r0x Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 (edited) Hello to all, 1998 Pathfinder 4x2 105,000 miles Here's my situation... The timing belt and water pump was replaced last December. The service was performed by my local Nissan dealer. (They also cleaned the throttle plate for me to fix the gas pedal sticking problem. No charge.) I bought 4 new tires in January and had the shop do a 4 wheel alignment while they were at it. The work was performed by my neighborhood Tires Plus. Problem #1: - The truck smells like it's burning oil. Burned smell in cabin and under the hood. However there are no obvious drips. The truck wasn't burning / losing oil before I had work done on it. Could this have been triggered by the timing belt work? Problem #2: - Steering wheel seems to stick half of the way back after a sharp right turn. Turns back to straight and makes a soft pop noise/vibration after applying a mild additional force to the steering wheel. Not a problem after making left turns. Seems to be worse when the motor is still "cold" (just started). Seemed to get better after topping off the power steering fluid but that didn't eliminate the problem completely. Any ideas? Problem #3: - Squeeking engine sound at idle. Seems to get worse when motor is "hot" (been running for a while). Nissan dealer said belt tensioning issue. (I had them look at it when I brought the truck in for the timing belt service.) They say they adjusted the belt tension(s) but the problem reappeared within a day or two. This noise is not audible at high RPM's. Anything to worry about? Problem #4: - A piece off the bottom of the plastic "bezel" / "duct" around the radiator fan broke off shortly after I had the new tires put on. A piece of it was flapping against the fan - lets just say it didn't sound good... Related to Problem #2? Caused by any service-related work? I forced the flap under a hose and left it at that for now. Just worn out plastics? WTF? Thanks for reading this far and thanks in advance for any replies! r0x EDIT: The steering problem didn't appear until after the new tires were installed. Harder to steer due to increased friction? The old tires were practically bald... TIA for replies... r0x Edited February 9, 2005 by r0x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96pfinderSE Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 Problem 3 is the belt tensioner or possibly just the belt. Might be able to fix it with a new belt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 Hello to all, 1998 Pathfinder 4x2 105,000 miles Here's my situation... The timing belt and water pump was replaced last December. The service was performed by my local Nissan dealer. (They also cleaned the throttle plate for me to fix the gas pedal sticking problem. No charge.) I bought 4 new tires in January and had the shop do a 4 wheel alignment while they were at it. The work was performed by my neighborhood Tires Plus. Problem #1: - The truck smells like it's burning oil. Burned smell in cabin and under the hood. However there are no obvious drips. The truck wasn't burning / losing oil before I had work done on it. Could this have been triggered by the timing belt work? Problem #2: - Steering wheel seems to stick half of the way back after a sharp right turn. Turns back to straight and makes a soft pop noise/vibration after applying a mild additional force to the steering wheel. Not a problem after making left turns. Seems to be worse when the motor is still "cold" (just started). Seemed to get better after topping off the power steering fluid but that didn't eliminate the problem completely. Any ideas? Problem #3: - Squeeking engine sound at idle. Seems to get worse when motor is "hot" (been running for a while). Nissan dealer said belt tensioning issue. (I had them look at it when I brought the truck in for the timing belt service.) They say they adjusted the belt tension(s) but the problem reappeared within a day or two. This noise is not audible at high RPM's. Anything to worry about? Problem #4: - A piece off the bottom of the plastic "bezel" / "duct" around the radiator fan broke off shortly after I had the new tires put on. A piece of it was flapping against the fan - lets just say it didn't sound good... Related to Problem #2? Caused by any service-related work? I forced the flap under a hose and left it at that for now. Just worn out plastics? WTF? Thanks for reading this far and thanks in advance for any replies! r0x EDIT: The steering problem didn't appear until after the new tires were installed. Harder to steer due to increased friction? The old tires were practically bald... TIA for replies... r0x #1 are you actually loosing oil? after major service the truck may smell of burning oil for a while... #2 it could be ball joints, or pitman arm or something... it's definately realted to tires/allignement... should have taken it to Nissan for that. seems no one can do it right outside of them... check for wear... i'd check those and see if it may have been caused by the tire folks.. #3 belts. well, if they retightened them and they squick again soon then your belts are shot my friend.. probably have 105k miles on them... if they are Nissan belts then that's most likely... you can get all of them kellys for about 10-15 bucks.. #4 could be related to either service... it depends on timing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r0x Posted February 9, 2005 Author Share Posted February 9, 2005 Thanks for replies... - The truck is not losing any significant amount of oil. More like "oozing" small amounts oil... Enough to notice the smell anyway... There is some staining / gunk accumulation around the seam between the head cover (I think that's the correct name for it...) and the engine block. I wiped some of the gunk away on the more accessible parts and there seem to be some shiney spots where more oil is coming out... Question: Was this cover removed and reinstalled as part of the timing belt service? - I forgot to mention that I had all of the belts replaced a little over a year ago. I discussed this with the guy at Nissan, which is why they only adjusted the tensioner. - I've had the Tires Plus shop do the 4 wheel alignment several times over the years with no problem. I guess it's time for another trip to the dealer to see what's up with the steering... :furious: Regards, r0x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewisnc100 Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 #1 - Check the valve covers, mine need to be tightened up every year or so or they loosen up and leak. Also the passenger cam seals leak by the 1st timing belt change on most pathfinders, did they replace them during the change? #4 - That bottom piece (radiator lower shroud) is one of the first parts to take off for a timing belt change, you remove that and then lift the radiator out of the engine to provide room. It's held on by a couple of clips that are difficult to reach and release, could have damaged one taking that shroud off for the timing belt change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 Question: Was this cover removed and reinstalled as part of the timing belt service? - not sure where that is but my guess is yes... maybe you need belt dressing or got crappy belts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r0x Posted February 10, 2005 Author Share Posted February 10, 2005 #1 - Check the valve covers, mine need to be tightened up every year or so or they loosen up and leak. Also the passenger cam seals leak by the 1st timing belt change on most pathfinders, did they replace them during the change? I asked for the cam seals to be replaced as part of the timing belt job. The service manager told me that once they got inside they found that the cam seal wasn't leaking and that his recommendation is not to replace it. Does this statement make any sense? Thanks again for all replies. r0x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewisnc100 Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Not really, it doesn't make any sense that they would have removed the cam sprockets, the rear timing belt cover and then wouldn't go ahead and replace a $3 cam seal while they were there. They probably looked for any signs of a leak with the rear cover and sprockets in place, which in my case I didn't see a leak either. But once I got the rear timing belt cover off the cam seal was leaking. http://groups.msn.com/LewisPictures/97path...hoto&PhotoID=17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r0x Posted February 12, 2005 Author Share Posted February 12, 2005 #1 - Oil leak was from the oil pressure switch. Tech. also tightened the valve cover. Cost: $100 parts and labor. (Most of that is labor...) #2 - Steering problem is intermittent and could not be reproduced when I was at the Nissan shop this morning. Tech. said it is due to "a bad linkage from the steering wheel" (?) Tech. pointed out the rod between the steering wheel and the wachamacallit toward the front of the engine compartment. No repair for now. #3 - Squeeking sound is from a "bushing on a belt tensioning pulley" (?) Tech. said that it is quite common for them to go bad over time and that he's heard them a lot worse. Repair estimate: $500 parts and labor. No repair for now. #4 - Removed and discarded the bottom part of the radiator shroud. Any inputs on #3? Should I let a local (non-dealer) shop do that type of work? Thanks again for all replies! r0x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 #3 junk yard trip and you can replace that part in like 5 minutes... no stealer.. I'd be pissed about that oil leak.. i'd probably make them fix it without a charge... that's their f-up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r0x Posted February 12, 2005 Author Share Posted February 12, 2005 Solved #3 with generous squirts of WD-40 on both tensioning pulley wheels. The noise seemed to be coming from the top one but I'm not sure. I hope it lasts. Cost: $0 More than anything else, I'm totally P.O.'ed at the Nissan dealer shop for not suggesting the pully wheel replacement while they had everything taken apart for the timing belt job. I can't say if the oil pressure switch leak was related to anything they did but I'm pretty sure it wasn't leaking before they touched my truck! Am I correct about saying that they could have / should have replaced that pulley wheel at the same time? Should I call their service manager and bitch about being quoted $500 for redoing work I just paid for? Thanks again for all replies! r0x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkpath96 Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 As for your problem #3, I recently had the drive belts and timing belt changed in my pathy at 105K miles, and now it squeals just as you described. I'm glad you mentioned that WD40 fixed the squeal - I couldn't believe that by replacing old belts would actually produce a new squealing sound... isn't that what old belts are replaced for???? Anywho, thanks for the info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r0x Posted February 13, 2005 Author Share Posted February 13, 2005 (edited) dkpath96, I didn't spray the belts with WD-40. The noise isn't from the belts, it's from the tensioning pulley wheels. I sprayed the lubricant into the gap between the "top cover" on those wheels and their inner perimeter. (Hard to explain - see picture. This is the top front of the engine. The white object on the bottom of the picture is the radiator fan.) The engine was off when I did this, otherwise I would be inhaling a cloud of WD-40... I avoided spraying onto the belts as much as possible. Can anyone confirm for me that this belt had to come off for the timing belt job? Thanks, r0x Edited February 13, 2005 by r0x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 Of course it does. The whole front end of the engine is removed, basically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r0x Posted February 16, 2005 Author Share Posted February 16, 2005 (edited) I spoke with the Nissan shop manager - he agreed to replace the drive belt tensioning pulley for the cost of the part alone. He also said that the grinding / squeeking is due to wear of the vibration dampening rubber centerpiece so what I'm hearing is metal against metal... :-0 The WD-40 trick did help but it's starting to wear out. Thanks again for all replies! r0x UPDATE: That pully assembly shown in the picture was replaced and now my Pathy purrs like a kitten. Cost: $180+tax (their part cost; no labor charge; free car rental). r0x Edited March 6, 2005 by r0x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now