20 Nissan KA24E Self Adjusting Tensioner, Camshaft Backlash, Start Up Rattle

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Shows Nissan KA24E camshaft backlash related to start up rattle

[@pd5224]

Hi Jim, I just installed the ratcheting self adjusting tensioner in my 97 nissan. Thanks for engineering this fix! Big thanks for being available to ask questions. If you have the tc rattle, hit Jim up for the fix. Took about 2 hours going slow to do and very easy

[@jamesmartin5370]

Thanks for the comment, glad everything went smooth for the install

[@corsairmotorwerks547]

Mr Jim you are an absolute genius! I feel like an engineer after watching your videos.

[@jamesmartin5370]

Thanks Jordan

[@3RAN7ON]

I LOVE my self-adjusting tensioner you sold me! Best $150 I ever spent

[@jamesmartin5370]

Thanks, Everyone seems to like them, I have been running one in my 97 for close to 10 years now, a huge amount of performance benefits.

[@justinmercer9084]

Fantastic, betweeen the 3 videos 15, 16, 17 i was able to do this job. Starts and sounds better now, and runs way better. Couldnt have done it without these videos, and Mr1jims fantastic responsive emails with so much detail, it was like he was in the room helping! Definitley reccomend doing this if you have any start up/driving rattle. My 1992 hardbody pickup does not have AC /AC condensor so i just took the rad, fan and the grill out and had tons of space to use my full size drill, and be 100% confident on the hole location by seeing it straight on from the front. Take your time, watch these videos multiple times and refer back while doing the job and its very simple. I also highly recomend the rachet tensioner that Mr1jim Sells and shows. Its defintley the best option and absolutley worth the extra little bit of work. I was surprised, once I started and pulled a couple things out of my way, at how simple the whole thing was, provided you are very cautious not to let the chain slack. Have a few sizes of bunjee cords at the ready before removing the cam bolt. You're the MAN Jim!

[@jamesmartin5370]

Thanks Justin, Glad I was able to help out. Have you had a chance to check gas mileage?

[@hehunches]

you can say that again. same here, done this hack to four KAs so far. About to do another tomorrow!

[@jamesdudeyo]

Wow. No more movement around after that self adjusting chain tensioner. Really excited to drill some holes and get her installed. Jim you are the man ✌🏻

[@jamesmartin5370]

Installing a new tensioner using this method will take about 2 hours if all goes well. Installing a new tensioner the traditional way, will take about 11 hours if all goes well. Either way works, main focus is to fix the chain rattle before it eats a hole in the front timing chain cover. There are a lot of these engines out there that have had bearings damaged from the chain cutting a hole in front chain cover and leaking coolant into the oil. Thanks

[@badger_actual8249]

@@jamesmartin5370 thanks for the heads up about to do my timing chain and surrounding elements! I see this can shaft sprocket it doesn't have a key way just a hole what do I drill?

[@jamesmartin5370]

@@badger_actual8249 The cam shaft sprocket will fit up same as stock sprocket.

[@BoostedPastime]

Thank you for making this

[@jamesmartin5370]

No problem, It has helped out a lot of folks with these engines. They sure make these engines perform at their best.

[@bfrankz3332]

Love your spacer i got on my ka! No more rattles!

[@Mr1jim]

Thanks Bryan, It will stop the damage in your engine from the excess chain slack.

[@FelipeZELDAguy]

What is the procedure for realigning a crank and cam to tdc that are a few teeth off from eachother due to the chain slack? Set crank to 12 oclock and the nudge the cam backwards a bit to compensate when the chain is off?

[@jamesmartin5370]

Yes, With crank shaft at TDC Compression stroke, inspect the valves and cam shaft lobes for No#1 cylinder. Make sure all valves are closed on No#1 cylinder. More accurate to put a small indictor rod into No#1 spark plug hole, let it contact the top of piston to indicate when piston is at TDC instead of using indicator mark on pulley. Best positive procedure would be to have access to the crank gear timing mark and line up the timing marks on the chain or count the chain links between the timing marks.' There are 21 chain links from crank gear punch mark to cam gear punch mark.

[@timothyclark1755]

You are a beast, I need you to build my 97 Nissan ka24

[@jamesmartin5370]

Thanks Tim, These are good solid engines, people are reporting a performance increase once the chain slack issue it corrected.

[@animoshho]

Have you tried using a Nissan OEM oil filter? They are supposed to keep oil pressure inside the filter and keep the old tensioner stiff

[@jamesmartin5370]

Yes, have tried the Nissan brand large sized oil filter made for these D21s, these filters didn't stop the start up rattle in our tests, so moved forward with another fix. To my knowledge, they don't actually keep oil pressure inside the filter itself once engine is shut down. They have what is called an anti-drain back valve in them that prevents oil from draining out of them once engine comes to rest. We found that in most cases, problem at tensioner is still there. If engine comes to rest that positions some of the camshaft lobes so that the valve springs are putting stress on camshaft in a forward direction. This puts a constant stress on the slack side guide of the timing chain. This constant stress on the slack side guide will slowly push the piston in its bore of the timing chain tensioner after several hours of sitting. As the piston gets pushed in the oil behind the piston gets pushed out. When engine is started it takes the oil pump several seconds to produce oil pressure. In the several seconds of start up the chain tensioner piston doesn't have anything but air behind it. Once oil pump pressurizes the system oil is pumped to tensioner. Chain snugs up and rattle is gone until the engine is shut down and sits for several hours, then the cycle happens again. We have had excellent results using a pre oiler system to pressurize the engine oil system before engine is started. At the moment this is the absolute best system to use to prevent start up rattle and also to prevent premature cold start up wear on all engine parts. The cost of one of these systems only makes them feasible to use on large industrial equipment and high dollar race car engines. For the KA24E daily driver, a pre oiler system is to costly for most owners.

[@briemosborne7017]

Will this lost motion affect mpg, or performance?

[@jamesmartin5370]

Yes, mpg and performance. Many KA24E owners complain of low power from these engines from idle up to about 2500 rpms, then slightly past 2500 rpms the engine kicks in with a power band. Source of low power up to about 2500rpms is from camshaft backlash, it allows valve timing to float around at lower rpms so the valve timing is not in sync with the crankshaft timing. Stock tensioners don't seem to be able to hold the chain snug at lower rpms.

[@briemosborne7017]

@@jamesmartin5370 I had a rattle issue in 2019 which you helped with as I bought a manual tensioner from you, now I overhauled the engine, and want to use your ratcheting tensioner, and use an oem chain, and maybe your adjustable cam sprocket as well. I am doing 20 mpg on average, and yes I have an idle to 2500 rpm power struggle. Thanks for all you do; as you have helped thousands improve their beloved KA 24s

[@jamesmartin5370]

@@briemosborne7017 Thanks Briem, So far about 8 years of supplying these and all positive reviews.

[@mexicobamban859]

Hi mr1jim i think my oil pump fail and my truck shut off 3 times i started drive it a little but then shut off. I live in Alexandria va do you know anybody that can help i ask a guy for timing chain job he is asking 450.. anyway you can help me? Thx.

[@Mr1jim]

If your oil pump fails your engine bearings will be damaged to the point that the engine will be be knocking. If your engine is shutting off, I don't think it is related to your oil pump failing, must be something else causing it to stop on you. Does the truck loose power just before it shuts off? What other odd things is the truck doing?? $450 for a complete timing job sounds reasonable.

[@nusmwan1]

thats because its and old timing chain

[@jamesmartin5370]

Thank you, Yes, its a used chain. I acquired this engine from original owner. Engine has about 120,000 miles on it. Chain was replaced at 110,000 miles due to start up rattle. The rattle came back after a couple months so owner replaced it with a KA24DE. Chain in video has about 10,000 miles on it.

[@coriecockerham19]

Goodmorning sir I would like more information on how I can get the upgraded tensioner. I have a 97 hardbody that is my daily driver. I am getting ready to do a timing service on it becuase for the last 3000 miles or so its had start up rattle that's getting noticeably worse.

[@Mr1jim]

Corie, The part can be found at www.martin-industries.net/ There are people who are installing new chain kits in these KA24Es and they still have start uprattle?? So, only sure way to determine if start up rattle is from sprocket wear or worn out chain is to inspect sprocket teeth and measure the chain for elongation and move forward from there. Best Regards, Jim

[@coriecockerham19]

@@Mr1jim thank you sir. My truck has 200, 000 miles on it which people have told me is nothing on these little pickups. I'm going to just replace all timing components and add your spacer to it. Hopefully get another 200 out of it. I really appreciate your quik response and help. This will be the first nissan I've worked on but with your very helpful videos I think it will be just fine. Thanks again

[@Mr1jim]

@@coriecockerham19 Sounds good, If you check out the Major Roller Chain Manufactures Recommendations for Roller Chains/Timing Chains. They claim it takes about 20 hours of run time for a Roller/Timing Chain to break in. During this break in time the chain will gain slack rapidly and then slow down to a gradual gain of slack. For this reason I recommend if installing a Tensioner Spacers or using the Adjustable Piston with a new chain, to hold off installing them until the chain and sprockets are broke in. Sometimes you have no choice, People who have had engine block milled and head milled are finding start up rattle more common, sometimes immediately or shortly after the milling process because with the milling of the metal, this lowers the head slightly, sometimes causing enough excess chain slack to cause chain noise before the 20 hour break in period.

[@thisislargemouth5566]

@@Mr1jim single cams rattle on brand new timing kits all the time. I think self adjusting ratchet tensioner is the only real fix.

[@jamesmartin5370]

@@thisislargemouth5566 Thank you. Totally agree the best overall fix. A lot of complaints coming my way of chain rattle after brand new kits installed.

[@alexandrejeanclaude8158]

Pump oil Nissan z24

[@jamesmartin5370]

The Nissan Z24 has a different timing chain set up. Those are good engines, I miss the power my Z24 engine had. I noticed a power drop when I sold my Z24 engine and replaced it with the newer KA24E engine. The Z24 has a manually adjustable slack side chain guide, can be used to adjust some of the excess chain slack out of the chain, it also has a stock adjustable cam sprocket. I am getting feedback that installing a self adjusting ratchet tensioner on the KA24E is giving much added torque similar to the Z24 engine torque.

[@joemoment-o1275]

Timing chain killed my motor.

[@Mr1jim]

Did the chain break in half or did it skip a couple of teeth on the sprocket???

[@FelipeZELDAguy]

@@Mr1jim mine skipped a couple teeth on the sprocket so now it takes a million revolutions to get the crank and cam to line up at tdc🙄 how do i fix this?