Replaced engine, timing screwed up?

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niceguy
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Replaced engine, timing screwed up?

Post by niceguy »

Hey guys, I just swapped out my 252k '93 KA24DE in my Altima for a slightly newer 30k 2000 engine that will get a T28 toward the end of the year. I may have screwed up the timing from getting in a hurry and not thinking.

After dropping the '00 KA in, I decided to use the free morning to button the wiring up,etc and then drained the oil and refilled it/new filter.

I guess the engine had sat for awhile because it sounded like an electric motor and then after a minute or two built enough compression and fired up and ran smooth.

BUT: When trying to check the timing, (unplugged TPS,etc), the timing marks on the crank pulley ('00 pulley on '00 engine but using '93 distributor) are about 3-4 INCHES to the right of the timing cover index pointer!

Just for the record, a number of folks have done this swap and there's no problem with using the '93 distributor (along w/the '93 intake manifold) with the 2000 engine.

Could the timing chain have jumped a tooth or a few by draining the oil before cranking the engine? Could the distrib. be damaged w/the car running smooth still?

Checking TDC, the pulley mark (2nd of 6) seems to line up w/the rotor at #1
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Sorry for the book, but I hate to blow the $900 I spent for the engine, belts,etc....
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chubbza5
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Post by chubbza5 »

maybe you put it on wrong
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nissanfanatic
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Post by nissanfanatic »

Set the engine at TDC with cylinder one firing. Orient the rotor so that it faces the number one pole. You may have to reset the distributor a couple times to find out exactly where it is supposed to be. It is somewhat of an eyeball thing. Imagine where the rotor is supposed to be to send energy to the number one plug wire in reference to the cap. Timing the distributor incorrectly cannot hurt the engine. Check compression to see if cam timing is off.
-Cory

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niceguy
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Post by niceguy »

Thanks Cory....I'm really hoping the timing chain didn't jump.
Questtion though, a mechanic friend said my draining the oil may have caused a loss in tension on the chain.
But if that's the case, that wouldn't be any different from any other time that you change the oil, so I don't see how that could have happened....?

Regarding putting it in the wrong way, the distributor only fits in one way and even then, would only be off 180 degrees....

EDIT, I found a drawing of the rotor at #1 TDC and it's dead on with the picture I have at the top but still need to check out the distributor. I may even pull the crank pulley and make sure it's where it should be. Shouldn't be an issue since I lined it up w/the notch key but anything's possible right now....

Jeremy
Last edited by niceguy on Thu Aug 28, 2008 5:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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nissanfanatic
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Post by nissanfanatic »

The tensioners on the RWD KA use oil pressure to tension the chain. I have never had a tensioner go soft from draining the oil. It has a spring as backup.
-Cory

2020 Subaru WRX
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niceguy
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Post by niceguy »

That makes me feel much better anyway....I just don't see how the cam timing could be off since the only thing that was done between the 2 engines was swap the '93 intake manifold, distributor and thermostat/coolant lines basically.

Regarding the distributor, other than the 360 slits on the metal disk, is there any significance to the 2 or 3 larger slits and the small square shaped punch out?

EDIT: Nevermind that, the rotor is pointing where it should according to the FSM so I don't think it's the distributor. I'm going to go ahead and pull the crank pulley tomorrow and make sure it didn't get misaligned somehow and check the compression....I'm tired of fooling w/this thing tonight...

Jeremy
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chubbza5
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Post by chubbza5 »

niceguy wrote:That makes me feel much better anyway....I just don't see how the cam timing could be off since the only thing that was done between the 2 engines was swap the '93 intake manifold, distributor and thermostat/coolant lines basically.
Basically? You have to tell us everything man we weren't there. Did you touch the head or not? If you didn't mess with it, than don't worry about it, your mechanic friend made a poor call on the timing chains. If you didn't do anything, and you've restabbed the dizzy, start looking for other problems...

Are you positive you have a 93 dizzy? Are you positive they are supposed to fit? Is there any variances in them during the year?
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niceguy
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Post by niceguy »

Basically meaning among others things that weren't pertinent to the funky timing issue...such as, swapped the AC bracket over, EGR pipe and other odds and ends...

Acutally my main concern was that the chain had somehow jumped but that's pretty much ruled out since we never touched the engine other than bolting on the OBD1 parts.

I noticed through the valve cover a small nick in the cam base circle (not on the lobe) which makes me wonder if someone has opened up the top end before. I also noticed grey RTV under the valve cover and not just under the half moon sections of the valve cover gasket....

The car runs good, pulls really well (especially to not be using my UR crank pulley yet) and seems to be getting pretty good gas mileage. This is the first full tank since the swap and right now I'm showing nearly 200 miles at the half tank mark. That's a little better than the old engine was doing (26 city/33hwy w/bolt ons).

I'll check the compression and crank pulley this weekend or next week but for now, I may just live by 'if it ain't broke....' frame of mind (though it'll likely keep bugging me:))

Thanks nissanfanatic and chubbza for the feeback, no suggestion is ever useless IMO...
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