HOW-TO: Fix Your Timing Chain Rattle

Post by **ILikeMy240sx** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 12:33 pm

HOW-TO: Fix Your Timing Chain Rattle

Post by **Veriest1** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 12:46 pm

Nice right up. It was very informative and the pictures were great.

It'd be more usefull if I had a DOHC though.

Post by **4felix20** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 12:47 pm

do i hear angels singing..!?

damn. thanks ALOT man. that is a very nice write up with VERY nice clear pictures too. i think you should get a free NICO shirt or something..

Post by **ILikeMy240sx** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 1:31 pm

Thanx guys for the compiment.

Just giving back to the community that has given me so much.

Post by **D1SR240** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 7:04 pm

Nice write up, now your sig kinda matches mine.

Post by **ILikeMy240sx** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 7:20 pm

Ok I admit it... Yes, I copied the idea from you hehehehe.

Post by **Tsukai240** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 9:31 pm

GR8 WRITE UP i'm probably going to use your instructions soon. ( I H8TE THAT DAMM RATTLE )

Post by **phuphyter** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 2:59 pm

Can a mod sticky this in the tech forum?

Post by **s13EastTN** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 4:36 pm

That picture of the distributor will certainly come in handy for getting my timing in place.

Post by **spider_slayer** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 8:55 pm

this should definitally be a sticky thread

Post by **DammitBobby** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 3:08 am

I have read how to do this many times but this article is the best I have seen. Please make this one a Sticky!! Great Job!

Post by **ILikeMy240sx** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 4:31 am

Thank you all for your compliments.

Mods, do feel free to move it to technical and make it a sticky there if youd like.

Post by **Jookmasta** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 6:49 am

great write up. i havent seen anything like this b/f when it came to our timing chains. u may have just saved the existence of all 240s...............

Post by **skydragoness** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 8:35 am

You're the man now dog!!!

I've been real upset/worried/nervous/paranoid about my timing chain, it's not going bad yet. But i do hear the tell-tale rattle now that i have 113k on the odo. This writeup makes it look easy enough that me and my bf could tackle it. Since the FSM seems so cryptic, and pictures/specific guidlines REALLY help. This is a simple way of getting in there and cleaning house/checking out the guides. And since my mechanical fan and the shroud are gone, there's definitely plenty of room for me to try this out.

You ROCK.

Post by **gabossie** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 2:10 pm

Very nice write up. Only one little mistake, the KA block is iron, not alluminum

Post by **ILikeMy240sx** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 2:57 pm

Yes you are right the bottom block is iron but the head is Aluminum.

edit: WTF I said block is alum in the write-up lol fixed. thanx for the correction.

Post by **Zyphar** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 6:24 pm

very nice how-to! very informative and visual!

just 2 quick questions...

1. You stated that you needed a timing light. In what step do u use it ? or did you not use it at all?

2. In order to reach the lower tensioner and guides another cover must be taken off correct ?

Post by **ILikeMy240sx** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 6:27 pm

1. After you put everything back together... you have to make sure that your timing is correct because you are taking off and putting on the distributor which adjusts the timing. If you make a mark on the mount/rotor I described and you did not rotate the engine then you probably won't need it but its always good to check.

2. Yes the front cover must be taken off which is a long process and a PITA procedure if your engine is in the car from what I hear... BTW, you can still see and play with the lower tensioner with only the camshaft sprocket cover off.

Post by **jgtc_s14** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 1:38 pm

thanks very very useful

Post by **Silverbullet91** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 4:39 am

Is the picture above showing which way to rotate the distributor for advancing/retarding correct? I thought that the rotor button turned clockwise and therefore turning the distributor clockwise would retard the ignition and counter-clockwise would advance the igniton. Am I wrong? Somebody please correct me.

Post by **ILikeMy240sx** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 5:32 pm

Nope, the way I have it in the picture is correct. I originally thought the same thing but it turned out that I was wrong.

Post by **Tsukai240** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:17 pm

once again thanks for the great write up. 2 questions:how do you incerase your oil preasurewhat are the part numbers on the new tensioners

my timing chain is sooo loose i'm having very noticeable timing drift. (oh and its fugging NOISEY)

Post by **ILikeMy240sx** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 2:35 pm

your oil pressure is low when something is wrong for example oil pump, oil filter and maybe the oil pick up in the oil pan, or something is blocking the passage...

You can go to sites like midwaypartsteam or nissanparts and search for timing tensioner for your car and it will give you the part #

Post by **nismofly** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 8:08 pm

somebody do this for the SOHC!!

not going to be me either lol...im waiting for it so i can do it myself

Post by **240sx2nr** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 12:39 am

dope write up.... imma for sure do this on my zenki cause the tick is super annoying

Post by **sanioll** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 10:11 pm

god, this is a great write up, you relieved so much from my shoulders.

So thats where the noise is coming from. its simply the guides.

youre a genious!

i'm simply not going that deep, i have to look into FSM learn at bit more about the engine before going that deep.

But, can I just remove the top guide and leave the bottom guide inside?

I think on mine its only the top guide making that noise. I hope its okay to remove only one. this doesn't cause any kind of looseness in the chain does it?
Modified by sanioll at 3:48 AM 3/21/2005

Post by **ILikeMy240sx** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 2:37 pm

You can just remove the top guide but alot of people have reported that even with the top one removed, they still hear slight ticking and trust me most of them regret that they didnt remove the #2 guide while they were removing the #1... As seen in the picture above, its clear that #2 guide also has wear on it. Sooner or later depending on the condidion of the tensioner, that wear is going to get bigger and bigger until the guide snaps, falls into the front cover and breaks the chain and kaboom (worst case scenario)... I suggest you remove the side guide while you are at it.

BTW, the chains are hitting the guides because the chain is loose. So be sure to clean and check the condition of the tensioner instead of just removing the guides. You can do this for both bottom and top tensioner with the camshaft sprocket cover off so go ahead and do the entire job while you are at it

Post by **sanioll** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 3:48 pm

see i'm still a virgin when it comes to engines, set tdc at compression stroke, etc... i donno what that even means. so i gotta look into FSM more and learn a bit more to get more comfortable doing it

i'll just remove the top guide for now, also my valve cover is leaking since i switched to mobil 1. so i gotta take it out, probabbly replace the gasket and apply some seal.

Post by **ILikeMy240sx** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 4:40 pm

TDC - top dead center. When the piston is at the highest point.

Compression stroke - This is the stroke of the piston that compresses the fuel and air mixture before cumbustion.

TDC at compression stroke. The highest point of piston when its compressing the fuel and air mixture. So TDC at exhaust stroke would be the highest point of piston when its letting the exhaust out of the cylinder.

Hope this helped. If you have any questions feel free to email me or im me or post here.

Post by **sanioll** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 5:27 pm

sow how do youj know that TDC is at compression stroke? Do you start and stop the engine until its aligned??

^--blonde/redneck style --^

HOW-TO: Fix Your Timing Chain Rattle

HOW-TO: Fix Your Timing Chain Rattle

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