Timing chain question

F

fallwood

Guest
Hi all, I have just been informed by my local nissan dealer that my wifes 03 micra needs a new timing chain, they have quoted me £1000 for the repair :devil: . The car has only done 14000 miles and has a full nissan service history except the last one which I did myself (No chance of any help from Nissan then :doh: ) .

i have decided that its not worth spending 1k on a car that I was going to change in 6 months so am trading it in against an 04 1.2se micra. Does the 1.2 engine have the same stoopid timing chain assembly as the 1.0 and is it as prone to stretching as the 1.0, I dont want to potentially have the same problem in another 2 yrs that I have now.

The service guy where I am buying the car from said that the 1.2 is a completely different and much better engine than the 1.0 and doesnt suffer from the same faults, Is this true or is it basically the same engine with a slightly larger capacity.

TIA.
 
Not 100% sure....but I believe it's practically the same engine. It's not the 1st time i've heard of K12 timing chains stretching. It's just a rubbish design. There's no way a timing chain should stretch after a few years in 14,000 miles!!! Especially after being serviced at the proper intervals!!! Complete joke in my opinion!!!

My K11 CG10 engine had 98,500 miles on, was 10 years old, it had a slight timing chain rattle but nothing major. Only swapped it coz i wanted the CG13
 
wow that's quite shocking figures. Extremely poor.

I could understand having to replace something in the engine due to being poorly serviced, but thats rediculous.
 
mine has 103,000 miles on a 1.3 CG13DE k11 and i rag the nadds off mine, chains still good.

theyre ripping you off matey, if its not loud enough to hear it from the cabin at idle with the windows up, then its not knakered enough..lol

theyre all french now anyway, but the 1.2 is supposed to be the real "wolf in sheeps clothing" being surprisingly fast and not just for a 1.2 either, i mean its surprisingly quick however you look at it,

but i think the new engines a belt driven..
 
I bought the k12 on the strength of her previous k11 1.0, she had it for 6 years and it never missed a beat. I very nearly defected to a hyundai getz due to nissans couldnt care less attitude but she really likes her micra so i thought I would give them another chance.

The car I'm buying has full history and 1 previous owner, its done 22,000 miles and is just out of warranty so I'm a bit concerned that it could end up going the same way, is there anything I should look for regarding the timing chain.
 
Only 14k & timing chain noise! :wow:

Personaly I would never take a car to a main dealer. They are well known for ripping people off. I could get a new timing chain done for less than a 1/3 of what they have quoted you. I still can't believe that a serviced engine with 14k milage could have such a problem. I would get some nice thick oil & do an oil change & leave as is. Nissans engines are known to have rattling timing chains. Don't be put off by noise as it will probably do another 100k before it snapped & you would know way before it was on it's way out.
 
0pen2see said:
Only 14k & timing chain noise! :wow:

Personaly I would never take a car to a main dealer. They are well known for ripping people off. I could get a new timing chain done for less than a 1/3 of what they have quoted you. I still can't believe that a serviced engine with 14k milage could have such a problem. I would get some nice thick oil & do an oil change & leave as is. Nissans engines are known to have rattling timing chains. Don't be put off by noise as it will probably do another 100k before it snapped & you would know way before it was on it's way out.
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If only it were that simple. Its throwing up error codes for the cam sensor and crank sensor, because the chain is stretched so much it's affecting the timing and bringing the ecu light on, it runs like a bag of Please do not evade the swear filters when the lights on and wont rev above 2k. I did take it to a friends garage for a second opinion and he confirmed what nissan told me. The parts alone cost over £300 and its a huge 6-10hr job which involves removing the gearbox etc so the chain can be replaced.
 
i just get so confused with all these belts under the hood, fan belt, timing belt and cam belt etc.

i had an alfa 147 before and because the cam belt snapped i changed to the micra thinking it would be a safer bet but whats this timing chain/belt thing then? cos i am hearing it big time.
 
fallwood where do you live? i could do it for around half the price but it could take 2 days to do it and you would have to bring the car to where i work, if your anywhere near peterborough and interested email me using the address in my profile,

most of the just over 1k is mostly labour time, say my dealer charges 62.50 per hour labour x by 8.4 hours nissan state to do the job
= £526 then + the parts i think the chain is around 150 maybe 200 then the 2 guides and tensioner and oil seal and then engine sealer to reseal the sump pan, front crank seal, rocker cover seal and varible timing gasket

and tbh im not shocked because ive done a few of these now, and i can say that most/all of the ones ive done have been done to poor oil being used in them, nissans says they stretch because of poor servicing,

the combustion gases make the oil acidic and causes the oil to attack the timing chain as said by nissan

oh and a 1.2 is the same engine as a 1.0, im pretty sure they have just bored out the 1.0 to 1.2
 
Timin chain

Hi fallwood,

I know wot i'd do, rite to customer services, the adress is in the handbook, giv em a rite roastin' yoou never know they mey do the job for nowt!!!!

Nahh? But you never know!!
 
Would you beleive it !!!!. Picked the new micra up on friday (1.2 se 04 22,000 miles), felt fine on the drive home , got out to have a look round when I got back and 'WHATS THAT NOISE'.

There is a slight rustling sound coming from the gearbox side which disappears when the clutch is pressed, took it to my mates garage and he reckons the release bearing is on its way out. To top it all its only 1 week out of warranty :doh: . Phoned the dealer (nissan main dealer) and they have arranged to have a look at it next weekend, the mechanic said he very much doubts if its the release bearing as he has yet to come across one thats gone.

As its out of warranty I only got 30 days from the dealer, I know they are going to try and fob me off by saying its nothing to worry about. None of the previous micras have ever made this noise so to me there is something not right.

How do I stand re forcing them to do a proper inspection and replace the faulty parts if necessary , I have thought about taking it to my local nissan dealer to get them to check but thats going to be another £100 . I dont want to be stuck with another car thats gonna need £'s spending on it in a years time.

HEEELLLLLPPPPPP .:eek:
 
Surely a timing chain shouldnt fail in 14k? I have mates who have bought 15 year old barely-legal rustbucket Fiestas with timing chains, but never heard of one failing. Nissan are supposed to be better quality arent they?!
 
fallwood said:
Would you beleive it !!!!. Picked the new micra up on friday (1.2 se 04 22,000 miles), felt fine on the drive home , got out to have a look round when I got back and 'WHATS THAT NOISE'.

There is a slight rustling sound coming from the gearbox side which disappears when the clutch is pressed, took it to my mates garage and he reckons the release bearing is on its way out. To top it all its only 1 week out of warranty :doh: . Phoned the dealer (nissan main dealer) and they have arranged to have a look at it next weekend, the mechanic said he very much doubts if its the release bearing as he has yet to come across one thats gone.

As its out of warranty I only got 30 days from the dealer, I know they are going to try and fob me off by saying its nothing to worry about. None of the previous micras have ever made this noise so to me there is something not right.

How do I stand re forcing them to do a proper inspection and replace the faulty parts if necessary , I have thought about taking it to my local nissan dealer to get them to check but thats going to be another £100 . I dont want to be stuck with another car thats gonna need £'s spending on it in a years time.

HEEELLLLLPPPPPP .:eek:
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lol does your dealer only ever do services cause ive know and changed alot for making noises,

release bearings are a complete unit with the slave cylinder built in btw
 
Fordy said:
lol does your dealer only ever do services cause ive know and changed alot for making noises,

release bearings are a complete unit with the slave cylinder built in btw
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Yeah thats what my mate said, actually he called it a transient release bearing o_O ., he said he has done few but just because it was making a noise doesnt mean that it will fail in the near future, I have to agree as a hyundai s-coupe I had years ago had a noisy release bearing but it never got any worse in the 3 yrs I kept it. You know what main dealers are like 'oh no sir weve never had one in for that before' bunch of lying con merchants. I highly suspect that it had been in for the noise under warranty as my friend said that the bottom of the gearbox has been sprayed with some sort of sound deadening , probably just so it would last till is was out of warranty !!!.
 
Fordy said:
the stuff on the bottom of the box is probably just underseal not sound deadening
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Thats what I said, his reply was 'yes it most probably is underseal but its been applied in that specific spot for a reason, no where else under here has that type of underseal on it and it looks quite fresh to me' , I generally take him at his word as he has no motive to advise me wongly, he never does any work for me as I generally buy cars with warranty or do it myself, anyhoo whatever it is and why its there he was mighty suspicious of it.

Just have to wait and see what happens :laugh: .

While we are on the subject of cars breaking down, can anyone recommend a decent aftermarket warranty. Ive seen one for £154 pa at warranty works, It seems quite comprehensive but there is the old doesnt cover wear and tear clause, as far as I'm concerned all mechanical failures are caused by wear and tear be it premature or otherwise, ,seems like an easy get out clause to me. It also seems very cheap , the extended subaru warranty on my legacy costs about £600 per year (paid for by dealer not me) so £154 seems a little too cheap to me. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
 
Fordy said:
what about nissans extended warranty?
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You have to take the extended warranty before the 3 yr warranty runs out so its too late now. I tried to get nissan to do me another 2 years but they were adamant that it should have been taken out before the cars 3 yr anniversary.

I am really starting to dislike how nissan handle their customer relations, the car is only 1 week past its 3yd year and they wont budge.
 

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