[turingalad]

2000
Xterra SE
4x4
v6 3.3
Auto trans
23x.xxx miles
I’ve had it 5 years.

What I know:

I was driving along just fine, and when stopping at a stop light, the car sputtered and died. Hasn’t started since. It’s been two days. It will turn over, but won’t start.

I replaced fuel filter (which was way over due). Still nothing.

Fuel pump works. I tested it by removing fuel line from fuel filter and turning key on (fuel shot out strong for 4-5 seconds.)

Tested fuel pump relay and fuse—both work fine.

The rotor under my distributor cap won’t turn when trying to start the car. (One guy on Youtube says this means the timing belt is broke??) The distributor cap itself looks perfectly fine.

Haven’t changed the Timing Belt since I’ve owned it. Not sure if it ever got a replacement from the new one. I know I need to get on that ASAP, but don’t want to assume it’s the culprit for my current situation…

Additional info (not sure if applicable)

I replaced my radiator about 3 months ago. Ever since then, my engine temp has been reading really low. There have been a few times, while on the highway for 20-30 min, where I can get the gauge to read about 1/3, but that’s as warm as it will read. I dumped about 16oz of coolant and filled about 16oz of just distilled water, hoping that diluting it would help bring my temp up. But nothing. If anything, it’s been reading colder. It’s been at least 2 months since I’ve seen my gauge read above the lowest level. In fact, I’m not sure it’s budged at all in a month or so.

It’s winter where I live. 0-32F on average for the past couple months.

There have been about 3 or 4 times in the last several months where my car had a difficult time starting cold. Both in warm and cold climate. 99% sure it wasn’t battery related.

ABS light has been on for about 4 years. Goes off when driving in 4x4 after a while. (Again, probably not applicable, but want to get ALL my skeletons out now...)

While researching my current issue, I’ve read everything from ...
- dirty MAF sensor
- bad Engine Temp sensor
- faulty Coolant Thermostat
- bad Oxygen sensors
to…
- corroded Fuel Gauge Sender (Fuel Sending Unit)

Haven’t dug into any of those options yet.

Any ideas where to go from here?

Thank you guys in advance. I’ve lurked around the forums here off and on for years.

 

[mkgearhead]

If your distributor isn't turning it's most likely the timing belt. I'd start by checking that.

 

[turingalad]

You were right...

It was the timing belt.

But, GOOD NEWS! (I think.) What happened to my belt seems to be what happened to this guy's:

I haven't gotten every thing off yet, but I was able to detach enough of the wheels and casings and bolts to see that the belt is still in one piece, and the top part (around the cams) still have teeth, but I can see just enough of the bottom of the belt, around the Crank Shaft Sprocket to see that it's stripped down there. No teeth.

I'm assuming this is good news??

After I get the rest torn apart, I'll take pics. When there's daylight.

I'll also be reading up a ton on what to do once I get everything torn apart.

What all should I be doing while I'm in this deep?

- Timing belt
- Timing belt tensioner
- water pump
- thermostat (gonna test the current/old one before throwing it away to see if it is in fact the/a reason for my super low engine temp readings.)
- ?
- ?

 

[turingalad]

Thermostat update

I tested the thermostat in a pot of water on the stove. It is rated at 82C (179F). As water heated to that temp, the thermostat started to open. But not much. And very slowly. Then, as I took it out to cool, it wasn't closing. I even put it in a cup of cold water, and it still took quite a while to close.

Definitely getting a new thermostat.

But, could this be the cause of my constant low engine temp readings on my dash gauge?

 

[turingalad]

Timing belt inspection....

In the service manual, regarding timing belt inspection (EM-77), it says that broken teeth on the belt could be signs of
- Camshaft jamming
- Distributor jamming
- Damaged camshaft/crankshaft oil seal

I'm replacing the timing belt/water pump/tensioner, but how do I check these other possible issues to make sure I don't undo all my work once I finally get the Timing Belt, et al, installed?

I'm currently under the assumption that the cause of my car dying while driving was that I never changed my timing belt (at least, not in the over 100K miles my family has owned it), and because of that the crank shaft just ate the teeth off the old belt, thus causing death.

However... what if there's another cause, and the stripped belt is just an affect, or an indirect cause of some sort....?

 

[robcarync]

In the service manual, regarding timing belt inspection (EM-77), it says that broken teeth on the belt could be signs of
- Camshaft jamming
- Distributor jamming
- Damaged camshaft/crankshaft oil seal

I'm replacing the timing belt/water pump/tensioner, but how do I check these other possible issues to make sure I don't undo all my work once I finally get the Timing Belt, et al, installed?

I'm currently under the assumption that the cause of my car dying while driving was that I never changed my timing belt (at least, not in the over 100K miles my family has owned it), and because of that the crank shaft just ate the teeth off the old belt, thus causing death.

However... what if there's another cause, and the stripped belt is just an affect, or an indirect cause of some sort....?

No direct experience with this on an Xterra but my thoughts based on logic of internal combustion engines:

They are assuming that something in the drive line JAMMED which causes the belt to break teeth off. I am assuming here that the timing belt was OLD and WEAK and just BROKE teeth off due to aging rubber and brittle material.

camshaft jamming? The camshaft rotates and pushes the valves up and down. The crankshaft pushes the pistons up and down. The timing belt makes sure the valves are out of the way when the pistons are going up. The biggest risk is if your timing slipped to the extent that your pistons hit your valves and now you have no compression in the engine due to broken or bent valves and scored up cylinder walls.

If you have compression in your engine (do a compression check with a gauge in the spark plug holes), you should be good to replace the timing belt, RE-TIME everything, and put back together. With good compression, my thought is that your timing just slipped enough to make the timing bad and hard to start and rough to run on.

The camshaft or crankshaft oil seals...? Do you have oil leaks there? With a new timing belt on the sprockets, are you able to rotate the engine easily? Then you should know if you are seized or stuck at those seals/bushing/bearing surfaces...as long as the cam/crank rotate freely and they aren't leaking oil, you are good.

Not xterra specific...but just my thoughts based on a 30 second reading of what you have stated here. If shafts rotate easily and you have engine compression with a new belt on... you are good to go.

 

[turingalad]

If you have compression in your engine (do a compression check with a gauge in the spark plug holes), you should be good to replace the timing belt, RE-TIME everything, and put back together. With good compression, my thought is that your timing just slipped enough to make the timing bad and hard to start and rough to run on.

Thanks for the reply. I borrowed a Leak Down tester for cylinder compression test. I admit, I don't really know what I'm doing, but after talking with the generous Napa worker (w/ 30+ years car tech experience) who lent me the device, I think I figured out the basics.

Couldn't find any helpful youtubes. Everything I found was compression testing with a working/running car. Not applicable.

I borrowed an air compressor from a different guy, and did the test. I'm 99% confident that I tested Cylinder #1 correctly. After fiddling with the Right Hand cam wheel to get it on point, the best reading I could get was 25% leakage.

I tried a couple other cylinders, but in retrospect, I don't think I turned the cams a full 360degrees to get them closed properly. And after failing to reach the other 3 spark plug holes, I gave up and returned the device to the nice auto-parts store/ex-mechanic man.

He sold me a timing belt and Harmonic Balancer Puller, and off I went, to take a gamble on trying to start the car with a new belt to see if it's as shot as half the internet expects it to be.

I borrowed a 1/2 wrench from a neighbor, and a large steel rod from a different neighbor (for leverage), and got the 27mm crank shaft bolt off. Then noticed that the Puller package didn't come with the correct size bolts. And all parts/hardware stores were closed by then. So off to more research and bed.

I'll resume in the AM when I get to Hardware store and purchase correct size bolts to use Puller and get to replace the belt.

I'll update once I test with new belt.

If all seems well, I'll go ahead with replacing all other appropriate seals, water pump, belts, etc...

In other news, it's quite frustrating to try to find a definitive answer on whether this VG33E (1st Gen Xterra engine) is an Interference or NON-Interference engine. According to some, even the manuals that come with these cars are incorrect about it. Hmmmmmm.

 

[fily242000]

Make sure to replace the tensioner spring along with the tensioner. The job isnt hard im sure there is a thread with the steps floating around. You should also replace the small bypass heater hose thats hidden behind the timing belt cover. Good luck man