Let me start by saying any help is greatly appreciated. The story is long and I apologize for that. On my way back to work my 90 Maxima out of the blue started to sputter very badly and seemed to lose all engine power. It was bad enough for me to find a spot to pull over if it was as bad as it seemed. Sure enough it died on the spot. I tried to crank it over but it wouldn't start. It would sputter 4 a few seconds and die. I noticed a squeak that had begun earlier in the week but didn't think it couldn't wait til the weekend. I started thinking fuel related and got 2 gallons and threw it in there( 2hours later). It started but didn't seem like it was all there. It was still hesitating very badly but enough to get me home from where she broke down (about 3 miles). When I got home I noticed a very bad clunking noise coming from the belts area on the p-side like a bad plastic bearing(if there is such a thing). I took all the belts off and the noise was still there. After removing the plastic from behind the passenger wheel it looks like a crankshaft damper or something all the belts run on was making this horrible noise. If this makes any sense please let me know and how do I get this damper off? The bolt is in there SOLID. Also, would this cause my ride to stop all together? Please help a dumb kid.

 

You, my friend, have a severly stripped timing belt. If you heard a clunking noise, you best get another car.

 

i'm a little ignorant here too, why are you so sure it's his timing belt and not one of the accessory belts? a bad alternator? bad bearing in the crank pulley or something seizing? wouldn't that cause similar problems?

 

Well, I don't believe that any of the accessory belts will cause a clunking sound. Reading the description of the problem, it sounds like his timing belts slipped a couple of teeth. Granted, the clunking sound could be something else like you mentioned, but from what I have seen in the past, I believe it may be the timing belt. I am--by no means--an expert; therefore, I could easily be wrong. Actually, I would hope that I am wrong and that the problem is something "easier."

 

He said he took all the accessory belts off and still had the sound. A bad accessory bearing will not make an engine sputter and die, it will cause the belt to slide over the now stationary pulley and cause smoke, maybe a small fire.

There are no bearings in the crank pulley since it's attached to the crankshaft directly, this is why the bolt is so tight. You most likely need an air ratchet to get that sucker off, but I've been able to get mine off with my car in 5th, someone holding the brake as hard as possible, and a long extension on a breaker bar.

Something is probably wrong with your timing belt, perhaps the tensioner went out causing the belt to skip a few teeth. If the belt is off one tooth you will have a sputtering engine. The more teeth = worse sputtering. Does the crank pulley wobble at all when it is running? VG's are occasionally known to warp their crankshaft snouts which will cause you to rebuild!

 

Yes, the pulley wobbles or at least sounds like it does when it's running with all belts off. Is this a rebuild situation? or can I just replace the pulley and check the timing? Thank you to everyone who replied I truely do appreciate all feedback.

 

If your timing belt slipped enough... you do realize that the noise could be the valves smashing against the pistons?