My buddy is having a problem with his NX, I'm trying to diagnose it from 250 miles away (i moved recently) and im thinking its the timing chain. He has turned it over quite a bit since he tried to start it and it wouldnt go. I am sending someone over to his house to pull the valve cover, that will tell all. Anyways, are SR20's interference motors? If so, this guy needs a new motor because he turned it over after the chain went, right??? If not, how much does the timing chain and the asociated hardware cost?
Thanks,
Jeff

Yes, I believe the SR20 is an interference motor. I thought I heard andreas miko mention that once in one of his posts.

Sorry to hear about the death of another SR20, my friend..

Yes, sr20's are. Buy a jdm motor from Andreas Miko, a 2000 se clutch and call it a day. It would cost more to rebuld and not worth it.

Are you sure the timing chain snapped? That's pretty rare. Have your pal remove the distributor cap and turn the motor over. The distributor is driven directly from the exhaust cam, so if it's turning, then the cams are turning, and the chain has not snapped.

Chris

good tip about the distributor, im going to call him now to find out. The motor has 250 000km on it, thats like 140 000 miles, and hes only had it for about 5 months, so we have no idea if the chain has been replaced. I know that most timing chain failures occur right at startup. The motor turns over, but just sputters he says. Almost sounds liek a MAF problem. If not this im not sure what it is. He said while the car has been idle, he has checked the oild and its not even showing on the dipstick. It was running fine when he parked it and now it wont start. I think i am going to take my 1 day off and drive back to brampton to diagnose this problem. What else do you suggest I try?
Thanks for your ideas fellas,
Jeff

140k miles on an SE-R timing chain is nothing. I don't recall ever hearing of a timing chain failure on an SE-R. If by chance it is broken, someone is selling a complete Nissan timing chain kit on Ebay, but it's ending in 13 hours!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1842967048

EDIT - Replacing a chain is a big job, he may be better off swapping in a JDM.

Chris

Snapped a timing chain, and it took damn near 400,000 miles.

And when I took the motor apart I found all kinds of cool pieces in the oil pan and some awesome holes in the pistons :)

Sam

okay thanks fpr the distributor tip. The chain is A-OK. I walked him through taking off the cap etc by phone. I heard the motor turn over before he started, and it sounded weak, like there is no spark helping it turn over. I think i will leave now and make the trek down there to help. I think i'll just check for spark, and then parts swap. Coil, Distributor, ignitor, MAF, what should I swap out and in from my car after that?