Need advice on my KA24DE

[Wodin]

Hi All, my first official post yay.

My engine has to come out due to the Timing gear needs replacing. (Anyone else have this happen?)

Anyhow while its out I thought what the heck might as well get some other things done while Im at it 

Anyone got any suggestions on what I should do apart from dropping a SR20DET in it?

Cheers

[Jecks]

if your chain HAS snapped, either another KA24DE or you could get the current one rebuilt...
if the chain HASN'T snapped yet, i suggest getting the chain replaced ASAP!!

[Wodin]

Yeah thanks.. I sorta know that.. I was more interested in what else I could do while they have the engine out to fix the chain..

Its rated as a 8 & 1/2 hr plus job labour wise so at lest $800 just for them to do it.. Might as well get my monies worth and get them to do some real work 

[timstar]

Get the head ported and polished,
Get the cylinder's bored out a tad,
Get the bottom end balanced
Throw a lightened flywheel in
throw a heavy duty clutch in
Hunt down some new cams


Depends how crazy you wanna go..

But it all costs dollars

[Wodin]

Any idea whre the best place is in Aus for performance parts for these things?

All I know is it took 8 weeks to source a Dizzy for mine and it was the only one in Aus apparently 

[Leopard-Man]

it was the only one in Aus apparently 

Somehow i doubt that.  Perhaps someone was jerking you around as there has to be more than one in Australia. There would be many second hand ones, and Nissan would be able to source you one, at a price, if you went there.

As for performance parts, for u13s there isnt a whole lot available in aus, probably pays to just shop around.  In Adelaide there is not that many.  For tuning there are places like Jaustech and RPM.

[Colby]

Hell just buy a turbo kit from the states, or get one made and turbo it!    more displacement than the SR20 (equally if not more powerful in the end).

But for starters do the stuff mentioned above.
Oh you can put in KA24E pistons to raise compression and get a bit more out of it  (just dont turbo with the E pistons)

[Wodin]

Somehow i doubt that.  Perhaps someone was jerking you around as there has to be more than one in Australia. There would be many second hand ones, and Nissan would be able to source you one, at a price, if you went there.

You could be right there although they mentioned my Dizzy had 4 wires (Not spark leads) and all they could only find ones with 3 wires..
something about being a grey import 


Anyhow I now have hit a brick wall in the Timing Kit department. I have been quoted $800 for labour and $1400 for a timing kit..

Anyone know of a better price or a place I can get aftermarket timing kits?

[timstar]

So the KA24E pistons go straight in?

Anyone done this?
What kinda performance changes are gained?

[Alister]

So the KA24E pistons go straight in?

Anyone done this?
What kinda performance changes are gained?

No, they don't go straight in.
I think the performance gain is through the rise in compression.
Anyone care to elaborate on this?

[Wodin]

yes interesting but maybe in a different post ? 

Sort of like help with my timing problem if that ok?

[Alister]

yes interesting but maybe in a different post ? 

Sort of like help with my timing problem if that ok?

Sorry mate...
$1400 is way too expensive for a timing kit. Go enquire at another workshop.

[Leopard-Man]

Sorry mate...
$1400 is way too expensive for a timing kit. Go enquire at another workshop.

WHOA $1400 is rediculous.  You can go to nissan and get all the stuff you need for about $500 tops.  it depends what you get though it could be more than that but i think that getting some of the things such as the gears would be a bit of a waste.

My advice mate: Depending where in Adelaide you live - go to Grand Nissan on South Road Morfett Vale.  They are very good people.  And very helpful and will give you the correct information first time.  Ive heard that other nissan dealers dont always.  Ask them for a price on all the things needed to do the job.  They will tell you and then at least you know that the parts are genuine.  This means that the chain isnt a dodgy cheapo which ive heard can break after 20 000kms. 

Alister - thats exactly right mate - power is gained through the increase in compression.  Too bad the pistons dont fit in.  But i guess that comes with owning a  modern car - nothings ever simple 

[Wodin]

Thanks Zander I will check them out.. Although I live 360 kms from da big smoke, I am sure they do phone calls 

[Colby]

You can often find timing chain kits on Ebay fairly cheaply for the KA24DE  And then its delivered strait to your door (or near enough)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KA24DE-TIMING-CHAIN-KIT-FOR-NISSAN-ALTIMA-240SX-NEW_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33625QQitemZ8018284838QQrdZ1

looking at about $200 that way.

[Wodin]

Yeah thanks Colby. I have checked Ebay before, but as far as Running Gear for the working internals I would rather go with Brand name or Genuine parts.

the Kit you posted there would cost me $125 AU before freight

compare that to a US supplier (www.rockauto.com) selling Beck/Arnley or Cloyes kits @ around $350 AU before freight it brings to mind the old saying "You get what you pay for" 

[Leopard-Man]

You can often find timing chain kits on Ebay fairly cheaply for the KA24DE  And then its delivered strait to your door (or near enough)
looking at about $200 that way.

I have heard of these kits only lasting 10000kms or even snapping prematurely. My advice is buy Nissan.  The extra $100 or so may just save you some big headaches later on.  Or you can just buy it off EBAY.   up to you 

[tedman]

I realise this is a late post but for those who have the same problem in the future i'll tell my story.

Apparently half of the timimg system in the Bluebird is completely ridiculous and unnecessary - From an engineering perspective. Unfortunately if you love Bluebirds though you will have to live with this problem. Genuine Nissan should not cost you more than 750 bucks for a full kit minus the chain guide and because it is such a bastard of a system I would certainly advise NOT to buy after market. Do not buy a new Chain guide. For two reasons 1) They cost 250 bucks and 2) Apparently you don't need it. I went half way and had the old guide filed back slightly and repositioned to stop the annoying timing chain whir in high revs. Unfortunately this makes the noise louder when the engine is cold however once she is warm the engine sounds perfect!

The big downside, as was mentioned at the start is that this is a massive job which involves pulling out the engine so unless you can do it yourself expect 10 hours of labour = at least 1000 bucks.

Having done all this myself, I will add that I have heard of the same problem many times however have NEVER heard of a timing chain actually snapping. As far as i know the thing might rattle and carry on like a headless chook however it is very robust so if you can put up with the noise there's probably no need to spend all the cash on it. For anyone whos interested after pulling out my whole system the only thing that was even remotely damaged was the idler gear? Wierd i know.

Tedman out

[Jono]

I've heard of overly stretched timing chains jumping teeth and un-synchronising the valve train to the movement of the pistons causing seized engines.

[Ka-Bluey]

My car has just gone over the 222k mark. Would i need to replace the timing gear or not worry about it until symptons of it going faulty.

Also what would those symptons be?

[tedman]

Most obvious symptom would be a "rattle" when the engine is at idle - You probably wont hear it when the engine is cold only once the engine has warmed up. I am not a mechanic but a possible cheap easy fix would be to somehow move the tensioner guide to keep the chain tight - i dont know if this can be reached without removing the engine though.

[greenbird]

My car has just gone over the 222k mark. Would i need to replace the timing gear or not worry about it until symptons of it going faulty.

Also what would those symptons be?

Don't worry about it KA-Bluey. It is a huge and very expensive job to replace the timing chains. Remember, there are two of them in the KA24DE.
The top chain is the one that usually causes the rattling but don't be too concerned about it breaking, it is a double row chain. Very strrong!
As i've posted before, the series 1 motors had a couple of upper chain guides fitted. Remove these and the rattle miraculously disappears! My car is as quiet as a mouse after removing these guides.
The Series 2's didn't suffer this rattle apparently, as Nissan didn't put these guides into the series 2 motors.
I learnt all this from browsing some US based Nissan forums. I assume that it is all true.
Dan.