This isn't a bad tensioner. Its a bad slack guide , which is thst orange plastic piece in front of it. The top portion fails and it slides downward, causing the tensioner to be allowed to fully extend. The guide should be about an inch upward, and the tensioner should be hitting the portion that pops outward . You can see just below where the tensioner is, the guide pops out about an inch. Thats where the tensioner is supposed to make contact.
Nice. Liked that. I'm looking for help with this problem. Writeup below I've used on Nissan forums. I'm thinking my issue may be a failed hydraulic timing belt tensioner. Any ideas or experience you have is greatly appreciated! Hello all! This is my first Nissan Pathfinder. I have always wanted one since the late 1990s. It's a 1998 SE 3.3L, automatic transmission, 167,000 miles on it. I got it at an estate sale for $2,000. It has a loud knock or tap that happens part-time and so far it's not been resolved. I'd really appreciate it if anyone could point me to anything to check next, or describe if you had similar problems with yours. I've run the motor minimally...only to troubleshoot. Here's what it does and what I've done: 1. When it's first started, it knocks for less than 1 second and then gets entirely quiet. I hear maybe 2 knocks when it first starts. Then, when the motor is accelerated to 2000 RPMs it begins to knock and it keeps knocking until 3000ish RPMs. It increases in speed as the RPMs increase. If I let off the accelerator it stops knocking. When it's higher than 3,000 RPM it goes away. So it's in this midrange RPM the knock is present. It does this sitting still, or driving it. The rig was very sheltered it's whole life from what I can tell. It was driven lightly by an elderly lady. It's in immaculate condition, inside and out. Garaged. Paint and interior is perfect. Motor starts, idles and runs great other than the knock. Oil is full. I dropped the oil pan and checked the main and rod bearings. There was not any play. I changed them anyways. Noise persisted. There was some material in the pan's bottom, about 1/3 tablespoon (1 teaspoon) of what seemed to be fine wear material. Which I would think is normal for 167,000 miles. 2. It has a P1400 error code, for the EGR solenoid. I have not chased that yet. I don't find where this would cause a knock though. 3. The transmission fluid is 1 to 2 quarts low (based on my guess from stick reading), but the noise does not seem to be coming from the transmission, and the vehicle moves and drives fine. No slippage. What could be causing this part-time knock? Hydraulic lifters? Timing belt slap? Harmonic balancer? Cracked flexplate? The noise seems too loud to be the lifters, and doesn't do it at low RPMs like lifters usually do. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Im going through this right now with my 2002 Altima 3.5. Im not removing the engine, or timing cover for that matter. Just not worth it on this old car. But, I really dont see any reason why someone couldn't buy a new tensioner, and fix something to the end of the tensioner piston, to create more tension on the chain. These chain guides break and slide down, causing loose chain issues. But I have been driving my Altima for 6 years/70,000 miles with a loose chain.
This isn't a bad tensioner. Its a bad slack guide , which is thst orange plastic piece in front of it. The top portion fails and it slides downward, causing the tensioner to be allowed to fully extend. The guide should be about an inch upward, and the tensioner should be hitting the portion that pops outward . You can see just below where the tensioner is, the guide pops out about an inch. Thats where the tensioner is supposed to make contact.
Thanks for the post, good info
So that main tensioner can be changed through the inspection port, Thats F**kin awesome !
Tensioner can be replaced, but it's not the problem. The problem is the guide for the primary chain. That's why the front cover needs to be removed.
Found small nylon chips in oil pan. Thank you for showing where to inspect guide. '08 Quest 120k. Can guide be changed easily?
So if you were gonna change it through the port. Do you just unbolt it and slap a new one on or is there more to it?
Nice. Liked that. I'm looking for help with this problem. Writeup below I've used on Nissan forums. I'm thinking my issue may be a failed hydraulic timing belt tensioner. Any ideas or experience you have is greatly appreciated!
Hello all! This is my first Nissan Pathfinder. I have always wanted one since the late 1990s. It's a 1998 SE 3.3L, automatic transmission, 167,000 miles on it. I got it at an estate sale for $2,000.
It has a loud knock or tap that happens part-time and so far it's not been resolved. I'd really appreciate it if anyone could point me to anything to check next, or describe if you had similar problems with yours. I've run the motor minimally...only to troubleshoot. Here's what it does and what I've done:
1. When it's first started, it knocks for less than 1 second and then gets entirely quiet. I hear maybe 2 knocks when it first starts. Then, when the motor is accelerated to 2000 RPMs it begins to knock and it keeps knocking until 3000ish RPMs. It increases in speed as the RPMs increase. If I let off the accelerator it stops knocking. When it's higher than 3,000 RPM it goes away. So it's in this midrange RPM the knock is present. It does this sitting still, or driving it.
The rig was very sheltered it's whole life from what I can tell. It was driven lightly by an elderly lady. It's in immaculate condition, inside and out. Garaged. Paint and interior is perfect.
Motor starts, idles and runs great other than the knock.
Oil is full. I dropped the oil pan and checked the main and rod bearings. There was not any play. I changed them anyways. Noise persisted. There was some material in the pan's bottom, about 1/3 tablespoon (1 teaspoon) of what seemed to be fine wear material. Which I would think is normal for 167,000 miles.
2. It has a P1400 error code, for the EGR solenoid. I have not chased that yet. I don't find where this would cause a knock though.
3. The transmission fluid is 1 to 2 quarts low (based on my guess from stick reading), but the noise does not seem to be coming from the transmission, and the vehicle moves and drives fine. No slippage.
What could be causing this part-time knock?
Hydraulic lifters? Timing belt slap? Harmonic balancer? Cracked flexplate? The noise seems too loud to be the lifters, and doesn't do it at low RPMs like lifters usually do.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Email me I maybe able to help
highgrooveauto30@gmail.com
Can this be done on a Quest without dropping the engine?
Yes. BUT I learned the hard way it's not really good to do. Best to just take the time and remove the engine.
Can the tensioner be removed without taking the entire cover off?
No. removing the cover to ensure you dont jump timing when changing tensioner.
@@MattShaughnessy6 thanks man
Your welcome. I actually learned the hard way. Ended up destroying an engine.
Bro I no it would be right but if I could stick something on the tensioner to push on the plastic thing do you think that would stop the noise?
hmmmm not so sure I would try that....
Take the engine out and apart and fix it right.
Im going through this right now with my 2002 Altima 3.5. Im not removing the engine, or timing cover for that matter. Just not worth it on this old car. But, I really dont see any reason why someone couldn't buy a new tensioner, and fix something to the end of the tensioner piston, to create more tension on the chain. These chain guides break and slide down, causing loose chain issues. But I have been driving my Altima for 6 years/70,000 miles with a loose chain.
@@brad3741 well I ended up taking the cover off.
@@brad3741 in the van I didn't have to remove the engine. So I wouldn't assume the car would need to. It's a fun job