Jonnie Fraz

Ok boys and girls here we go. Did a timing chain on the SOHC and wanted to share the fun.
Firstly I recomend the FSM for doing this, but here are some pics and pointers that I hope will help.
Second set aside at least six hours to do this if you have never done it before.
Third when you go to get your kit weather it is OEM Nissan or Aftermarket here are some things you will need to pick up while you are out. Coolent, High temp gasket maker, Oil, Oil Filter, I recomend getting some degreeser, and mechanics gloves.

Also make sure that you kit includes seals and gaskets. You will need front pulley seal, oil pump gasket, 2 timing chain cover oil seals, and distributor o-ring. Picking up this stuff first will make things go smoother.
Drain coolent and oil. Remove the radiator and fan. Now you can start removing all the accessories on the front of the motor. Remove the spark plugs and set the motor to top dead center #1 on th compression stroke. The rotor should be pointing to #1 spark plug wire. Once the motor is set at TDC you can remove the front pulley. Just in case you are wondering it's tight. 87-116 ftlbs , so a breaker bar and some muscle will be needed.

First make a reference mark on the distributor to make it easier to reinstall. Now you can remove the distributor. There are three hoses on the timing cover that need to be removed that the FSM does not cover. They are behind the thermostat housing attached to the timing chain cover.

Now jack the car up and support with jack stands, this is so you can pull the oil pump and pan. Pull the oil pump and oil pump drive shaft. Pulling the oil pan requires jacking the motor as high as you can before lifting the car. Unbolt motor mounts and jack her up. I lifted from the tranny bell housing.Unbolt your front sway bar and let it hang down. Somthing else the FSM does not state is that you will need to remove the belhousing to block brackets to get to the rear oil pan bolts. I was able to just tap the side of my pan with a rubber mallet to get it to break free. DO NOT PUT A SCREW DRIVER BETWEEN THE BLOCK AND PAN TO PRY IT OFF! You will damage the pan or block or both. Now I removed the oil pan pick up to get the pan out, I could not get it out any other way. Once the pan if off you can pull the timing chain cover.


Now that you have the TC cover off it's simple remove old crank sprocket, old cam sprocket, old chain and replace with new. Make sure that you do not rotate the cam or crank with the chain off. Remove old tensioner and chain guides, and replace with new. Also replace the oil seals that go from block to TC cover. When replacing the chain make sure to align timing marks with marks on the chain.

Now that you have done all the fun stuff it's time to do it all again only now in reverse with liquid gasket. Before you put everything back together spend some time with the degreeser and clean it all up. With both the oil pan and the timing cover remove all traces of the old sealent.
Replace the front seal in the TC cover.
Apply liquid gasket to the front cover, about a 1/8" bead all the way around on the sealing surfaces.
Make sure you replaced the oil seals before reintalling the TC cover.
Before reintalling the oil pump align the punch mark on the drive gear with the oil hole in the pump body. The oil pump drives the distributor so You will need to get this right.
Re install the oil pan with a bead of liquid gasket approx 3/16" staying in the grove and to the inside of the pan bolt holes. If you had to pull the oil pick up to get the pan off I am sorry because it is time to put it back on. Not as easy with a bead of silicone on the oil pan, and dont drop the bolts, you will have to pull the pan to get them out. Lower the motor and bolt up the motor mounts.
Bolt up the sway bar, now you can lower the car and bolt up the accessories.
Refill the fluids and try her out.

Now this little excurrsion lends itself to all kinds upgrades, like installing a lightened crank pulley since you are there, installing new Nismo motor mounts since you are there, installing new sway bar bushings since you are there, installing Koyo radiator since you are there. There are a ton of upgrades that can be done while doing this one.
Planning will reduce the amout of heartache while doing this. If you are going to do any upgrades make sure that you have them already, chasing parts sucks when you have your stuff torn down.
If I forgot any thing please let me know and I will edit it in.

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RedtopTech

hey man, Great job on the "how-to."

Neejay

FINALLY!! A detailed SOHC write-up! Thanks.

Still debating on whether or not to try it myself...

SimpleSexy180

Thanks! good write-up.

mrmephistopheles

never saw this. Copying into FAQ.

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