Is my timing chain supposed to sag?

[ProjectCrazyS13]

hey guys im trying to get my new ka ready to go in the car and im going through everything while its out, one thing i noticed today when i pulling the valve cover was the timing chain was tight like you would want up top, i checked the tensioner just to make sure it was good and it was.

So i start turning the motor over by hand to check everything rotating up top, well i noticed when i got to tdc (i assumed it was tdc since the first set of cam lobes were point opposite of each other) the chain got ALOT of slack in it up top, is this normal? if it is, then why? just curious since i dont know. heres some pictures. thanks guys.

http://i99.photobucket.com/alb...t.jpg

http://i99.photobucket.com/alb...n.jpg

[NismoRacer34]

The tensioner works mostly with oil pressure, but there should be some tension from it without pressure. Your tensioner may be broke. But either way that chain is pretty stretched.

[ProjectCrazyS13]

the tensioner is good, i pressed in on it several times and it pushed right back, but the chain is tight once you start turning the motor over, and you can stop half way through and it still tight it just at tdc as far as ive noticed.What will a stretched chain do? can these motors jump time like the belt motors can? i know it ran great in my friends car.

[bruinbear714]

You need to hand turn the crank CW slightly to eat up the slack then check the tensioner to make sure it is taking up the slack of the whole chain. The tensioner has a hook to prevent it from going back in.

[ProjectCrazyS13]

well i did that and the tensioner felt fine, i pushed it in and it pushed my finger right back pretty good. thats what i was doing was rolling the engine over cw by hand and it does take the slack out, but like i stated when i reach tdc the and let it sit there it sags like you see in the pictures, i just thought that was alittle to much but im not an expert on these ka's im still learing alot about them.

but i can turn the engine over and leave it at anything but tdc and the chain it tight.

[ProjectCrazyS13]

as much knowledgeable input is greatley appriciated, i know the key is to buy a new timing chain, and im by no mean cheap, i like quality parts, but im tapped out because of this car, and it will be about a month if not 2 before i have more green to put into her but i have to have her up and running by next week.

[onosqv]

Don't worry about the slack - the car isn't running when you are checking it...

What you should inspect is damage to any of the links, etc.

You can check the tensioner, chain, etc all via methods outlined in the EM section of the FSM, depending on how far you wanna go: http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/240sx/91-94/EM.pdf

If it's been over 100,000 since the timing chain was last replaced, then obviously it's due for a replacement.

That being said, the slack looks normal to me. Remember that for KA24DE's, there is an upper & lower timing chain. It's the lower one is much tighter. The upper one has play when the engine is off.

[ProjectCrazyS13]

dude thanks for that fsm ive been trying to find that actually major help when working on the motor.