Big Timing/Waterpump Change Questions! HELP!

[DBSS_Gohan]

Ok... Today some friends came over and started helping me to take off my water pump. I had already dropped my AC, and gotten several things off, and together, we got off the fan belts, The crank pullys, top timing cover, all off. Im down to the harmonic resonator now and I need a pully to do that (Someone please God tell me its not gonna cost 300 dollars..)
So Im planning to go do this rent a tool thing from advanced auto parts tomarow... but...

Ok, so my friend who helped currently works for a Nissan Dealership, and has been working as a mechanic for the past... 4 years or so, and hes a nissan fanatic. He doesent think I should change my timing belt because its too hard... and the one I have on there, you can still see the writing on it, and it looks just fine.

(Speaking of which, how much does a timing belt tensioner cost??)

However... Iv got one camshaft seal leaking (The passanger side) And that seems to be my only leak on there... but I really wanted to change those out concidering I have all this stuff off anyway. But If my timing belt is good... They say I just shouldent worry about the oil leak.... What should I do?

Also, My valve covers are leaking, and I really wanna change those out, but do I really have to pull off my intake collector to do it? Oi.... By the way, I always strip screws, how am I gonna deal with that?

My next big problem? I dont wanna put my stock fan back on, but I really cant afford to have my car out for more than a couple of days, And it cost like 100 bucks to get one from autozone, but 25-35 for one on ebay, However, Iv got my stock fan, and a peice of metal, and my friend has an electric motor that can be used very well for running a fan... So I could make one... Then again... Iv never handled any wiring issues... but I can learn. So what do I do? Put the stock fan back on when Im done, or try to make and mount one? Or do you guys know where I could get a cheap one?

Oh, and my last and final question, A friend thinks I may only be running on 5 cylinders... Of course hes saying this because he had trouble starting it.... I sometimes have to crank it at the most, like 2ce to start it. But I dont try to pump the gas while Im trying to start it... So is it just bs or somthing I should be worried about? And btw, he said there might still be an open recall on my fuel injectors at Nissan and I can go in to get all my stuff replaced, I should try to take advantage of that as soon as possible right? And do you think I could just buy the valve cover gaskets and have them do that while there in there to do the fuel injectors? Would that be a good idea?

Thank you for all your help... I really need to get this done by tomarow night... So I can use all the help I can get. ty

[DeleriousZ]

you might want to try doing a compression test to figure out how many cylinders you're running on... and yes, there's still that recall open (something about them catching on fire and doing really nasty things?) but that's only if they haven't been replaced once already.


if you haven't already.. order a catalogue from victoriabritish.com... they've got all the oem parts in there that you could ever imagine, not to mention at awesome prices... that's about all i can help ya with at the moment.. but i'll be in your situation soon enough (timing belt/water pump replacement)

[freakonaleash1187]

first of all, the friends saying that the small oil leak is nothing to worry about, DON'T LISTEN TO THEM, something small could turn into something big, so fix everything as soon as possible.

and since you are already at your timing belt, i would replace it. and i personally wouldn't buy anything off of ebay, unless it is like a name brand part that somebody is selling. items that people just sell on ebay are usually not very good, you get what you pay for.

good luck with all this.

-Jared

[Hodo]

Well the good news is I was thinking of another tool from snap-on. The actual price is 113.00 so that thats alot cheaper than I would have thought. But as for the oil leak, I agree with Freak, fix it before it gets worse. If your freind is a mechanic he should know better...... But if he calls himself a mechanic then that may explain it. Most good guys in a dealership call themselves techs. Because you have to know more about the electrical system of these cars than the mechanical system. The mechanical stuff is easy, gravy money. The electrical stuff is work. But it seperates the mechanics/parts swappers, from the technicians.

As for striping screws, I would get a tap and die set, I have that habbit to, but I have a tap and die set and it is GREAT!!! got mine through Snap-on(Not by choice, they got me good on the price.) But they arent that bad of a price, and you can find cheaper through Craftsman, but they are just as good as the snap-on ones. Some cheap lazy people will helicoil the stripped out holes, I dont suggest that becuase helicoils have a tendancy to back out the hole after a while, also they will come out the next time you try and take that part off. If you change your water pump make sure to get a bottle of sealant/RTV and dont get it on any of the impeller blades on the pump, otherwise you'll be doing it again.

[DBSS_Gohan]

Well, I got a gear pulley after getting a harmonic resonator pully with screws that didnt fit, gear pully worked fine. Tomarow morning, Im going to get my camshaft seals, Some RTV, and my fan belts, and Ill be all set to finish the job. Im hoping I wont have any problems, but Does anyone know where I can find a cheap E-Fan, quick?

I went to 3 seperate junk yards today, and they were all horrible, they had E-fans, but they wouldent sell any too me. I now hate junk yards. You know the plastic buttons on the drivers side for the window? A guy had 7 Z31s, and he wanted 50 bucks for those 2 buttons, 70 if I wanted the whole switch. Geeze what a rip.

Anyway, E-fan, need somthing cheap, easy, and really really soon! I wanna finish this tomarow!