# Timing Chain for 1996 Altima



## 1996nissanlover (Apr 22, 2004)

My 1996 Altima is only a little over 100,000 miles. I am not a crazy driver, nor did my Altima have accident. However, last week I was told by dealer after the regular service that the timing chain is noisy. Supposely timing chain should last for the lifetime of the vehicle. I am wondering whether the dealer is trying to trick me for big bucks ($2000 for replacing the whole thing). Does anyone have experience of noisy timing chain? And what to do with that?


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## nissanracer5000 (Apr 22, 2004)

my timing chain is little bit noisy too and my car has over 140k miles and I haven't have problem with that and I know for fact that the chain will last you for engine life


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## lawabidn (Mar 28, 2004)

nissanracer5000 said:


> my timing chain is little bit noisy too and my car has over 140k miles and I haven't have problem with that and I know for fact that the chain will last you for engine life


dont worry about it.... its just loosing some tension in the chain. You could do two things, well... actually three.

1. replace the tensioner, keeps the chain tight.... costs pretty good $$$, but not $2000

2. the noise you hear is the chain hitting the guards that surround the chain. you could have a friend that is mechanically inclined to remove the upper front cover and remove both the upper and front chain guards... gets rid of the noise and takes a competent person about an hour

3. live with the noise, as most sane people do 

Hope this helps!
-Corey (yes I'm a Nis tech, we are money grubbin bitches sometimes)


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

lawabidn said:


> dont worry about it.... its just loosing some tension in the chain. You could do two things, well... actually three.
> 
> 1. replace the tensioner, keeps the chain tight.... costs pretty good $$$, but not $2000
> 
> ...


took the words out of my mouth. i was gonna respond to this but went to mcd's first.  removing the upper guards is perfectly normal, in fact, the newer ka24de's already have them removed. 
im telling you this just in case you think its a quick fix or a cheap trick. its a common practice that nissan remedied in the later years.


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## kimgsrwild (Jun 20, 2004)

*timing noise*

I have a 93 altima with 155,ooo. my timing chain is very loud, the dealer said its ok, its noth worth changing, and its a common problem.


1996nissanlover said:


> My 1996 Altima is only a little over 100,000 miles. I am not a crazy driver, nor did my Altima have accident. However, last week I was told by dealer after the regular service that the timing chain is noisy. Supposely timing chain should last for the lifetime of the vehicle. I am wondering whether the dealer is trying to trick me for big bucks ($2000 for replacing the whole thing). Does anyone have experience of noisy timing chain? And what to do with that?


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## SPEEDO (Jun 9, 2003)

they also had a problem with the lower guides getting worn or possibly breaking, Nissan up-dated the tension side (if I remember right) but the other guys are correct about the upper guides... pull em out and let em hit the trash can!


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## francisco006 (Dec 15, 2007)

*SERVICE INFORMATION*

this might help, its straight out of the manufacturers specs, READ THE NOTE AT THE END:

SERVICE INFORMATION
If a 1993-98 Altima exhibits excessive timing chain noise, the cause may be a broken tension-side timing chain guide on the lower timing chain. A new, metal-backed tension-side timing chain guide is available to resolve this incident.

For any reason whenever this guide is replaced, use the new countermeasure parts listed in PARTS INFORMATION . The new guide along with the two bolts that secure it must be installed as a set. See Fig. 1 .

SERVICE PROCEDURE
DIAGNOSIS
To isolate the noise, use a stethoscope or similar tool and listen at the front cover area. 
If the noise is coming from the upper chain area, repair as necessary before proceeding. 
If the noise is coming from the lower chain area, proceed to LOWER TIMING CHAIN GUIDE 
REPLACEMENT . 

*NOTE: The two chain guides for the upper timing chain have been deleted. Remove and discard the two chain guides and bolts during any service to the timing chain, Fig. 1 . *


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## Altima SSS (Oct 10, 2007)

lawabidn said:


> 2. the noise you hear is the chain hitting the guards that surround the chain. you could have a friend that is mechanically inclined to remove the upper front cover and remove both the upper and front chain guards... gets rid of the noise and takes a competent person about an hour


So I take it that both these chain guards can be removed once the valve cover is removed? ... or do you have to take another cover off?

I plan on replacing the valve cover gasket soon, and while I'm in there maybe I should take care of these cam chain guards.


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## francisco006 (Dec 15, 2007)

Wow i didnt think anyone actually read these forums..

""So I take it that both these chain guards can be removed once the valve cover is removed? ... or do you have to take another cover off?

I plan on replacing the valve cover gasket soon, and while I'm in there maybe I should take care of these cam chain guards.""

well, first of all let me ask you, are you taking the valve cover off to do your valve lash adjustment, if you are here are some specs if its out then its just a matter of replacing the shims.
2.4L (KA24DE Engine)
Intake .012"-.015" (.30mm-.38mm)
Exhaust .013"-.016" (.33mm-.41mm)
to check them you need to set the cam lobes on base circle and stick the feeler strips underneath until you find the ones that fit snug.
and to answer your question, theres is one chain guide on top i believe its between the two cams that one is easy to remove, as for the other one it'll be a lot of work, if you're up for it, you'd have to remove the front and rear mount as well as the right engine mount facing the front of the car and then raise the engine enough to take out the other cover... it is a lot of work


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## NismoAltima95 (Feb 6, 2007)

It is a lot of work to get that last chain guide. But I work in a dealership shop and was able to pull my car in after work and have it done in just over an hour. If you're in your driveway expect to be there for an afternoon. You need to remove the upper part of the timing chain cover.


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## Altima SSS (Oct 10, 2007)

francisco006 said:


> Wow i didnt think anyone actually read these forums..
> 
> ""So I take it that both these chain guards can be removed once the valve cover is removed? ... or do you have to take another cover off?
> 
> ...


Main reason for taking the valve cover off is to fix the leaking valve cover. I guess once I have the cover off I can certainly check the valve clearance just to see what they are. I don't think any are off much as the top end sounds pretty quiet.

As far as the cam chain guides ... would it be worth removing the top one only while I have the valve cover off? I think that one is right on top of the head and easy to get to. I don't think I would want to go for the other guide under the front cover if it's that much work.


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## francisco006 (Dec 15, 2007)

It is quite a bit of work and if yours isnt noisy it's not really worth going through the pain and hassle of taking it all off, but hopefully some of the info i sent helped you out a bit, happy holidays


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## Altima SSS (Oct 10, 2007)

francisco006 said:


> It is quite a bit of work and if yours isnt noisy it's not really worth going through the pain and hassle of taking it all off, but hopefully some of the info i sent helped you out a bit, happy holidays


I don't plan on removing the cam chain guide under the front cover at this point.

But, I will be taking the valve cover off soon to replace the leaking cover gasket. Is it worth removing just the top cam chain guide while I have the valve cover off?

Is there anything else I should look at while I have the valve cover off?


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## francisco006 (Dec 15, 2007)

sure it'll be worth it because if and when your chain gets some slag in it that'll be the first thing it'll take out so if you're taking the cover off it's not hard to take out an extra two bolts for that chain guide and the other thing you need to look for is your valve lash adjustment specs are somewhere in the previous "posts" just make a visual check of your cams check for scorring chips or anything like that


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

valve lash adjustments on a ka are not that easy to do. the adjustments are done with shims and they require removal of the cams to be changed out. most people dont want to do anything near that difficult.


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## desertaxguy (Nov 6, 2006)

*Upper Chain Guard removal*

Yes, its very easy to take the chain guards out. My guard actually fractured in two and was banging around inside the valve cover until I could get home and take it apart. You may not know the sick feeling you have when you think you ruined your sweet, smooth Altima engine. I was very happy to read that all would be right with the world once I removed the broken flat piece of metal that was thrashing inside the valve cover! No replacement required. Smooth running chain from then on!


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## Alltima97 (Nov 28, 2007)

hi, i'm having similar issues with whinning on the belt side of the engine. Just got back from my trusty Midas shop and they removed all the belts, started the engine and the noise was still there. They dont do engines so i'm S.O.L now. How do I convince a local mechanic that the timing chain guide could be the issue? 

I'm mechanically inclined (been working on my chevy motor for years) but when i took a look under the hood there is just so much that looks like it needs to be removed... does anyone have a mechanics guide on the U13 and getting to these guides? I really dont want to be removing anything i dont have to... you know how that goes.. :-/ 

Pictures would be great, in the meantime i'll keep searching the forum for pics and konwledge. The site is excellent!

Thanks!


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## Altima SSS (Oct 10, 2007)

Alltima97 said:


> hi, i'm having similar issues with whinning on the belt side of the engine. Just got back from my trusty Midas shop and they removed all the belts, started the engine and the noise was still there.



That's a good way to tell if the noise is internal due to the cam chain or external due to the belts and pulleys.

My 94 is strange because it sounds pretty quiet when started cold, but as the engine warms up I start hearing a squeaky noise. I think it's the belts and/or idler pulley. Also, if the weather is really cold, it takes it much longer to start squeaking.

I'm not sure exactly how a cam chain sounds when it's going bad, but I assume it's more of a rattle or grinding noise.

Can anyone explain what a loose cam chain and/or bad tensioners sound like. Would they sound bad even right after the engine is started up cold?


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## Alltima97 (Nov 28, 2007)

Okay got mine fixed... heres what i learned. There are two types of sounds that can be heard well atleast in my situation. I had a slight "rattling" coming from my timing chain tensioner no big deal cant really hear it when the hood is closed. The other noise was a "grumbling" more like a whining noise... This noise could be basically everything else that Rotates on the two belts, Alternator, P/S pump, idler pulley etc... 

In my case it was the P/S pump. Got it changed out and NOISE IS GONE! I do have a question Why would a P/S pump for 97 Altima be 291 bucks?... I searched the net and found them between $146 and $315 so i guess it could be... 

AltimaSSS - To answer your question a bad timing chain tensioner will sound like "teeth chattering" like one of those false teeth you would whind up and let go and it would chatter and walk accross a table. I bought the tensioner when i thought it was making the whinning noise... what a piece of S**t... plastic guide is all it is... no wonder they removed it from the later engines.

Edit start:
Forgot to mention that the reason the noise was still there when midas removed the belt was becasue there are two belts on the KA24 one for assecories and one for the P/S pump they never disconnected the P/S pump belt. Thus, the reason the noise was still there...


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