Replacing Timing Chain on a 2005 Nissan Altima 3.5 L V6. Broke video down into 3 sections. Part 2 is the removal and installation of timing chain, timing cover and valve covers. Hope you enjoy the video.
For anyone wondering, it's been over 2 years since I did this. I can tell you it's a big job make no mistake about that. If you are in any kind of rush to get it done, you are going to mess up. BEFORE even THINKING of getting started, order the factory manual CD. Spend lots of time studying that sucker. I printed hard copies of all the important pages and had them laying on top of the engine as I worked. All bolts are eather torqued in inch pounds, or foot pounds. DO NOT mix them up. I hit up Harbor Freight for any tools I didn't have, or even thought I needed. The CD covers engine timing and valve cam timing THATS why you need the CD. Don't even try this without the manual, you WILL screw up the timing removing things, thats just a fact. Double, triple your work. Make certain everything is timed properly and nothing hits. My van is still running great.
Just finished my Quest today, thanks to your video, it went much easier. Some people said the AC line had to be removed, you don't. The hardest part for me was probably dealing with fastners missing from the last guy doing a spark plug change. He replaced bolts with the wrong ones in places. He didn't properly fasten the air intake down. There were more things screwed up simply because someone before me messed with the Van.
So far yours has been one of the better videos out there. I will not be removing the A/C line and will be removing the dash cowel on Quest to ease in the removal of the valve covers. I look at this as being a combination of several jobs and intend to take my time and make up a manual that spells out each step as you out lined including the torque requirements. I did notice a few steps others used to make the job easier and will be sure to include them . I was quoted a $3,500 price from one shop so far. The parts come to $600 as I estimate so labor of $3,000 was way too steep in my book.
You made a statement that made more sense than anything. Turn that engine over as many times as possible and double triple check your work. Make sure your valves are opening and closing right, make sure nothing hits. No resistance should be felt. Also. Pay attention to torque numbers. You are dealing with aluminum. If you break off a bolt, you are going to wish you hadn't. If you strip a thread, you are going to wish you hadnt. follow the manual. Do exactly what the manual says. Make sure the RTV is all removed from bolts BEFORE you install them. Use a tap from a die and tap set if needed to clean out any threaded holes. Any RTV in those holes will screw with your torque values.
Dude you are the most thorough and informative and helpful that I've ever gotten on this subject I followed each one of your step step by step as I did and I pray to God I haven't got the car started yet but you are very completely thorough awesome job!!!!
You forgot to set your timming to top dead center and put all your markings with cylinder one up before you started taking off anything. This why you had to mess around with that tied down strap to rotate your cams at the same time. Bad idea. But i still give you 5 stars for this excellent great video.
Awesome video, I’m a mechanic and this video does a great job of going into detail about the steps necessary to do this big job. But I prefer removing the engine lol
Why? Its more work and honestly, I have done this job, you absolutely do not need to. It doesn't make the job any easier. if anything, you are adding more work onto an already pain in the ass job.
RC Hobbyist Extreme who said you need to??? I said I prefer....(key here is I prefer) but yes it is easier when you can get access to all the bolts, not everyone has small hands or a huge tool selection at their disposal. You know what I mean? I’m lucky to have access to a lift and I’m sure even you would agree you can do the job faster with the engine outside of the vehicle than with it still in the vehicle
do you recommend changing the secondary chain tensioners? mine has some chain rattle tick noise and I will be replacing the components soon. It's the xterra with the 4.0
I'm just curious why you didn't change the galley gaskets while you were in there ? I know the manual says you don't have to but all that work will have to be done again if they fail. Great video series !!!
I did the 2 secondary chain tensioners and I did not know that the oil galey gaskets torn. I found one piece of gasket in the oil pan. but I did not know where was it coming from. The vehicle is runnning ok for 5-6k miles. Now I got cam sensor codes. I never able just replace the sensor. Looking on those Nissan website forum I found out the galley gasket that I found causing oil pressure was low and turning on the cam codes. Now I have to redo again. what a pain is the but of this 05' 3.5L engine.
What about the front upper oil pan seal. How did you managed to fit the seal between the upper oil pan and the front timing cover. You completely forgot to mention in this video.
Curious as well about the galley seals. However I have tried to get them from 3 dealers as well as aftermarket and no one shows a listing for them. I am going to put a very slight film of rtv on them.
Great video I have a 2004 Quest had the timing chain done by someone else a few years ago the timing chain is slapping so it needs to be redone this is one of the worst vehicles I have ever owned will never own a Nissan again once the inspection runs out its going to its final resting place.
Absolutely the best video I've seen regarding this repair. I have an 04 Quest that I'm doing the same work on now. With regards to setting up TDC, where/how should the lower crankshaft sprocket be positioned? I have a raised spine pointing straight up at 12 o clock, but there's a pink dot around the 5 o'clock position? Also the tensioner and guide on passenger side (rt) were removed prior to TDC. Can TDC still be set? As chain is slipping as I crank it around? Hopefully I didn't put the cart before the horse.. Once again, great job on the videos..
I'm about to attempt to do this to my Maxima. Everything you filmed makes perfect sense to me but I'm a little confused what you did when you put the new main chain on and had the two wrenches. I just want to make sure everything works out and I don't mess up my timing. If you can explain just that part to me some more I'd greatly appreciate it.
Seth Stickell OK the reason I had to two wrenches was because the camshafts are under tension and as I brought the wrenches together, that all lined up to the timing marks on the timing chain at 10 o’clock Mark and at 2 o’clock mark in which is at the top of the motor and you must make sure the crankshaft is at it’s correct Mark as well before releasing the timing chain tensioner. You can google an image of the correct timing mark locations as well. The bigger chain is the easier one. Well hope that helped and good luck with the repairs. Take your time and always go over your work before moving on to the next stage. 👍🏼
On of my cam sprockets jumped off of it's mating mark. But the other is lined up and the crankshaft sprocket is lined up. Bow do I get the one camshaft back to its mark without messing up anything ? If I take the pockets off and put the back so it's on the mark, with the camshaft be out of timing still? It's the back side can sprockets that are off of the mark.
On the xterra with the vq40, do u put rtv in both channels of the cam cap or just the out one? Seems to be a lot of speculation about that. Some say not to put rtv in the second one, the one that has the funnel shape at the end of it. Any suggestions? Thanks
You have to put rtv only on the non funnel shaped grove, you have to put a bead of rtv in the shape of P if you know what I mean on the edges of the caps
So,this timing replacement procedures on the Altima,apply to the 05 murano,also,right ? Appeared to be a bit complicated. But possible. On the other hand,before removing the chain,the number one piston must be at TDC,right ? And when the number one piston is at TDC,it means that, the marks are all perfectly aligned,right ? Thanks
You had a slight confusion on the left and right bank so I got a little lost on it. You stated the right bank was the left at one point and then proceeded to call it the right bank. So is the firewall side of engine the right bank or the left bank?
I wanted to say, the videos you have done for this Nissan VQ35DE engine was absolutely fantastic! I wanted to ask one question, do you think this full timing chain replacement procedure would be the SAME for the 3.0 Litre V6 VQ30DE Nissan/Infiniti Engine? I would appreciate your input with regards to this. Thanks very much.
Asa J They usually replace timing chains between 100-110k miles or whenever you hear noise coming from the timing chain area. But over time, the plastic components is first to go. So I would inspect all of your timing components before making a final decision as to replacing what’s broken. And as for comparing these 2 engines. I would recommend researching as I haven’t had the chance work on other engine mentioned but I did read that they have the same timing hardware (adds VTC tho), they share so much of the same platform I believe they are very familiar to each other. so research it when you have a chance. but I would actually love to do a video on a VD30DE. Just have to find one. There’s plentiful information as to the similarities and differences between these engines on the internet. You’ll just have to find it. And thank you for the compliment. Gets me wanting to make another video lol.
In the past, I had a Nissan Maxima GLE with a 3.0 VQ30DE engine. That would be absolutely fantastic if you could do a video on how to replace all the timing chains, sub camshaft chains, tensioners and timing chain guides on a 3.0 litre engine! Where in Southern Oklahoma are you? I am coming to America next year for 2 months and I may buy a 2001 Infiniti I30. My brother has a house in North Dallas near Denton. If you don't find a car by then, maybe we could work something out?
Asa J that would be awesome! I’m about 2 hours from Fort Worth Dallas area. And if you come across a vehicle with that motor. I’d be delighted to do a full video on DIY repairs as such like this video to add to my collection lol. So keep me in mind and let me know in the future. Thank you thank you.
Second Chance Repair Could you send me your email with contact info to jmgsc@outlook.com? Then we can keep in touch and I also have a few other questions I would like to ask in regards to Nissan repairs.
From what I have researched RTV sealant should not be put in the gutter with the funnel only the first gutter, its used for an overflow incase, did you have any problems?
Where can I buy the tensioner o-ring, I'm going to do my pathfinder and I notice that I don't have the tensioner o-rings, did you reuse the old ones? Any advice? And how else can I lock the flywheel without the locking tool?
Francisco Serrano what tensioner? The ones at the top of the heads for the Dohc cams? They usually come with the new tensioner and if not, take your vin with you and get one from the dealer. They should be able to get you one. But any part store who sells National o-rings would work too. and why lock the flywheel? Is it so you can turn the cams so you don’t hit the pistons?
Are you referring to that black o- ring? I just reused mine. Its not pressurized going through the timing chain back plate. Also, its still going from one oil chamber to another. As far as the actual tensioner, it should have one orange one or black one. Thats it. The ones going to the cam sensors had a small black high oval o- ring with a fiber filter. I did reuse that. The fiber filter just fell apart.
Great video thanks ! If you read this please respond I recently had this Done on my infiniti qx60 but now it's a louder on acceleration and my service enging light comes on and off and give a code code p219f what do you think they didn't do right can you help me out please so I can tell them what to check out when I take it back
Thank you, and from what it looks like. When a code P219F is stored, it means that the powertrain control module (PCM) has detected an imbalance error in the number four cylinder. To monitor the air to fuel ratio for each cylinder of the engine, the PCM uses data input from O2 Sensors and the crankshaft position along with the camshaft position sensors. Symptoms with this code are Diminished fuel efficiency, A lack of general engine performance, Stored misfire codes or lean/rich exhaust codes and the Service engine soon lamp illumination. Hope this helps.
Crisant Hernadez so what I would do. Is buy a new timing chain setup. Align the new chain to the old one. Mark your old one with white paint to match the marks to the new one. Align and install your old one and return the new one back in the box. As long as you don’t install the chain. The parts store should take it back no problem .
You should’ve shown how you cranked it to get it at the 2oclock and 10 o clock. But but quick question Nissan Maxima and this Nissan Altima both same engine correct? I have an 02 maxima is a standard. I am about to work on mine tomorrow
devildog1168 devildog1168 well you surely have your hands full then. But what I did was once I had the timing cover pulled. I rotated the engine from the crank until those Sprockets were in those positions and then started removing everything. And as far as them being the same, they are in the same family and resemble each other very closely. As long as it’s the 3.5 engine, you shouldn’t have any problems. Thanks
I'm am all the way into this job and it's a beast upon removal of the main tensioner the cam turned now I'm afraid of being out of time with no found resource on how to time this engine with the main chain removed. Any advice? Great detailed videos btw!
Good job friend how Did you tourque the sprocket bolt you have to hold the cam by open wrench and some body use tourque wrench to tightene the bolt or you Did It your self without any help? So friend to keep the car on tdc position you have to keep only spark plug on first cylinder and cams should on higher position toward each other am i right? And do you have to remove starter? Ive seen for VQ40DE that you have to buy special tool to lock flyweel to avoid crank pulley to change in position while unbolting? Also friend for using 2 wrench es you mean there is something streching and pulling the cam
Its a bitch doing it, but it can be done. I leave the crank shaft in a neutral position until the camshaft bolts are torqued so there is 0 chance of piston hitting a valve, only then will I set the crank shaft to 0 TDC. You can of course install the cover to double check. Do not use RTV until you are positive the timing is set right.
Please help... the bottom stud that's coming out of the engine that attaches to the motor mount broke on my altima and I cant seem to find the part anywhere. Does anyone know the name of it? It's that stud you see sticking out above the crankshaft
Jacob Georgian Your going to have to pull the Vin number and take it to the dealership. They should be able to pull a schematic and pull a part number. Or look for a junk yard as these engine are everywhere locked up. Being timing chains jumps. Plenty of locked blocks. But ya. Try the dealership first and go from there.
I have a 2002 Nissan Maxima 3.5 litter. I just did the timing chain , vvt sprockets, new verbal solenoids , new tensions from the Nissan dealer , new water pump , new oil pump. And I still have a cold start problem. Can you please get back to me either on an email or a message. Maybe you would know what I did wrong or how to fix this problem.
Personally I’m not too confident to do the entire timing chain. Could I just do the tensioners? So the slack guide, the internal chain guide, tension guide, and primary tensioner and be ok?
The tensioners are the very last items. The first when reassembling the timing chains. So really it’s up to you! I would recommend replacing everything since your in there but you can replace the tensioners if you wish. There are 3 of them. Just follow the procedures and good luck. It’s a time consuming project.
I see someone removed those two back bolts on the intake and never replaced them on mine. I know thats wrong so I will have to replace those missing bolts.
@@wendellgreenidge3362 hello friend if its bmw or german car or you are using tap water then ill say yes change it if its working and no bearing sound and its ok for me, its better to keep its not a crappy water pump its well made 💪 , if it a corrlla and you have to do the same job and effort ill ask you to change it cause i dont trust these cars made by toyota never owned and hope not to switch to 😁
@@wendellgreenidge3362 anyway ive changed mine you know why cause that 🐻 bear 🤣 when he changed water pump he put lot of rtv around it so i have to hammer it and it break and ive changed it 😂 bad guy, but if it didnt break ill not buy a water pump its better that you feed homeless than give it to the stealer 🕷️
OH MY LORD THERE ARE A LOT A LOT OF ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR AND A LOT A LOT DIFFERENT HOSES AND THAT IS A HEADACHES MY 08 GRAND MARQUIS LS IS VERY EASY TO WORK ON
@@whuzup3 I wish I could tell u but honestly they are 80% identical in cases like this cus Nissan is infinity and do the engine same way except for body and interior
WOW, letting someone do body work in the same room you are doing engine work. that will never happen in my shop, all that dust getting in to the engine. hope you did not give a warranty for the work you did. that will be one hell of a come back.
I had mine aligned timing was set everything was good till I removed the to tensioner and it jumped I believe the left side moved my Mark's are off now.. have any advice?
Bruh i am always working on my 3.5 but i dont think i wanna mess with that part. i can do everything with an engine on the nissan 3.5 but taking out that cover and chain i think ill leave to others
mrjumpman401 Thanks and I charge $700 to do the job plus parts. But I tried doing a step by step procedure and hope this helps everyone in need of a DIY vid. 😁
Veronica Juan Miguel well They recommend replacing chain and components after 110K. And because it’s a long process getting to it all, I’d recommend replacing it all. And if money is tight, there’s many different options over the internet in which are affordable. Rock auto, EBay and many others. It’s best doing it right the first time so you don’t have to do it again lol 👌🏼
hey first of all thank you so much for this video, makes it look so much more doable than having to pull the whole engine out. i have an 04 maxima 5 speed auto transmission so i think its the same exact engine? would really appreciate any help or insight you can give because every other place is telling me i need an engine swap and will cost over 1k that i don't have :( little summary i changed up all sensors (including both cam, crank, and both solenoids) still getting 4 codes (P0406(EGR Sensor "A" Circuit high ) P0021("A" camshaft position- timing over- advanced or system performance Bank 2) P0328 (Knock/combustion vibration sensor 1 circuit high bank 1 or single sensor) P0300(random multiple cylinder misfire)) could you point me to a kit that would fix these ? or anything else that could fix this, can't afford another car so any help would be greatly appreciated.
ShahTainment your welcome and thanks for watching, but If you have a 3.5 V6 engine then between these two years they are slightly different but the same, so watching this video will guide you on replacing the chain on your engine if it’s a 3.5 V6 as well but I notice you have multiple check engine lights on? But does your car still run?, does it make a knocking noise?, does a hesitate or engine bouncing around? We can possibly figure something out and help you get it fixed. Sorry for the late response but I work all the time lol. Let me know thanks
@@ls1camaro92 no bro no reason for you to apologize at all, you are literally the only person who has replied to me so i appreciate it so so muchhhhh!!! so ya my engine i just found this out is a vq35de which sounds a lot like the 350Z engines but apparently mine is a fwd and that one is rwd, anyways ya the car surprisingly runs but its progressively getting worse i turned it on the other day to warm it up and drive around the block and the SES light is now blinking, theres some hissing sound but i sprayed a whole can of brake cleaner looking for a leak and found nothing, no there isn't a big ticking noise, im thinking i should make a video so you can kind of see it better, at this point i think its turned into a project car and im considering if i can find a decent engine to swap with because doing all the sensors arent helping plus what if the cams are bad not just the timing then even if i can somehow pull your magic off, might still not work out for me but it would be a much cheaper fix obv if jus the timing chain and sprockets fix my issues, tbh i tried to even sell it and i just put in $1500 into it and got offered $800 not sure if i should accept the loss or work on it here and there and hope for the best. really want it to work a couple years at least if i do decide to keep it but ya man whatever you can offer as far as advice goes would mean a ton, im in NY otherwise id even say to bother you in person lol but this help still means a lot man really! thank you, so yes it hesitates after driving for 20 minutes it would basically need to be floored to get to 40 and then it kind of drives, after 50 it shakes like crazy and that when blinking SES comes back on too, maybe its the mounts too because when i put it in Reverse it basically bounces and makes a THUD sound in the front
ShahTainment ok, so I’m with you on money loss. Been there done that. No thanks. 😒 so you say it shakes and hesitate but still runs. Ok ...runs is good, so it’s got a misfire and so that’s the first thing I’d try and fix. Get that engine firing in all cylinders. If you can figure out what cylinder is not firing right. That would help out a bunch, might be a bad coil!!! These coils can fire normal under regular conditions but once under a load, it faults until you bring it back to idle... so spark plugs are cheap and a easy fix, buy a intake gasket and start there unless you know that specific cylinder giving the fault. Next thing is jack your vehicle up and inspect all your motor mounts, yes... going from forward to reverse or Vice versa and making a thud noise is very much a mount problem. I just did a Mazda sedan that had that same problem. Place the car on jack stands and then use the jack under the engine with a 2x4 and raise the engine. You should see the bad mount easily. Then grab your CV shafts while your under there, if it moves too much up and down.... You have a bad cv shaft and causes too much shaking between 20-60 mph and then smooths our alittle but still there. I know it’s crazy but I drove a mini and rattled my teeth and that’s what caused that problem. Hope this helps.
Never saw that ever. If you are referring to the timing marks on the chain and gears, you align everything ONE TIME , then after you are done, then yes, turn the engine over a 100 times by hand if it means not damaging the engine. An once if prevention right?
@@scottfirman no, before removing the chain. You have to clock it till all the marks are aligned. So the crank will make one full turn before the chain does. It will take many crank turns depending on engine to get the marks to align before you can remove the chain. This is how you know its on its tdc on cylinder 1.
@@JD-ml7cg I went through and retimed everything as the chain slipped while I was trying to remove the harmonic balancer. Nothing hit or damaged the valves because someone was holding the camshaft. The crank turned until it stopped at the valves but no pressure was exerted on them. It took a big impact wrench to remove the bolt. I made sure all timing marks correlated to their proper marks. The flywheel is set to TDC. I also used a long wooden dowel to make sure the piston is at TDC. The exaust and intake valves are also reset to their correct positions and all marks on the timing chain align with each other. I am replacing both front and back valve covers as well. The back one was leaking pretty badly. I was shocked to find out the spark plugs were only hand tightened, the crush washers were not even crushed!
I forgot to put my engine at tdc and then I removed one of the guides I believe the right side head spun out of alignment how can I get the motor back in timing ???
The manual has the timing sequence. You cannot screw it up if you set the marks as indicated. The camshafts have dowels and holes, the crank shaft has a keyway and a timing mark. You really cannot mess this job up if you follow the manual.
@codyrainy.4391 I had to buy a CD and Glad I did. It's easy to do concerning that. My biggest problem was getting the crank pulley bolt off, that sucker was really on there. We used a huge electric Impact gun to break it loose. It's been two years plus since I replaced everything and no issues at all. The van runs great. Now the Exaust needs replacing. It's an 04 so that's expected. Look on line for that CD. I think it cost me $15-$19. I also purchased one for our 2015 Subaru Outback. You cannot get Chiltons manuals in printed form any more, I am sure you noticed that. Get the factory service CD only. It covers everything in one CD.
The camshafts have dowels and holes. If those are aligned with the cast in marks behind them before installing the camshaft gears, you cannot screw it up.
mine too its been throwing 0021 and 0011 with 0300 ive replaced everything from injectors, maf, cam, crank, coils and sparks, this is what i suspect i should do but man this looks like i need more tooks than i could afford at this point
@@t1t00z9I work on my engine myself and all the fixes so i haven't spent money like u, it's best u learn mechanic work bruh. Alternator is easy but I haven't uploaded the video on how to do it yet
U 100% right i so my own work but this time i had a hard time doing my alternator cuz a stupid bolt was stripped..so i took it to a shop..i dnt trust no one to fix my car..there a lot of scammers n money hungry ppl out there
Mine had a rattle also had a 2005 Altima ser used to race the fuck outta it chain held up lol eventually crashed it but buying another 05 ser :D but doing a 09 maxima engine swap fuck this old vq35s
hackenely laurent which back side cover? Are you talking about the valve cover in the rear of the engine? You’d have to pull the intake off to get to that cover. Thanks
@@ls1camaro92 not the valve but the timing chain cover I got the front cover off but the back cover Is a bit hard to come off idk if I'm missing a bolt or something
hackenely laurent there might be a bolt left behind. Go over the whole front side all the way around it, the motor mount bolts have to be off and the 2 bolts hidden in the oil pan area. Which requires you to pull the oil pan and that exposes the 2 hidden bolts. Always go over your work!!!! 👍🏼
