altima engine: timing cover seal replacement

[pnanda16]

Hi all,I own a Q45 and am very happy with it. My brother in law who lives in San Diego, has a 95 altima that has gone 60K miles. He took is for 60K service and got this dreadful phone call from the tech: the timing cover seal is broken. Replacement part less than 20$. replacement labour: 8.5 hours!!

Can anyone please tell more about what this seal is and what could go wrong if delayed, what would be the real time required? I am recommending Jerry Tucker's to him for the repair.

I know that the timing chain drives the camshaft and that we don't need to change the chain at 60K. Why did the seal break? Wear and tear? Cracked or something?

Any info/help on this would be great.

thanks a lotPNSan Jose, CA

[EZcheese15]

Not sure why it broke, but the only harm it is going to cause is the oil to leak.

[Rev_D21]

There is a Nissan Technical Service Bulletin about a leaking timing cover.

NTB95-058C: 1993-1998 Altima Front Cover Oil Leak

If an altima exhibits oil leakage at the front of the engine, i may be caused by the O-ring seal between the timing cover and the block.

(7 pages detailing the fix for this problem)

I can scan the pages for you but it won't be till the weekend because I do not have a scanner.

[drjohn]

The oil leak is only going to get bigger and the lack of oil pressure can cause premature chain failure and engine damage if the oil level gets to low. This cover can be resealed without cyl.head removal. It's your call but if I had it apart I'd do the timing chain at the same time. This would be a good job for the shop the cover is tricky to get out and if the timing chain is done wrong the engine will been the valves.

[pnanda16]

reverend D,it would be really great if you could provide me the scanned pages, email: [email protected]

As the car is out of manufacturer warranty (more than 5 yrs old), do you think the manufacturer still repairs this free of cost? I mean, this leak of the cover shouldn't normally happen!

Yes I understand djohn that a constant oil leakage is only asking for more trouble in the future. I definitely see that this repair be done at the shop. Are they going to take out the engine from the bay to remove the covers ? As the cover is in the front, they sure have to remove all the belts, distributor etc, right? How much additional work needed to replace the chains? I guess the TSB will answer all these questions. About replacing the chains, don't they have a very long life? On the other hand, although the car has gone only 60K miles, it is almost 8 yrs old now.

Any recommended shops in San Diego area? I know that jerry tucker shop (http://www.jerrytucker.net) is a well recommended shop for infiniti (particularly Q45) repairs. I assume they do nissan repairs too.

thanks a lot for all the helpPN1997 Q45, 88K miles.

[drjohn]

The engine doesn't need to be removed but depending on the shop it could run around 10-15 hrs labor. I'm in Fl. so I can't tell you of shops out your way. The timing can be done at the same time for alittle extra labor and the cost of parts. Have the shop take a look at the chain assembly and see what they say you maybe able to go another 40k to 60k on the chain if the oil leak hasn't been leaking to badly for to long.