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When did Nissan switch from Belts to Chains?

89K views 24 replies 15 participants last post by  smj999smj 
#1 ·
So I think there has been some miscommunication between the guy who sold me my truck ('99 Frontier KC 4x4 with 127k), his dealer, me, and my mechanic. According to the original dealer and the guy who sold me the truck, it has a timing chain that "never" needs to be replaced. According to a lot of the forum posts, some of the 1st gens have timing belts and some have chains. According to my mechanic, my truck has a timing belt that has never been replaced that I should probably get done for $750.

My question is, when did Nissan switch the Frontiers to timing chains? I think the new ones have chains, but did all the first gens have belts? Or just certain years? I don't want my mechanic pulling apart the motor to find out that nothing needs to be done.
 
#2 ·
whoever told you that chains dont ever need to be replaced should be shot in the arse with rocksalt. just look at any number of 2nd gen trucks, mine included after only 32000 miles. i know thats a different situation but still. anyway, if it is indeed a belt i would go ahead and have it swapped out. but 750 bucks sounds like alot of cash. are you not mechanically inclined? it should be a fairly easy job. more time consuming than anything. if its a chain, wouldnt hurt to get it looked at i suppose.
 
#3 ·
I would consider doing this myself as long as I knew for certain whether or not there was a belt or a chain in my truck.

Also I have never timed an engine before, and am not certain I want to risk my engine on trying this one out.
 
#4 ·
well if you feel confident enough, download a factory nissan service and repair manual. very helpful. i hear ya on the not wanting to blow your motor up. its actually pretty easy if you follow the insructions
 
#5 ·
if your truck is a first gen with a v6 then you have a belt and you should definitely get it changed soon if youre a 4cyl. i believe you have a chain, but dont hold me to it
 
#7 ·
Yeah it's the XE-V6 model Frontier with the 3.3L. And I was looking at this thread

http://www.clubfrontier.org/forums/f46/timing-belt-3-3-v6-41630/

and it looks like to do the timing all that has to be done is to line up all of the gears to their appropriate marks. Doing the labor myself would save me around $500 I'm pretty sure, so it is very tempting.
 
#9 ·
^yep yep if you dont feel comfortable find a friend that is more mechanicly inclined to help you out.
 
#15 ·
chains dont need changing. whoever told you they didnt need to be changed is correct.

guides, tensioners, need changing. but chains for the most part, is a better move.
you should only need to attend to it around every 100k. but nissan ****ed up a little on the 2nd gens.



this is why i like push rod.
 
#16 ·
My mechanic only guessed that the belt needed changing because there were no telltale signs that anything had been worked on. The bolts weren't scratched and the clips on the hoses in that area look like they have never been removed. He did tell me there's no way to tell, but from the looks of it it hadn't been.

Does the tensioner definitely need to be replaced? What is involved with this?
 
#22 · (Edited)
My mechanic only guessed that the belt needed changing because there were no telltale signs that anything had been worked on. The bolts weren't scratched and the clips on the hoses in that area look like they have never been removed. He did tell me there's no way to tell, but from the looks of it it hadn't been.

Does the tensioner definitely need to be replaced? What is involved with this?
When you are in there you want to replace everything, belt, tensioner, water pump, crank seal. It is just parts at that point, labor doesnt change much because you are already in there. When I do a belt & tensioner I do the water pump, I charge .5 hours extra plus parts. Thats 3.5 book hours, If I just do the belt it is 3 hrs. Kicker is if I just do a pump it is 3 hrs. Anyway, do it all, there is a savings in money that way and either way your basically taking the whole damn thing apart and if it has never been apart all those parts are definitely due for change anyway.
 
#17 ·
it deff has a belt. i replaced mine at 100,000. time consuming but not really difficult. i think theirs a rite up on here. good luck
 
#18 ·
I have a Timing belt on mine (2000 with a 3.3 V6). just had it replaced on mine. but it wast fast enough. about 2 weeks ago i had the belt break while i was driving. i was lucky enough that nothing happen, and nothing broke or was bent. Getting charged $750 for just the belt is crazy. I had mine done for $650, but they also replaced the water pump and all the serpentine belts as well.
 
#20 ·
Also be aware, that a special puller may be needed to get the crank pulley off according to the article on here. Call around to some Nissan dealers on pricing. They do it all the time and you know it will be done right.

I had the timing belt, tensioner, water pump, all drive belts, hoses, cam seals and crank seal all replaced. $725 from Nissan Dealer.

Here's a parts list if you do it yourself:

http://www.clubfrontier.org/forums/f46/parts-list-timing-belt-water-pump-replacment-52798/

http://www.courtesyparts.com/fronti...nance/timing-belt-kits/-c-2129_7649_7650.html
 
#23 ·
All right guys, I decided to do this myself. It's taken me longer than I hoped but it will be hopefully worth it. Any way, I have some questions here since it's my first time doing a timing belt:

At first I thought that the cams were one tooth of the timing belt off but I think that the crank was just not set to exactly TDC. I moved the crank a little and now the cams are lined up with the marks properly. Right now, I can't see the punch mark on the engine at the crank because there's a ton of grease there and it's dark now, but I can see the punch mark on the cog. I counted 40 teeth between the TDC marks on the cams and 43 teeth between the TDC mark on the left (driver's) side cam and the TDC mark on the crank. This is verified by the factory belt's markings but if anyone else could verify this for me it'd be an extra sanity check. It seems as though putting the dotted line on the right (passenger's) side cam markings, and the next sold line on the left (driver's) side cam marking, will let the belt line up exactly like the old one is. There is also a "FRONT" label on the new belt with arrows pointing towards the front of the vehicle that make me think I'm on the right track. If any of this sounds wrong please let me know.

Also, I noticed that the instructions on other posts call for the water pump to be removed after the old belt is removed but before the new one is put on. Any particular reason for this? I'd like to do it while the old belt is still on so I don't accidentally move one of the cam gears or something.

Finally, I want to make sure that the engine is going to run properly before I put all that stuff back in and fire it up. Is it OK to start the engine up with the new belt on for a few seconds just to see if it knocks or makes some funny noise before I put all the accessory belts and covers and such back on?
 
#24 ·
girlfriends older malibu needed a water pump, but disturbing the tensioner with the install caused issues with timing!! best replace everything in there!! did two belt kits on my 01 jetta 1.8T each @ 75 thou, had to lift engine a bit + remove motor mounts + replace the stretch bolts, but better than paying $$$$$ + if anything fails in the system FAILS the valves KISS!!! the pistons as almost all engines today are interference fit!!!
 
#25 ·
Ignore the timing mark "dimples" on the rear timing cover; they are always a tooth off. Unless you have some low quality belt, it should have three lines and an arrow on the belt. The arrow should point towards the front of the vehicle and will sit on the span between the two cam sprockets. The other lines should line-up with their respective timing marks on their respective cam or crank sprocket. If it has one dashed line and two solid lines, the dashed line will line up with the mark on the right bank (or, passenger side) camshaft sprocket. If the sprocket turns a little....or "jumps" which they sometimes do because of the valvetrain tension on the cam...it can be easily turned back into position.
Normally, when I do timing belts on these engines, I get a Gates timing belt component kit with water pump (comes with instructions, belt, water pump and tensioner) from Rockauto, Bando brand drive belts from Rockauto, front camshaft and front crankshaft seals/thermostat/coolant bypass hose from Nissan. Some people also like to get a new tensioner spring, which is optional. If the radiator hoses are in poor shape, I'll get new, Good Year hoses from Rockauto. The thermostat uses RTV; I use Permatex Ultra-grey RTV. You'll also need coolant; any "universal color" coolant like Prestone will work fine, but I prefer Pentosin Pentafrost A2 green coolant, which is the same as the factory coolant, mixed 50/50 with a gallon of distilled water.
If you are replacing the water pump, you have to do it before you install the new belt as the pump is long and form part of the mounting area for the cover and you will not be able to get in on with the belt in place. You also don't want to get coolant on the new belt.
The most important thing is tensioning the new belt; too tight and it will "whine" and too lose and it will "rattle." Make sure you pay attention when you loosen and remove the tensioner as to what directly you turn it. Before installing the belt, you need to turn the tensioner (5.5MM allen wrench) to put spring tension on it and lock it down with the lock nut. Install the belt and once in place, loosen the tensioner lock nut, which allows the spring to move the tensioner pulley and take the slack out of the belt. Turn the passenger side cam sprocket a little bit counter-clockwise and the tensioner will take up the rest of the slack. Tighten the tensioner lock nut to 35 ft/lbs. Turn that same sprocket clockwise about the same amount, which puts the slack side between the two cam sprockets. With your thumb and forefinger placed at the center of that span between the two cam sprockets, twist the belt. You should be able to twist it 90 degrees. If you can't, it's too tight and if you can turn it more than 90 degrees, it's too loose.
 
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