# 04 Maxima - Timing Chain problems



## VinnieJones (Aug 26, 2008)

Ok, I need a bit of help here. I noticed yesterday that my 04 Maxima SE was producing some painful engine noise. It's somewhere between a tick and a rattle, and at a fairly good tempo even when at idle, and increases in temo with rpm's. 

Since I don't know a whole lot about modern engines I just parked it until I could take it into the dealership. They just called me back and let me know that I need to have my timing chain replaced for a cool $2320. 

I'm currently at 106,000 km or 66,000 miles, and from what I know, that's fairly early for my timing chain to be going. I phoned another dealership about it, and he said he was fairly sure that since the car was still running, and I wasn't experiencing any power loss - not that I'm going to go running it up to the red line when it's sounding like that - that it wasn't the chain but probably one of the plastic guides. 

I'm torn between not wanting to spend the 2300 without a second opinion and the fact that I'm not sure if it's safe to take the 30 mins to drive to another dealership. Does anyone have any experience with anythign like this, or any advice to offer? I'd definitely appreciate any help anyone can give at this point. Thanks!


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## metro273 (Sep 16, 2005)

It's the bank 1 timing chain guide thats broken and has dropped about an inch. This is a common problem with the VQ engines. The 2 plastic guides, timing chain and the timing chain tensioner will need to be replaced!
The front timing chain cover needs to be removed to access all of these items, very time consuming...unfortunately!


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## VinnieJones (Aug 26, 2008)

Ouch, ok. Thanks for the confirmation. From the sounds of it, the process is about 17 hours of labour. They are also going to be doing the water pump and all the o-rings at least. Eesh. Thanks though!


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