delavoie Posted March 21, 2007 Share Posted March 21, 2007 I brought my 93 pathfinder in to the garage because it had been making alot of tapping noise lately on startup. Well come to find out the timing belt tensioner broke and the timing belt was rubbing against the cover, trying to come off. Well got the tensioner replaced, they installed a new belt also. Now here's my problem.. the day i brought the truck in i noticed that it wasn't really driving right anymore.. every 5seconds or so at idle, i would get alittle drop in rpm's. So now that everything has been replaced.. i still have that drop in rpm's and my truck sounds like a diesel now when it idle's. It also feels like it's sluggish around the 60km-80km/h range.. to keep a speed of 120km/h on the highway i need to keep the rpm's up around 4k all the time.. It just doesn't feel like the same truck anymore.. not the same quiet idle and power ban.. not that the pathfinder is a rocket or anything. I brought it back to the garage and they fixed it again, said the belt was off by 1 teeth. But the truck is still the same. Any ideas?? I'm going to check the ecu tonight to see what it says. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delavoie Posted March 21, 2007 Author Share Posted March 21, 2007 (edited) I brought it back to the garage today.. they will do a compression test tomorrow.. Hopefully the engine isnt toast. Edited March 21, 2007 by delavoie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meangreenmachine Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 I had the same problem when i did my own belt. I got a little sloppy and didn't get the marks lined up right so I took it back apart and was like 2 teeth off. It would rev up fine but I had no power unless I was keeping the r's high. I had to pull hills 2 gears lower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Put a timing light on it.... Not having the timing correct can cause some interesting symptoms. When the timing belt was changed, it also changed the timing, in this case it may have been enough to cause the loss of power. Just an idea... I know it fixed my 95 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delavoie Posted March 22, 2007 Author Share Posted March 22, 2007 well i'll let you guys know today what the results are of the compression test.. then i'll take it from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Yeah, if the crank is off by one tooth it will do that to you. It's hard to figure these things out sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delavoie Posted March 23, 2007 Author Share Posted March 23, 2007 Problem solved.. timing was off. The bottom pulley the marker on it was not very visible. They had to sand the pulley down to find the original mark on it. Thank god the engine is still good.. now i have another problem... freaking manifold "tick tick tick tack tack tack" noise is starting to drive me nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 Problem solved.. timing was off See it was simple freaking manifold "tick tick tick tack tack tack" noise is starting to drive me nuts. Thorleys... Linky in Sig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9sar Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 Problem solved.. timing was off.The bottom pulley the marker on it was not very visible. They had to sand the pulley down to find the original mark on it. Thank god the engine is still good.. now i have another problem... freaking manifold "tick tick tick tack tack tack" noise is starting to drive me nuts. you can easily eliminate the tack tack tack. Just to the right of your steering column is a snazzy little device called a radio. It has a knob. Turn it clockwise until the tack tack tack goes away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delavoie Posted March 24, 2007 Author Share Posted March 24, 2007 back to having problems again, timing must still be off.. When i get to 100/kmh on the highway and let off the gas and bring the rpm's to 2K, the whole truck shakes like a engine mount would be broken or something. seems to only do it when i'm over 70km/h or so.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 sure it's the motor n not some steering issues or wheel balancing off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delavoie Posted March 25, 2007 Author Share Posted March 25, 2007 (edited) it could be since i changed my upper and lower ball joints and got a alignment also.. hopefully they can fix it, it's starting to get frustrating after 1 week in the shop..getting a rear bumper built for it this week. Here are some pics, haven't posted any since my front bumper build. Edited March 25, 2007 by delavoie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meangreenmachine Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Im assuming you had your ignition timing adjusted and not your t-belt. If your timing is off on your t-belt it will make your ignition timing of also. You can adjust this some by moving the distributor to make the ignition timing correct but your valve timing will still be off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delavoie Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 so what's the easiest way to make sure the timing belt timing is correct?? Using a timing light?? does the top dead center method work on these engines? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 timing light can show that timing is correct but i think the belt can still be off (i may be wrong but i think this is possible), compression check, ignition check (cheap version of compression check) b/c if the belt isnt damn near 100% right then there will be some issues with valves hitting pistons and loss of power... pull the dist cap and pull plug #1...roatate engine till #1 is at tdc verify position of the dist rotor...i think it should be towards the intake (just follow the contact and the ridge on the dist cap to the plug wire socket and that will be where it needs to go) to find tdc i put a LONG rod (make sure it doesnt fall all the way in the cylinder) in the cylinder and rotate the engine till i find the peak and make sure its a compression stroke (this is how i got 180 degrees off) pulled the dist and reset it fired up and bam she cranked up and ran like @!*% then a lil tweaking and she ran like a champ it still kinda sounds to me like a timing problem if you noticed a regain in power when i broke a belt and bent some valves i got it well enough in time on 4 cylinders to actually drive it but it had NO power at all...i just recently did a belt and got the dist about 180 degrees out of time and thought i had toasted the engine b/c i wasnt getting any ignition and after a couple hrs of resetting to TDC and realigning the the rotor it all worked out... ignition check: crank up truck get a good pair of insulated pliers at the sit pull 1 plug wire at a time (truck still running) if the idle changes or cuts off that cylinder is good if nothing changes then that cylinder is bad (bent valve or loss of compression some how) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meangreenmachine Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Im assuming you had your ignition timing adjusted and not your t-belt. If your timing is off on your t-belt it will make your ignition timing of also. You can adjust this some by moving the distributor to make the ignition timing correct but your valve timing will still be off. How far off was your ignition timing when the t-belt was changed? it should have been no more thatn a couple of degrees. If it was off more than the t-belt is probably off. When you adjusted your time you moved it from being in time with the valves to being in time with the crank. The best way to check the t-belt is to remove the upper cover, line up the timing mark on the crank and lower cover and see where your two cam gears line up. If the belt is only a tooth or two off I doubt it will bend a valve. I have done this sssh by accident in a hurry once. usually if you have a bent valve there will be other signs or sounds backfires out the exhaust or intake etc. Id bet money that the belt is off. Won't cost any parts to check just labor. If it was done at a garage they should cover this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 usually if you have a bent valve there will be other signs or sounds backfires out the exhaust or intake etc. thats what we were thinking with mine but amazingly she purred like a kitten (well as good as it could on 2/3 of an engine) i think its cuze it was firing 2456 so it wasnt horribly off...we did a lot of adjustment in timing too...the only thing i did notice was it smelled a touch rich where i guess it was getting partial or post ignition...def sounded off tho i noticed with the lack of power that it didnt sound exactly perfect but i didnt have any valve banging... i check like 10 times B4 i put it back together after a t-belt change b/c after breaking that 1 belt and seeing what minimal damage is...i really dont want to see major damage 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meangreenmachine Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 when my belt was off it started fine revved up fine but It was just simply a pooch. had to kick it down an extra gear to pull my normal hills and the exhaust note wasn't the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 That's exactly how mine was after the first time I did the t-belt and got it off by one tooth on the crank. It ran fine, just way low on power and getting terrible mileage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delavoie Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 Well i'm getting nervous now.. the original garage that was working on it, handed the truck over to another garage to see if they can fix it. If the second garage cant fix it, i dont know what i'll do.. I might have to take the hit and pay out the ass for Nissan to try and fix it for me, if they cant, it will probably be the end of the pathfinder for me. Because i cant drive this on the highway everyday like it is now, and i dont trust that rough idle to bring it out in the woods. Wish me luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meangreenmachine Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 if no one can figure anything else out have someone check the t-belt it really sounds like that is the case. You could probably do it yourself everyone here can help walk you through it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 (edited) I might have to take the hit and pay out the ass for Nissan to try and fix it for me, if they cant, it will probably be the end of the pathfinder for me. has any1 run a compression check on it? if not i would recommend doing that i just reread the original title and that would be my 1st stop. where r u located? b/c i would also lend a helping hand if they cant fix it Edited March 28, 2007 by unccpathfinder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delavoie Posted March 29, 2007 Author Share Posted March 29, 2007 compression test was done, and all was ok. the truck is still at the other garage that took over the job. I should have it back tomorrow.. I'm in NB Canada.. probably nobody on this board in my corner of canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meangreenmachine Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 check the t-belt timing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algg Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 (edited) Had similar problem. It was the timing, but not judt the T-belt. I had both head gasckets hanged, so had to take the dist out. When puting it back together kinda was rushing so did not put the dist in right. It could be that somebody had plaied with your dist in that first garage ( sounds like they don't know what they are doing anyway ) and screwed it up. Edited April 3, 2007 by algg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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