Pic's Of Guides From a 200,000 Mile Plus Engine!

[PopPop]

Had car since new and he kept asking if I could get to this because guides were never updated and he was getting the chain guide noise at startup and high RPM. Once torn down found that still had plastic guides but, these looked perfect with little to no wear. I didn't want to touch anything because all parts looked so nice but, oil pump had excess slack and already had purchased updated parts! No parts were broken so no need to drop oil pan he has had car serviced on time since new.

[Skibane]

Synthetic oil?

[PopPop]

Synthetic oil?

Factory Nissan oil from 92-2000 and then Valvoline 10w-40w to present.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I think that's the first picture of un-broken plastic guides I've ever seen...

[maxnix]

Factory Nissan oil from 92-2000 and then Valvoline 10w-40w to present.

The next question is how often? And why would the oil pump drive chain stretch?

Now that I traced the links, looks pretty clean, so I would assume a rigorous OCI.
Modified by maxnix at 7:11 PM 4/2/2007

[92Q45guy]

Thats amazing! mine had 92,480 miles on it and the drivers side was cracked in half!

[Q451990]

And why would the oil pump drive chain stretch?

Good question, and I don't have the answer. I can confirm that it happens... I know it is replaced during chain guide jobs for that specific reason.

This is a great post, but I really hope it doesn't discourage members from replacing their guides. The fact is that we have not determined a pattern to guide failures...some survive(d) 45K miles, and now we have a confirmed 200K instance. The only thing we know for sure is that they will eventually scramble your engine without warning if updated guides aren't installed.

Heath

[PopPop]

Good question, and I don't have the answer. I can confirm that it happens... I know it is replaced during chain guide jobs for that specific reason.

This is a great post, but I really hope it doesn't discourage members from replacing their guides. The fact is that we have not determined a pattern to guide failures...some survive(d) 45K miles, and now we have a confirmed 200K instance. The only thing we know for sure is that they will eventually scramble your engine without warning if updated guides aren't installed.

Heath

Yes! This was posted just to show what I found during surgery but, keep in mind that after performing surgery on quite a few Q's first and second gen. this was a first for me. Anyone who purchases a Q with plastic guides should replace these right away. I have seen 94 and 95's that have had pieces of the updated Tension and Slack side guides broken off. 4000 miles Brian is what he told me.

[maxnix]

Thanks for the post Ty. 4K OCI makes sense.

[ScottJackson]

I replaced the guides in my '92 Q about 4 years ago at 150K miles. They were intact and no cracks.

[bmwkiller]

206k on my '91, with the original plastic guides, in excellent condition (changed 'em anyway since it was apart). For the previous owner, changing the oil was akin to a religious experience. I gotta think that makes a huge difference.

[carfrk666]

wow thats pretty good that ur guides lasted like that, mine decinigrated into nothing bigger then a quarter when mine went bad and blew the engine, i think thats pretty impressive that they have lasted, i guess that is a good example of what good maintanance will do for you.

[texasoil]

Note how sparkling clen this hi mileage engine is--no amber/yellow varnish. That tells me the oil was changed before it was loaded up with crud AND he used good fuel with good additive packages (clean-up or teir1 fuel). The crankcase chemistry is VITAL to guide longevity-if run the oil too long, or crappy fuel, the oil gets acidic and causes the plastic to craze and crack.

[mxr662]

I new I took these pictures for some reason. A bit over 60 K on these.