^^^^ I totally agree with Scottwax on this one.....

 

me three.

No repair on any car should ever cost more than $1000. (mechanical) used engines aren't that expensive, $2600 is a total waste of $ on a car with that many miles. The car is probably only worth that much.

 

How dare they assume that you will buy this crap quote!

 

what timing chain? my car doesn't even have cams. lol

 

2600 seems a bit steep. Minus the engine how much does an engine swap cost if you do it yourself? I mean once you buy an engine what all do you normally replace while you have it. Lifters, valves, cams, knock sensor, Phenolic Spacer, Tensioners for belts.....? It just seems like a much better idea to put a new engine in than to replace the parts on an engine that involves removing the engine.

 

lol the kid i bought my Maxima from told me i was going to " have to do the chain soon " , i looked at him like wwaattt??! He said the dealership told him he needed to replace it every 120,xxx.


um hello, it's a chain made of metal and whatnot, it's not a rubber belt.

 

Hi im new to this forum and I dont mean to hijack this thread but I have a question for you all.

After reading this thread, Im thinking I may have a timing chain problem with my 2003 Maxima 3.5. I just bought this car 2 days ago and it ran perfect until today after the oil was changed. About 30 minutes after changing the oil my car started making a loud knocking noise coming from under the hood. When I drive it the noise is not as bad at times (like the faster I go the less I hear it).

But the noise is very loud! I want to know if it could be an issue with the timing chain? If so is it safe to drive? Also, the oil light flashes randomly. My friend changed the oil and did put 5 quarts instead of the recommended 4.5. Could this be the cause of the scary intimidating noise?

I know absolutly nothing about cars, especially problems....any advice and ideas would be greatly appreciated. Oh, I am in love with this car, this is my 1st time owning a Maxima and I love it!!!!!

 

no, probably not timing chain related. the knocking noise might be from oil starvation OR it is possible , but i have never heard of an oil light being on from too much oil.


too much oil usually results in misfires/idling rough/sluggish ( also depending on how much oil was put in. )


the oil light will only flicker if the level is low. I'd have your friend use an OEM filter and the correct oil weight to start. ( 10w30 if i remember right ) ...

 

Thank you for your reply. I believe you may be right about it not being the timing chain because I have done a little research and it really doesnt sound like a timing chain problem.
It is the worse feeling buying a car and not being able to drive it. Hopefully I will get it fixed Monday, thank God I have a warranty.

 

I would've thought this was bs too until I read this story:

http://jalopnik.com/5559767/i-sold-e...yline=true&s=i

All that driving does have a price and now the car has even less value. After all the hard driving and long miles, the timing chain stretched, crunching the valves and turning the car into an exotic and expensive paperweight.

Yes, I know I'm comparing Maximas an Gallardos but apparently timing chains can stretch and do break, at least on Italian supercars. Someone in mentioned in the comments that on Lamborghinis, the timing chains have to be adjusted every 5k miles! I guess this is one reason why most Italian exotics are relegated to being trailer queens. What good is an awesome car that you're afraid to drive though?

 

Hi, I am new to this Maxima forum and am a novice. I am the original owner and have a 2000 Maxima GLE with 156000k. Over the last year I have noticed when the engine is warm/hot with a heavy acceleration I get a noticeable engine "knocking" noise. I use premium fuel. No noise with normal acceleration. I do regular maintenance as per the manual. It doesn't knock when the engine is cold or at startup. It has not got worse but just a pain with the noise. I have had it into the Nissan dealership the last couple of days to determine the problem. They scoped it and determined the car requires a new timing chain. The cost is about $2200.00 Canadian. Could it be something like the tensioner/water pump?

Is there a less expensive solution? Should I get a second opinion? Any suggestions would be appreciated.Thanks in advance.

 

for about half that cost you could just get a whole replacement engine installed .

the VQ30DE is a widely used engine and are easily available.

check ebaymotors or google

 

+1

i found 2 for ~600 bux and i hardly looked

 

hey guys my car is making noise, it has been for a lil while, would i be able to get away with just the tensioner or should i go in and change all the guides tensioner and chain?

thanks for any input

edit: could someone tell me what parts exactly would i need if i was going to take on this task? i would be able to do it myself but im not sure exactly what i need

i found this looks like a good deal huh?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...#ht_2614wt_939

 

I just replaced a 215k motor with a rod knock with a 80k motor, the motor itself was only $500 and I had a shop put it in for $1100....so you could have a practically new motor for what they are quoting you on just a timing chain job. Also, most of my experience when timing chains are involved, replacing the tensioner can at the very least prolong the need to actually change the chains themselves.

 

A little late to this thread but I have a 2000 GXE that has a noise that I have been told is from the plastic guides being worn for the chain. I was quoted 12 hours at $1100 for everything. I don't really want to pay that and it looks like it would be far better to get a brand new engine. My question is, if I just kept driving it as is with the noise, how bad is that for the chain? Would it likely cause short term damage or are we talking more long term? Appreciate any advice.

 

I seriously doubt you'd be able to buy a good replacement engine and get it installed for less than $1100.

If the chain is making noise, trouble could happen at any time, even in the short term. Damage will only get worse and more expensive. Get the guides fixed before something bad happens.

 

You need to inspect it yourself. It's highly unlikely. Tensioner? Sure.

 

I had a buddy of mine who is a mechanic look at it while he was in town and he said that the plastic guides had cracked and needed to be replaced. I got a quote on that from a local shop which was the $1100. How would I be able to verify if it is just the tensioner? Appreciate your help.

 

Some 3.5s have had the top part break and it slides down some missing the tensioner. If you take off the access panel (and motor mount), you'd be able to get a good look at the main guide.

The only way I could see them being worn down is if the oil was hardly ever changed (in which case the motor should be toast anyway).

 

I'm not 100% sure about the 2000 Maxima, but I know on my 2003 Maxima there is a small access cover for the Primary Tensioner. Open it and you will be able to see if it performing correctly. Here is an example of a GOOD tensioner:

 

Yes, the VQ30DE has an access port to inspect the tensioner and you should be able to see the guide using a mirror.

Just to be able to check it, you'll likely need to remove the side motor mount and power steering reservoir. It's really close to the frame rail and those 2 are right in the way.

Also, there's no gasket, so make sure you've got some RTV to reseal the panel.

Sorry for the 5-second MS Paint edit, but the green shows where the PS Return Line runs pretty much right in front of the panel making it near impossible without removing/moving the hose/reservoir to access the panel.



Yet again, another bad picture but it's a great angle to show you how the mount and reservoir are in the way. Sorry. It's a VQ35, but the panel is in almost exactly the same position. You can see it peeking the top right corner bolt out behind the motor mount and the reservoir.

 

does It leak by where the P/S oil pump mounts to? I did VCG's and still tiny bit of raw oil on the pump only.

 

217k on a 2000. Never did anything to the timing chain.

 

Youtube to the rescue, check out these vids which I think illustrate the issue and necessary repairs. It looks like a pretty big job indeed just to either pull the engine or tear down the engine while mounted. I have had some chain rattle in the past but it was due to low oil. It's super important as the vehicle ages to ensure your oil level is full. Personally I don't plan on doing any of this maintenance unless absolutely necessary.

 

According to the FSM the oil pressire switch will pick up 56psi at 2000rpm's.
Have you had an oil lamp flicker?
If your chain rattles it may be low oil pressure.

 

I've not experienced any oil lamp flicker issue from what I can tell.

The oil pressure kicking in at 2000K might explain why my Maxima revs hard to around 2000K on a cold startup. In my case I believe the previous rattle was likely due to low oil pressure (low oil level, plus cold start). My next oil change I'm going to put in a premium oil filter that has a good anti-siphon feature. My cheapo filter might also be contributing to this issue as well.

 

In addition to an oil pressure test (which I dont think you need because you basically cleared that problem by mentioning that the oil light is not flickering)
Id recommend hooking up a scan tool and monitoring the timing in degrees as the engine is running at idle. If it falls below 10 then id say its possible you need a new chain kit.
What else could cause it to fall below 10?
BTDC(before top dead center) is 15 degrees at idle here so +/- 5 ? I forget.