97 Nissan PU 2.4 KA24DE chain in valve cover

[willshak]

Looking into the oil fill hole in the valve cover, I see a chain in the
front of the hole that runs down into the engine. This is a chain that
looks smaller than a bicycle chain, not what I would expect for a timing
chain. With the engine off, I stuck a screwdriver into the hole and
pushed against the chain. It was quite slack and moved easily.
What is this chain for and should it be slack?

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

[C. E. White]

It is the cam chain. It is likely tensioned by oil pressure. Therefore with
the engine off, it will be slack. Were you having a problem, or were you
poking around trying to create one?

Ed

Ed
"willshak" <will...@00hvc.rr.com> wrote in message
news:xuydnSCK_NLmNhLR...@supernews.com...

[willshak]

C. E. White wrote the following:

> It is the cam chain. It is likely tensioned by oil pressure. Therefore with
> the engine off, it will be slack. Were you having a problem, or were you
> poking around trying to create one?
>

Yes to the first clause, no to the second. I was trying to locate a
noise coming from the engine.
But, thanks for the answer.

[C. E. White]

I am not 100% sure on the method used to tension the cam chain. If the
tensioner is bad (whether hydralic or not), you can get a lot of noise from
a rattling chain. You might want to read:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4520387_check-replace-timing-chain-nissan.html\
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Hardbody_Truck

The wikipedia article mentions that these engines are prone to noisy timing
chains.

Ed

"willshak" <will...@00hvc.rr.com> wrote in message
news:xuydnSCK_NLmNhLR...@supernews.com...

[willshak]

C. E. White wrote the following:

> I am not 100% sure on the method used to tension the cam chain. If the
> tensioner is bad (whether hydralic or not), you can get a lot of noise from
> a rattling chain. You might want to read:
>
> http://www.ehow.com/how_4520387_check-replace-timing-chain-nissan.html\
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Hardbody_Truck
>
> The wikipedia article mentions that these engines are prone to noisy timing
> chains.
>
> Ed
>

I have only 70k miles on the '97 engine. That's about 5.4 k miles per
year. There is a rattle noise when first starting the engine, then at
hot idle it is not as loud, but continuous. This has been going on for
years and I often just look under the hood to see if anything jumps out
at me. My neighbor came over yesterday when I was again looking for the
noise. He pulled the spark plug wire from the #1 plug and the noise
stopped. He said it may need a valve adjustment on #1. That's why I was
looking in the valve cover today. Next step, pull the valve cover off.
Thanks again.