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xterra wont start after timing belt change....

13K views 15 replies 5 participants last post by  dejablue 
#1 ·
not sure what i did wrong but it wont start at all now, not even a little bit. made sure all the marks on the timing belt lined up with the marks on the cams and crank, set crank at the 2nd notch on the crank from the left, dropped the distributor in pointing at the no1 plug wire and nothing.... what did i do wrong?

by nothing i mean it turns over nicely but wont actually fire up and run
 
#3 ·
Did you pull the #1 plug so that you could see when the piston hit TDC?

Did you align the rotor to to #1 plug at that point?

Did you PUT THE PLUG AND BOOT BACK ON?

:D

You can check to see if you have spark.

Use a timing gun and check the timing.
 
#5 · (Edited)
ok, i checked everything i can think of and its not fireing up. no1 piston was at tdc, distributor was pointing at no1 plug wire, pulled some of the plugs and they were wet with gasoline (not bridgeing the gap or anything, but clearly getting fuel. i held a plug against the manifold and they are deffinately sparking. so i have no idea why this thing wont even at least try to fire up. is it possible to screw up the timing belt install? i made sure every mark lined up and it was tight...... i tried sparying ether into the intake and it wouldnt even try to fire up with that. i am thinking mabey the distributor (or timing belt???) is 180 degrees off, i dont know what else it could be. the wierd thing is, when i check the timing while the engine is cranking over, it hits the 10 degree mark on the dampener once and the 2nd spark is way off but close to the marks, and 3rd bang on again and 4th off and so on.... what is up with that?
 
#6 ·
ok, i checked everything i can think of and its not fireing up. no1 piston was at tdc, distributor was pointing at no1 plug wire, pulled some of the plugs and they were wet with gasoline (not bridgeing the gap or anything, but clearly getting fuel. i held a plug against the manifold and they are deffinately sparking. so i have no idea why this thing wont even at least try to fire up. is it possible to screw up the timing belt install? i made sure every mark lined up and it was tight...... i tried sparying ether into the intake and it wouldnt even try to fire up with that. i am thinking mabey the distributor (or timing belt???) is 180 degrees off, i dont know what else it could be. the wierd thing is, when i check the timing while the engine is cranking over, it hits the 10 degree mark on the dampener once and the 2nd spark is way off but close to the marks, and 3rd bang on again and 4th off and so on.... what is up with that?
More than likely a problem with the distributor. Did you count how many teeth on the timing belt were between each sprocket marking? 40 from RH to LH and 43 from LH to Crank. If you were at TDC with cams and crank on their mark, dist at #1 and piston was at the top of the cylinder you had the right amount of teeth between as i mentioned, then everything should be right. The physical timing on the harmonic balancer is 0 degrees but the ignition timing is center mark 10 degrees when you are using a timing light.

The only way the engine would not be able to turn over after a timing belt change would be if you had it set 180 degrees and installed your distributor as if you were at TDC. Also, if you did not line your cams and crank up correctly and you hit the starter to crank the engine, you risk damaging valves and pistons and you would know it instantly!
 
#7 · (Edited)
well, it was running before i tore it appart, i really dont think is the distributor itself, but more something i did or didnt do while putting it back together. the whole fuel system was drained and i changed the filters/o-rings on the injectors, plus the fuel regulator at the back. is it possible theres air trapped in the system that needs to be bled out? theres gota be something small i missed....

yeah i counted all the teeth between the cams and crank, it all checked out, re-checked the timeing a few times.... its sparking at 10 degrees, all i can think mabey is its not getting enough fuel..... mabey there was some kind of plug in the regulator i didnt see or something
 
#8 ·
well, it was running before i tore it appart, i really dont think is the distributor itself, but more something i did or didnt do while putting it back together. the whole fuel system was drained and i changed the filters/o-rings on the injectors, plus the fuel regulator at the back. is it possible theres air trapped in the system that needs to be bled out? theres gota be something small i missed....

yeah i counted all the teeth between the cams and crank, it all checked out, re-checked the timeing a few times.... its sparking at 10 degrees, all i can think mabey is its not getting enough fuel..... mabey there was some kind of plug in the regulator i didnt see or something
Did you crank the engine around to #1 cyl on the rotor before you took the belt off .(yes or No)
 
#9 ·
ok, i got it running!!! i was so freaking close to tearing it all back down to the timing belt and just for shits and giggles i decided to try the distributor 180 degrees off (pointing to the no.4 plug) and it fired up instantly. not sure what i did wrong to cause that but i sure am glad it runs now. timing belt was obviously the cause of all the grinding sounds i heard earlier cause it was purring like a kitten after changing/tighting it. its possible the fuel pressure(wich i replaced) regulator was to blame for the hard starts, but my gut is telling me it was probly the timing belt all along since it was all sloppy when i pulled the cover.
 
#10 · (Edited)
ok... well i guess it was a bit too soon to be happy. now im getting a code P0132 wich is a bank 1 O2 sensor and its idling a bit rough now. also while it starts fairly quickly now, it has a bit of a rough spot sometimes where it stops dead, then cranks a bit more and fires right up. whats up with that?

and dejablue, no i did not crank the engine around to #1 on the rotor before i took the belt off. i kind of just lined everything up afterwards useing the marks on the timing cover and sprockets. the crank did not have a mark on the cover though, i kind of just used the belt line and some illustrations on the internet as a reference.
 
#11 · (Edited)
ok... well i guess it was a bit too soon to be happy. now im getting a code P0132 wich is a bank 1 O2 sensor and its idling a bit rough now. also while it starts fairly quickly now, it has a bit of a rough spot sometimes where it stops dead, then cranks a bit more and fires right up. whats up with that?

and dejablue, no i did not crank the engine around to #1 on the rotor before i took the belt off. i kind of just lined everything up afterwards useing the marks on the timing cover and sprockets. the crank did not have a mark on the cover though, i kind of just used the belt line and some illustrations on the internet as a reference.
Wrong dont start it any more till you fix the timing belt or the dist.
 
#12 ·
At this point you have 2 choices 1) remove the dist and re-aline or 2) Pull the timing cover and move the belt . 1) is easy but if i were you i would check your work . Tell me which one you want to do and i will tell were to start.The problem is the timing or the belt is off and i am not sure of you work so i like #2 better to be safe.
 
#13 ·
what do you mean by remove the distributor and re-align? if i put it back where it was pointing at the no1 plug it doesnt start at all, obviously i dont want to tear it all back down again.... and the timing belt i am 100% sure i installed it properly useing the punch marks on the timing case and white lines on the belt. i counted the teeth even and it all checked out. tell me what i need to do to fix it properly and i will do it.
 
#14 · (Edited)
after going back out there and fireing it up again, it really doesnt seem all that bad, like 80% of the time it fires up nice and the other 20% it has a hesitation where its like the plugs fire too early and it stops dead, then fires up right after. i double checked everything and i probly originally had the distributor on the exhaust stroke and when i set it 180 degrees off i probly had it on the compression stroke. i rotated it and it lined up with the timing marks. i can only assume its not possible to have the distributor 180degrees out or it wouldnt build up compression to fire the cylinders and it will not start since its pumping the air/gas mix out the exhaust valve. mabey it really is just an o2 sensor that went bad? mabey its the cheap chinese distributor i put in, i might go back out and swap to the original to test that theory....
also i may have been a bit too picky when i said it had a rough idle, its really not that bad, it just feels rough inside the cab at idle, mabey the engine mounts are shot or something. looking at the engine from the outside its not shakeing or anything and sounds nice and smooth, either way its running 100% better than when i first bought it
 
#15 · (Edited)
ok, i got it all figured out now. thanks for all your help guys, i do really appreciate everything. the chinese knock off distributor was the culprit for the hard starts and weird idle. so you were deffinately right about that dejablue, those things are not to be trusted. everything is perfect now, starts and runs beautifully. so what fixed my original problem when i first bought this thing was either the timing belt (was sloppy and not tight), fuel regulator or injector filters/rings (if anybody has a similar problem with long cranks to start and rough idles). sorry about all the extra replies >:D
 
#16 ·
ok, i got it all figured out now. thanks for all your help guys, i do really appreciate everything. the chinese knock off distributor was the culprit for the hard starts and weird idle. so you were deffinately right about that dejablue, those things are not to be trusted. everything is perfect now, starts and runs beautifully. so what fixed my original problem when i first bought this thing was either the timing belt (was sloppy and not tight), fuel regulator or injector filters/rings (if anybody has a similar problem with long cranks to start and rough idles). sorry about all the extra replies >:D
No problem we are all here to help .
 
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