gamellott

Looks like someone has been compensating for something

Shame. With all of the work you have had done to it recently, I would spend the money to get whatever has happened to the engine fixed.

Slartibartfast, As I stated at the end. Just more info and making the comment that you CAN move stuff around You're absolutely silly if you think I'm going to put it all back together in a wonky position aside from TDC My eyeballs are not as good as they used to be and I'm not counting past 10 in order to line up a timing belt

I used the Ultra Low profile ones that AC sells on their website. I didn't have any problems with those. Unless you're Maxing out your torsion bars so that you're riding on the upper control arms all of the time, you shouldn't have any problems. They just allow for more travel... Like maybe an inch... or maybe that's wishful thinking...

What I'm trying to say.... As the crankshaft rotates, the pistons are all in different positions. It is possible to have the crankshaft rotated so that none of the pistons will create interference for the valves to move. Rotating by hand, with the spark plugs removed, is the best way to accomplish this. Just be aware of how much and where you rotate it so you don't have your distributor 180 out. And again, don't force any movement; you may cause valve damage if you force it and can't see where things are at. Does that make sense?? As discussed by other people, you may not even want to try to rotate if you have an adequate plan/tools to prevent valve damage. Just more info

When I replaced my timing belt, I replaced the Crank seal. Maybe mine was a bit more difficult than others, but my crank pulley was seized onto the crank. I couldn't find a puller specifically for removing it and there's only a few ways to get something behind it in order to get it off. I wound up using a couple of wood chisels, hammering them in behind the pulley. It took some time, but I finally got enough clearance to pull it using a gear puller. In the whole process, I managed to goober up the pulley and opted to replace it with a new one from Nissan. The aftermarket ones I saw exuded "Cheap Garbage" and I refused to use them. As long as none of your pistons are at the top of the stroke, you should have no problem or fear of rotating your camshafts. You will have the best results when you pull the bolts with an impact. If you try to use a wrench, you'll likely spin the shaft and get nowhere. If you turn everything by hand, you should be fine. Just don't use the starter to spin to motor over when you don't have a timing belt on Once I had the belt and pulley back on, I turned over the engine by hand to make sure everything lined up right and there wasn't any slop in the belt that I overlooked when I assembled it.

More good info. Thanks guys. I spent the day, since it was nice out, doing yard work. Actually, I was slinging poo from the goats and alpaca that we have. The chores never end!!

Ok, Thanks for the heads up on the numerous hoses. Sounds like I need to plan for it to be down for more than a day since I'm sure I'm going to run into other issues. Not exactly what I was thinking when I was preparing and thinking this can't be a big deal... Sounds like I was wrong again . Thank You for your input I have no idea if this is a JDM engine or if it is actually 25 years old, I just know that the valve covers are leaking... If it's been 25 years since this has been pulled off, that'll be amazing... we'll see how the rubber crumbles I've read that the distributors wear out. Guess I can look to see if it's wobbly or whatever while I have it out.

I've read a few strings on this topic, but I didn't see anything specific for it. This is the first time that I'll be doing this and I believe that I have all of my bases covered, but I thought I would bounce it off of the experts For the VG30E, I know that I'll be doing the Valve cover gasket with grommets and the intake plenum gasket. Aside from some RTV, is there anything else that I should be aware of that usually bites you in the butt when you do this work?? Thanks!!

I need to check the other boards more frequently.... The year of your model is about the same time frame that Firestone got their nuts in a bind about tires blowing out, causing accidents. The lower tire pressure will give you a smoother ride, but it's probably not as good for the tire since it is continually flexing the sidewall. My dad had a Ford Explorer that fell under that recall, and the fix was to replace the tires and put a new sticker on the door jam which increased the recommended tire pressure. With that lesson learned, although Nissan wasn't directly affected by it, I would run no less than 30-35psi.

Yes, what RIP.88 said. Also, As mentioned before, you could have a bad ground diode in the rectifier that would kill the battery when you're not driving it. In the past month since this thread has started, that bad ground diode may have compromised your voltage regulator and other things. I Highly recommend taking it off to get bench tested. Also, a 70 amp alternator is more than adequate for most models unless you've upgraded the interior to heated seats and steering wheel and 8Tw flood lights. If that's the case, then Yes, a larger alternator would be ideal.

I have found, even at good parts stores with good parts like TRW and MOOG, that they will get whatever part that fits into the box from different manufacturers/suppliers. I went rounds trying to find a matching set of ball joints that weren't absolute garbage and of similar construction as OE. Bottom line, You don't always get what you want.... the first time around. I'm not sure who the original manufacturer of the drag link I put in, but the tow was way out of whack after I replaced it. You may have to get an alignment after you're done or maybe you can eyeball the tow as I did. But then, If you're talking about replacing the TREs, then you'll need to get the tow adjusted anyway. After replacing your ball joints, it would be a good idea to get it checked... Stuff you may already know... Just typing away and.... I'll stop now... That being said, the factory style idler arm, although wimpy, is rebuildable by simply replacing the bushings and can save you some dough. Automotive Customizers (4X4parts.com) offers an idler arm brace that's apparently pretty good to stiffen the wimpy OE one.

Maybe someone did some creative wiring. I'm not aware of there being a fuse under the steering wheel. I'm pretty sure that there isn't a fuse that would keep the starter from turning over the engine. I may be wrong.

Noooooo... There's a Pin that may or may not be attached to the carrier (Most Likely it's not because it's pretty self explanatory if you still have it) to hold it open when you're on uneven ground or moving. I can't imagine that anyone would recommend driving with the tire carrier pinned open, but I'm sure someone has done it.

So today when I was getting ready to leave work, I experienced the clicking, No start. I scratched my head, tapped my starter, pulled the ground cable off with no change. I finally had a look at the positive cable where I attempted to crimp it onto a connector some time ago. Yes, I have a crimper that big. Guess I didn't crimp it on that well, and it had pulled or worked it's way out. I pushed it back in and it fired right back up. Point to the story, the power to the ignition and everything else is fed from wires that come off of the battery connection. You could have a good enough connection to power the ignition and everything else, but you could have a poor connection to your starter. It's not all powered off of the 4 gauge cable going to the starter. Recommend checking that out.

In addition to the above, the thermostat would be worth looking at. I had one stick on a vehicle years ago. The temp gauge pegged high and shot water out of the reservoir onto the front passenger side brakes. That was a really fun stop.

But making a Big Splash is FUN!! I would kinda lean towards a combination on things like bad battery cables in conjunction with a failing alternator. No power = No Run Stay away from the puddles

I used to sell auto parts a long time ago and NO ONE uses Champion spark plugs except in their lawnmower If things persist, I recommend going back to NGK.

Starter relay should be on the passengers side just behind the battery. If it's a factory relay, It's Blue and larger than the rest of them on them that are located on the drivers side.

Replacing the hose should be all you need to do for that. Just be aware that there are likely many more in the same condition as that one. You could probably spend an afternoon re-plumbing the hoses with 10' of hose and still miss one or two.

Based almost solely on the clicking, I would speculate that your starter solenoid has a bad spot on it or you have dirty battery terminals. 1. I would clean the battery terminals with a wire brush. If that doesn't work, go to step 2. 2. Check to make sure you have a good ground to the engine/chassis from the battery. If your battery terminals were severely corroded at some point in time, your cables could be compromised and incapable of carrying adequate current to the starter. If you peel back the insulation on the cable towards the chassis ground and motor and they appear greenish in color, you should replace them. This May NOT fix your problem, but will keep it reliable in the future. 2. Check to see if your model has a starter relay on the passengers side fender. If you do, it's not a likely culprit, but it's cheaper than the starter. If that doesn't work, go to step 3. 3. Remove starter and have bench tested. A couple of things can go wrong with the starter causing something similar to what you're experiencing. A) There is a bad spot on the starter and a slight rotation could allow it to start again with no issues. B ) There could be a bad spot on the starter solenoid causing it to click and only click. C) Binding in the starter causing high current and no start. (I don't think this is your problem) D) The brushes just wear out or go bad causing slow starting because they're not making good contact to the motor. (I don't think that is the problem either) If that doesn't give you a starting point or a fix, Let us know, we'll be happy to assist You can do 3 over 2. I actually keep the old starter relay that I replaced in the event I need to troubleshoot it again

I like how they just slice through all of the connections

I would check that you didn't break the wires or some random connection in there. Spark Plug Wires, with age, can degrade and fall apart when changing the spark plugs. If you suspect something like that, you can hear a distinctive click when it's arcing to a ground and not making it to the spark plug. It will be most observable when it's dark out and you can see the spark. Mine has a vacuum connection on the back side of the intake that I'm really good at knocking off when I'm messing around in that area, which can cause a rough idle and likely hesitation. Also, If you took the wires off of the distributor cap, it's easy to plug one back into the wrong hole.

Yah,That thing!!

I'll have to have a look into that. If I look at the Nissan drawings for the "Bearing Assembly", they call it a clutch. One of the clutches is rusted on the outer ring and the bearing sounds like it may have dirt intrusion or maybe water fouled it up and the balls are rusted too?? Eventually will clean it out to see if it's worthy of re-use. Too many things on my plate at the moment in order to get to it right away. Will keep ya posted I need to find some kind of needle attachment for my grease gun so that I can properly pack it. That'll be exciting... Packing grease