Tensioner/Water Pump/?s Before Purchase

[HOST]

Hello all here on the Maxima side of Nico! = )

I'm thinking about buying a '96 Maxima from craigslist for $300.. they said all it needs is a Timing Chain Tensioner and Water Pump. I'm not too concerned about the WP, however the Tensioner has me a little worried, the car is black, really clean.. new tires, 255k miles on it.. no body damage at all not even paint. Clean title.. etc. one of those rare finds.

Anyways, I got a quote from my mechanic around $250 to fix it plus he wants to put on a new chain. I was just wondering if I could fix this myself and how hard it would be on a scale of 1-5 to do so lol.. the car still runs but isn't drivable, without making things worse that is.

What are your thoughts Nico?

[MinisterofDOOM]

It's a pretty decent PITA due to the crammed FWD engine bay.

HOWEVER: the chain doesn't need to be replaced unless it's damaged. That goes for the tensioner, too. The VQ never had any of the timing guide issues that some other Nissan engines had, so it's pretty uncommon to need to touch the guides at all. Both should be "life of the engine" parts. What's the reason the seller is giving for needing to replace them?

[HOST]

It's a pretty decent PITA due to the crammed FWD engine bay.

HOWEVER: the chain doesn't need to be replaced unless it's damaged. That goes for the tensioner, too. The VQ never had any of the timing guide issues that some other Nissan engines had, so it's pretty uncommon to need to touch the guides at all. Both should be "life of the engine" parts. What's the reason the seller is giving for needing to replace them?

She's just going off what the Nissan guys told her.. lol, I cna tell she doesn't know much of anything about any car. She said they've already taken both jacked up parts off of it and put them in the trunk. She said she didn't want to pay to have it fixed. Could be one of those situations where she has money, and no car knowledge.. and just wants to give it away just about. If I get it she's willing to have it towed at no cost to me.. the guy I know who LOVES Maximas said he can fix it for like 1/6 the price she said it would cost to have the "Nissan Guys" to fix it.

[allensteiner]

$300 in mint condition + free tow...get it. the tensioner is a pita but doable unless you have gorilla hands. the water pump has a little more room to work around.

[HOST]

$300 in mint condition + free tow...get it. the tensioner is a pita but doable unless you have gorilla hands. the water pump has a little more room to work around.

Would you happen to know of a guide I could print off for doing these things? Also, how would I know for sure these were the problems?

[allensteiner]

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/maxima/1996 - that'll get you through step by step.

the timing chain tensioner is easy to diagnose just by noise, the chain won't be tight so it'll rattle.

the water pump - hard to say since it's out - if the car was overheating or not. see if it spins easily, take apart and do a visual inspection. maybe it was just leaking through an old seal?

[HOST]

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/maxima/1996 - that'll get you through step by step.

the timing chain tensioner is easy to diagnose just by noise, the chain won't be tight so it'll rattle.

the water pump - hard to say since it's out - if the car was overheating or not. see if it spins easily, take apart and do a visual inspection. maybe it was just leaking through an old seal?

Wow thanks a lot man! As always Nico PROVIDES!!!

[HOST]

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/maxima/1996 - that'll get you through step by step.

the timing chain tensioner is easy to diagnose just by noise, the chain won't be tight so it'll rattle.

the water pump - hard to say since it's out - if the car was overheating or not. see if it spins easily, take apart and do a visual inspection. maybe it was just leaking through an old seal?

Hey dude, thanks for the link.. unfortunately I can't navigate through it to get to my specific problem lol, I've tried for a few days and it all begins to look the same.

lol, anyways.. I was wondering if the tensioner being bad would allow the car to still start and idle.. my mech says it may not be the tensioner but he's gonna replace it anyways including the chain and all because it comes in a kit or whatever..

However the people at the shop where it currently is (until I buy it) say that it's definately it and they've already taken it and the water pump out and placed them both in the trunk of the car. It's also an estimated $1,400+ job (from them, not my mech) so I'm basically looking for any advice as to what could actually be wrong with the car, but I've yet to see or drive it so I don't even know how they came to the conclusion these things were bad.

The lady who is selling the car just put it as simple as "it just broke down" so I don't know if it over-heated or stalled out or ****ing blew a gasket or what

I plan on calling the shop tomorrow and maybe going by to look at it so I'll have more info afterwards but any direction you guys can give me now would be awesome!

[allensteiner]

damn hard to say without being able to see the car. i'm still gonna say get it. for $300 the worst thing that'll happen is you'll have a spare parts car - and parts are hot in the org's classifieds - i'd say nico's but seems like there's only 240's there

[HOST]

damn hard to say without being able to see the car. i'm still gonna say get it. for $300 the worst thing that'll happen is you'll have a spare parts car - and parts are hot in the org's classifieds - i'd say nico's but seems like there's only 240's there

You're right, it's hella cheap for the car, I'll post pics in just a bit..