[jbonevia]

Hi guys,

i'm doing a major service on my sierra (1.3) and i'm planning on doing the timing belt, the motors just clicked over 300k and there is a sticker under the bonnet shows the timing belt was last changed at 180k.

It's not leaking oil from the front of the motor (is leaking from the cam cover or distributor though!) so i think i will leave the seals alone at the moment.

Am i best off going to the local dealer and getting a geniune belt and tensioner bearing or should i go aftermarket? If aftermarket what are good/bad brands?

Also how much roughly should i be looking at for the parts - gen and aftermarket?

Cheers,
Jono.

[lump_a_charcoal]

I used after market stuff too, was quite ok quality...
I would suggest doing the water pump while you are in there too, as it is a prick to do later...

[royce]

do you think the 2 $8 seals are going to last the next 100000kms? I would replace them, you would spend more in coolant to go in and do it later

Gates do a kit with belt and tensioner, its good quality

[Zook_Fan]

i got a kit from repco for the belt, tensioner and the whole lot for about $110 put the seals in because the radiator was already out when getting a new one

[Scrawny]

x2 on the Gates stuff. I wouldn't bother with genuine.

I tend to not worry with the seals and pump on these motors as it only takes a few minutes to get apart. If it was a cross-wise V6 shoehorned into some Jap car then I would do it all at once, but that is up to you.

[royce]

I dont worry about the pump but seals are just waiting to die, Murphys law

and ScrawnC, remember your used to doing this stuff, ask Bruce how long it takes him to remove a radiator

[Scrawny]

Yeah, true. Ok, don't listen to me, do it all while it is apart. Then you can forget about it and start on the oil leaks from the dizzy

[jbonevia]

Thanks guys for all the replies, i'll chase up some aftermarket parts tomorrow.

I'm not too bad with the spanners, plenty of prior experience with nissan jap imports so i dont mind doing the seals again later if they do leak and i'm on a mega tight budget at the moment.

I just want to do the timing belt as it's well overdue and i dont want to break down somewhere and have to get a tow. At least a blown seal wont leave me stranded somewhere...

Just got the car a week ago, so far i've changed the engine oil and filter, gearbox oil, transfer case oil (had less than 100ml in there!), f & r diff oil.

Also installed an alarm/immobiliser/remote central locking and sorting out some oil temp/pressure and water temp monitoring.

Seems to be a fairly straightforward platform to work on - plenty of other little things to sort out as well but i'll get there.

Thanks again,
Jono.

[Zook_Fan]

did you put the alarm/immobiliser/remote central locking unit in?
How much did the set up cost?
Where from?

[Mike]

Zook_Fan wrote:

did you put the alarm/immobiliser/remote central locking unit in?
How much did the set up cost?
Where from?

whats the point with central locking in a soft top?

[jbonevia]

Zook_Fan wrote:

did you put the alarm/immobiliser/remote central locking unit in?
How much did the set up cost?
Where from?

Yep i installed it myself, they are not that hard to do and the security of the system is in the install, so i would rather do it and take my time.

It's just an average insurance approved immobiliser/alarm system. I already had the unit as i took it out of my last car, i think it was $200-250 to buy, has taken me a few days on and off to install it.

It's a hardtop - i installed it because i will be parking it on the street and want to deter people from smashing a window to grab the cd-player or something like that. Also i have a bad habit of locking my keys in cars - remote locking stops me doing this

I've put a central locking actuator in both doors and also the rear door, so i dont have to constantly check that every door is locked when i leave the car.

[jbonevia]

OK i rang around and ended up going with a dayco kit:

Part number: KTBA 067
Price: $82.00

Came with the belt, tensioner bearing and two oil seals.

I'll probably fit it on the weekend, although i'm waiting on a radiator hose adaptor for my water temp sensor so i might do it when that arrives.

[royce]

is it a mechanical tem gauge?
might fit in where the vacuum switch is screwed under the thermostat housing

[jbonevia]

Yeah i had a look at the thermo housing but i wasnt sure it would fit as the sensor protrudes a fair way into whatever it's going to be screwed into, i didnt want to interfere with the operation of the thermostat.

It's an electronic gauge - i'm doing oil temp and pressure as well via a sandwich plate, just put on the sandwich plate and found the oil filter won't fit back on - it fouls on the engine mount! I'll have to get a smaller filter now the Z418 swift/barina one looks good.

I'll do a separate thread with some pics to show what i'm doing

[royce]

its in the manifold and a fair bit lower so might be ok

yeah 418 will fit but isnt really recommended on a sierra, maybe a 125 as a compromise

do you have a link to teh sandwich plate? I need something similar for my mini which just happen to use the same filters