miccar

I recently purchased a one owner Maixma with 20,500 miles. Is there any preventive maintenance that can be done to avoid having timing chain tensioner issues? Does using synthetic oil help? More frequent oil changes? Anything? As for the transmission I think I will drain and refill the fluid every year just to be safe.

KevMaster

Synthetic helps for sure. My in-laws runs conventional oil and they are needing timing chain fixed. I switched from Maxima to Infiniti however I still have maxima as back-up car. I had first hard shift on tranny when I had 110k miles or something like that. I ran around crazy to get this fixed. At the end I did not and it still runs great at this point with close to 170k miles knock on wood three times Sure I did drain/refill tranny oil every 10k or more. As far as timing chain issues goes, yes I have some whining noise at 170k mark. So my motor survived till this far. However it could be belts or alternator but I will get it diagnosed soon if whining noise goes crazy. Being that my motor always got synthetic oil. I do not drive maxima that much ever since I got hands on Infiniti however my plans are if tranny goes bad then I will get it rebuilt with valve body together. If timing chain become an issue close to 200k then I will swap motor. In another word I am taking chances knowing it may be little more expensive than repair it now.

If your maxima is between 2004 to 2006 then...
Can you avoid both issues? The answer is NO.
Can you push both issues happening at later age? YES if you maintain properly.

miccar

Thank you for the response. I wonder what percentage of 2004-2006 Maximas had transmission and timing chain tensioner issues. Perhaps it's not that big an issue. I mean people only usually write when they have an issue. Maybe there are many more cars that never had an issue. Just wondering...

KevMaster

All 2004-2006 VQ35 affected with timing chain issue. All 2004-2006 automatic Maxima affected with transmission issues. These issues are not being judged by how many owners goes online and write their issues. Some owners simply do not post anything on wed about their issues. Many owners have no clue about these issues and they simply get it fixed under/over warranty.

Like I said both issues will strikes depending on how you baby your car. You can prevent both issues to be happening later than soon but that's all about it you can do. I do not want to scared you but that's the reality. If possible then do not waste money for unnecessary mods in your car but save-up for potential repair cost.

Oh and make sure you perform tune-up and watch out for exhaust crack/leaks. Either one will get your catalytic converters and you will have to spend thousands to repair them immediately.

If you maintain your car and do not abuse then 200k miles are easy to go without any above issues. There are some cars havent seen any above issues but facts needs to be verified and also the mileage needs to be verified to believe.

miccar

Thanks for the reply. I will probably do more frequent oil changes and transmission drain and refills with this car. I have had engines and transmissions replaced on some of my cars in the past (Chrysler 300M Pontiac GrandPrix). In my 300M I had an 18,000 mile engine installed for $2k and a tranny replaced for $600. I do have a mechanic friend who treats me more than fair, but a used transmission for the Maxima alone is several thousand dollars. Again thanks for the reply and Merry Christmas!

shredda

A royal purple rep told me that the lack of oil pressure in our engines can cause the timing chain guides to fail:

"That VQ35DE V6 has some well known timing chain tensioner guide issues, and since oil pressure is what holds the adjustment of the tensioners, and oil pressure is reduced when switching to lighter 20 weight oil, I’m not thinking it is such a great idea for an everyday street car."



You may be thinking, why not use a regular 5w30 oil, right? Well conventional oil has a tendency to shear over time, and or in harsh conditions resulting in a drop in viscosity, down to a 20 weight and sometimes as low as a 10 weight oil(or lower)



I would recommend using a high quality synthetic oil like amsoil, redline or royal purple(Castrol and quaker state are good too) and do regular oil changes.