Just replaced the timing belt in my 1993 Maxima SOHC V6. This is an INTERFERENCE engine.

I know for a fact that the belt was on wrong at one point. I turned it by hand, and then with the starter. I can't tell in either case that the valves were hitting anything.

I have since learned enough timing belt karate to get the bloody thing on with all reference marks where they seem like they should be.

NO COMPRESSION on any of the three cylinders I checked, with a gauge. Before this, the cylinders would just about blow the hanging spark plug wire out of its respective hole on the compression stroke.

Did I bend the valves by cranking it over with the starter, after manually cranking it?

Thanks for looking!

-Joe

 

well heres the possible bad news....... when my timing belt went, i had no compression on 2 cylinders and low on the 3rd. the two that had none had holes in the pistons. i had a really extreme case.(assuming you have done all that you can) i would say go ahead and rip the valves off and just hope for the best. best case is that you just have to have the valve train rebuilt and at the same time do a cam from JWT while your there. worst case is what happened to me and you have to replace the engine. have fun

 

humm , timing off, turned starter - ne1 remember my incident ?

seems like you have bent valves pull the heads, take a look, bet you im right....

 

First I want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry because you're going to need a new engine. Second, I'm going to say it's not so bad because you can get a low mileage JDM engine and unlike me it didnt happen to you on one of the worst highways in the GREAT STATE OF NEW YORK (Long Island Expressway). My dad is still upset he had to tow me 8 miles home with his Cadillac Brougham

 

KRMaxima21,
it's a funny story but you didn't have to post it 3 times dude.

 

Sorry for the triple post. Didn't know I did that until I checked back this morning. Sorry guys

 

Hmmmm . . yank heeeeaaads . . get neeeew moootor . . well isn't that special

Well, no use cryin' over spilt . .

I don't see on the Web where Daddy can burn a bunch o' Franklins buying a JDM anything, much less an entire Max engine. I did find jdmperformance.com; what I saw was a Honda parts importer.

Can someone point me in the right direction?

Many thanks for the confirmation/moral support. I needed both.

Happy trails kidz,

-Joe

 

For giggles: does anyone know if a 1995-1999 Max/Infiniti motor would swap in?

My transmission has got the "slips" as well; perhaps I could do a wholesale drivetrain swapout w/a later model system.

As always, my tearful thanks to all.

lol

-Joe

 

sure with some elbow grease and money

 

why not get a 300zx turbo motor (z31 1986-1989 models) All you have to do is what mtcookson did.

 

i bet his slipping POS auto trans would really appreciat an extra 40hp

 

Should have clarified: anyone think a full engine/trans/halfshaft/ECU swap from a 1995-1999 Max would work without modifications, or significant mods??

Cya!

-Joe

 

have a clue:
http://internetautomart.com/gallery/VQ-in-3rd-gen

 

Thank YOU for the clue!

 

I have a full out suspension revamp put on the car less than a year ago. Best of everything down to the bushing/tower mounts. That's why I would rather save it than junk it.

I would MUCH rather have a 5 speed tranny. Anyone know if I would need a new ECU. If not, who could reprogram the existing unit?

 

AT ECU should work seeing that I have a JWT ECU upgrade froma a AT in my 5 spd and it works fine, however Its a VG. doubt its different in other engines though.

 

There is always the possibility that the cams are 180 degrees off... not very likely but still a possibility. It just seems like it would be pretty hard to bend all of the valves.

 

MT,

How would I go 180 degrees from the current position? I'm thinkin':

- set the cam sprock marks,

- turn the crank ONE revolution, coming back to the crank sprock mark.

Is that the ticket?

If this works, I'll sendya a six-pack of whatever! (malt, yoohoo, etc.)

 

When I was messing with my VG-T I couldn't really see the marks very well on the cam sprocket and what I thought was a mark turned out to be wrong. Luckily I just had it 180 degrees off which definitely made it not want to work correctly but spinning it back to the correct mark definitely made it better.

If you spin the cams with the belt off you'd be best off to not have any of the pistons at TDC so that you don't take the chance of bending them if they aren't bent. Probably the easiest way to see if they are bent is to just pull the valve covers off and maybe crank the engine over with a wrench. If they are indeed bent you'll probably notice that they don't look correct when attempting to go down.

If you can't tell from there pulling the heads is actually not all that bad and getting head gasket kits are usually pretty cheap if you hop on ebay.

If they are indeed bad... you could actually buy some heads from a salvage yard if that would be an option for you... Just glancing at car-part.com I found some heads for as cheap as 25 dollars. Now, you may not want to go that cheap since they don't really say what condition they are in but that's just an idea of how low cost they can be.

If didn't mind taking that route one major thing you would need to check is if there is any piston damage. I've not really heard of that happening to anyone before but I'm sure its still possible. That would just be a matter of taking off the heads and making sure there are no cracks or holes in the pistons. If there arent you should be ok to get the heads and headgasket kit, slap all that on, and be on your merry way

These are some lower cost options I can think of instead of buying the entire engine and swapping that out. Swapping the engine isn't all that hard but there is no reason to spend a lot of money on a totally new engine when there is the possibility of the fixing the original ones with some simple heads. I can think of a quick cost run down off the top of my head for each...

Complete engine - minimum I've seen in ok condition $500

Replacement route:
Heads - as low as $50 for both
Full head gasket kit - $75
Head cleaning, valve job, and checking/milling for flatness - ~$200 - $250 or so (really depends on the shop you go to)

By getting the heads you also have the option of easily replacing the studs. Since there are no tight spaces with them out you can easily remove them yourself and replace them with either grade 8 bolts or the turbo studs (which still aren't perfect. I've already broke one on my turbo engine).

Total cost before studs - $325 - $375 for freshly cleaned and milled heads
If you do the studs just add on whatever the cost is for them (I don't really know off the top of my head as I've never bought them but they should be pretty cheap).

Hope this helps!

 

That was AWESOME. I'm going to have a go this Saturday. I figured on removing and inspecting the heads.

Any idea what a set of aftermarket SOHC cams might cost? <dream> I would be looking for more torque than horses.

I am going to need a tranny rebuild/replace as well at some point. There are a BUNCH of G3 Maxs here (Nashville) and another bunch of salvage yards. I was toying with trying to buy an entire car, and discarding/selling what I didn't need. Saw one in the auto trader rag running well for $800, but haven't collected the particulars yet.

 

Not sure on the price of the aftermarket cams but JWT makes them www.jimwolftechnology.com