J30 Timing Belt Replacement Procedure

[95-J30tt]

TIMING BELT REPLACEMENT OF INFINITI J30 Y32 SERIES “VG30DE” ENGINE

Hello everyone, the timing belt of the VG30DE engine is to be replaced every 105k miles “160k Km”; it is a major component in the engine as it synchronizes the opening and closing of the valves with the movement of the pistons. I have been thinking of changing the belt for a long time before I attempted the procedure. I referred to the service manual for this job and also online links that were for the Nissan 300ZX engine, which by the way is exactly the same engine as the Infiniti, but the space in the engine compartment is slightly different which makes the procedure slightly different. Our engines are high interference engines which mean that if the timing belt failed for any reason, the pistons would collide with the valves and break them, which means in simple words getting a new engine…… This job doesn’t require an experienced mechanic, anyone with an interest in engines and a reasonable amount of simple tools can attempt this replacement, if you follow this procedure you will be avoiding many of the mistakes I had gone through, and this job shouldn’t take more than 10 hours, remember to take your time in aligning the new timing belt.

Parts list: 1) Original Nissan timing belt2) Nissan thermostat (optional)3) Auto timing belt tensioner (optional)4) Liquid gasket maker5) Preferably new premixed coolant

What you will need in tools: 1) 8, 10, 12,14 mm sockets with one long and one short extension for a big and a small ratchet2) 10mm and 14mm elongated sockets3) Preferably a ¼ inch head ratchet and a 3/8 head ratchet4) 27mm socket that fits into a breaker bar “usually ½ inch head”5) 2 pairs of pliers, one long nose, and the other is normal6) Clean bucket that can hold up to 5 liters of coolant7) Funnel8) Ramps to put the car up on, I used ramps that I got for 25 dollars from a local hardware shop, they can hold up to 2 tons, this job can just as easily be done with jacks if they are secured9) Screw drivers, average length, one flat and one Phillips10) A helper would make things a lot easier11) Pulley Puller, it can be rented from a local auto parts shop 12) 5, 6 mm hexagonal head sockets13) Penetrating lubricant.14) Torque wrench, can be rented from a local auto parts store

Precautions: Do not attempt this job without safety measures; make an extra effort to secure the car in place. Put the car up on jacks or ramps, apply parking brake, make sure you put something behind your cars tires to hold it in place, once the car is up, remove the battery (2x 10 mm elongated socket to remove the clamps and the battery holder.) Remove the mud guards under the engine (plastic cove). This job can be done only when the engine is cold.

Procedure:

What I did first is I used the penetrating lubricant and sprayed the crank bolt thoroughlyRemove the air filter and disconnect the air ducts from the mass airflow sensor, It wasn’t easy to remove the MAF plug, so I just kept it connected and I placed the MAF unit on top of the engine

Remove the air ducts, this will require removal of the two 10mm bolts holding the ducts in place on the radiator side, make sure to loosen all clamps on air ducts before you remove them, don’t forget that there is an air duct right beside the air filter box on the bottom, loosen the clamp and remove it.

Insert a clean cloth on each side of the intake

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prepare the bucket and place it under the radiator, you will find a circular black plastic screw on the passenger side of the radiator, it will be accessible from the bottom of the engine compartment, unscrew it, and make sure that the screw doesn’t fall into the bucket. Remove the radiator cap, that way the antifreeze will drain a lot faster.

On each side of the radiator, you will find a transmission cooler pipe, prepare two bolts and remove the transmission lines, right when each pipe is removed from the radiator, insert a bolt into it, that way no transmission fluid will leak out, the transmission cooler is in the bottom of the radiator (it is part of the radiator) and will not leak transmission fluid because the car is on an incline, and the engine is not on.

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loosen the nuts holding the fan assembly (4 10mm nuts, make sure you don’t lose the washers) don’t loosen more than half a turn each as the belts are still on and are still tensioned.

Loosen the alternator belt, by loosening the locking nut and adjustment nuts, both 12mm sockets.

Loosen the air conditioning belt, same way but you will have to loosen the idler pulley 14mm, and then loosen the adjustment bolt

Loosen the power steering belt, use a 14mm socket and insert it through one of the pulleys holes to loosen the assembly rotation bolt, and then loosen the locking nut and adjustment bolt, for some reason I had to loosen the rotation bolt a lot to get the assembly to move

Once the belts are loose, remove the bolts holding the fan assembly, the water pump pulley will also become looseRemove the upper and lower radiator hoses, the lower will leak out antifreeze so be prepared, move the coolant bucket under the crank pulley before removing the lower radiator hose

Remove the upper radiator support, there are two nuts 10mm on each side of the radiator, then remove the top brackets, then remove the radiator and the fan assembly at the same time, be careful not to damage the AC condenser

If you have followed the instructions above, this is what you should see:

[95-J30tt]

The following step might sound a little scary, but it actually went smooth and easy, according to the service manual, the starter has to be removed and a suitable tool “flat head screwdriver” should be placed in the now exposed flywheel gear to hold the crank in position when removing crank bolt.

You can find the starter on the passenger side near the oil filter, it has what seems to be a heat shield covering it and taking the shape of the starter, remove the 3 screws holding the shield using a 10mm wrench, that will expose the two 14mm bolts holding the starter, prepare a suitable block or box and place it under the starter so you can place the starter on it after it has been removed, I used one of my tool boxes, use the 14mm elongated ratchet to first loosen (loosen not remove) the lower bolt, and then fully remove the upper bolt (the upper bolt is keeping the wiring of the starter in place too via clamp), the starter can be removed by sliding the assembly upward over the lower bolt, be prepared, it is a little heavy, place the starter on the box or block prepared earlier, once the starter assembly is removed, this is what you are going to see:

[95-J30tt]

The red dot refers to the positioning of the screw driver when opening the crank bolt, the blue dot refers to the positioning of the screwdriver when tightening the crank bolt, and the yellow dots are the positions of the lower and upper 14mm starter bolts.

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Have a helper place a screwdriver where the red dot is and prepare to open the crank bolt; if you have sprayed the penetrating lubricant at the beginning of the procedure, removing the crankshaft bolt will be a lot easierPlace the 27mm socket on the crank bolt and rotate counter clockwise while the helper is holding the screw driver in place.

Loosen the bolt almost all the way, and place the pulley puller on the crank pulleys thick lip as shown, and use the center of the bolt to hold the center bolt of the pulley puller, and then remove the pulley

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Put the crankshaft bolt back but do not tighten

Unplug the crank angle sensor plug and move it out of the way (red dot on the right).

Remove the upper driver side timing belt cover using an 8mm socket and a 5mm hexagonal socket, there are three 8mm screws and five hexagonal screws, remove the two 10mm screws holding the temperature sensor wires to the timing belt cover, remove the temperature sensor plugs (the two red dots on the left).

[95-J30tt]

Use the crankshaft bolt to rotate the crank so the now exposed sprockets line up as shown in the picture below

Put the crank shaft pulley half way back. It is not mentioned anywhere in the service manual but the crank pulley has a mark on it that lines up with marks on the center timing belt cover as shown below, take note of the position of the crank and it’s alignment, and then remove the crank pulley, this step will be extra assurance that the new belt is installed properly

[95-J30tt]

pic of the crank pully, in my case and as shown in the picture, it was on the 5 degree mark, but most j's have the allignment at the 0 digree mark, different j's would have a slightly different degree, make note of the allignment of the crank according to your engine, and not this picture
Modified by 95-j30t at 3:22 PM 9/17/2006

[95-J30tt]

Remove the lower coolant circulation aluminum hoses, there are two 12mm nuts (there are 2 washers on each nut, don’t loose them), and one 6mm hexagonal screw, make sure you keep the bucket under the center of the engine, under the crankshaft gear as coolant from the engine block will leak out.

Compress the clamps on coolant circulation hoses on the upper aluminum hoses and push them inward, remove the three 6mm hexagonal screws and remove the upper aluminum hose.

Remove the passenger side timing belt cover, remove the five 5mm hexagonal screws first, and then the two 8mm screws. This is what you should see if you have followed the instructions up to here:

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Remove the lower center timing belt cover, there are six 8mm screws holding the cover, two of them are visible in the above picture to the right and left of the water pump. To access one of the 8mm screws, you will need to remove the alternator bracket 12mm bolt and washer

Use one of the 10mm bolts removed earlier and place it in the whole shown in the picture below (blue arrow), that will reduce the tension on the timing belt, do not tighten too fast

Loosen the two 12mm bolts holding the tensioner, only loosen the bolts and don’t remove them just yet

[95-J30tt]

The driver side sprockets at this point are fully seated and will not tend to rotate, however, the passenger side sprockets will tend to move quite vigorously if they are not fully aligned, make sure the alignment is correct, if for any reason the passenger side sprockets turn, they will set all the valves away from the pistons in most cases, but it will be harder when it comes to installing and aligning the new timing belt.

Remove the left tensioner bolt, and then the one on the right, remove the tensioner, at this point don’t apply pressure on the belt (pushing or pulling) as it will cause the rotation of the passenger cam sprockets. Remove the crank gear washer, remove the belt, confirm alignment to be correct.

There are several ways to align the belt properly, the service manual asks to align the sprockets with the dots and then use the white lines on the new timing belt to align with the dots in each sprocket, then count the teeth as shown, the number of teeth between the two driver side sprockets are 24, count them starting from the first tooth after the alignment mark (count the belts teeth not the sprockets) to the last tooth before the alignment mark. The same with the passenger side sprockets. The distance between the intake camshafts sprocket is 45 teeth, and the distance between the crank gear and the driver side exhaust camshaft sprocket is 59 teeth.

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Install the new timing belt, confirm alignment for the upper four sprockets. It is easier done with a helper to hold the belt in place over the sprockets.

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exhaust cam sprocket

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Align the mark on the oil pump housing with the mark on the crank gear (blue arrows) in the direction of the red arrow as shown:

[95-J30tt]

Install the tensioner’s two 12mm bolts, when installing, make sure that the belt will not rotate, you will need to apply a little force to get the tensioners bolts in, start by inserting the left bolt, and then the right bolt, torque to 12-15 ft-lbs, do not remove the 10mm retention bolt yet

This step is to make sure of proper alignment. Put the timing belt center cover in place and hold it by two screws, do not tighten, put the crank pulley back half way and confirm that the mark on the pulley aligns the same mark on the timing belt center cover taken note of when the old timing belt was installed, make sure of correct alignment in the top four sprockets, and then remove the pulley and then the cover.

Slowly “Slowly” loosen the 10mm retention bolt and set the distance between the tensioner unit and the arm of the tensioner pulley to about 4mm, then remove the retention bolt

For extra assurance that the belt is installed properly, rotate the crankshaft gear two full rotations using the crank bolt to make sure that the valves don’t hit the pistons.

Make sure all sprockets and the crank gear are clean.Install the crank gear washer

Install the lower center timing belt cover, six 8mm screws.

Install the alternator bracket bolt, one long golden 12mm bolt and washer.

Make sure that the coolant circulation aluminum hoses and their corresponding places on the engine block are all clean and do not have any old gasket leftover, when cleaning them, be careful not to scratch their surfaces, at this point install the new thermostat.

Install the passenger side timing belt cover, 5 hexagonal 5mm screws, and two 8mm screws.

Apply the gasket maker in the upper and lower aluminum hoses. Install the aluminum hoses starting with the top one first, make sure to put the clamps back on the short rubber hoses on the upper aluminum hoses, there are three 6mm hexagonal bolts for the upper hoses, and two 12mm nuts (there are 2 washers on each nut) and one 6mm hexagonal bolt for the lower hoses, torque all to 12-15 ft-lbs.

Install the driver side timing belt cover, three 8mm screws and five hexagonal screws, two 10mm screws holding the temperature sensor harness on the timing belt cover.

Plug in the harness in their appropriate places in the coolant circulation hoses

Install the crankshaft pulley using the bolt, and have the helper hold a flat head screw driver where the blue dot is marked in the flywheel picture. Torque the crank bolt to about 160 ft-lbs

Install accessory belts, leave the water pump belt loose, torque the AC idler, and the power steering bolts to approximately 24 ft-lb.

Install the radiator and the fan assembly, drop them in at the same time, torque the fan assembly to the water pump with approximately 5 ft-lbs

Install the hoses for the coolant and the transmission back to their appropriate place, and tighten.

Install the brackets for the radiator, two 10mm nuts.

Now tighten the water pump belt, and torque the alternator locking bolt to approximately 24 ft-lbs

Add new coolant.

Install the battery.

Install the under engine plastic splash shield, there are six 10mm screws.

Turn on the vehicle and bring it back down to the ground, let it idle, make sure that it is not overheating, if it gets to over the normal operating temperature, turn the engine off, let it cool, and add more coolant.

I hope that the information in this document is a help for anyone attempting to replace the timing belt on the VG30DE engine.The information provided above is precise to the best of my knowledge, the information here and pictures are the description of the timing belt replacement that I have successfully attempted and completed, the engine is of a 1995 model Infiniti j30 touring package.

Special thanks to Tag, and Firas for proof reading and helping in the procedure.

The work has been done by Sinan This document has been typed by Sinan

END OF DOCUMENT.

[yodawill2000]

Well done.Thanks !

[greenwar]

Fantastic writeup. Thanks for taking the time to enlighten us.

[yallomj]

Just checked this out and decided that this was way to involved for my skill set but just wanted to say that this was so well done and impressive. The work,pics and time you put into this post and for "FREE" makes me appreciate the value of the internet but even more so reminds me that there are just some great people in the world. I just bought a 93' j30 with 100,000 miles for my wife who just got her license and the belt is squealing, i'll probably just go to the dealer though I know i'll pay more. I just want it done correctly. Anyway thanks again. Ed

[farari69]

This post was so well written that I read the entire thing and my timing belt should not be due for awhile. Just good reading... Thanks

[j30t_Dan]

Your My hero!

[lostj30]

Any helpful hints on getting those 2 tensioner bolts back in?

[yodawill2000]

"Install the tensioner’s two 12mm bolts, when installing, make sure that the belt will not rotate, you will need to apply a little force to get the tensioners bolts in, start by inserting the left bolt, and then the right bolt, torque to 12-15 ft-lbs,

[lostj30]

Got sidetracked, but the j is alive again!!!! now just need to paint the hood

[Skapunk4everr]

yallomj:

The squealing is likely from the drive belts that power the Power steering, A/C, water pump etc. much easier job to do than the timing belt.

[yodawill2000]

I agree The Timing Belt is toothed therefore it cannot "Squeal"

[lostj30]

Thanks for all the help! Rock chips on hood to fix, but who brought up about the belts squealing?

[Edward]

Hello,

I have a 1993 J30 with 94,000 miles. Just bought it used. No way to tell if the previous owner ever changed the timing belt. The water pump is leaking, so I will replace the timing belt along with the water pump. I will do it myself with my mechanic-cousin's help.

My questions are:Do I need to replace the hydraulic belt tensioner? Do I need to replace the 3 pulleys (2 idler and 1 tensioner pulley)?

Thank You,Edward

[yodawill2000]

If your in that far you might as well !!

Did you check for a small metal plate right under the front edge of the hood ??Mine was etched with the timing belt replaced mileage.

[Gerardjg]

What happened to the Pictures?