ferrariowner123

Alright, checking for slop and any deterioration in the rubber holding it together, how much play is "too" much, my current balacner has none, so im assuming no more than that? lol

Well I stripped the holes that are used to pull the balancer off, stock holes are a 6 X 1mm and I tapped it out to a 7 X 1mm and went bought a 7 X 1mm bolt, but it wasn't long enough, and time was running short, so we threw in the towel, so I agree with pathfounder, gonna go all out to get the old one off. Then take it in. And does anyone have any objections to getting a used balancer? I'm gonna go to a junk yard and find a good one. Thanks -Kyle

and I did not do that, I was under the impression that resting idle determined it, ill try it again.

Well I couldn't check the number of teeth between the crank and the right cam, because I stripped the balancer, so I couldn't get the bottom dust shield off, I still think it's off down there. So I don't know what to do. It's an $80 part (the balncer) on rock auto, and if I take it to the shop, there gonna want to replace it, I just know it, so I'm stuck, we tried to tap out the hole to get a different pin, but I don't think there was enough metal to get the balancer off. So should I order a new balancer, and rent a pulley puller? I'm told those pullers will rip the rubber rings off the balancer, that true? I'm gonna go around and get some quotes today, and see how much some shops want. Thanks for everyone's patience, and willingness to help. -Kyle

So I finally got a timing light, tested it out, and the markers on the pully and they are no where near the pointer, so it's a tooth off, as I had suspected. Best part was, the balancer has been taken off so many times that, what do you know, I stripped one of the bolts holding them on, so I'm just gonna take it in, let it be there problem.

alright, I'll do that, thanks for the help. Like I said, for all the questions, just wanted to have everything covered. -kyle

Alright, just ordered a timing light, but when checking for the timing, im obviously pointing it down about the harmonic balancer to see where the pointer on the dust shield and where that lies when idling will determine my at idle ignition timing. Correct? and stock ignition timing is 15º? or the middle plug like adam said? Sorry for the million question, i just want to cover all my bases before i tackle this again. -Kyle

Im bumping this back up, hopefully i can get some additional answers.

Just hit 123K miles, this morning.

Okay, so next question, what is normal running degree? im assuming 15º? And this video explained alot about ignition to me? is this a good source to follow? seems very accurate. And i think if i can get this going here in the next few weeks, im just gonna take up the A$$ as take it in, i just want my car back. Also, how can I see the timing marks? There hidden between the serpentine belts. Is it okay to run the car without A/C or alternator belts? Only so I can see the ignition timing marks? And hopefully I have some more helpful info. When I'm driving, especially at speeds, its very gitterey and tuggy, its feels like a flat tire almost, but I know it's not Also my gear changes are nowhere near as smooth, but I think that'd due to the power difference. Also why I rec higher for each change. So does that hint at more ignition or timing problem? Also is there anyway to know stock dizzy position from some kind of marking on the cap or mount? Thanks again sorry for beating the dead on horse on this, just want this done! -Kyle

The one that came off was not Nissan Branded, so what your saying would actually make sense. Hoping i can rent a timing light from somewhere, and the timing marks are the harmonic balancer right? is zero the farthest left (when looking at the car from the front) and 15º is the farthest to the right? And the noise is a whirring sound. and we did have to put the tensioner on a little bit more than the first time, but it was so we could get the belt on enough. In the step by step thread it told us to not let be able to flex past 90º when moving it. and it didn't make a whirring sound the first time we put the belt on. thanks for the help i hope i can get this fixed.

Well, i have a little bit of an update, it was a tooth off, i counted 39 teeth, from our first job, so it was between the cams, (to answer pathfounder's question);. So we sorted it all out, got 40 teeth, but weird problem was there was no marking on the block for us to line the crank. so took out a spark plug, did the dowel trick, (which is super inaccurate in my opinion) but got to what "looked close" to 5 O'Clock on the crank gear, got the belt on put all back together, ran into a long process of trying to get it started. Problem one: started with one of the bolts that hold the lower half of the timing gear dust shield on, was stripped, and rubbing against the harmonic balancer, preventing the engine from turning fast enough to start. So at this point were like "*my "vocabulary" is so small* IT" and we cut it off, one stubborn bolt! Problem two: Turns out, one of the injectors was not plugged in. (probably been like that from the first attempted) Plugged that in, continued diagnosing. Problem three: In the process of trying to identify problem one, we flooded the engine. So we took the fuse for the fuel pump out, cycled the engine, re-installed fuse, started right up. Sounded great. Let it warm up and burn that old fuel out. So at this point, i breath a sigh of relief cause im done with this beast at this point. Problem four: And this were im actually started to get incredibly frustrated. After getting the engine going, gave it some revs, made this bizarre sound. The only thing i can compare it to is my grandma's early model Subaru Legacy, but only when revved, at idle, you cant hear it all. We though it might have been one of the serpentine belts were on too tight, went through that process and no change. Mechanic buddy thinks it from having all of the coolant on the tensioners. Drove it this morning, still makes the sound. To be honest, i think its it part of timing system. because it sounds like its coming directly from the timing tensioner, or is it possible to have the timing belt rubbing on something? Problem five: This is also an extreme annoyance. On my drive home, i noticed that the car has more power than it our initial fix, but has WAY less than before we even started. Like 50% less. Before this whole thing, it was torquy and pulled great, now its slow and i have to rev it higher than before to get through the gears. Example: i have a large hill to get up, for me to get home, use to be able to get it up it no problem in fourth, now i have to do it in third, foot to the floor and now it wont go past 3 grand (ish) on the revvs. So im out of ideas, i went around to my local shops to see if i could an idea and the general agreement was its still just a little bit out of time of its a vacuum leak. So i tried to see if there was any lines i forgot to plug back in when i removed the intake manifold. I found nothing. Now im gonna drive it, back as my daily, because it still runs, and gets from a to b. But im really hoping that someone can come through with a clear answer for me. Don't really wanna borrow money from parents to get this fixed. And as for my mechanic friend, im done with him, not really gonna talk to him anymore. Appreciate any feedback, really need some help. Thanks guys. -Kyle

So im sitting in the beast now, got the belt fixed, wha hey, it was a tooth off. But not its not starting, mechanic friend thinks its because of one of the dust shield bolts is rubbing against the harmonic balancer, idk, in the process of fixing it now. Send me good vibes, i need it!!!! -Kyle

okay, well then without knowing a specific issue with a specific cylinder, how can find out which side is out of time? do we just put everything at top dead center, count how many teeth there are and if it's good between both cams and crank, ill know im good? Also do you know what the engine sounded way better when i installed the new plugs wires? could my previous problems be a combination of out of time and bad plug wires? Also wanted to say thank you for all of the help you have given me, i appreciate your patience, needs to be more of you in the world!! Thanks again, to everyone that helped!!! -Kyle

Well we moved everything into TDC, first took the belt off, and then adjusted the cams from there. That's okay right? And as far as the CEL, we only got a generic "random misfire" or P0300. I wish it gave me a bank but it didn't. But if the passenger cam was out of time for example, wouldn't that cause that side of the engine to misfire, making a random misfire CEL make sense?

Alright, thanks for tip. yes that thing, it's not been my week, I'm all out of wack, I borrowed my sisters integra, and left the lights on while out school. It could be worse, but it's insult to injury at this point, lol. And a bit of a little update, NGK's came, put them on, honestly the car ran way better, but still sputters and has that weird noise near the EGR. So timing belt check scheduled for Thursday. Really hoping it just one tooth off. -Kyle

Alright, i think im ready to takle it, now does anyone have a recommendation an efficient way to move this parts without damaging anything. I read in that step by step guide that if you have a manual you can use the drive line to your advantage? im assuming that only works when trying to the thing that goes on the crank (totally blanking on the name) -Kyle

Oh heck yeah!!! wow, i cant believe i missed that in the service manual, thanks man, im gonna try and get this fixed!!! Thanks guys!!! Really appreciate everything!! -Kyle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bj9ia97AQk&feature=youtu.be So here is the video, hopefully just reconfirms what we already think. I focused in on the EGR valve because that's where a new and different noise was coming from, hopefully the audio is of good enough quality for everyone to make out what was going. Thanks again -Kyle

Okay you are really gonna have to bear with me on this. So im going to line up the cams at the dimple points. count how many teeth on the timing belt itself are between the two dimple points? And i have no idea what you mean about ignition timing, is this related to the distributor? and the CEL problem you had with your dads pathy was exactly what was happening with mine, Flashing (atleast it was) at idle, but then at highway speed, went solid. Thanks for the info -Kyle

^^^^Shoot me a PM, I have a zipped version of it.(I'm on my phone otherwise I'd send it now) but nicoclub, has an in browser version as well.

So I'm physically counting the number of teeth on the timing belt and it has to be an exact amount on between the cams, and the crank gear? Does anyone know where in the FSM the timing is? (on my phone) and I won't be touching my dizzy. So to summarize, I'm ripping everything back off, and checking the tooth count, and prey I did everything right? Why doesn't it mentioned this on the timing belt walk through thread? Anything else worth mentioning before I rip everything out? Can I reuse the coolant that drain out? It's brand new anyway. I'm still going to post a video today. I want to be triple sure. Thanks for all the help guys. I owe everyone a big hug. -Kyle

Does the timing gun help identify which is out of time, weather its the crank or cams? and ill post a video tomorrow after school. And how in the heck did you twist the distributor by hand? is there some place in FSM about doing that? Thanks for the help! -Kyle

i feel we should create a forum game to stump the internet on obscure automotive related studies, lol Thanks Town, appreciate it man.

YAY i love studies showing the best stuff. They need to print these on the side of the boxes. Thanks for the info guys.