I just completed replacing the upper tensioner on a 1995 Sentra GLE (1.6). I figured I would post instructions and pics to help people in the future. I have to say thanks to 'Kyu-ju-kue', 'tieggonzalez', and 'off_da_meter' for helping me get started and prviding advice on this one. My car has 233K on it and is still running strong, however it sounded like a tank. I though the entire timing chain would need to be replaced, but through the advice of people on this forum, I checked the upper timing chain tensioner. IT WAS TOTALLY SHOT. Cost of the tensioner was $55 from Advance, and total time spent was about 2 hrs. Hopefully I can leave the pics for these instructions on my server, however if someone wants to make them permanent here or add to them, feel free.
Let's get started:
Step 1: Remove the valve cover and move the Coolant Reservoir and Relay box out of the way. The reservoir (1) should just lift out. To remove the relay box (2), there are two screws that hold it in place. You may need to unplug a relay or two to get to the screws:
Shown are where the two screws are that hold the relay box. Now is a good time to remove the reservoir bracket (A). It'll give you room later.
Step 2: I moved the power steering reservoir out of the way (Screws 1,2,3). Next you will need to remove the engine mount bracket that attaches to the head. (Screws 4,5,6)
Step3: Support the Engine with a jack. (I placed mine under the oil pan). Remove the engine mount (Screws 1,2,3,4)
Step4: Remove the upper timing chain cover. There are a couple of nuts and 5 bolts.
YOU WILL GET DIRTY!!! (SHAMELESS PLUG......GO JACKETS!)
Step5: Now your upper chain cover should be removed. Inspect the tensioner and chain.
Here is the tensioner. Go ahead and remove it if it looks bad (Screws 1,2)
Mine was totally shot. There was no plastic left on the tensioner and the chain was eating into the metal (the cause of all the engine noise). Old and new tensioner shown.
Another view...see how it ate the metal (!?)
Step 6: Install new tensioner using the old bolts. Be sure to release the pin if your new tensioner came with one!
Step 7: Re-assembly is reverse of dissassembly. At the advice of some folks on this message board, I used RTV Gold to seal the upper tensioner cover. I just ran a bead similar to the factory bead that was on there. I had to monkey with the engine a bit to get the mount bolt back in. Nothing major, but if the hole doesn't line up perfectly, just push and tug on the engine and adjust the jack to get it to line up.
Hopefully this will help someone else. All in all, this took 2 hours of work.
Robert
Linear Mode
