still.monkey Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 I have a 89 XE with 270k on the truck and roughly 120k on the engine. I have had the truck for two months now and have gotten to drive it about 7 times. Got the truck and immediately did brakes, CV joint, vacuum lines, oil change, fuel filter, plugs wires, dash volt regulator(thank you to whoever posted that info). Then did belts, timing belt, water pump, heater hoses, gear oils, thermostat, bypass... and after this session of maintenance I was backing out of my garage and didn't realize the passenger door wasn't closed. It swung open caught on a wooden table and made a god awful metal on metal noise, and now doesn't close right. It still closes, but it isn't able to latch and stay closed, the door doesn't appear to be out of alignment more then a bit, but when it was driving it had to be secured with a rope to keep it from swinging open in traffic. I have no experience with body work of any kind so I would love some advice on how to fix this problem. Now for the most serious problem. The engine was replaced 10,000 miles before I got it, and had no maintenance records with it, which is why I did all of the above as soon as I could. Well I got into the timing belt, and it only had the top half of the timing belt cover. I immediately ordered a replacement cover but put everything back together so I could drive it, not planning to drive it around town more then a few days a week. A week after this my friend's car broke down and I let him borrow the Pathfinder and completely forgot about the timing belt cover still being off... After two days of driving it 200+ miles round trip to work, the timing belt had torn itself in half lengthwise while driving on the highway and stopped the engine. Obviously it had slipped multiple teeth(the old timing belt was off a tooth when I replaced it). What I'm wondering is how likely is it that I will need to pull the head to replace those internal components? And how much of a pain in the ass would it be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverton Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 These are interference engines so you most likely have piston on valve contact. But missing the cover shouldn't have made a difference. Many people run their engines without the timing belt cover on it, especially when you get adjustable cam gears... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1994SEV6 Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 aww man! Just when you had everything done, too. Sorry to hear about the door. My advice is to just get a new one. From my experience, I think it's one of those things that will never be perfect again. Like when you take a paperclip and bend it into a certain shape, no matter how hard you try, you will never be able to fold it back perfectly into a paper clip. I don't know if you damaged the hinges on the door, or the mounts or the body of the door, but if bent metal, then just replace it. Then again, you were probably only going like 5mph. That timing belt situation is suspect. I don't know anything that could cut it lengthwise. I don't think a timing belt cover blocks much except miscellaneous debris. If the timing belt was only 200 miles old, then maybe something was installed in such a way that a sharp edge was cutting slowly into the timing belt? As for the damage, if the belt slipped off or actually snapped and the cams were running freely, then you probably do have some damage. I think you have to remove the head and check the valves individually to be 100% sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Throw a new belt on it first and see how it runs. That will let you know. Sometimes you get lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 No way the missing cover did any damage to the belt by it's self, unless something sharp was pressed on to the belt while the engine was running long enough to cut it apart. There are a sheit load of people, myself included (on the Z not the Pathfinder), that run these things without the cover. Put a new belt on and run a compression test, might have gotten lucky. If not you'll have to do some head work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
still.monkey Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 I should add that it didn't have the splash guard under the engine compartment. The chances of something getting thrown into where the timing belt is seems high. There are a lot of things missing with this truck when I got it. It only had half of a dipstick, half of the vacuum lines were missing, no armrest, no stereo, no brakes(they weren't actually missing but it freaked me out how bad they were and that I drove it back from Denver) . But it was only $750. I was planning to just get the new timing belt back on and do the compression test and then decide whether I need to pull the heads or not. Will post pics, if there is anything worth seeing. I'm also curious about peoples opinions that timing belt covers are optional and why? I've always thought that they were essential because they protect a belt that if it brakes or slips can do serious engine damage, so why wouldn't you want to protect this belt at all costs? I feel like a tard for running the engine on the road without half of the cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddoc Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 The chances of something large enough or with enough mass to knock a belt off or cause damage is pretty slim, but since I'm not a mechanical engineer I would assume that the engineers at Nissan designed the cover for a reason. That being said, the cover being off doesn't sound like it had anything to do with your belt splitting. More likely, the belt split due to manufacturer defect or something sharp rubbing on the belt. Hope nothing too serious happened to the internals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 One guy on here had loads of belt problems after running with a loose cover, but only because he went mudding and, well, filled it with mud. IIRC it skipped a few teeth. Maybe you got a stick or a bit of gravel or something up in there? The door, yikes, there's a PITA. Hopefully it's just the hinge that's buggered, I'd replace that first. There's also the chance that it's bent up where the hinge mounts to the door and the body, which could mean hammer work. But hopefully it's just the hinge, or it's a small enough bend that you can just shim the hinges until the door shuts. I'd use the body lines to help line up the door. (You might also try shimming the latch piece on the door frame.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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