[Rogue_Wulff]

Valve adjustment is hydralic on the KA24, unlike the Z24.

 

[dstobert]

When i did the in car overhaul of the 1988 Z24, i had this problem. Al lthat work and it just cranked but wouldnt start! But i thought for a bit...got my tools, removed the distributor and rotated it 180 degrees. Next turn of the key she started right up - i had put the distributor in 180 degrees off! (Always make punch marks when removing the dist).

Some other things that could be wrong:
1. You forgot to connect an important wire or component
2. Spark plug wires installed wrong and not in proper firing sequence
3. You forgot to reattach the ground cable to the frame (i cant remember where it is)
4. One or more valves too loose or too tight. You did check the valve adjustment didnt you? You may want to add .002 to the factory settings when picking your feeler gauges for this chore, since the engine will be cold and the settings are usually designed for a hot engine.

You will have to rotate the crank with a breaker bar and socket on the crank pulley (DO NOT turn backwards turn it clockwise only, facing the engine! I bent valves turning it backward once!)

There are many complicated instructions you will find to adjust the valve clearance and but just remember this: All you have to really do is to adjust the clearance of that particular valve, when the camshaft is on the base circle! (rocker arm not touching cam at all and free to move, not under camshaft pressure).

5. do a compression check. Maybe the valve job got botched by the machinist. If so, you need to know this.

6. Some other things that could cause this condition: worn out ignition switch (sounds weird but this actually happened to me - new engine, started intermittenly, it turned out to be the switch.) - worn out cap and rotor, broken distributor shaft (rotor should NOT turn freely when engine is off, if it does the shaft is broken - again, this happened to me too).

Thanks so much for the advice,
I spent this evening going through everything,
all electrical connections are correct.
I even remembered the ground wire(LOL) it's on the head near the fire wall.
I didn't remove or touch the distributor to remove and reinstall the head.
I did a compression test and all cylinders are way low, like in the 70's, so I'm thinking & hoping that I somehow didn't get the timing marks lined up properly.
I'll keep you posted, I'm gonna wait till the weekend to screw it up som more.

Thanks again
Darcy

 

[aarr]

Is it necessary to remove the front cover to replace the front crankshaft seal on the KA24E?

 

[SOBS]

Thanks

(Replacing Timing Belt) That sounds like a lot of Fun! Thanks for the right up.:banana: I'm going to give it a shot as soon as I can get some time off. Thought about going to the beach but this sounds so much funner!:crazy:

Wish me luck.

SOBS

 

[SOBS]

Replaced Timing Belt

Ok I'm almost done .... only one problem..... It wont start!
I've done everthing correctly but no joy. It sound good when I turn the ignition, timing looks correct, Spark plugs are firing, I smell gas and spark plugs have gas on them when I try to start it. Very Frustrating. I'll figure it out but takes some time.

I noticed you mentioned lifters. Could air in the lifters cause it not to start or even fire once. I've tried turning the distributor.

Ahhhh so close yet so far away...

SOBS



I GOT IT !!!!!!!
After Praying about it and calming down It came to me. Hook the sparkplug wires up in reverse order!!! It Started!!!

TY RBO your the Greatest!!!

SOBS

 

[petroskie]

great wright up! very helpfull. I however did not remove the oil pan since i was not leaking (mines a 4x4) and i got the cover off and on very easily and im going on 3 weeks now and no leaks, but also chltions dosent say to remove the oil pan when removing the timing chain cover, but i do recomend covering the oil pan when you remove the timing cover.

 

[petroskie]

o ya one more thing, remember to remove the cotter pine from the tesioner, i forgot but luckely if you do forget after your 90% of the way done and then it hit me like a brick wall so dont forget!!

 

[hans747]

excellent writeup! I'm halfway through my TC replacement.

Word of advice:
If you take the tensioner and guides off first, there is no need to remove the sprockets. I was able to slip the chain off the sprokets once it was loose. To put it back on, I just looped it around the bottom sprocket, fed it up to the top, lined up the link with the marks on the bottom sprocket, and then lined up the link on the top sprocket. Real easy.

 

[SOBS]

Mine is still running great, I've put 5,000 miles on the new chain. Hope this forum helped. It sure helped me. I'm actually considering buying a 2nd Older Nissan ( like 1990 - 95) to play with and give to my daughter when were done with it.
:cheers:

 

[4X4D21]

thank you so much, i just changed mine, everything runs great but the chain still slaps against the guide. Then i noticed you said you had to reuse the old bolt from the old guide. I bought the kit, and i noticed when i pulled the pin on the tensioner it didnt tension much, it was still loose. You have no idea how much of a headache ive had looking for the answer to this. Thank you

 

[tommyboy623]

what up??check out the link..tell about your nissan and has parts too..

http://www.nissan4parts.com/SContent/Nissan Motorsports Catalog.pdf

 

[95pickup]

95 Pickup Timing Chain Over Haul

Well its almost over. Hopefully I did it all correct. Took me four days so far.
I work for 3-5 hrs a day. Taking my time. Tomorrow i get to uninstall some linkage under the truck so i can remove the oil pan, clean it and install it.
then add oil and see what happens.

If you take your time its not so bad. I put bolts and parts in baggies.
Bought 5 cans of break cleaner and 5 cans of throttle body cleaner. I
cleaned everything i took off.

My alternator was literally covered in oil. I had a bad oil leak in the front timing cover. Cleaned the Timing Cover and Discovered it has cracks.
So i bought a new one. Old one has cracks in multiple places.

Also found my loud rattle. My tension guide was broken. Bouncing
around inside the timing cover.

I now just home and pray all was done correct.
till tomorrow......:givebeer:

 

[hans747]

good for you! And remember, it takes forever to bleed the lifters. Mine made a knocking sound for about 15 minutes before it went away

 

[95pickup]

I just finished this project!
Its not hard, unless you set the oil-pump-distributor on tdc-exhaust.
Thats what I did. Truck wouldnt start.
Had to rotate crank to tdc-compression. Truck started after that.

My truck sounded like crap! Just like it says! It took 20 min. to settle down some and 30 min. to start sounding like it use too.

I would rate this timing chain operations a 7 on the :balls: scale.
Its not that hard, but its not that easy!
Take your time!:newbie::givebeer::waving::fluffy:

 

[jdmitrswapped]

I just inherited a 93 HB with 180k miles. Pretty sure my dad never did the timing maintenance but holly timing belt batman, that's a serious project and write up!

BTW Nice write up =)

I was considering doing this myself until I see what's involved, damn! i think i'll buy the kit and pay the labor at the dealership for just the timing maintenance.

 

[rbo1577186]

I made the write up a little lengthy for the purpose of making easy to understand for a beginner. It's not too hard to figure out, but it is a lot of work.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Chezelle]

A few more tips to add...

Great Writeup!

I've got a 97 2wd that I changed out the chain, tensioner, & sprockets a few years ago around 150K and after that all rattle was gone. It already had the metal guides in it and all I could find is the chain was very loose. I swapped everything anyway and this year the rattle gradually came back around 185K and now is as bad as its ever been at 187K. I think its related to the tensioner because I can take the valve cover off and reach into the front cover and push the tensioner to the left forcing the oil out of it and then start it up and (after the horrendous noise caused from forcing the oil out clears up) it will be quiet for about 3 months and then come back again? Strange. The chain is also getting pretty loose again. A fella I know who worked for Nissan in the past told me he thought it probably had some trash in the oil gallery leading to the tensioner restricting/blocking oil flow to the tensioner and that he always blew it out with compressed air when he did the timing guide change.(the oil hole behind the tensioner going into the motor block). I didn't know about that trick when I took it apart though. Also it would still seem like the spring in the tensioner should still take up the slack at startup. Maybe I just got a faulty tensioner. I'll probably pull it back apart later this year. I also wanted to say those of you with the 2wd. You don't have to take the oil pan off to swap chain/tensioner. I think I took the front 3 or 4 bolts out on each side and loosened that many more and it will let the pan give enough that you can get the front cover off and on ok. Yeah the little Nissan has saved me a ton of money in the past and I'll just have to fix it....again!

Good Luck,

Brian

 

[hans747]

Great Writeup!

I've got a 97 2wd that I changed out the chain, tensioner, & sprockets a few years ago around 150K and after that all rattle was gone. It already had the metal guides in it and all I could find is the chain was very loose. I swapped everything anyway and this year the rattle gradually came back around 185K and now is as bad as its ever been at 187K. I think its related to the tensioner because I can take the valve cover off and reach into the front cover and push the tensioner to the left forcing the oil out of it and then start it up and (after the horrendous noise caused from forcing the oil out clears up) it will be quiet for about 3 months and then come back again? Strange. The chain is also getting pretty loose again. A fella I know who worked for Nissan in the past told me he thought it probably had some trash in the oil gallery leading to the tensioner restricting/blocking oil flow to the tensioner and that he always blew it out with compressed air when he did the timing guide change.(the oil hole behind the tensioner going into the motor block). I didn't know about that trick when I took it apart though. Also it would still seem like the spring in the tensioner should still take up the slack at startup. Maybe I just got a faulty tensioner. I'll probably pull it back apart later this year. I also wanted to say those of you with the 2wd. You don't have to take the oil pan off to swap chain/tensioner. I think I took the front 3 or 4 bolts out on each side and loosened that many more and it will let the pan give enough that you can get the front cover off and on ok. Yeah the little Nissan has saved me a ton of money in the past and I'll just have to fix it....again!

Good Luck,

Brian

Does it do it just at startup? or when you're running? If it's just at startup, you should try the factory oil filters. they hold pressure better over time. If it's when running, you may have an aging oil pump, which is a lot easier to replace than a tensioner. see if you can get your oil pressure checked.

 

[Macks96HB]

I just finished this project!:

Where did you get your parts? I'm about to dive into this project.

 

[st4nz4d0g]

Anyone know how to bolt the engine back up to the mounts after undoing them all? Thx