Well, the car went to the stealership for a checkup this morning to find out what the hell that humming noise is and as usual came away with the answer as well as other problems.

I was right, the alternator is going bad. It's not charging, and the bearings went bad, which is what's making the noise. I just hope it lasts until the appointment on Tuesday.

Additionally, all of the rubber in the engine bay has chosen this month to go south on me. After the timing chain tensioner gasket was fixed two weeks ago I figured I was in the clear, but now I need new seals on the oil pressure switch, and a new front crank seal. This will hopefully fix the leaks, but if not I'm told (by Bob, the helpful Nissan man) that they'll have to re-seal the timing chain cover, a $700 operation that involves removing damn near everything on the passenger side of the engine just so they can run a bead of RTV around this cover, then putting it all back.

Unfortunately I haven't the time, money, tools or (more important) the know-how to do these things myself, so I guess my credit card is going to get a workout.

On the up side, they think I need a clutch soon and they're full of shit. There is no, repeat NO slippage here.

Send some good vibes my way, guys, I need it bad.

Kent--

I would take what they've diagnosed with a BIG ASS grain of salt. If they think you need a new clutch (and you know that you do not), then why believe what they've said about the crank seal, etc.?

The oil pressure switch is no big deal, easy to do on your own with a set of ramps.

Did you actually see oil leaking from the crank seal or the timing chain cover? With your OWN eyes?

You *could* gather the parts and go over to Ben's place and do this yourself with a FSM handy. Ben would probably charge a lot less than $700, too. :)

That's my take on it. Choose your own path. Just realize that there are other paths available, however.

**sending good vibes your way**

yea Nissan service tech's are just looking for a way to jack you out of more money than needed. I'd find a way to do it myself!

-01

If you end up needing a new clutch let me know. I have a stock one with very few miles I'll give to you all you would have to pay is shipping.

Chuck - I sincerely appreciate the offer, and may eventually take you up on it. At the moment I don't think I need a clutch however.

Greg - I was not as observant this last week as I should have been. I've still been checking the oil regularly (once or twice a day) and not losing any, and there hadn't been any drips for a few days; after the techs told me about the leaks, I checked the garage floor again, and there are more spots of oil in other places than before, roughly coinciding with the abovementioned seals. I'm in such a half-baked state most mornings that I have been lazy about keeping an eye on it...

Honestly guys, this time I am feeling better about leaving it to the professionals (there's your grain of salt, Greg). Part of my motivation is that if something isn't right afterwards, I will know who to blame; this is my daily driver after all, there's no spare car around, and since taking a whole day of work with the TCT gasket issue I can't afford any more downtime. I don't get paid when I'm not at work, unfortunately. If someone wants to give (give, not lend) me ten or twenty grand I'll stay home and fix it myself.

Thanks for the advice and I'll keep you all posted.

One more happy thing: I've managed to work out the finances so that this won't affect the upcoming suspension install, which I AM doing myself. So there :D

For $700 you could have a JDM motor and put all the new seals in it you wanted by yourslef....plus you could be rid of that pesky low port crap! :eek:

~Ryan

Doesn't somebody live by this poor guy so they can help him? Even regular jo schmo mechanics don't try to rip you off that bad. $700 to take stuff apart...:(

I couild be wrong, but you don't have to take the front cover off to replace the front seal. The oil pressure sender does not have a seal. Take the car to the car wash and clean the motor real good. This will show you where oil leaks are. I have an extra oil pressure sender you can have if you want it. I just read my FSM. Here's how to change the front seal.

remove following parts:

Engine under cover (plastic parts)
Front right wheel
drive belts
crankshaft pulley
remove oil seal.
apply new engine oil to new oil seal and install.

NO mention of removing the front cover. Next time you visit that dealer, please give "bob" a nice yellow banana. he deserves it. If you want to drive down here, and dyno your car, I'll fix it for free.

Read carefully: There are several options we are doing first, the oil pressure switch and the front crank seal. The $700 charge is the last resort, resealing the timing chain cover, if oil is still leaking after the first two things are done. The alternator AND the pressure switch AND the crank seal are going to be less than $500 altogether, although I'm sure that's not cheap enough to satisfy many of you. I looked at the FSM too, and the TC cover is buried under the crank pulley, tensioner, and all the plumbing and other stuff on the passenger side of the engine bay; I can see where it would be hell to get to. Removing the TC cover is not part of the crank seal operation, as Eric said correctly.

I'm sorry for being stupid and poor. This is my first car; I didn't have a car until I got out of college less than two years ago. I did not have a car in high school to work on, or someone to teach me either. I am learning as fast as I can but since I have no other transportation and very little money this is my best option at this time. I will be missing a half-day of work to deal with this; if I tried it myself on a weekend chances are I wouldn't have it back together Monday morning, and that's if I even own the tools to get it apart in the first place.

Yes, I would love to drive to Ben's or wherever and learn/help to do this myself, but with the alternator being iffy at best I'm not willing to drive three hours to do it. This is just the way the ball bounced this time and I'm dealing with it. One of the smart things I've heard is that with used cars, or any cars for that matter, every three or five years you have to put a bunch of cash into them and then they will leave you alone again for a while. I figure that at this point changing these seals will be good preventative maintenance if nothing else. And yes, and engine swap is in my future plans, but it will be an SR20VE, after I have done a whole lot more research, listened to what others here have to say, had a long conversation with Andreas, and gotten a job in my desired field where I am actually paid what I am worth instead of the damn in-between hourly freakin' job I'm in now.

Again, if someone wants to donate a large chunk of change to my life I am more than happy to accept.

I don't mean to sound whiney with these posts; I'm just looking for a little moral support and a place to vent. No offense, but I'm feeling bad enough about the situation at the moment without you-all being so jumpy. I really love my car (I had to wait a long time, remember?) and I hate it when it's not running right.

Hey Stine.... Replacing front seal and oil pressure unit seal is really not that bad, you don't even have to take VC off, just a pulley... While you're at it replace crank pulley with UR pulley :).

You should also reseal your oil pan and replace the alternator... I know you're not looking for this kind of advice... but it sucks seeing you pay thousands for something so basic

I love the stealership

My pops had 80k on his OEM clutch, they said it would not make it to 90k

Well 220,000 miles it finally crapped out :)

I think they are looking to make an easy grand out of suckers.

Sam

$700?? Rip-off is right.

They want well over $1000 to replace the timing chain too.

I understand where you are coming from. I nver really had the money to pay someone to fix my cars in the past. I did my best with the limited amount of tools that I had, and the little knowledge in my brain. Changing the alternator, oil sender, and front seal are not that bad. If someone were close enought to help you, you would see how easy it is. Just like the cam swap. It seems hard after reading instructins, but you saw ow long it took me. :) I wasn't slamming you for taking the car to the dealer, just trying to save your hard earned money. I would at least take the car to another mecahanic and see how much they want to fix it. My offer still stands if you are interested.


eric

Eric, I do appreciate the offer, BELIEVE ME, I need all the help I can get, it's just too far away at this point. I think that in a year or so after learning more and seeing more work done I'll be a lot more confident about this kind of thing; I'm just not willing to dive in on my own right now.

Anybody want to come to Cincy (bringing the parts with you) Saturday and help?

Here's wishing...

First of all best of luck. I can understand why you are afraid to tackle this job. If you don't have the tools,time or skill to feel confident then you are making the right choice.I do think you should check another shop and see what they would charge. Also it doesn't take much of a leak to leave a big spot under the car. Get the alternator replaced and then take your time finding a reputable shop for the leaks.Again good vibes your way. Later Rob

I feel for ya. I live in an apartment, hence there are alot of things I can't do. My advice is this: after you get all this sorted out, try to find a mechanic you can trust, and do your best to maintain this trust. Part of that trust is being charged what you think is fair and them fixing what is really broken. If you feel the dealership is providing you with that trust, great. From my experience small shops seem to be better at this than dealerships. I like talking to the same guy everytime that looks at my car. I like not having to wait until "the manager" gets back.

Fwiw I replaced the alternator on a '87 sentra last week for a friend of a friend of a friend. That was my good karma for last month. :)

Calum, I don't have a "manager" :confused:

Originally posted by eric96ser
Calum, I don't have a "manager" :confused:

Aha, so your house really is a Nissan dealership! I knew it! Got a spec-v on the lot yet? :D