Thread: Which mark is TDC on this crank pulley? (2001 fwd SR20DE)

Yes it's somewhat of a pita but it can and has been done in the car.

OP, if it's off a decent amount from TDC and the cams are installed and you start it up it usually bends valves..
If the cams were installed at TDC but the cam timing is off a link or two it will run, but run like crap

After re-reading the thread, I see how this is a bigger issue than I thought

No gaskets are required to remove the cover/sump. Permatex Ultra gray is all you need.

Good luck with however you proceed!

It definitely is. I started taking it all apart to remove the timing cover today and got the timing cover off, but the oil pump is trapped by the upper oil pan right now so it can't be pulled completely off. I intend to remove the upper oil pan but I'm having trouble breaking the silicone seal between that and the block. If anybody has suggestions on an effective way to separate the pan from the block that's about all I need to do now to be able to have an end in sight for this little project

Here's what I did so far. I improvised a little bit again.
After reading about unbolting the rack and removing the suspension subframe I really didn't want to do that because I just got a wheel alignment a couple weeks ago and couldn't see at all why it would be necessary to do that to get to the timing chain so I didn't remove that. I removed the exhaust and the cross member with the motor mounts, the passenger side motor mount and bracket which required removing the fans, A/C compressor and bracket, alternator, then the crank pulley, WP pulley, lower pan/baffle/and pickup and the timing cover seal could be broken free but the upper oil pan is still holding on strong. I've been whacking it with a rubber mallet, lightly with a sledge hammer, and chiseling with a steel chisel and sledge hammer between the block and upper pan and stuck there. I'm sure all the fasteners were removed inside the pan, around the bellhousing, in the access hole to the flywheel, I'm sure it's just the silicone holding it. I'm just trying to be really careful because the silicone seems be more resilient to this beating than the aluminum

the exhaust is special, like me, and the downpipe, cat, and resonator are all one welded unit with no flanges so it's a little more difficult to handle than how it really should be. the car is on a scissor lift that doesn't go very high because I only thought I'd be working under the valve cover when I brought it in the shop so I can only slide a creeper in from the very back of the car

Since the passenger side mount is taken off, the rear and dogbone mount brackets have been placed on jackstands to hold the engine up. Right around where the dogbone mount bracket is sitting on the jackstand I found a nice place to put a pry bar to pry the oil pan against the block but the car is in a cramped bay for working on and that jackstand is kind of in the way of that spot for prying.

I know I will get it but that upper oil pan seal was fighting me so hard I gave up for today. For the sake of having good access to the seam between the pan and block tomorrow I'll probably try to find some way to hoist the engine up at the passenger side because I can't find any really better spots to support it from underneath with enough room to move around the equipment. It's beenabout 7 hours getting to know this car really good today

I thought it could work to leave the compressor and its bracket on and place a jack stand under the bracket but I had to recover refrigerant and remove the compressor to remove the alternator to remove the passenger mount bracket. I'm not sure how I ever put this car together but now I'm really wondering if the pivot bolt for the alternator was installed backwards somehow. Should that bolt slide out towards the belts or back the other way under the exhaust and towards the transmission? It seems impossible for it to come all the way out going towards the belts because the body completely blocks it and I had to remove the alternator, it's bracket, wire harness, and the passenger mount bracket all stuck together and drop that mess out of the bottom of the engine bay. I didn't check that it would clear the belts but I really would like to put that bolt in the other way so the nut can come off on the belt side and the bolt slides out under the exhaust and the alternator can be changed more easily. Does somebody know which way is the proper orientation for that bolt?


I noticed there's a threaded hole in the bottom of the upper oil pan near the rear motor mount that was not being used for anything and was all full of dirt but it appears that a bolt could be threaded in there and it would push against the engine block and could force the pan away from the block, but I didn't want to just try that and end up with a cracked block. I didn't take a picture but am curious if anyone knows what threaded hole I'm talking about and what it's used for? It seems to be the only threaded hole in the upper pan that's not used to attach the lower pan

One more thing. I noticed the silicone on the lower oil pan was black RTV but the silicone between the upper oil pan and block, and also the silicone on the timing cover is gray. I have plenty of black RTV, would that be OK to replace the gray silicone? I got the 2001 engine by accident when I ordered a B14 sr20de from a junkyard and they gave me that engine and I kept it. I don't remember but I may have put that black RTV on the lower pan myself when swapping the engine in and I used a lot of parts from a 96 se-r instead of the 2001 parts. I don't think I changed the crank pulley but it may have been from a 96 200sx se-r that had quite a few bolt on mods so maybe it's not a factory pulley anyway


Thanks for all the replies so far. I wonder if anybody on earth has a more messed up car than I do

Last time I reditted my alternator, I inserted it from the right (exhaust manifold)

Today I went ahead and took the jackstands out from underneath and hoisted the engine from above by some studs on the block. I put a pry bar in that little slot near the bell housing between the pan and block and the pan came off on the first pull with practically no effort at all. I think what happened is after the aggressive beating last night the silicone did break but the pan was completely wedged by the bellhousing and the two small studs behind the flywheel inspection cover and I had no space to access that place to break it free. I got the camshafts in and the timing chain set on the marks. Almost all the old gasket removed but a little bit around the water pump. I didn't remove the water pump but only the pulley, and I don't think I will have to remove it but no scraper tool of mine can fit in that space so tomorrow I'll sharpen a long screw driver and get that. I realized it would be best to change the front main seal since it's so hard to take the cover off so I ordered one which should be delivered tomorrow and then I can proceed to finish up.

There's an O-ring in the block that seals to the oil pump outlet and it got nicked when I was scraping the gasket from the front of the block. As much as I like to use nissan parts, would it probably be OK to just replace that with any same sized o-ring?

No.

I got it all back together today and attempted to start but it didn't start... but it does seem like it fires intermittently while turning over

I'm sure the timing marks were on and the cam timing was good, I only turned it by the crank since setting the chain back up and installing the tensioner. I didn't have a lot of time to trouble shoot it in the shop today but actually only about 30 minutes after buttoning it all back up to tinker with it. I used a compression gauge and all 4 cylinders build 150psi, I failed to remember to open the throttle for testing but I think that's a good result. I don't think the distributor can be forced in 180 degrees backwards, it wasn't a very hard fit and I lined it back to where it was before, approximately in the middle of the adjustment range as per JWT instructions. My boss is an old mechanic and he thinks the ignition timing is off by the way it sounds.

When I initially put it back together I put in new spark plugs and when it didnt start I pulled them and 2 plugs had soot on them and 2 didnt. There's no marks on the cap for the wire leads but going by a MOTOR book I put the firing order back the proper way. For some reason I unbolted the distributor cap but couldn't get a new one locally and the bottom of the seal broke. Could that cause ignition problems?

My boss thinks we should turn it over while wiggling the distributor tomorrow. Is it a very fine adjustment?

Also I am using a JWT P.O.P ecu from a parts car I also have a G20 automatic ecu I can use for testing. I don't know how the JWT is programmed

Any advice? I didn't even have the time but I guess I'll start by checking obd codes in case some wire harness popped apart while the engine was hoisted or something like that...

Not starting but sounding like it will could mean your cam timing is off a few chain links.

It's quite difficult to mess up the IGNITION timing in a cam swap assuming you replaced the distributor back in at the same, correct angle and it lined up with the key on the end of the exhaust cam shaft.

If it still doesn't start up, start over and use this as a reference:

http://www.sr20-forum.com/naturally-aspirated-all-motor/79204-noob-guide-installing-cams-sr20de.html

If you set yours as instructed here. http://www.sr20-forum.com/naturally-aspirated-all-motor/43837-how-check-camshaft-timing.html
then the car should start.

If not, the timing is messed up somehow. You can finagle the distributor around, do not give the car throttle input, it must start on its own. Forcing it is wrong and will kiss valves to pistons.

Use the Field Service Manual here Nissan Sentra Factory Service Manuals
Use a 1994 if you have a B13, it is the same as any other SR20.