[bridrive55]

So I took the car to a Firestone shop, but the guy wasn't there to look at the thermostat. So one of the guys says "Follow me around the corner, we can get it done right now." So we go to another shop and nobody's there to work on it either. I tell him (and by now I'm thinking this definitely falls under sketchy at best) I'll come back on friday. He says, "Wait, there's one more shop, it's right down here." So we go to one more place. The guy pops the hood and is listening to the engine. There's a loud rattle we'd heard when checking out the car, we figured it was a bearing or somehting, mechanic says "There's something loose inside the engine, rattling around." So he explains he's gotta open up the valve cover, get whatever it is outa there, and then bolt it back up. So we agree on $50 for the thermostat and $50 to get the random piece of metal out.

About half an hour later I'm starting to kick into full panic mode, waiting to see my car fly by on its way to the chopshop and the mechanic come after me with a wrench and cut out my organs to sell on the black market. So I walk out to see how he's doing, and he goes "You very lucky!" points over to the VERY LARGE piece of metal bracket that had broken off and was sitting on the timing chain. So I grab it and go back inside, 20 minutes later the thermostat is done, I pay him $100 (plus a $3 tip for getting it done so fast) and now my A/C works fine and my motor won't explode (because of that chunk of metal) in a week!! I plan on taking it to another shop to get his work looked at, make sure there aren't any screw ups.

Holy crap this could have turned out bad. All this happened in 3rd ward, Houston Tx. Thank God for decent people.

The piece of metal removed was one of two (yes, one of TWO) timing chain guides. These timing chain guides commonly break off.
Good news: Congratulations, you've averted tragedy for the retardedly low price of $50 (holy crap that's cheap).
Bad news: That is only one of two timing chain guides.
I've gone over this so many times it hurts, and I'm not in the mood to type right now, because I've been at the University for 10 hours reviewing pathogenesis papers, and my brain is causing me physical pain. However, I have posted about this sever times before, so I don't need to do it again. I posted links to a walk-through to remove both timing chain guides, as well a more thorough description of the problem. Search in the S13 threads for "timing chain guide" and you'll hit my posts.
Good luck removing the other timing chain guide and completely averting a tragedy that my first KA sadly experienced.

 

[bridrive55]

I have somewhat diagnosed my a/c problem. I seem to have a defective thermostat. ...I have $700 set aside from the sale of my Sol and once the A/C is done, it's time for the fun stuff.

Lol, A/C was the first thing I removed on my RS13 to save weight.
If you need any of the A/C support stuff, like hoses or fan, R134A, etc., drop me a PM.

 

[bridrive55]

Thanks for the offers, looks like the a/c problem went with the thermostat problem. (knock on wood). I'll know once it hits 105 in a month.

So how do I know if I need to remove the second timing chain guide? And is there a possibility this guy cut the bastard off? I kept the piece and it almost looks like it was plasma'ed off, the edge looks super clean and somewhat melted. I wonder...

My next step is a stereo and new tint. Anybody got some good speaker recommendations? Not doing an amp/sub, just good speakers all around. I've budgeted myself about $300 for a receiver and maybe $150-$200 for speakers.

Both the timing chain guides are held on by bolts. I'm assuming that the one that you had removed was the upper timing chain guide. If it was plasma cut off, the shop guy is an idiot. It's held on by two bolts. The lower timing chain guide, which I would recommmend removing as soon as possible, is sorta near the timing chain tensioner, and involves removing the distributor to access. I can post a complete walkthrough later, if you're really serious about removing the bugger.

 

[bridrive55]

Brian....
If you remove the upper an lower Chain Guides, do they have to be replaced?
Do they affect the chain movement at all if they are gone? I think this might be the clicking noise inside my engine, might be a valve tick too though...

Prior to common mythology, chain tension is IN NO WAY affected by the timing chain guides. They are just guides, and they never touch the timing chain. When they do touch the timing chain, it ruins the chain, as it did in my first KA. Removing the timing chain guides HAS NO EFFECT on the timing chain tension. Timing chain tension is completely and solely determined by the tensioner. In fact, Nissan instructed it's licensed service professionals to remove the timing chain guides, calling the guides "extraneous." Indeed, the guides are completely pointless. They were designed to keep the chain from ripping into the block in the even of chain breakage, but those chains turned out to be strong. Besides this, the most common problem with timing chains is tension slacking due to a poor timing chain tensioner, and in the event of a slack chain (as in Kelso's case, abov) the timing chain guides can ruin your chain (as in my case). The guides also commonly break off and raise all hell. Doing away with them completely is unequivocally the best idea.

 

[bridrive55]

I managed to get a chilton's manual pdf, but it isn't really doing much for me. Gonna try and find that factory service manual tonight.

If you find it, can you link me to it or send it to me? I'd really appreciate it, and if there's anything I can do for you in return, don't hesitate to ask.

 

[bridrive55]

Didn't find a FSM, just the chilton's.... Gonna try bit torrent later, my buddy has it.

Has anybody got a picture they can link to of their (removed) chain guide? Particularly illustrating the method of removal. Mine looks weird to me, and based on the explanation earlier in the thread, it's only held by two bolts right? It really looks to me like it was cut off...

I'd run and snap a picture of mine but then i'd have to import it and find a place to host it. Unfortunately i've been enjoying friday night and am not fully qualified. :hal:

It's not fun. You need to mark and remove the distributor to get the lower one off on a DOHC. You can get the top one from the valve cover on both SOHC and DOHC though. If you post a pic, I'll be able to tell what's up.

 

[bridrive55]

Yesterday I sold my 93 del Sol and bought a 92 240sx SE Hatch. I've never owned a Nissan before, but I've driven my dad's 03 350z enough to realize that they are GOOD.
I can't wait to get under the hood, the previous owner wasn't too big on tuneups, and it hasn't had an allignment in 7(!!!) years. I picked it up for under 1.5k and it seems to be fairly solid except for the usual crap (missing window switches, crap tires, busted fuel door, really really bad tint, 1 working speaker,etc).
Anything I should know? I plan on picking up a Haynes manual this week, but I am curious about the mechanical aspects.
I've found so far that it's a 2.4l 4-cyl with 155hp/160lb. It has ABS with HICAS 4 wheel steering, 5 speed manual (of course), and... er, that's about what I know at this point. Any advice or tips are appreciated.

Yeah. If you've got HICAS and ABS, then you have VLSD. I'm envious. So is every S13 driver with open diff.

 

[bridrive55]

well I can't find the thread that had the link for the dowload of the service manual...I've got two, for the 89-90 and 91-94. Try a search for it...however, you will find one post with dead links in it...I'm to sick to keep looking...uuuugh...dang cold...

But if you can't find the post then email [email protected] and I'll email whichever one you want. I don't think I have 95+, but you prolly don't need those any hoo.

Uh the 91-94 pdf is really easy to use and has nice bookmarks set up...the 90-90 is horrid, you have to know what you're looking for to find it.

Shoot, I actually need all 3. Lol, I have too many 240SX engines lying around. I'll email you right now, and if you could send that to me, I'd be really grateful. I can also share them with other people. We should make a sticky with the FSM in it.

 

[bridrive55]

Just to play Devils Advocate and this is definetly not the nissan engine I'm most familiar with my 240 has CA18DET and my Pulsar has CA16DE. If you don't really need the timing chain guide(s) then why did they put one on it in the first place. Just something to think about.

So that if the timing chain snapped, it wouldn't destroy the block. The guides are meant to maintain the chain in the event of serious trauma. This is completely superfluous though, and they cause more damage by falling into the chain than they avert. Nissan itself instructs service mechanics to remove the timing chain guides.