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Help finding Top Dead Center for Piston

I need to take my distributor off, but am no sure about finding TOP Dead Center for piston one on my 97 Sentra's engine (GA16DE).

My Haynes Repair Manual says, "Turn the crankshaft until the notch in the crankshaft pulley is aligned with the 0 on the timing plate. My crankshaft pulley has 6 notches on it instead one and I have a little pointer sticking out from the timing cover instead of a 0. Is there something I'm not seeing? Or, do I need to line up one of the six notches with the pointer sticking out?

Thanks.

Reply to
PILKINGTONT
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Hi,

Yes, line the first notch up with the pointer sticking out of the timing cover.

You can remove the spark plug from the #1 cylinder and if you have a long screwdrive stick it down the spark plug hole. If the screwdriver stays up then the piston is up top. If it drops down far into the cylinder then keep turning the crankshaft.

The best way to find top dead center is to put a compression gaude in the #1 cylinder and watch the gauge move slightly as you turn the crank.

Let me know how you make out..

Mark Iezzi - Nissan Tech

Reply to
Mark Iezzi

Thanks for the tip Mark.

Turns out my engine is going to need a timing chain repair. So it looks like I'm in for a big job, especially since I have to remove the cylinder head to get to it.

As for the distributor, I'm not sure the multimeter I was using was working correctly. I'm going to take it back and exchange it and try again after I deal with the timing chain.

I'll let you know how it turns out. Tony

Reply to
PILKINGTONT

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