Is anybody here familiar with the motor in the 2004 Maxima?

My brother's car turned off while driving the other day, and we had a bit of a hard time getting it started again. The best we could tell is that the timing chain had slipped a tooth, and indeed... the dealer has confirmed it. They took the valve cover off and said it slipped at least 4 teeth, but they can't confirm whether any valves were bent. Seems to me like you could test that pretty easily with a compression test, but maybe I'm wrong. They're quoting him $4-5000 to replace the timing chain and sprockets, or $7000 for a new motor.

There was a TSB a year or so ago regarding this problem, and to make things more frustrating than they are, my brother had actually taken the car to a dealer two years ago because of a rattling coming from the engine bay... but the dealer said not to worry about it. Seems like Nissan should cover the cost of the repair, considering the circumstances.

Anyways, I'm just curious if anyone knows the motor or car well enough to give any advice on the situation. I normally would do this kind of work myself, but I'm not very confident when it comes to diagnosing potentially damaged internals.

3/2/2010 2:31:41 PM

4000 to replace the fucking chain? are you serious?

jesus christ. get your damn car back and take it somewhere with some sense

[Edited on March 2, 2010 at 2:49 PM. Reason : the first few things online i've found show it's about a $1500 typical bill.]

3/2/2010 2:47:59 PM

that sucks

$7000 is over half of what the car costs. yes you can confirm with a compression or leakdown test. or in my case, the starter just spun the engine effortlessly (no "chug chug chug") from lack of compression

in my case it was due to crappy plastic chain guides falling apart and wedging between the chain and sprockets. maybe nissan never learned their lesson. mine's a '92 I'm just making an assumption, but it seems you'd have a way better case if the chain jumped due to faulty parts as opposed to lack of maintenance.

[Edited on March 2, 2010 at 2:51 PM. Reason : ^hell i'd pull the engine if I had to do the chain on a fwd v6 ]

3/2/2010 2:51:10 PM

Quote :

"in my case it was due to crappy plastic chain guides falling apart and wedging between the chain and sprockets."

i had that happen on my lincoln LS although it's very uncommon on that car.. i was able to get a used motor for 1200 though, put it in myself, and sold the damn thing


and haha yea.. try the DOHC V8 that was in that LS.. pics in my gallery of pulling it out. can't believe it came out the top

[Edited on March 2, 2010 at 2:53 PM. Reason : asdf]

3/2/2010 2:52:34 PM

4 teeth is alot!!! Im sure Nissan isnt still using plastic guides. The KA24 and 90-93 VH45de use to eat them plastic guides up pretty quick. I would bet the whole motor is toast. They go for about $500-$1000 on craigslist all the time.

Remove chain, and turn motor to TDC and check every cylinder for compression. Also check the cam position sensor, it might say the motor is 4 teeth off, when in fact its not and the sensor is just bad.

3/2/2010 3:08:01 PM

Yeah... supposedly it's 16 hours of labor for the chain replacement alone. You're right, many mechanics will remove the engine in order to replace the chain. They quoted him about $2000 in parts alone (most of that is the sprockets @ $400/ea, which they are replacing just in case the chain-slippage damaged them).

Sounds like you had a similar problem tchenku. I think the TSB said it's because of a plastic tensioner, and a fairly abrasive chain. The chain wears down the tensioner until there is so much slack that things start to fall apart, and the chain slips. It's a known problem, and the parts have been superseded.

3/2/2010 3:11:35 PM

Maddriver: it threw a cam sensor code right before the car shut off, so we replaced the supposedly faulty sensor, and still no luck. However, the mechanic discovered that the car *does* start without the CAM sensors installed. But... I'm pretty sure they confirmed that it had indeed slipped.

3/2/2010 3:14:23 PM

I don't know of an engine that doesn't use a plastic tensioner for a timing chain...

3/2/2010 3:18:52 PM

I think the problem may specifically be the design of the chain, which was wearing down the tensioner.

3/2/2010 3:22:22 PM

well some (like my old POS one) are made of all plastic
http://tinyurl.com/yfjfy73

the one on my car now are metal and plastic, like this:
http://mizumoauto.com/upload/products/TK3003.jpg

[Edited on March 2, 2010 at 3:27 PM. Reason : ]

3/2/2010 3:26:32 PM

start car, drive to carmax, trade in.

3/2/2010 3:34:33 PM

nmsj

3/2/2010 4:11:10 PM

^

3/2/2010 4:20:30 PM

^
nissan
makes
some
junk?

3/2/2010 7:55:12 PM

of all people to crack the code!

3/2/2010 8:00:16 PM

Hehe, I wouldn't own one just because of how difficult they are to work on.

Not to mention... he just got off the phone with Nissan, and they won't give him any assistance on the cost of the repair. It's somewhat surprising, considering it's a known flaw, AND they misdiagnosed it the first time, so this is truly their fault. He also made sure to let them know that he owns two Nissans, and has owned two more before that... and was planning on buying a new Altima in the near future. But, since he didn't buy them from a Nissan dealer, and doesn't take the cars to them for regularly scheduled maintenance, they could apparently care less. He even asked that they would simply supply the engine at their cost, which would be no loss to them, but they would not.

So... he's getting it towed back home, and we may slowly do the repair ourselves... and then probably sell the car, considering none of us ever want to see a Nissan again.

3/3/2010 12:06:43 PM

Quote :

"so this is truly their fault."

3/3/2010 12:26:34 PM

Why not? (#1) It's a known flaw that was (#2) misdiagnosed by the dealer when he originally brought it in for service. It doesn't mean anything that it's just a known issue, but if it weren't for the misdiagnosis, he wouldn't be in this situation.

You should go get a job in Nissan customer service!

Either way, I'm not here to cast blame. I was just looking for suggestions in dealing with a frustrating situation.

[Edited on March 3, 2010 at 12:59 PM. Reason : ]

3/3/2010 12:44:52 PM

to answer your original question you will be able to determine if the valves are F'd quickly. Just compression test it. If you get something below 25psi you know . I would skip right to turning each cylinder to TDC and pressurizing the bore with an air compressor. I think it is easier and you can hear for which valve (intake or exhaust (not that it really matters)) is damaged.


How much do you want for the entire car now that it has been diagnosed with 4-7K worth of damage?

3/3/2010 2:01:06 PM

was the car under warranty when he brought it in for the misdiagnosis?

3/3/2010 2:01:22 PM

The car was under a non-Nissan dealer's warranty when it was originally misdiagnosed. In fact, it was *immediately* after having a Nissan dealer replace the clutch (under said warranty) that the timing chain started rattling. I don't see how the events could be related though.

Quinn: Is a compression test possible when the chain has slipped so far? Wouldn't the timing be off so far that it would be impossible to get any compression at all? I don't know whether he'd be interested in selling it or not. I'll let you know if he is. We don't give up easily, so chances are we'll try to repair it.

[Edited on March 3, 2010 at 2:51 PM. Reason : ]

3/3/2010 2:49:00 PM

i think you are better off just compressing the bore with an air compressor. stick a long ass pencil in the spark plug hole, rotate the engine by hand until its at its highest point and put 40psi in there. you will need to build or buy some kind of leakdown tester to pressurize the bore. compression testers have a one way valve in the base and can not easily be used.

3/3/2010 2:56:22 PM

just use a boroscope to inspect for damage

3/3/2010 3:54:51 PM

i wish i had such a device

3/3/2010 4:23:30 PM

Clutch? So this car is a 6spd? Does it have the helical limited slip?

3/4/2010 9:44:34 AM

insurance should cover it.

3/4/2010 2:45:13 PM

^ if you push it into a lake

3/4/2010 3:20:38 PM

It's a 6speed but it doesn't have the helical limited slip.

3/5/2010 11:25:27 AM

torque steer like a mofo

3/5/2010 2:12:46 PM