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Currently fixing my gallery gaskets and was wondering, everyone says to rotate the crank to top dead center which I plan on doing, but why does this help? When I release the timing belt tensioner I'm sure the timing chain is going to move (i'm going to wrap some steel wire around the bottom of the chain to try and prevent this) and rotate the cams so how does having the engine top dead center help? Can I just rotate the cams back if the chain does move? Is there a tool I can buy that holds everything in place so all I have to worry about is removing the chain and placing it back in the exact same spots?
A tdc is used as a baseline for proper re-assembly, and it’s more likely that the cams/chain will not move in this position. What I always do is mark the chains in their place in the sprockets, I use white out but any paint should work. Once assembled, make sure to rotate the engine over 2 turns by hand and confirm your timing marks are still lined up.
Thanks for the info.
And if the chain and cams do end up moving can I just turn the cams back to their original position that I marked with a paint pen like this guy does at 57 minutes in?:
Is the only thing your changing out are your gaskets? Looks like you can do it without removing the chain.worst cause scenario is the tensioner but appears you can leave the chain on their. Not too sure what you really have going on.
I only plan on changing the gallery gaskets and probably the water pump while I'm in there. I don't think it's possible to get the lower gallery gasket off without at least taking the tensioner off unless there's a way to sneak it out of there.
When I changed my gaskets, I did it like the video and marked the chain with all 3 sprockets with a white paint marker. I replaced the gaskets and water pump and left the chain hanging on the top 2 cam sprockets. I notice a small amount of movement once I removed the tensioner like the video, but it was slightly. Once I had everything replaced and torque, I realigned all 3 of my marks I made on the chain/sprocket and reinstalled everything back. For the bottom crank gear I just used small zip tie to hold it on the gear.
Here's the content from a DIY I made a while back.
Putting the engine on TDC just aids in the timing of the engine since many component's timing marks are made while EVERYTHING is at TDC of piston #1, it has been like this for many years in any kind of engine.
You also put the crank on TDC since you'll need to remove the main chain and the VTC gears (only a lucky few can get it done without removing it)
Doing a timing job on a VHR needs to be a bit more delicate than regular cars since not only you have Cam position but VVEL position x4. Many times when folks concentrate on main chain and forget about the secondary ones. Any slack/misalignment can manifest itself into a richer/leaner bank.
Originally Posted by BULL
Hello everyone, I put this together to help others out when doing timing in these engines. As great as this engine is, internally it has some life-threatening issues that will decrease it longevity if not addressed.
These are in the timing chain area: Gallery gasket, Chain tensioners and guides
Note: Most will adopt the mentality of marking the removal and repeat the install and this is a great idea. Unfortunantely this wont work for all.
Turning the engine until all marks are aligned can be a waste of time due to the many times it might require and removal and resetting might just be the easiest.
Here are some simple picture explicit ways of how to double check your work.
You can start by aligning the damper with this timing mark in the cover, if doubtful about the crank cog you can use the this method as confirmationn
Once timing cover is loosened and removed you'll be left with this view. As you all can see my gasket has broken.
Then after everything comes off
To make sure your cams are aligned the pin need will align with the indentation in the cam girdle like so:
I learned that even that it had 120k miles this had happened: I had no suspicion of this nor heard any noise.
This job can be expensive to do. How expensive is entirely up to you.
to fix these the proper way OEM tensioners are a $120 + option that requires the removal of the camshafts girdle and removal of the VVEL Eccentric shaft that I had no interest in doing. With the VQ40 nissan sells replacement cam shoes but not for the VQ37 . The plunger part of the tensioner does not go bad so soon.
The plunger/Shoe from a VQ35 DE is the same part and can interchange. These parts are $27 for the pair. The shoe appears to be made from the same material of the OEM one so I'll check it again in 100k miles
I painted the marks and between the FSM and other pictures I was able to find I confirmed. Final result was the start.
Remember: Circle dots are for Bank 1 Oval dots are for Bank 2
These you will align with the two orange links on the cam chain, the single chain link with meet the oval mark on the VTC for bank 2 and circle on the VTC for bank 1
There are 3 ways to verify the crank, with the Damper like the first pic showed, aligning the crank tooth with the mark on the pump and with the chain's orange link and the mark at 5 o clock on the cog.
Make sure you leave NO tension on the untensioned sides of the chain as any looseness can alter timing.
The last tension you should pull the pin from is the main cam, check tension and if it's too loose use a bar to click the tensioner over one click
Mods: please determine place for this thread and if it was needed. Thought there is a bit of documented processes I feel like pictures help a ton more.
