine it’s the timing chain, but you might want to rule this out before you tear into things.

 

The original poster mentioned that he had 1999 Maxima. I'm going to assume that he has a VQ engine it.

Only the tensioner needs to be replaced.
There is no need to replace the timing chain.

This is far less work and less costly than replacing the engine.

 

You are in luck. You have a 99 model. I think it cost less than $100 to replace the tensioner. I've replaced the tensioner on every 4th gen that I've owned.

The 97-99 model VQ30s are the easiest years to replace the tensioner. There was a TSB issued for a supplemental gasket that I use on my tensioner replacements.

There are threads on replacement. Search on my ID CS_AR and keyword TSB.

Noted above, there is an access door on the timing cover. Make sure you have some slack in the chain and use a guide pin for the 1st bolt. Keep your thumb on the plunger so it won't pop out during removal.

Two videos for before/and after comparison.

Before Cold Start

After Tensioner Cold Start

 

This is the aforementioned Tensioner Gasket..

 

Thanks. Can you point me towards a thread with instructiins?

 

Any videos or threads with intructions? Thank you

 

Found your thread. Good stuff. Looks easy enough. Thank you

 

Mine is a 2003 with 170,000 miles and the same timing chain rattle. When I opened the TC cover to replace the tensioner, I noticed that the plastic parts on the main guide (left side) and the guide on the top side, were brittle. These plastic pieces broke apart during the tensioner repair. So I went ahead and replaced all 3 guides even the small one on the right side.

Given your engine has almost twice as many miles as mine, you may have to replace the guides too in addition to the tensioner.

 

That part # doesn't match up. Dealer tells me I don't need one. I see you hand wrote the last sequence of numbers. Can you verify?

 

what's the tsb#?

 

Here is the TSB... I have had that gasket and package stuffed in my toolbox for years, sorry for the part Number Mix up. The TSB lists all the correct Numbers for this TSB action. ✌

 

7.6 hours? Of labor? That can't be right.

 

Yes, that is what the Warrenty labor pays the tech flat rate, warrenty pay sucks. However the standard time is 10.8. Even then its gravy, I just did mine last weekend in car, the labor is not bad to do. This can easily be done in 6 hrs or less if I had to race the Clock ide guess. I replaced the main chain and updated the tensioner arm and used the gasket. The engine in my 95 is a 99 I30 engine ,which did require the gasket. Ive had it for years and figured why not. Honestly the most time Consuming task is the Cleaning. Besides that its a really straight forward job.

 

My 99 model has an engine from a 95 model. When I replaced the tensioner, I had to remove the timing cover and do the full guide upgrade. My 98 model Maxima and 99 I30 could be done through the access door. It was an easy job. I think the guide design changed in 97.

 

OMG, I'm an idiot. I read that as just replacing the tensioner through the access cover. 10 hours seem right for pulling the timing cover. My truck had the tensioners and guides done and the dealer billed 10 hours labor. Hats off to anyone who can do it in any amount of time.

 

That TSB requires pulling the whole cover. It is more than replacing a tensioner through an access hole. So you installed the gasket outlined in this tsb but only replaced the tensioner? How about the guide?