[Jonathan huerta]

Is it possible to tighten the harmonic balancer without the ring gear stopper?
I recently put in a timing kit into a Nissan Pathfinder 02 and tried (RGS) and I was unable to keep the cams or crankshaft from moving. It however did start up but was clearly not timed rite so going for my 2nd and last attempt.
What if you place a belt in-between the tensioner and harmonic bal. It would bind itself tight enough the torque it down. What are your thoughts.

 

[rogoman]

The easiest way to prevent the crankshaft from turning is to use the "rope trick". Select cylinder #1. Manually turn the crankshaft clockwise to around 20 degrees before TDC on the compression stroke. Remove cyl #1 spark plug and feed some clothes line rope into the spark plug hole; feed enough so it fills a good part of the combustion chamber. Turn the crank clockwise until the crank locks up.

When installing the chain assemblies, be sure to use stopper pins in all three tensioners otherwise there's a good chance the chain(s) skipping teeth.

 

[smj999smj]

The rope trick is one way. Another would be to remove the valve cover and place a wrench on the flat of the cam and use it to keep the engine from turning via the timing chain. Ring gear stopper is the best way on a VQ engine.