Hey all,

I am in the middle of my VTC rebuild, and took off the chain tensioner to see it look like this:


The engine has 109K miles on it. Does the tensioner's condition merit replacement or is it good enough to put back on? If it should be replaced, then how urgently?

 

thats about how mine looked in my old maximas. i put off replacement and it lasted 80k more miles. but then it started having problems. there not that expensive. so its realy up to you.

 

What kind of problems did you have with it? The tensioner is like $60 or so... which isnt too bad, I just need my car back together by Monday and I dont think the dealership parts department is open tomorrow even if it is in stock.

Unless there is an urging to do otherwise, I will probably leave it alone for now, and then go back in to replace them on both cams in a few months.

 

Here is one with 220k on it..it was pulled from a running engine..




Yours looks pretty good compared...

 

Just put in a new one. You have the old one out might as well put in a new one.

 

Just replace it so you don't have to tear it apart again later, save some hastle.

 

I dont mind the postponed hastle, because I'll probably do a few other things all over the engine at the same time with the added planning. Right now I just need to finish up the VTC repair and get it running, which I'll be doing tomorrow.

 

shoot me an email tomorrow if you still want to replace it. I've got 3 core VEs in the garage and I'll be cleaning it out tomorrow. if you still want it, let me know and I'll see if I can dig out the tensioners and see if mine are in any better shape. I'm down in Pearland. dunno where you are, but I'm open on Sunday when the dealers aren't.

 

the problems i had were random revving.

 

Did you do the test mentioned in the service bulletin? http://www.mattblehm.com/faq/VTC_tsb.pdf -Diagnosis bulletin.
If the tensioner took up the slack in the timing chain when cranked, then the tensioner is working and that surface wear isn't that bad. If the tensioner didn't take up the tension, when the oil pressure came up, and the chain kept on flapping, then replace it or you'll be pulling everything apart again real soon. If you retain the old tensioners, at least clean the top of them. There's an oil squirt hole in the top that gets covered with sludge.

 

After seeing the other one above I decided mine wasn’t too bad and just put it back in, the chain isn’t flapping I think. The VTC repair was a success, but now that the constant noise from the front is gone I can hear the rear one when cold, but its a bit more subtle... so that one is next in about a month.
Matt, thanks for the offer, too bad the forum was offline most of the day. I'm near Rice myself. If you have 3 VEs sitting around then there is a good chance I'll bug you about some part in the future, most likely I'll be ordering the grounding kit soon anyway.