1999 Sentra 1.6 Died. DEAD DEAD DEAD

On Fri, 19 Jan 2007 09:08:36 -0500, Codifus graced this newsgroup with:

I'm not aware of any interference engine that has a timing chain.

How many miles do you have on the car? It just sounds like the tensioner wore out.

My old 1850 Triumph Dolomite did, when the tensioner on that went it bent valves and holed a piston but I was doing about 85mph at the time. Trevor

distributor.

If you didn't hear the engine being destroyed -- and I think you'd know it -- there's a good chance it's okay and just needs the timing chain replaced.

Have hope and HTH, JM

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement. I haven't had a chance to further diagnose the car until today. After after 2 weeks of my sentra sitting in cold 20 degree weather I obtained a compression testing kit and ran some tests.

Good news: the compression is very even, within 10 psi for all cylinders.

Bad news: The compression is low. 60 psi for 3 of the 4 cylinders, and the odd one reads 70.

I understand that compression should test low on a cold engine, and that baby was frozen. On a warm engine my compression should be between

170 to 200 psi. So is this a good sign?

Also, when the engine turns over, because it's so frozen it turns over quite slowly, so that should also contribute to a lower compression number.

Lastly, after having not heard how my engine for a while, when I turned it over, it definitely sounded different. You know when you start a car there's this rhythmic chugging sound which you're normally used to? Well now it's like turbine smooth when it's turning over. There was mention of a possible tensioner wearing out. What could I do if that's the case?

I guess what it comes down to is this: are there still signs that the timing chain is still good? if it is then my car's problem is more than likely my ignition, from which I would spend abround $300 to replace the entire distributor. The car is most certainly getting fuel. When doing the compression tests, on the cylinders that I wasn't testing I left the spark plugs loosely sitting in their sockets and the smell of gas was everywhere. Even saw a bit of spray.

TIA

CD

Any suggestions? Should I throw in the towel on this one?

CD

Well according to my ?99 Nissan service manual, it sounds like it?s an interference engine as it mentions to NOT turn the camshaft or the crankshaft with the timing chain removed as the valves will strike the pistons. Compression should be at least 171 psi on a warm engine w/ no spark plugs installed (engine spins easier). Hopefully if the chain did jump, that the low compression readings are caused by the timing being really late, not from bent valves...I would say if the car is worth fixing to you, fix it. At the very least if you tear it down and find out it?s a basket case, you at least learned something from the experience...

archive:

Thanks for the input. I'm dumping the car. I don't have the time or space to work on any timing chain related activity, and sending it to the mechanic costs more than its worth. I found a 98 Sentra XE for a replacement. I wish there was an easy way to tranfser the power windows and doors from my car, but oh well. I'm transferring the other stuff, like wheels, tires, exhaust, radio. Hopefully I can transfer the instrument cluster as well. The 98 XE doesn't have a tach, but my car did. There is the issue of odometer fraud which I'm mildly concerend about, but I'm not going to be selling the car.

CD