belts are stupid i want a CHAIN DAMN IT! (Maxima's come with them!) Chains theoreticaly should last the life of the engine right?
________
Vaporite Solo Vaporizer

 

I wonder if the Maxima or other chain-driven valvetrains have oil throwers to lubricate the chain. My only experience with a chain drive is on my 1976 MGB whose engine was designed in the 50s!

With a belt change interval of about 100000 miles, why would you want to go through the trouble of a custom chain conversion?

 

Belt drives run dry.....Chains run oiled (wet)....I don't think it would be very practicle to do the conversion to the 2.0 you would certainly send more doing that than it would to have the belt changed MANY times....

but I am with you man.....I HATE rubber band drives.....just seems like something that is DESIGNED to break.....not to mention to HAVE to go in and change every so often.

 

how many broken timing belts have you guys seen that were maintained properly?????
chains break quite often because they are forgotten about maintence wise and give no warning of impending doom. they definatly don't last the "life" of the engine.
belts require less hp and run quieter and are considered more reliable.

 

I've worked on both systems and they both have their place. The chain systems almost all have hydraulic tensioners now that wear out. I've repaired several that died around 130K or so. Also, the chain is WAY more expensive to replace. The reason that they have tensioners is because they are inherently noisier than belts and with the knock sensors almost everyone is using now they have to be quiet. The belt idea is actually a good one since it isolates the cams from crank harmonics and is very quiet. It is also accurate. The belts don't usually stretch. If they stretch at all, it's because they are worn out and are past their service interval. It's simple preventative maintenance also. The interval for replacing the belt is also about the same time you should be replacing the front crank and cam seals anyway. Kind of forces you to look at those if the belt is off.

 

I've hardly ever heard of a chain breaking, although I agree with your other points and Traveler's points about tensioners.

Also, to add some other points, belts may not break often but they DO stretch. When they stretch, they will throw the valve timing out of whack and cause more stress to the above-mentioned tensioner. When they begin stretching, they also get noisy due to the slack in the joints. They also weigh a heck of a lot more than a belt (duh). This means that your engine has to expend more horsepower and fuel to turn that weight.

Basically, chains last longer, but cost horsepower and fuel economy, and cause long-term maintenance problems BUT have lower maintenance in the short term.

IMHO the reasons many car companies are going back to chains is because of too many horror stories caused by idiots who forget to change their belt for 100k+ miles. Car companies REALLY don't like horror stories about new vehicles because many new car owners (esp. women) nowadays expect new cars to be totally problem-free. Chains won't usually begin to show problems until 120k+ miles...by which time the original owner has usually long since sold the car.

 

And to be exact I had a 94 sentra twincam 16 valve 1.6l and it had a timing chain. In fact there are actually two in there. One of them connects the crank to a central hub and the other connects the hub to the vavle train. I got an estimate on replacing the chains and it was in the ball park of $1400. They are supposed to get lub from the oil in the engine. Be warned though if your oil runs out or the pump dies you chains will be the first to go due to heat and friction. Then of course youll throw a rod or two or three or four. At this poing its way cheaper buying a junk yard motor $600 and replacing it yourself then taking it in for a rebuild $2600. Or you could trade it in for a P5 and get $3,800 for it like I did. If any one needs to know how I got away with it is a long story.

 

Is this for real?

~HH

 

hehe, i got both, belt driven in the p5, and chain driven in the sr20 engine on the se-r.... oh yes!