Wow, let me say first that I thank you all for your input. I know its hard to believe, but the timing chain is all jacked (well, tensioners/guides). If you think it isn't a common issue you need to visit some Nissan forums. There is a TSB for the VQ40s, but the VQ35 has yet to get any lovin (not that it matter four years out of warranty).
15951 said:
This is how you can look at this rationally rather than emotionally. We have been brainwashed over decades to think that we're "saving money" by buying new vehicles when our current vehicles need maintenance. With few exceptions, nothing could be further from the truth.
1. Get a comprehensive estimate for all repairs from your mechanic/dealer, and then get a 2nd opinion for all of it.
2. Go to edmunds and get a TMV price on a replacement comparable vehicle. Go to a site like bankrate and plug in the price of the vehicle, taxes, likely financing rate based on published rates based on credit score, and calculate your new monthly payment.
3. Figure out how long it will take you to take to pay down #1 based on the monthly payment for #2. I'm betting you can do it in under a year, whereas you'll be paying for that new car for 4-5 years (at least).
4. I bet the repairs you're considering would keep your car running for at least another 4 years with maintenance comparable to what a new car would require. During the 3 or so years after you pay the cost of your repairs, continue to place the equivolent of the calculated monthly payment from #2 in a savings account or low-risk investment option.
5. At the end of 4 years (or more!), put down the huge savings you've accumulated on a new car, or pay for a lightly used vehicle in cash.
6. Continue saving monthly for the next car. Enjoy paying NO INTEREST to a bank, and paying yourself rather than some finance company for the rest of your life.
Estimates are a great idea, I had one but it blew me away. I don't make payments, I pay cash, so I am not worried about the interest. Just losing my monies
. Just another addendum to that: I am not trying to sound boastful, but I could buy another car now, its that I don't want to let that cash go and then spend for the upkeep of two cars. If you can't afford it, wait to buy it. This whole payments mindset is something I never got, and think pretty a house is the only debt people should carry around. With that said, more feedback:
vtec92civic said:
very true . . . . . but he had also mentioned he wanted a different sportier vehicle. Regardless one will most likely have to pay interest to someone. The repairs his vehicle needs will run beyond $2,000+ and most people can't just walk in with cash or cut a check and will most likely have to turn to a credit card or a loan of some sort to pay for such repairs.
Although im not sure exactly what is wrong . . . . . . to my understanding timing chains should not have to be replaced at all unless something like the tensioner has gone bad causing the timing chain to skip teeth and what not.
Get a couple of estimates though as mentioned . . . . they are free and will only cost you a few minutes of your time and then you can make a decision based on that.
If it turns out to be say $1,500 to repair and yu decide to sell you can show the buyer the estimate and work out something to where you would deduct it off the price and let him handle it on his own.
I am worried selling as is (although the problem is hard to notice) and disclosing the problem would result in a deduction on more than what the repair is worth. As I said earlier, Nissan has issues with American made VQ series engines from the early 2000's. The tensioners for starters, are weaker than Japan borne VQ's and the piston rings also different (supplier).
the_invisible said:
Hey AuAltima3.5, it is almost hard to believe your seven years old Altima is exhibiting so many problems!!! Apparently there's major quality issues in the couple years of Altimas.
If I were you, I'd fix it.
- Tie rod ends should take no more than an hour to replace, and should only cost around $60 for a pair if you go aftermarket.
- Struts are also fairly cheap if you don't mind riding on OEM quality aftermarket struts.
- Timing belt tensioner is also not very hard to replace on the VQ35DE, if I recall correctly. It's strange that this part even needs replacing. It's supposed to be a self-adjusting hydraulic mechanism. But again, it's not expensive, only around $70 from your local dealer.
- Engine mounts... around $70 as well. Not that hard to replace, I have replaced them on my car with a couple of jacks. You can try getting inserts.
Have you diagnosed where the oil burning problem is coming from? Is it bad piston rings or just blowby? Once you've slowly sorted out each problem, the car will become more appealing.
Unfortunately the cost of parts is close to 500 bucks, then labor. I won't be doing it twice and using the same chains, and will do extensive timing system overhaul, if not a complete rebuild. It was built in 01 so it will close to nine years old. The tensioner requires the engine to be removed, not sure where your source is for the not hard, possibly you are thinking the QR25.
Some have replaced with the motor in the car, but it isn't very often, and then it still requires a significant amount of time to accomplish.
In the last 20K miles it has had new shocks, struts, front wheel bearing, new rotors and pads, in addition to more aggressive than scheduled OEM maintenance intervals.
Mark77 said:
I would be most worried about the rust, that is the most expensive to fix if it's as bad as you say?
Must have really lousy rust proofing from the factory, has it lived it's earlier life more up north in the salt belt ?
There have been some Altimas (02-06) to have the floor boards rust through. Nissan doesn't quite have the rust thing down, my has rust on the trunk, and the typical rust on the floorboards, but it hasn't penetrated through yet. It could probably be ok for another year or two, provided the winter isn't bad here.
Example of rust: I was sound deadening the backseat area two years ago, and upon trying to remove the rear upper seat frame, I had a bolt (inaccessbile on the other side, yet rusted) snap during removal. I wasn't happy and should have known then that the rust was winning.
*I forgot the mention the driver door is sagging, apparently the door hinges are rusting (at least the pins are seeping rust, and have worn excessively fast: the door moves so much on the interstate it can be hard squeaking against the seals on the interstate with the radio on) and seems to be catching the striker every so often.
Accumulator said:
AuAltima3.5- At the risk of sounding like a real drag, I'd be more conservative with your money and so I second what
15951 posted.
As long as the rust isn't really serious/structural, I too think it'd be wiser (but a whole lot less enjoyable
) to just fix what really needs fixed and keep it.
You've just learned an expensive, and not-so-fun, lesson about preventive maintenance.
When you mention "spending another 10 grand.." I think you're approaching the whole thing from a perspective that's likely to cost you money you can't really afford. No way fixing the Maxima just enough to be roadworthy will cost anywhere close to that. No way that just *scrapping* it and buying something serviceable needs to cost anything close to that. I'd be aiming to earn interest instead of paying interest; think long-term.
Agreed. But look at what you drive, and get back to me
I would like to make the more sound financial choice but I am a perfectionist, and some of these issues are driving me a little nuts. Also, maintenance shouldn't include "no service" timing chains or door hinges at 80K miles. Maintenance has been pretty friggin good as far as fluids and wear and tear goes until recently, when more troubling issues like rogue coolant loss and high oil consumption come into play.
Cleaning Fool said:
I would run some Valvoline Maxlife in the engine, it should help the burning oil. Check that PCV valve too, if the engine can't breath it will burn oil.
Currently running Mobil 1 10-30. Ran German Castrol 0-30 from ~55k to 75k, then mobil one since. Oil consumption went down after the switch. I don't know the specs on the valvoline, but enjoy the longer intervals on synthetic.
jDizzle said:
oil burning can caused by many things.. yes, it could be your piston rings not sealing with your cylinder walls, but it could also be something easier and cheaper to fix such as broken valve seals or too much clearance between your valves and valve guides.. valve seals could be replaced fairly easily... your valve guides could be bored out slightly, and have thin wall inserts pressed into them giving you less clearance for oil to drip down into the neck area while the car sits not running, which is burned when you start the car.. this does involve removing the cylinder head and having it taken to a machine shop though... having your bottom end redone (honed cylinder walls, new rings, and possibly pistons anyway).. if i was tearing down the motor this far id start to consider finding a longblock (complete engine)..
If i was you i would do a compression test first. disable fuel and remove a spark plug then install your compression tester and crank over 4 times. record your first and final puff, and compare those numbers to specs... then do a wet compression test.. which means putting about a tablespoon of oil into each cylinder (through the spark plug hole before installing the compression tester) and if theres much of an increase in compression (from your dry to your wet test) then you've got issues with your bottom end (piston rings)..
i dont know of a way to check for valve guide wear that i would trust an everyday person to do, so i wont suggest any other than watching for blue smoke when you start your car for the first few seconds. hope it helps.. if you want to do any work yourself you will need more information than the generic stuff i told you already. you can PM me if you decide to go this route and ill help you out.
Good info. I didn't know there was a way to check bottom vs. top end with compression tests until now. I would most likely do a complete rebuild and get a lightly built VQ.
Basically I figure 600 for tires, 200 for new struts, 2-3k for the rebuilt motor, and then labor, so probably another few hundred. That $4-5K dollars, on a nearly nine year old car. And it isn't special, its a gold family sedan, that was treated very, very well until recently.
