Hi Guys!

I know I am new to this board so I want to thank you for even looking at my post! I was driving home about an hour ago when my engine shut off on me. I felt my car losing power before it happend. I shut off the car ASAP opened my hood and seen that both my belts were disconnected. I smelt a burning smell for about 5 secs and then pushed my car to my parking spot. Any ideas of why this happened? I am really not the mechanic and was wondering what and how much this would cost to repair? Thank you!

 

I have been reading about "timing belts" and I am crossing my fingers that this did not cause any major damage. The belts that fell off are on the outside pulley's I believe. I have a 93 Single Cam engine V6. Any info or suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

The timing belt isnt visible unless the engine is apart, so I'd say it's not that...

In the case that the belts just broke then all you need to do is buy new belts and get em on. Belts should be about $10 a piece, and you can install them yourself.

If however the belts didnt break and just came off for some reason then they probably werent on there tight. In that case, put belts back on and tighten properly.

 

Thanks JAMES! I was s****** bricks for a moment! I wonder why they would just fall off like that?? I have been driving the car for 2 years now and have never experienced a problem with them. I did recently bring my car into a mechanic shop though to replace my control arm. I'm guessing they either were never on properly, or the shop is trying to scam me for more $$$. Thanks again.

 

Well I thought that just my belts came off but waking up this morning and going underneath my car, I found that the bolt holding the crankshaft pulley had snapped! I am really hoping that this did not affect the timing belt in anyway because it seemed that the pulley was still in place with the timing belt. Saying that, I am going to replace all the belts on the car as well as the water pump and tensioner. I will also have to drill out the broken bolt that was holding the crankshaft in place. Has anyone gone through this before? Do you guys think that this possibly ruined my engine? Any info would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

for some reason i doubt it's that easy.
it's possible that the snot of the crank broke off. t-belt broken or not you'll need a new crankshaft.
but that's the worst case...but i doubt it's just a broken bolt.

 

Well I just got back from Nissan with a new found hole in my pocket.

$382.35 for 3 Belts (Fan etc)
1 Timing Belt
1 Water Pump
1 Tensioner
1 Crankshaft Bolt
1 Crankshaft Seal

I need to drill out the remaining part of the bolt(crankshaft). I was possibly thinking of brining it to a mechanic and paying for the labor costs. From reading some of the posts in the archive I was thinking that the entire job may take 3hrs max...Does that sound reasonable? Would you risk ttying to take out the bolt on your own? Thanks

 

1. I wouldn't attempt this unless you have a service manual.

2. it is possible for some people to do the work themselves, but you have to be comfortable with tearing down half of your engine. If you feel you're up to that, then get to work. It will take 3 hours MINIMUM. the Timing belt replacement takes several hours itself, let alone the water pump and drilling out the broken crank bolt.

Before you get to all that part, I would seriously consider cranking the engine over and seeing if you have correct compression in all 6 cylinders.
That bolt broke for a reason. could be that the mechanic messed with it, or that the belts were too tight, or something, but it didn't just break from being old and worn out.

Worst case scenario is that the crankshaft itself is broken. not good. (buy a new engine.)

best case is that the bolt broke because the belts were too tight.. you still have to worry about the bearings in the alternator, PS pump, water pump, etc.

could have been the water pump siezed and caused the bolt to break/belts to jump ship also.


Again, the first thing you need to figure out is WHY the bolt broke. otherwise if you just put all the parts back together, you could be doing this all again next week.

good luck. doesn't sound like fun. Glad I'm not you!

 

I know it's not really a laughing matter, he just says it so nonchalantly.

"yeah ya know..just throw a new engine in there, no biggie!"

Just kiddin with ya! Hope everything turns out ok!

 

Well so far I have found that it is not the Crankshaft because it is in proper position and is very sturdy. I just went by two mechanic shops and they fed me some BS that they cannot do a compression test without me leaving my car there for a week! I am going to cross my fingers and hope it was because of a tight bolt. I will replace all the parts that need to be replaced and see how my baby responds. Thanks again!

 

this happened to me on my '89. what happened is the crank pulley wore out a groove onto the crankshaft & therefore was wobbling. all my belts came off in the same scenario like yours. a reputable Jap shop said they've seen this before & can "rig" it to work for another 65K miles, but no warranty. it required an extra key & JB weld. it did run good for another year at least...but you say you see the bolt broken so maybe thats all.

 

I'm assuming you drove another car by the shops, or you're driving yours?

anyway, you can buy a compression tester for $10-30 at most parts stores and tool shops.. then you can do it in your driveway in about 15 minutes. compression should be around 160 if all cylinders are okay. the ones closest to the messed up end of the crank are the ones that will be messed up. (if the crank broke, the first few cyls will still turn because the started is connected on the transmission end. the ones on the far end of the engine won't turn, thus you get 0 compression).

let's hope that doesn't happen...

where you located, anyway? If you're anywhere near Tulsa, I've got a spare enging in my parts car that needs a home in the next few days before I give it to a junkyard. let me know if you're interested.

 

I doubt tight belts would cause a steel bolt to snap..not impossible, but not likely either. I would check your crank puulley for out-of-roundness (for lack of a simpler term). A wobbly pulley would work that bolt until it snapped..like bending a paperclip until it breaks..called fatigue fittingly enough. Either that or the bolt was loose or overtightened at some point. The same thing would happen. But tight belts USUALLY would burn up and snap before a bolt did. Good luck. the hardes part will be getting that piece of bolt out..get yourself some cobalt drill bits and a good extractor set. start by putting a dimple in the center of the bolt (if that is possible..very difficult depending on how the bolt fractured.) then drill with the appropriate sized bit for the extractor and cross your fingers. running a tap to clean up the threads in the hole wouldn't hurt, as they have been stressed a bit. Good luck.

 

I have an 89 gxe with 208,000 miles and I have had the engine replaced but prior to that I noticed that my crankshaft pulley was lose so I had the mechanic tighten it. Now that I have the newer/used engine it looks like it is on there tight but you can never me sure.

 

True, you can never be too sure. I haven't checked my crank pulley bolt, that's for sure! Hmm, maybe I should.

 

Well I am f***ed basically...The crankshaft actually is broken. It looks like the shaft broke first and then the bolt finally gave. How can a stupid piece of rubber (timing belt) break metal? Even if it was a little too tight it seems hard to swallow...Well I guess that's Japanese workmanship for you. Thank you for all your help guys. Unless I can somehow persuade Nissan to cover the labour costs for this matter I am going to push my Maxima off of a cliff!

 

Were there any indications of this before it actually broke. I am just wondering why it actually broke. DO you perform regular maintenance? What mileage are you at? It is unusual for a crank to break on a stock engine. There are guys with vg 300z's running 300+ horse and don't have this problem. Our cranks have been known to handle 400Hp without faltering.

 

I have around 190,000 KM on the car. The car is maintained properly. Just had new wheels, a control arm and an alignment done on it a few months ago. I purchased the car used when it was at 127,000 KM's. I felt something strange while I was driving, like the car was not accelerating as it should. I then felt something give so I shut off the engine right away.(2-4 second span) I pushed my car the rest of the way home. When I got under the car I seen the belts loose. When I tried to put them back into place I noticed the crankshaft pully was loose and the bolt just fell off. It seems like the crankshaft itself was broken first and that the bolt gave afterwards.

 

It is always possible that you were just dumb "lucky" to get the one in a ew hundred thousand vg cranks that broke..could have been a manufacturing defect from day one that decided to show it's face this far down the road. Sorry baout your trouble. Waht are your plans (assuming you WON'T be pushing it off a cliff)...might be a good time to go for a VGT conversion. All you really need is the motor with turbo (no intercooler to worry about), ecu, and some patience. Won't cost you any more if you shop around for a good deal on the powerplant (get the vgt from japan). This guy from z31.com got his for 650 with turbo..claims it runs like a top! I have a pic of one, don't now how to attach it to this message. Tell me how and you will see a striking resemblance to what is under your hood now.

 

damn did i call that one or what!
don't knock japanese workmanship on this one. it's all about the t-belt tension. if it's on TOO tight it'll eventually break it. think of how much is behind that crank snout. good luck trying to get nissan to pay for it. i would say your best bet is getting a used engine and dropping it in.

 

just put the link on here.