i have a 92 240 se.. a few months ago i heard a ratteling underneath the valve cover.. so i took it off and found a a piece had broken off.. i dont how it did.. but i removed it.. it seemd to be a piece that resides over the chain.. like a governer i think..anywayz i been running without it for a few months now wit no probs.. but now i hear my chain rattleing.. before it was small but now its getting to be pretty loud at certain rpms and it happens alot more frequently at lower rpms as well.. i thought chains were supposedly indestructable.. is this going to be a prob?.. i have 123k miles on da car..

 

sup man .... well everyone has that problem especially with the s13.... this might help.... but if not shops charge $$ to get it done... your gonna recieve alot of helpfull hints here , cause alot of people have been through this... i myself have had this problem.. but it magically went away without a prob.... so far nothing is wrong and car runs good....

here is a link

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/L...1/EM89-002.htm

 

give rudeboy a PM. he's the self proclaimed timing chain guru.

 

the reason most s13 owners have had problems with their timing chains is because there was plastic guides to guide the chains
(opposed to metal ones in s14/s15). as the engine grows old, heat wear gets to the guides and they break due to heat fatigue. if you heard the rattling and it went away, i think you should replace it now to catch it before anything serious happens. it is not hard to do if you know what you are doing.(did it with my dad in a weekend)

i would think the longer you let it go, the more problems you could encounter, if it slips, your timing will be off, or not at all. i have heard of serious problems for those who neglect their timing chains.

i say pay the money now, if you have to, and you will save more in the long run.

just my .02$

 

actually, all DOHC have the same timing kit.
even the new SOHC guides are half plastic, so they'll probaly be falling apart in the engine in a few years too
your guide probaly broke off because all the tensionor is on its way out. slack chain=beat up guides.
thats the rattle you hear. poor maintnance in the beginning of the cars life is probaly to blame. synthetic oil wasent as popular in the early 90's as it is now. old sludggie oil clogs up the tensioner not allowing the tensioner to expand making the chain slack.
soon your chain will skip stteh on the cam sproket and the car will act up and then eventually not start at all. try GUNK 5 minute Moror Flush, to clean things up but you'll need a new tensionor and guide.
see the stright gude in the middle...still half plastic for SOHC owners

 

FIX THAT SUCKER NOW i cant stress this enough, i let mine go and it got so loose that it wore a whole in one of the water jackets, and my car started overheating do to no coolent,i then checked my oil and found where alll my coolent went never thought id see coolent on my dipstick aside from that my timing was way off. do to my schedule i didn't have time to fix it myself and i put it in the shop, it cost about a grand

 

yep, i had to replace my timing cover too. and cam timing was off about 90 degrees.
it wouldnt start. and just sat around till i fixed it.
i did mine in about 5 days. a couple hours everyevening. since then i've done a few and can so it in 4 hours flat

 

what kit did you use? duz it use redesigned guides?

 

yeah, it's the new kit. see in the pic? the guide has a plastic piece over it so the metal chain and guide don't wear eachother out. it's a nice kit. you get new stright gudie hardware too. the old stright guide was COMPLETELY plastic. i olny have 3 pieces of my old one left! i took pics today of the old guides/tensioner and cover. i'll post em eventually

 

what kit is it

 

the same kit you'll get when you order one. they are all the same.
nissan contracted out to get alot made. like one for every SOHC car in the US.

 

thanks guys.. its starting to scare me.. but the fact is i jus dont have the money to do it.. u guys think ill make it frum here(nyc) to virginia?.. heh.. i hope so..

 

where did you get yours and how much did you pay?

 

when replacing the valve cover and putting in a new gasket, is there anything else i should worry about? i am going to remove my timing guide sunday and just a little curious...

 

permatex blue #6