# Upper timing chain tensioner problems



## 91sentr (Sep 15, 2012)

This is my first post so please bear with me. Car is 91 sentra ga16de auto. Had a pinging noise from upper chain, so after reading about this on concluded it was the tensioner. Changed it and pulled out the guides per nissans tsb according to the parts department. now here's where the fun began. After about 30 or so minutes the tensioner seemed like it stopped holding tension and the car would sounnd like a deisel. Replaced it, now on new tensioner number 2 in under a month. Same thing after 30 minutes deisel sounds. Went back in and put the origianl tensioner, thank goodness I still have and runs like a champ now. Question...has anyone had this problem and where would I get a reputable tensioner from an aftermarket source or is the dealer the best place t:newbie go


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

You removed the guide*S*?
As far as I know, only the upper guide was part of that tsb and only on the 95-99 models. I could be 100% wrong there though.
Also, did you pull the little pin that lets the tensioner loose after you install it?


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## 91sentr (Sep 15, 2012)

As far as I was told by nissan yea pulled both guides the top and upper left. Pins were taken out before reassembly made sure of that. But it has me stumped how two aftermarket tensioners didn't work out but the original one that had a little life left workes perfectly


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

I think you may have pulled one too many guides. Again, the upper one is the only I know of for the TSB, and even that is optional since the only real problem was that it made noise when the tensioner got loose.

On the 2 aftermarket tensioners... I assume they both can be 'squeezed' by hand and they both return to the extended position, after you removed the pins?

Maybe post some pics of all of them if you can?


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## 91sentr (Sep 15, 2012)

As far as pics go I can't upload them from my phone unfortunately. (Says diasabled by forum administrator) And the two tensionars they did spring back when pushed down. As far as quides, they look normal the one on the right has a chip in the coating on the top but they don't look like major wear. Ill double check with nissan on Monday about whether the side guide was to be pulled off. The only thing I can think of is maybe the spring in the tensionars were to weak to maintain? And I bought them from autozone so.......


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## 91sentr (Sep 15, 2012)

Well just got off the phone with nissan and was told that the the two top guides are not needed anymore and that they want 80 for the new tensioner. Time for me to bite the bullet and order the tensioner or has anyone had any luck with a tensioner from somewhere else?


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## ahardb0dy (Nov 9, 2003)

Double check this part number if you order it, this was from Nissan FAST program,

13070-53Y00 list $77.20 online price $56.74

price taken from NISSAN Parts * NISSAN Discount Parts Accessories* OEM NISSAN Parts * NISMO an online Nissan parts dealer

link to the page:

Nissan Parts - BuyNissanParts.com

Just checked rockauto.com for the tensioner and saw there are actually two on your engine?? I'm not real familiar with the DE engines so I went back into the FAST program and found this, parts with colored numbers are the 2 tensioners:











the second (upper) tensioner they show can be found here as well:

once again double check my numbers before ordering any parts.

http://www.trademotion.com/parts/in...13070AN201+&action=oePartSearch&siteid=214041


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

91sentr said:


> Well just got off the phone with nissan and was told that the the two top guides are not needed anymore


Fair enough... I found (and promptly lost) the website with the document stating that only the upper chain tensioner was to be removed, but if you say they said both of them go, then, I'll buy that.



> and that they want 80 for the new tensioner. Time for me to bite the bullet and order the tensioner or has anyone had any luck with a tensioner from somewhere else?


I've only done 4 tensioners on 4 different GA16DE engines, but all 4 of them were the cheapest ones I could find on ebay and they're all 4 just fine.
If the real deal tensioner doesn't work, I would think you might want to get in there and check the condition of your idler sprocket (the one in the middle that connects the upper and lower chains) as well as the condition of the teeth on the cam sprockets.
Past that, you might have an oil feed problem going into the upper tensioner itself. Maybe try blowing some air back in thru that passage and see what happens, or maybe even run a pipe cleaner type thing up in there and see if any crud comes out. If I remember right (again, I could be wrong), the upper tensioner is fed from oil from a passage near the passenger side intake cam journal, and that oil doesn't really circulate much, so it's entirely possible it's all gunked up and just not feeding the tensioner very well.


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## 91sentr (Sep 15, 2012)

Thanks for the info. Will definetely clean out the feed hole, hopefully some computer cleaner will work for that. As for the gears, didn't see any wear as I replaced the tensionar both times I would rotate by hand and checked the gears...will double check though when I get the other tensionar. Will post back after I get another tensioner and clean out the feed, hopefully in a week and hopefully all problems solved.


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

91sentr said:


> Will definetely clean out the feed hole, hopefully some computer cleaner will work for that.


Computer cleaner?
Really?
Compressed air to clean an oil/gunk/crud filled passage in an aluminum head that has been heated to X degrees and cooled to X degrees how many times over the past 20+ years...with a petroleum product in it... I'm going to guess that you haven't owned this vehicle for 20+ years. Who knows what the maintenance was like 20+ years ago, not to mention the quality of the oil, frequency of the oil changes, and so on and so on...
And you really expect compressed air to do the job?
Jeeze...go out and at least buy a can of WD-40 with the straw already attached and unload it in there...



> As for the gears, didn't see any wear as I replaced the tensionar both times I would rotate by hand and checked the gears...will double check though when I get the other tensionar. Will post back after I get another tensioner and clean out the feed, hopefully in a week and hopefully all problems solved.


Head over to youtube, do a search for Skimask87 and GA16DE and I think a couple of my videos on my GA16DE "saga" has a couple of pictures of worn out gears, or at least a couple of shots of gears that were worn out enough for me to change them out. Might give you something to compare yours with.


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## 91sentr (Sep 15, 2012)

Ill check out the vids for comparison...and as far as computer cleaner....was just thinking didn't want any solvent residue in the oil when started and I don't have a compressor. I have brake/carb cleaner and of course wd40 for general stuff and tons of straws, never know when your going to need one.


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## 91sentr (Sep 15, 2012)

That's you in the vid? Have watched that vid after the first tensioner wouldn't stay tensioned. Good vid, how did the whole teardown and reinstall work out?


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

It sucked...but only because I forgot to tighten the lower guide bolts (after the wife called me into the house right after I installed them, but forgot to tighten them after I got back out to the garage). Went out for a test drive, got about 10-12 miles down the road, idling thru a stoplight that had just turned green and BAM...bolts fell out, engine stopped, bad day for me. Had to pull the head, get 2 valves reworked, etc.
Not too bad overall. I think the worst part of getting the head off was getting to the bolts/nuts at the back of the head where I had to lay under the car, reach up with both arms (left shoulder is shot so that part is a bit of a beeotch).

And don't worry about the WD40 residue. Unless you use cases and cases and cans and cans of the stuff, it'll get diluted down by the oil just fine and you'll never know the difference unless you take an oil sample in for an analysis.


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## 91sentr (Sep 15, 2012)

Well update! Had to wait for the new tensioner to come in and got side tracked for a couple of days but the one from the dealer went in and know it souds like a sewing machine again! Thanks for the help! Sprayed wd40 for and it streamed through!


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