97 Nissan PU 2.4 KA24DE chain in valve cover

Looking into the oil fill hole in the valve cover, I see a chain in the front of the hole that runs down into the engine. This is a chain that looks smaller than a bicycle chain, not what I would expect for a timing chain. With the engine off, I stuck a screwdriver into the hole and pushed against the chain. It was quite slack and moved easily. What is this chain for and should it be slack?

Reply to
willshak
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It is the cam chain. It is likely tensioned by oil pressure. Therefore with the engine off, it will be slack. Were you having a problem, or were you poking around trying to create one?

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

C. E. White wrote the following:

Yes to the first clause, no to the second. I was trying to locate a noise coming from the engine. But, thanks for the answer.

Reply to
willshak

I am not 100% sure on the method used to tension the cam chain. If the tensioner is bad (whether hydralic or not), you can get a lot of noise from a rattling chain. You might want to read:

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The wikipedia article mentions that these engines are prone to noisy timing chains.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

C. E. White wrote the following:

I have only 70k miles on the '97 engine. That's about 5.4 k miles per year. There is a rattle noise when first starting the engine, then at hot idle it is not as loud, but continuous. This has been going on for years and I often just look under the hood to see if anything jumps out at me. My neighbor came over yesterday when I was again looking for the noise. He pulled the spark plug wire from the #1 plug and the noise stopped. He said it may need a valve adjustment on #1. That's why I was looking in the valve cover today. Next step, pull the valve cover off. Thanks again.

Reply to
willshak

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