driftphenom
06-02-2008, 11:51 AM
ok first off i aqquired this car for $750 dolla bites. it was my sisters, an suv backed into her in a parking lot while she was behind it. the ball hitch punched into the front, right into the grille pushing back the upper radiator support, destroying all the lights and the hood, the hood no longer shut, and the ins. co. totaled it. that was 2 years ago. fast forward to now, i finally get around to doing something with it. i am NOT a mechanic, i thought the whole support would have to be replaced, thus i had alredy taken out radiator, ac condensor, fan etc. i.e. it didnt run. well i got to talkin with some guy guy at the bar one night about it, and he said " aw naw man, just get a rubber mallet and beat it into submission" sounded kinda brutal, but i thought what the hell, whats the worst that could happen. so i go out there one day and start bangin away, when i realized "this might just work". so i finally got the hood to close and latch, but it was still all muffed up from where the crumple zone bent. so i put the car back together and fired it up............
begining of major problem 1.
the car fired up first try, but there was a devestatingly loud tick, rattle, idk, something fierce. i remembered that it had made that sound before, but went away after a while, so i drove it around the block a couple times, and it seemed to run fine. i let it idle in the drive way about 5 min or so and when i came back out....... uh oh- HUGE puddle of oil under the car. literally spraying from somewhere. this was my sisters car, but she let her husband drive it (he put oil in it when it wouldnt start). apparently he put so much oil in it that it blew the main seal int the front, and rather than get it fixed he just continued to put more oil in it every week for god knows how long. so you can use your imagination to how much oil is sprayed/ caked on the engine bay.
like i said before im not a mechanic, but i know a guy who is and he gave me a basic rundown on how to change the particular seal. i figured it was worth the try, and after a long afternoon, i had successfully replaced the FRONT MAIN OIL SEAL!!!. sounds so important, right?
after i did that i thought back to the rattle and decided to attck that as well. after doing some research i discovered that 240s have an issue with a timing chain guide that arent even nessicary.sp? so off comes the valve cover-bam-top guide gone. still rattles, rats! so at this point i know the other guide is a little harder to get to, but im still feeling confident after the oil seal replacement. so one saturady after noon, i get down to it, when i get the front cover off, i take off the guide, but notice that something below it doesnt look right. i stick my finger down there and its just a piece of plastic spinning on a spindle. at this point, my confidence was falling and i was thinkin i had a SERIOUS problem on my hands. but i chalked it up, and put the front cover back on, hoping for the best..........
serious problem no. 2
after i put everything back together i started the car. still rattling. i got a sick feeling in my gut thinking i was in over my head. so i downloaded an fsm, and found out that little piece of plastic was a "timing chain guide" and mine was obvioulsly destroyed. boy, i had no idea what i was getting myself into. i called thee local nissan shop to see how much it would be to fix it, and he gave me the bone chilling number of $3000, 20hrs of labor. fuck. after much deliberation i decided to try to do it myself. i figured if i failed i could still buy a rebuilt engine for less than 3 grand right? so i got on ebay and bought a timing chain rebuild kit which came various parts for the timing portion of the engine.
the rest of the story i will explain with video and pictures:
this is what it sounded like before
http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c112/driftphenom/?action=view¤t=100_1136.flv
imagine hearing that bounce of the car beside you at a stoplight
this is what it sounded like after
http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c112/driftphenom/?action=view¤t=100_1152.flv
this is what was in there, and what was supposed to be in there
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c112/driftphenom/100_1148.jpg
this is a pic of the pieces of the guide that were still on the engine
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c112/driftphenom/100_1147.jpg
this is what its supposed to look like
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c112/driftphenom/100_1149.jpg
notice the caked on oil crap everywhere
moral of the story is that you can do anything you set your mind to, just be patient, dont rush things, the amount of self confidence you get from doing it yourself is astronomical. if you get frustarted, take a break. anything is possible. if it was put together, it can be taken aprt, and vice versa. i WASNT a mechanic, but i am now. lol jk. thx for reading my story and i encourage everyone to d.i.y.
begining of major problem 1.
the car fired up first try, but there was a devestatingly loud tick, rattle, idk, something fierce. i remembered that it had made that sound before, but went away after a while, so i drove it around the block a couple times, and it seemed to run fine. i let it idle in the drive way about 5 min or so and when i came back out....... uh oh- HUGE puddle of oil under the car. literally spraying from somewhere. this was my sisters car, but she let her husband drive it (he put oil in it when it wouldnt start). apparently he put so much oil in it that it blew the main seal int the front, and rather than get it fixed he just continued to put more oil in it every week for god knows how long. so you can use your imagination to how much oil is sprayed/ caked on the engine bay.
like i said before im not a mechanic, but i know a guy who is and he gave me a basic rundown on how to change the particular seal. i figured it was worth the try, and after a long afternoon, i had successfully replaced the FRONT MAIN OIL SEAL!!!. sounds so important, right?
after i did that i thought back to the rattle and decided to attck that as well. after doing some research i discovered that 240s have an issue with a timing chain guide that arent even nessicary.sp? so off comes the valve cover-bam-top guide gone. still rattles, rats! so at this point i know the other guide is a little harder to get to, but im still feeling confident after the oil seal replacement. so one saturady after noon, i get down to it, when i get the front cover off, i take off the guide, but notice that something below it doesnt look right. i stick my finger down there and its just a piece of plastic spinning on a spindle. at this point, my confidence was falling and i was thinkin i had a SERIOUS problem on my hands. but i chalked it up, and put the front cover back on, hoping for the best..........
serious problem no. 2
after i put everything back together i started the car. still rattling. i got a sick feeling in my gut thinking i was in over my head. so i downloaded an fsm, and found out that little piece of plastic was a "timing chain guide" and mine was obvioulsly destroyed. boy, i had no idea what i was getting myself into. i called thee local nissan shop to see how much it would be to fix it, and he gave me the bone chilling number of $3000, 20hrs of labor. fuck. after much deliberation i decided to try to do it myself. i figured if i failed i could still buy a rebuilt engine for less than 3 grand right? so i got on ebay and bought a timing chain rebuild kit which came various parts for the timing portion of the engine.
the rest of the story i will explain with video and pictures:
this is what it sounded like before
http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c112/driftphenom/?action=view¤t=100_1136.flv
imagine hearing that bounce of the car beside you at a stoplight
this is what it sounded like after
http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c112/driftphenom/?action=view¤t=100_1152.flv
this is what was in there, and what was supposed to be in there
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c112/driftphenom/100_1148.jpg
this is a pic of the pieces of the guide that were still on the engine
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c112/driftphenom/100_1147.jpg
this is what its supposed to look like
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c112/driftphenom/100_1149.jpg
notice the caked on oil crap everywhere
moral of the story is that you can do anything you set your mind to, just be patient, dont rush things, the amount of self confidence you get from doing it yourself is astronomical. if you get frustarted, take a break. anything is possible. if it was put together, it can be taken aprt, and vice versa. i WASNT a mechanic, but i am now. lol jk. thx for reading my story and i encourage everyone to d.i.y.