# New to board, timing chain issues



## kgo83 (Sep 2, 2010)

Hi,

I came across this board in search for someone else who may have had the same issues as me. 

I have a 2005 X trail SE which I purchased in Jan 09 with 96 000 km on it. It now has 157 000 km. 

I LOVED my X trail for a long time, and wouldn't trade it for anything.. until this Spring. It started out, a wheel bearing in the rear passenger needed replacing. Shortly after, I had to fix gaskets in the exhaust, replaced 2 cam sensors and perform and engine flush because my engine light was on and it would idle extremely rough. Finally I took it to Nissan Fredericton where they had never seen the problem I was having. They had to run their special computer on it and send the graphs to Nissan Canada where they confirmed it was a timing problem. 1600 dollars later, it's fixed, they had to replaced the timing chain and a long list of other parts. It's also burning a lot more oil than a 2005 should. When I was having the timing problem, I would have to put oil in about once every other week which Nissan assured me had nothing to do with the timing problem and suggested I dump a new engine in it. Then they tell me I need another wheel bearing, and a vent control valve. When I got the wheel bearing replaced I needed all new brakes and new rotors as well. I am very frustrated that I have spent almost $4000 on my vehicle in the passed 2 months and it still needs more parts replaced. I was told the bearing I replaced in the Spring needs replaced again already and both bearings that were replaced were seized and they had to break off parts when they changed the bearings. I am happy though that Nissan fixed my air conditioner and latch on my hatch for free when I got the timing fixed. The 6 disc changer also does not work properly along with some of the latches on the glove compartments. 

Has anyone else had anything similar to this? This much bad luck with their X trail?

Any comments or stories would be really appreciated. 

Thanks,


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## aussietrail (Sep 24, 2004)

Hi there mate and welcome to the forum.

Sorry to hear about your problems, some of which are very common to the xtrail (i.e. bearings) but before I go and scare you some more with bad news, can you please tell me if you or Nissan checked all 4 spark plugs and found any of them with a closed gap or oil? Depending on your answer I can give you a rundown on the excessive oil usage issue and the rough idle because I don't think these are related to the timing chain at all and the xtrail is not known to have a timing chain or timing problem.

Nissan's advice for you to change the engine is related to a bigger issue they are trying to hide, so if you check the spark plugs, you will be able to identify the problem and fight them for it.


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## wasabi4ever (Aug 27, 2005)

Welcome to the forum, and sorry to hear about your problems.

I purchased my 2005 X-trail SE since new in 2005 and I can tell I never have any problem with it (knocking on wood). The only thing that I would consider even a problem, (which it was fixed before it actually became a real problem) was one of the strut was sweating. A Nissan mechanic noticed it when they changed my oil but it was replaced free of charge as it was under warranty. If the guy never told me about it, I would never know since I don't see any leaking or notice anything different with my car.
Maybe I don't use my x-trail as often as I should since I have 2 cars (summer/winter), it only have 81,000km on it atm. The x-trail is my winter car, and I use it for long trip.

The x-trail was my first brand new car and I'm glad I chose it.

About the idling, the X-trail can be more smoother I guess but it isn't. I noticed it since brand new, but I wouldn't call mine is extremely rough. When I put my car in Park with the engine idling, I can see very small vibration when looking at the steering wheel and I can feel it as well. Again, I noticed this since new so I assumed it is normal? It didn't get worse or better over the 5 years I had it.


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## zoonaid (Dec 24, 2010)

hi,
i too am new to your forum and i am also having some issues with my xtrail 2liter petrol 2WD 2005.i bought it at 120 000kms it is now on 140 000kms.recently i have a cluttering noise at startup which lasts a few seconds. as if the timing chain assembly lacks oil and once oil pressure is reached then noise disappears.firstly i did an oil change so for a couple of weeks all was ok,then the noise came back.there are two tensioners in the engine one for the timing chain and one for the balancer shaft.i had the timing chain tensioner replaced on advice of a nissan mechanic.noise is still there.dealer quoted me on the replacement of all parts related to the timing chain assembly.i dont see why i should have to replace everything ,why just not the defective part only.i dont see any obvious wear on the timing chain sprockets.

i also experienced a metallic ticking(loud)noise for about 2 weeks prior to the tensioner change.the noise was still there immediately after the tensioner change.remove serpentine belt,noise gone ,put it back noise back.felt a ticking noise on alternator .stripped checked bearings all ok .changed v belt idler pulley bearing noise still there .while idling noise got remarkably less .xtrail drivable but still no answers.any advice???
suspect two different problems .can alternator pulley which has a clutch in it be slipping at times??


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## niazqamar (Jan 3, 2011)

*Hi*

i am also new to the forum. i bought a nissan x-trail 2005 2.0 Litre Manual transmission, 4x4 recently. this was a used vehicle imported from Japan with 90,000Km on the clock. it gives a clattering sound when started after being parked for some time lets say 3 hrs or so. the sound disappears in few seconds and does not appear again if started. i took it back to the garage from where i bougt, they checked and their mechanic says that this is not a problem. they changes the oil but the sound is there. then they got it checked from Nissan here in Windhoek Namibia. Nissan told them to change the oil to a lower viscosity one and they did the same as suggested by Nissan. the sound is still there. can any one suggest sumthing?


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## tbk (Dec 29, 2008)

Niaz,
In canada, I also experienced this noise on startup when the motor was cold. (By cold I mean -10C) I switched to a 0W30 fully synthetic oil. This has solved my problem. I realize your environment is likely much warmer, but the solution could be the same. Also you may want to have the valve clearances checked. This can also cause clattering until the engine warms up and the clearance closes up.


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## niazqamar (Jan 3, 2011)

TBK!
Thanks for your reply and suggestion. you are right. Namibia is much hotter than there and especially we are in summer here. i will try the oil suggestion. may i request you to elaborate a bit more on valve clearence. do u mean that the pistons are getting stuck while moving in valves. How can one get the valve clearence checked?
Thanks again for the support.


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## niazqamar (Jan 3, 2011)

TBK!
can you also suggest the brand of 0W30 synthetic oil so that i can try and get it here in namibia.


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## tbk (Dec 29, 2008)

Niaz, you can go to the link below and read about valve clearance. but basically it is the clearance between the cam shaft and the valve buckets. Too much clearance can lead to clattering noises.

link

I personally used the pennzoil OW30, but you can use any of the normal major brands.


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## niazqamar (Jan 3, 2011)

Thanks TBK for your timely and prompt response. i think Castrol SLX is also 0W30. i will check around the type available and try the oil. the engine oil which Nissan has proposed and we used is 15W40 but no improvement


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## niazqamar (Jan 3, 2011)

i am from Nissan now and i proposed them the oil and valve clearnce option. the mechanic at Nissan said that the valves in these new engines have hydraulic lifter thus it doesn't need adjustment. for the oil option, he said he will discuss with their foreman and come back to me. i hope i am going to win against this noise.


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## tbk (Dec 29, 2008)

This is an excerpt from another website, but while hydraulic lifters do not have to be adjusted due to wear, it is possible for them to go out of adjustment. The easy answer from most mechanics is that "you don't need to do them" But that doesn't mean that you can't check the valve lash. Hydraulic Cams:


The typical hydraulic lifter requires an adjustment that is roughly half the available travel of the plunger. If an average hydraulic lifter plunger has a range of 0.060" of travel from fully compressed to its static height with the pushrod seat against the retaining ring, half of that distance will be 0.030". This means that you adjust valves by the depth that the plunger in the lifter drops. If adjusted too tight (the plunger fully compressed) the valves do not close all the way, *and if too loose the pushrod seat will rattle and do not open properly, damaging the lifter.*


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## niazqamar (Jan 3, 2011)

Thanks TBK for the valuable information. by the way this sound only comes for a few seconds when the car has been parked for long time. do you think it is some thing to worry about? as where ever i go and ask the opinion, people say this is normal.


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## tbk (Dec 29, 2008)

Personally, I think its probably just the lifters tapping until the oil flows. If the sound is just for a couple seconds, I wouldn't worry about it at all. While not the same thing, I had a motorcycle a while back that did the same thing at idle. Sounded like someone threw a bag of marbles in the valve train. But I never had any issues at all with it. I think you are fine. If you want to be extra safe, change your oil a bit more often. Always use a new filter. Buy yourself a magnetic drain plug for your oil and inspect it every oil change. If you don't see any significant accumulation, you should be quite safe.


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## niazqamar (Jan 3, 2011)

Thanks TBK for your support. i will do as you have suggested. i am sure we shall be in touch. my wife drives a Hyundai Getz 1.6 Sports but that little car runs very smooth. its a 3 door bright yellow in colour.


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