Let me start off by saying I do maintainence on Z32s. I own a '91 Twin Turbo, and I do engine swaps, and timing belt / 60k jobs on the weekend for fun / extra money. So I'm knowledgable and I know what I'm doing...

K, now on to the question. I just bought the wife a '97 Maxima SE. Had 91,7xx miles when I bought it. Drove it home 830 miles from Chicago to VA. Drove great. Was averaging 69 mph for a 12 hour trip. Got up to 90 mph for some Anyway, it drives pretty good, except that it seems to hesitate a little when the climate control system is turned on. And its not an across the rev range hesitation, it varies as I accelerate and also when I change the amount of throttle I give it. But that's not what I'm asking about.

Its making a light clackity chain type noise from the motor. I've heard Z motors tick/knock/flutter... but I've never heard them make this noise. And since the Z motors have timing belts, and the maxima has a chain, I'm guessing either its never been changed or had maintainence on it, or for some reason it is now starting to make noise due to one of the various reasons that I found in the search (needs greasing, guides have failed, needs to be replaced, etc...). My question is, is it a fairly doable DIY job? I mean I do Z timing belts in no time at all... but then the motor is mounted length wise in the car, not width wise... and when I looked at the Maxima's motor, I noticed that one, the front of the motor is REALLY close to the fender/wheel well, and two, the motor mount bolts to the cover on the timing chain. So I'm guessing that to do the service, I have to get those covers off, and to get the cover off I have to remove the motor mount. But do I also need to jack the motor up slightly so I can get access to everything due to its proximity to the side of the engine bay? Anyone done this or know where I can find a tech page describing the process? I'm a frequenter of TwinTurbo.Net and over there they've got the 60k procedure documented. Anyone have anything like that for the Maxima? And if not, is it all explained in the service manual?

And regardless of all of the above... is it a DIY job? How much does the dealership normally charge to change the timing chain?

TIA,
KaZ

 

You are exactly right about stuff being really close to the Pass strut tower etc... If you can work on Z32s, then I can probably say you are more than qualified to do this work. One thing I would do it really try to determine it's the chain/tensioner/guides etc.. You wouldn't want to do this if it's not really the problem. Try to get the Nissan TSBs on the 4th gen and see if you can pinpoint the problem(2nd opinion so to speak). If you are pretty sure that's the problem, then I strongly suggest just getting a Nissan FSM and going from there. You will need it anyway before you dig into the VQ. Reading the fsm will probaly give you a better idea if you can do this w/o too much hassle. It should also describe if you need to tilt the engine or not. Good luck.

 

Yeah, that's what a figured... in reference to the service manual and everything... Any suggestions on where to get a good deal on a fsm? For the Z I can get them for around $70... But I think my father (who also has a '97 Maxima SE) paid over $115 at the dealership for it...

Anyway, thanks for the help! Its greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
KaZ

 

Either try an used book store or maybe Ebay.

 

i think the manual calls for around 11 hours for removal of the chain. we've done it before on my max and it took about that long. I wouldnt say its easy, but it is possible to do. Strongly suggest the factory service manual. there is alot of aligning you have to do with the timing chain and its good to have the manual for reference. Also recommend you replace the plastic timing chain tensioner if you are gonna replace te chain. Good luck....

 

there is a kit available, which comes with all tensioners, guides and chains, except no sprockets, for 200 shipped from thepartsbin.com

Sprocktes are 57.16 for 6 of them, and the crank is ~33 dollars. Do the water pump if you can while the timing cover is off.

No more chattering in the mornings after a cold start