In an 01 xterra v6. The Nissan dealership here wants 995 bucks for a timing belt kit, and says its an all day job. anyone had it done cheaper, or done it themselves? its obviouisly a fairly involved process, but that's a lot of money for a maintenance item.

first welcome to the club and second that is expensive i dont think it should be that much look online and do some price checks and i bet if you know anything about mechanics you should be able to do it yourself.... good luck.....

Wow that's steep.

It is fairly involved but relatively easy to do. Some people recommend changing the waterpump and timing belt tensioner while they're in there, I didn't, I just changed the timing and drive belts. It cost about $60.

The only "special" tool you need is a 27mm socket and breaker bar, and a block of wood for the crank pulley. You might also need a puller.

Disconnect the MAF and remove the intake and top half of the filter box.
Remove the front skid plate.
Remove the plastic section of the bottom of the fan shroud. It unclips.
Remove the overflow bottle and hose.
Remove the intake hockey stick
Undo and remove the radiator hoses.
Undo the bolts that hold on the radiator retainers on the front support.
Lift out the radiator.
Loosen the lockbolts in the tensioners then loosen the drivebelts and remove them.
Remove the fan and clutch.
Remove the tensioner brackets.
If you have an impact gun use it and remove the 27mm crankpulley bolt or use the breaker bar and block of wood (try and wedge the bar on the wood) and then bump the starter.
Pull off the pulley. Find some long bolts that thread into the holes on the pulley.
Remove the timing belt covers.
Carefully put the pulley and bolt back in and set it to TDC. Note the alignment marks on the cam pulleys. Note belt tension.
Loosen tensioner and swap belts.
Tighten tensioner to about the same.
Turn engine over with breaker bar at least two full revolutions and ensure the reference marks line up consistently.
install everything in reverse order.

Go here for a manual: http://www.nissan-techinfo.com/nissan/refgh0v/sm/2000/Xterra/fwd.pdf

You hit the nail on the head exactly. I still dont know why those jobs are higher than Giraffe pu$$y. Its pretty much gravy. Dont get scared if the cam snaps over on you. Make good marks and get them as close as possible. And replace the cam seals and crank seal and water pump for petes sake. Nobody likes to do a job twice.

Thanks for that info i gotta do the same thing to mine. Just ordered the timing belt along with a couple other items for my own 125k mile tune-up.