damax

What's the going rate $ to have a timing belt installed on a '86 Max auto?

Maxwell Smart

And how much of a PITA is it to do at home? Inquiring minds want to know.

UberZogster

I was wondering the same thing I am at 132000miles so I should be doing it.

kiwikev

i'm not sure how much it would be to have it done, i always do mine myself, but they're pretty easy to do. all you need to do is jack up the front of the car, take off all the drive belts, remove anything in the way of the timing belt cover, then remove the covers. line up the marks on all three pulleys, loosen the tensioner, remove the old belt and put the new one on. re-tension it, turn the engine over by hand to make sure everything is lined up right and no valves are hitting any pistons and put it all back together. the only trouble everyone seems to have is getting the crankshaft pulley off. you'll probably need to get a puller to remove it. also, replace the timing belt tensioner while you're in there too. could save you a headache afterwards. the genuine nissan belts have marks on them that line up with the marks on the pulleys too, just to make things even easier, but they are a little more expensive.

maximase86

iTrader: (24)

So far it's $300-500 job. It's a good weekend job for those that haven't don't it before.

S

MarkC

I've been quoted 8 hours/labor + parts. Around $350 labor and between $200 and $300 for parts (including tensioners, water pump, belt, gaskets, etc...)

kiwikev

8 hours is a little on the high side. the price for the parts isn't too bad though if you're replacing the water pump and everything else too

maximase86

iTrader: (24)

$300 for parts is pushing it. $200 is more reasonable. I bought all my parts for a timing belt at $175, that include belt, tensioner, cam seals, main seals, thermostat, water pump, and water pump gasket.

S

dtm88na

iTrader: (1)

I paid 600 for T-Belt, tensioner, water pump, t-stat, drive belts, and installation. I've also done one myself and it isn't that hard if you plan a weekend to do it.

KaZ

iTrader: (5)

Price and labor depends on where you go... I recently just swapped the engine in the Gen2 I have and when the parts were purchased, I think the entire bill, including other parts (rear main seal, valve cover gaskets, intake manifold gaskets, etc), was like $300... but that was direct from Nissan at like cost + 10% (brother used to work at the local Nissan Dealership as a Technician). So if you went with "generic" parts, i.e. advance, pepboys, autozone, the parts would be a lot cheaper. Another place I'd recommend if you're into online ordering is RockAuto.com. They have an awesome Java based parts search catalog and they sell pretty much everything (I bought parts for my 2002 Dodge Ram from them a number of times) and rather reasonably priced (i.e. cheaper than everyone else!).

Labor can be extensive... its also a pain because of the tight quarters against the frame rail... a timing belt job on a Z31 with the VG30E would be a lot easier as its facing forward and easier to get access to. I did the Timing Belt Maintenance while I still had the engine on the stand, and getting the tensioner to the correct setting was still a pain, even with easy access... so I'd hate to see someone try and get it right with it in the car (which might explain why my other brother's [not the one that worked at Nissan] readjusting the Tensioner numerous times after he did the timing belt [it used to be his car], resulted in the stud snapping on the block... which resulted in my having to replace the engine!).

It can definitely be done, but I'd THOROUGHLY read the Haynes manual before you start; better yet, get your hands on a factory service manual if you can and read that before you start. But it can definitely be done over a weekend by someone with decent mechanic skills... if you've never worked on your Maxima before, I wouldn't recommend tackling the timing belt as your first effort to maintain you Maxima... its not for the mechanically uneducated. Leave it to a knowledgable mechanic.

DJ Technischer

iTrader: (1)

God that site is expensive , A freaking maf is like 300 bucks for 300zx and then ecu is almost the same... any one have it for cheeper ? I cannot find a junkyard that has those parts..

KaZ

iTrader: (5)

Well I didn't say everything was cheap... but they might still be cheaper than anyone else... electronics are never cheap... =( I'll ask around and see if a mechanic I know has one local tomorrow.

Yayomax

what is the interval in approx. miles that the belt should be changed. I bought my car at 138,000 miles around 11/02. now its at 179,000 and hasn't been changed yet. prior to me I'm not sure

kiwikev

should be every 100,000 kms/60,000 miles

BigEnos

Got my car with 132K on it and had the timing belt changed almost immediately. Mechanic who did it said it was most likely the OEM belt because it had no markings. Said the OEM belts were just black with no part numbers or other ID because they just came out of a bin. Replacement belts generally have markings on them so they can be ID'd by a parts droid.

I checked my 1985 FSM and there is no mention of the change interval for the timing belt. Strange

Niku-Sama

iTrader: (1)

i doubt the no markings.

after the teeth came off the timing belt in my car after 155,000 miles with out being replaced (i had had the car for a year then) the belt and a nissan symbol and parts number on it and lines to line up with the marks on the cam and crank, although very faded they were readablet still.

man that pissed me off, on the hottest day of the year even.

waygone

I just did mine ,just belts and tensioner.It was fairly easy took fri sat and sun half days but it's frigin cold in my barn.The one pain with an auto is you need to take the crank bolt out first thing using the belts to hold the motor tight cause you can't lock the motor with an auto.I didn't and had to sleep on it to think up how to hold the motor from turning with everything already removed. Started right up when I was done ,like those timing marks on the belt. Cost 80 for the timing kit and 50 for the aux belts.

kiwikev

you can lock the engine when it's an auto. just remove the starter motor, and jam a screwdriver into the teeth on the ring gear to stop it from turning. another good way to loosen a tight crank pulley bolt is to get a socket and breaker bar, put it on the bolt and rest the bar against the chassis. then flick the key so it turns the engine over just a little bit. loosens the bolt every time.