1990 Stanza Rough Idle, No Power

[BruCru]

This is my sister-in-law's car, trying to help her out.

1990 Stanza KA24E engine, auto trans, 112,000 miles.

The car started running rough so she asked me to help. I installed new plugs, cap, rotor, and wires. While installing the cap I noticed the rubber gasket on under the distributor cap was poorly installed by previous mechanic and was torn. I repaired it with some RTV.

The car ran excellent for two days. Then back to running rough with very little power. I removed the distributor cap and the found that the RTV had come loose and was spread out within the cap. Cleaned this out and installed the cap without the seal (seal is on order from Nissan). Also cleaned off the trigger wheel just in case. There was some oil in the area near the trigger wheel so cleaned that out too. Car still runs rough with no power. Also the engine is very loud and there is a pronounced ticking noise coming from the valve train. The ticking noise was there before the car started to run bad, went away for the two days it ran good, and is now back.

1). Can this missing seal cause problems like this? Wonder if the crankcase is supposed to be relatively well sealed.

2). From experience, it feels like the valve timing is off. I will have to purchase a manual to learn how to check timing. Do these chain-equipped engines have a history of jumping teeth?

Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.
mike

[beavis327]

Hey Bru
Stanza were known for internal oil leaks inside of distributor. It just depended on how bad the oil leak was that would cause a running rough condition. So pay attention to the amount of oil as well as it getting inside the crank angle sensor. As far as your noise (here come the ouch) The engine is known for it's plastic guide braking apart and causing the chain to jump as well as dig into the front cover causing coolant to enter the engine and cause more problem. Nissan now has a updated steel backing chain guides but a bit costly repair. To check for chain guides breakage just remove valve cover and look inside front of motor and look at the chain opposite of the tensioner and see if the plastic guide is broke. Should extend a hair past the head gasket. If you can see the hold down bolt then the plastic has broken and the timing chain needs to be changed. Also check the the rockers on the cam because the built in lifters are known to bleed down and cause a light ticking noise.
Hope this helps on your diagnosis.

[BruCru]

Beavis,
To me, the engine does sound and run like it has jumped time. So I think your diagnosis is good. I'll pull the valve cover next weekend and take a look. Interesting thing - I installed the new seal under the distributer cap and the ticking stopped. So I'm thinking that may have been the hydraulic lifter. But it does appear I'll be pulling the front of this motor apart to work on the timing chain/tensioner.

Is this as big a PITA as it looks?

Thanks for your help,
mike

[beavis327]

If your doing it at home Yes!! Lower pan needs to come off and front cover comes off and you need to lower motor a bit to squeeze cover past inner frame rail and be careful when installing not to cut or pinch head gasket.

First set your crank pulley to tbc (orange line on pulley) and cam dowel pin should be at exactly 12 o'clock then you can tell if it jumped timing. 1 tooth clockwise or counter and its off.

good luck