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Timing belt 3.3 V6

359K views 299 replies 108 participants last post by  jj_frontier 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Well today i figured it was time to do my timing belt. its lasted me 135k hard miles, and yes that is 30k overdue. so its time to do something for my truck. Brand new water pump, timing belt, tensioner, and thermostat from Nissan.


start by removing the breather tube that goes from bank 1/2 to the intake. remove the fan and loosen nuts that hold on the fan clutch to the pulley while the belt is still on. remove brackets that hold the radiator in then pull off all 3 belts. Set the crank pulley to the TDC marking and pull off using a puller. the pulley is very easily damaged so be careful. you can see the puller in the bottom of the pic




remove the 3 12mm bolts from the thermostat housing. pull the old thermostat out and scrape off all of the old RTV. mine was not bad but this is the best time to do it.


Remove the 2 timing belt covers and keep the bolts in a clockwise order, some are different lengths and it is easier to keep track this way. make sure the marks on the cams are facing upwards like in the pics, if not you will have to rotate the crank 360* to get the cams to turn 180*(i got lucky and they were at the right position). loosen the tensioner bolt then pull off the belt. remove the spring off the old tensioner or install new one onto the new tensioner.


Now, remove water pump. Again, keep bolts in a clockwise manner to help with the order. scrape off all of the remaining gasket on the block(it is a pain!!!). having a whiz wheel helps a lot on this step. apply a thin layer of Grey RTV to the water pump side of the gasket and install the pump itself.


now install the tensioner and spring onto the stud. slide timing belt onto the gears keeping the marks lined up like in the picture. install new thermostat and apply Grey RTV to the housing, no gasket is needed. your hose should come off, mine was stuck on so we just worked around it.




Reinstall the timing belt covers and crank pulley, keep an eye on the half moon key on the crank so it stays in.




Start putting the pulley brackets back on to the motor and reinstalling belts. put the fan/clutch back on, the rad back in, tighten hoses, and reconnect the breather tube to the intake.


All done now fill the radiator back up with coolant and start it back up. bleed the coolant system out and them your all done.

Random Pics:



135000 miles of wear on the belt, sorry couldn't get a pic to not be blurry guess it was too close
 
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#59 ·
So I did this replacement a while back... the kit that I got from Courtesy Nissan came with oil seals for the crank and cam shafts and I was wondering if anyone replaced those when they did this. I didn't do mine because no one on the forums seemed to mention it. However, it seems that the Nissan mechanic I go to found an oil leak at the crank. He also mentioned that sometimes the crank gear can seize onto the shaft that the only way to get it off is to drill through it, bust it off, and order a new one. He did also mention sometimes it's possible to drill tap holes into it and get it off with a harmonic puller.

My question is whether anyone replaced those seals, how easy it is to remove the crank and cam gears to get to the seals, and what all is involved if I wanted to go back in and replace them all. I guess at worst if I couldn't get the gear off I could just put it all back together and take it to the mechanic. Since I've already removed and replaced everything once it probably won't take as long, but I'll definitely be sure to have an impact wrench handy this time.
 
#60 ·
I just had my timing belt replaced last weekend by my mechanic at 109,000, he finished it in 4 hours in our house charged me $600 for everything, including all the belts and changed the radiator for another $140 because it was leaking at the top and sprays the coolant all over the engine.... I don't have the tools and the technical knowhow of the tools needed, especially after reading some of the problems I will be facing after reading everything here..... I love doing mechanical things but I chickened out after reading.... so many things are really beyond my mechanical knowledge.... nevertheless I am learning that it could be done by anybody....what I was worried was what tools will I be needing in case I encounter such problem.....:noworries:
 
#61 ·
The only special tools that I ended up needing was a breaker bar, a pneumatic impact wrench and air compressor, red RTV compound for the thermostat, and a harmonic puller. Most people already have a breaker bar and RTV and they're easy to find, Advance Auto loans puller sets, so the only hard part was borrowing an air compressor and finding a way to hook it up while my truck was parked in the apartment parking lot.

The job is pretty straightforward, it is just time-consuming. Took me two weeks but I saved $550.
 
#62 ·
tks guys this is a great wright up on how to i'm gettin ready to do mine here soon and this is going to be an awesome help!!!
 
#64 ·
Get an air compressor and an impact wrench. Seriously. Without one it took me two days to get the pulley off and I ended up borrowing an impact wrench any way. I just replaced my crankshaft pulley a week ago and had an impact wrench before I started, took about five seconds to get it out.

Useful advice: I don't think the size strap wrench you'll need will be commonly available. Also I am not sure if this is a great idea or not because of the rubber harmonic balancer in the pulley and the fact that the pulley is two parts of cast material that can come apart pretty easily especially if it's old. But I could be wrong on that.
 
#66 ·
I have a diesel mechanic friend that strongly advises against using a impact on the crank pulley. He just shakes his head and says no no no. He's concerned about the hard impact and hammering on the crankshaft especially without oil pressure... thoughts?

I found an 18" chain wrench by irwin. should do it...
 
#67 ·
Fan Clutch & More Damage?

Hello all, great thread, a lot of help. I pulled into a parking lot the other day and ended up coasting into the parking spot because my 2002 Frontier XE V6 shut off on me. I later took off the distributor cap and saw that it wasn't rotating. With 208K miles on it, I figure its the timing belt. So at this point I'm halfway through pulling pieces of the engine out to get to the belt. I have the fan removed and the four nuts pulled off the pulley that the fan clutch is attached to, but I can't get that damn pulley off! It looks like the fan clutch and the puller its attached to are only held on by those four studs. Any idea how to get it off? I've pounded the shaft betweent the pulley and the clutch to try to free it up, to no avail. Do I need to remove this? The book says so, but it looks like I might be able to get away with not.

Also, does anyone think there was damage to the motor when the belt snapped? It was super low RPMs (Almost idle) and slow speed. What are my chances of getting away with just a belt? Thanks for all your help in advance.
 
#68 ·
As far as damage to the engine goes, without a visual inspection of the valves you probably won't know for sure. You can get on the crankshaft pulley bolt with a big breaker bar and manually turn the engine over a few times and make sure you don't hear or feel anything colliding in the engine. From what you described it may not even be the timing belt though, not sure. Usually when they fail you immediately know you need a new engine.

I don't think you'll need to remove the fan shaft to replace the timing belt but it's sort of bolted to the water pump. Most timing belt replacements include replacing the water pump too so if you wanted to do that you'd have to get the fan shaft and clutch off. Should just be four 10 or 12 mm bolts though. If I remember correctly they're double-sided thread screws with no head, and I ended up replacing these with normal bolts because I couldn't figure out how to tighten them without damaging one set of threads.

Any way, that's my two cents, any one feel free to correct any of that...
 
#70 ·
Timing Belt

I know what your saying about usually knowing, but with the distributor not spinning when you crank the engine over, it can only be so many things. Well, I'm almost into the timing belt case, I just have to remove the crank pulley. I've put it in neutral and turned the crank until the marks are lined up for TDC. My question now is, while I'm screwing around getting the pulley off, it's gonna want to move on me while I'm wrenching it. Is there a way to lock in the TDC so when you're removing the pulley it doesn't come out of alignment? I can throw it in gear, but I think it still will move a little bit...maybe that's fine and it isn't enough movement to hurt it? Also, in the tech manual I skipped the part about removing the spark plugs (because it's a pain in the arse)...hopefully I'm all right, not sure why I would need to remove those.
 
#85 · (Edited)
My question now is, while I'm screwing around getting the pulley off, it's gonna want to move on me while I'm wrenching it. Is there a way to lock in the TDC so when you're removing the pulley it doesn't come out of alignment? I can throw it in gear, but I think it still will move a little bit...maybe that's fine and it isn't enough movement to hurt it? Also, in the tech manual I skipped the part about removing the spark plugs (because it's a pain in the arse)...hopefully I'm all right, not sure why I would need to remove those.
If you have a manual transmission, the trick I've used to "hold" the crank pulley to remove the bolt is to put it in the highest gear (5th) and have someone step on the brakes.

As for removing the spark plugs when manually turning the crank to TDC, it's not totally necessary but makes it easier. Think about what the engine is doing when you're turning the crank....you're basically compressing air by hand. With the spark plugs removed it's vented, so it turns easier. And also helps to determine TDC by seeing cylinder #1 piston at the top of its travel with the crank pulley timing marks lined up.
 
#71 ·
Timing Belt

Well, I got it all apart and there is an 8" section of the timing belt with no teeth on it so that is the culprit! Just a question for all you knowledgeable folks now. To put the new timing belt on, here is what I believe the alignment should be, please tell me if I'm wrong. Before I took the crank pulley off I made sure it was lined up with the first notch on the left, which in the book should be TDC. On my two cam pulleys, there are punch marks and then there are punch marks on the rear of the timing belt case, so I believe I need to line up those punch marks. Then I should be all set to put the new belt on right? As a check, the distributor should be pointing to cylinder 1's contact right? I believe this is all I need to do to correctly put the belt on. If there is something I am missing, any advice would be appreciated so I don't destroy the thing! Thanks all.
 
#72 ·
The crank and cams should be heavy enough to where they won't move around after you remove the belt. They all have marks for TDC though, and if you get a Nissan belt for it, the belt has marks that line up with all the marks that are in there already.

When you get on the engine with the breaker bar to turn it over a few times, make sure you put the new belt on first and don't spin the crank without the cams turning too. That's normally common sense but I figure I'd just remind you...

You don't need to remove the spark plugs either. When you crank it over by hand you'll fight compression on the engine but it's no big deal.
 
#73 ·
Also your marks sound like they're lined up properly. I'm not sure about the distributor though. It seems like if cylinder 1 is at TDC, that's when you'd want that cylinder to fire, so the distributor should be lined up to fire that cylinder. You could pull that one plug out to check if you can look down in there and see the top of the piston.

I think I had put on here how many teeth of the timing belt are in between each marking as an extra sanity check. If the old belt is factory though and not in shreds you can transfer the old markings off of that belt onto the new one just to be extra sure.
 
#74 ·
Still in the process of installing the timing belt in mine.
It was replaced by a auto shop at 110,000.
Since the water pump wasn't replaced I had to take it off in order to install the new water pump.

I noticed when I took the cover off, the Factory Nissan timing belt was installed backwards. The letters and arrow were facing the engine, not the front of the truck :/

Surprisingly, the truck had ran just fine.

I have everything lined up, the belt facing the right way and I am having my mechanic neighbor stop by to check my work in the morning just to make sure I am not messing up anywhere. I can't afford a new engine lol.
 
#75 ·
Well I just replaced mine. I noticed while taking everything apart that the belt was in pretty decent shape but there was A LOT of play with it. I did everything Nissan recommends even though the seals were in perfectly good shape. I also had to replace my radiator and I went ahead and replaced the fuel filter. I don't think the truck as ever had a fuel filter since the stuff I poured out was black as black gets. I also did the distributor cap and rotor just for good measure. I'm right at 109,000 and mine had a lot of slack so make your own judgment on waiting with this.

Good luck guys.
 
#79 ·
Timing Belt Attempt #2

Thats right, I'll be changing my timing belt for the second time but not because of miles haha. I changed it at around 140 i think and yeah it was definitely shot. S i put on the new belt and tensioner but i tightened up the belt too much and its been whining for the past 8000 miles. I was hoping it would go away but it never did and i can't stand the noise anymore ha. SO now wiht about 148K im goint o do this again. Might be able to take pics this time. Also, using an impact wrench on the crank bolt is the way to go (never got it off with a breaker bar). Also, MAKE SURE YOU USE THE FEELER GAUGE WHEN SETTING THE TENSIONER so you don't end up like me ha. BTW very helpful sticky and posts guys!
Alec
 
#80 · (Edited)
ahs46,
I was just looking in my Chilton's repair manual concerning these timing belt replacements and it has a bolded note that says:

Also check the tooth design on the camshaft or crankshaft sprockets. Some models may have teeth with a SQUARE edge at the bottom of the sprocket groove, while other models are ROUNDED. The replacement belts are available as either straight-toothed or rounded, and they are NOT interchangeable. Use only a belt that matches the tooth design of your sprockets. Use of the wrong belt will cause whining noise and premature failure.

ahs46, thought maybe your truck's belt was incorrect.
I'm tackling this job right now. It's been a challenge, as I had misplaced my puller and had to fabricate one, then struggled getting the bolts out of the camshaft sprockets so I could replace the seals behind it, then finally had issue getting the seal out of the crankshaft. Hopefully getting it all together tomorrow. My truck had 118,000 miles on it, but the timing belt looked good, no damage but did have a little slack. I decided to do the job when my truck started leaking coolant, most likely the waterpump. I replaced the bypass hose, as well as resealing the gooseneck.
 
#81 ·
One quick question for those who have done this job.
I need to verify what washers are behind the nut for the timing belt tensioner? When I pulled it off, something fell, couldn't find anything at first. Later I found a spring type washer. I also have the nut and a flat washer. Is this all there is? and what order should the washers be installed? I'm thinking the spring washer goes on first, flat washer next, then nut.
Thanks!
Bill
 
#82 ·
I am believe that the order is:
Tensioner spring
Tenioner pulley
Flat washer
Sprung washer
Then nut
Then 35-42ft. lbs. final torque.

I just did this 3 weeks ago but washers and nut fell into my coolant drain pan.....fun.
Don't forget to gauge the final belt tension.
As per the Nissan Dealer technician, there should be ~.375" to ~.5" flexion in the belt, check this 1/2 way between the cam cogs or 1/2 way between the driver side cam cog and crank; either way....then rotate crank 2 full rotations to ensure the tension is in spec.

Oh yeah...not sure which brand ur using but the ContiTech (by Continental) is a bit confusing as that the timing marks on the belt should line up still after the 2 full rotations. They will not, as long as ur initial line up was 100% and you do not have a tonne of resistance applying the 2 rotations....you should be good......
 
#83 ·
Timing belt high score

I won the stupid-olympics with my timing belt... Sit down for this one: 184,444 miles at failure. 10 years and 6 months for my 2000 Crew Cab SE. Don't ask why, just get your laughs out and move on. On the plus side, since my condenser coil was recently punctured, I could take it out for easy access. I also got some really great clear shots of the front of my engine if anyone is interested.

FWIW, I really, really appreciate all the good tips and advice about getting this done right. Everyone had good input that made the whole thing go very smoothly. Even though I work on million-dollar machinery for a living, there is something nerve-wracking about working on your own vehicle when it is hurt bad. Probably because all the money spent is yours :(.

I can also attest that it _is_ possible to break a belt and get away with no other damage. My belt stripped the teeth around the crank pulley when I tried to start it in the morning. I found the telltale stationary distributor when I took the cap off and tried to bump the engine to get the retention screw exposed. My next move was to U-haul for a trailer to take the ol' girl home for some (long overdue) TLC.

I had to buy a harmonic puller and 27" impact socket, but I got it all fixed for about $200 including the trailer rental, the rental car to drive home and get my INTERNATIONAL PICKUP (Hoo-ahh) and a new belt. Not bad if I do say so myself.

Thanks again, all! hopefully I can give back later on down the road!
 
#84 ·
cgreene518,
Thanks for the reply. I had figured it out once I viewed the old impressions on the washers and got it on right. I'm very impressed with all that tackled this job. I struggled with a few things, but did get'er done. One of the scariest things was breaking the bolts loose from the camshaft pulleys. Trying to hold the pulley with a screw driver while breaking the bolt, the cam pulley turned counterclockwise. I thought maybe I might have bent a valve. Then tightening those bolts back up, same issue. What I would have done differently, is fabricate something that could have caught two of the large holes in the cam pulleys and made it easier to break the bolts loose, as well as retorque them. As it is, those bolts are tightened as well as I could, while holding the pulleys with the screwdriver.
Thanks again for posting this how-to and making it a sticky.
 
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