shimonmor

I'm going to help a friend change his timing belt on his 95 Pathfinder with the VG30e engine (auto trans) with about 110k miles. He has a Chiltons manual which I never trust (been screwed by them too many times). I'm a diesel mechanic and I've done timing belts on lots of cars before but he's never done any serious mechanical work.

I have a bunch of questions after looking through the manual.

I was planning on replacing the water pump and thermostat too as well has hoses, belts, and tune-up stuff. How about camshaft seals and front main seal? Should I plan on these too? Are they prone to leakage or do they last a long time?

How about the tensioner...worth replacing? I know how to check if the tensioner is bad but I'd like to know if the tensioner reputation is such that people replace them as preventative maint.

Anything else worth replacing or looking at while in there doing the belt?

The Chiltons says to loosen the rocker arm bolts to achieve correct belt tension. Is this actually done? Or this blown off? The whole procedure for setting belt tension is quite elaborate with the feeler gauge and all...I've never seen this type of procedure and am wondering what others have done.

Is the Chiltons manual reliable as far as the procedure goes? Here is link to the procedure: click here. Is there an article on the web that maybe has more info? Lessons learned, etc...? Any input or experiences appreciated! Thanks.

shimonmor

Before I posted my questions above I did a search and came up with nothing regarding timing belts in the Pathfinder forum. I thought that was kind of strange.

Now I realize that most of the posts are in the Truck & SUV forum not in the Pathfinder sub-forum. It's kind of a weird set-up on this forum. Anyway, I found answers to most of my questions in there. But any other input is still appreciated...especially from anyone who has done a timing belt and can pass on some knowledge.

88pathoffroad

Yep. The only way to replace the cam and crank seals is while the belt's off. Better do it while you can. The left cam seal likes to leak after a while.

Most people replace it while they're in there as well, but I've heard Nissan mechanics say that if it's still rolling straight they usually don't. You choose.

The coolant bypass hose and connecting hose between the tube on front and the lower radiator hose come to mind. If you go to a dealership, the little connector hose is like $17, last I checked. You might want to look for a scrap of appropriately sized hose to use in it's place if you don't want to buy one.

I never have, that's just a safety precaution for ham-handed folks with hammers, heh. Just be very careful to NOT let the cams rotate on their own after the belt's off. A few degrees is OK, but no more than that. You don't want valves under full spring pressure to hit your pistons.

When you put on the tensioner, use an Allen wrench to rotate the tensioner around so the spring tensions it, then as it rotates around more to where the belt is tensioned, the wrench should point downward at approximately 5:30, or right at the crankshaft snout.

I used to have a full write-up with pics, but it got deleted by other forum Nazis, so there's no how-to anymore. I'll get around to re-doing it some day...

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'88 Pathfinder: 6" of lift, 33x13.50 Swamper LTB's, Rancho 9000's, L&P Stage 3 steering system, K&N, Pacesetter headers and 2.5" exhaust, Lock-Right locker, 110A alty and electric fan swap, dual batteries, 700W+ worth of PIAAs, etc.

shimonmor

Great reply...very informative. Thanks!