The Nissan Path

Does anyone know how to open the aluminum chain casing in 2001 Pathfinder LE ?

I have removed everything including the 23 bolts that secure the front cover to its back. I can pry open the top portion by about 1/16" but can't get the rest come off for the life of me. There are two dowel pins that lines up the front cover to the back but they shouldn't be very thigh. The liquid gasket also seem to come off easily, I doubt that's holding it so tight. Is there anything else that's holding the cover to its back? Any special tricks to remove the front casing?

I appreciate any help, especially if you have changed your timing chains.

Note: Yes, the sensors, compressor, alternator, harmonic balancer and all belt pulleys are already open.

They are tough to remove! Make sure you got the bolts that go through the front of the oil pan into the bottom of the cover. The dowels are a tight fit and will hold the cover a bit. What I usually do is take a paint scrapper and get it between the front and rear timing covers on the top, then tap it around the cover with a hammer to cut through the sealant. I'll grab the cover at the sides and work it make and forth to help work it loose on the dowel pins as well as break the seal at the front of the oil pan.

Thanks for the tip! I think "the bolts that go through the front of the oil pan into the bottom of the cover" be my the answer. I didn't open the oil pan. Will try it this weekend and post the outcome.

If it's similar to the VQ40DE, there's two bolts at the front of the oil pan that thread into the front cover.

Opened the two oil pan bolts but still couldn't get the chain cover off. Does the oil pan need to be loosened or removed before the cover comes off?

I should have mentioned in my initial post... The engine is still in the car. Does it need to be out before the process to remove the chain cover? The service manual is vague in this regard.

Thanks!

Looks like the front cover is different on the VQ40DE compared to the VQ35DE. The 4.0L is flat across the entire bottom of the timing cover, whereas the 3.5L has a dip in the middle. Most of what I found on the web seems to lean in the direction of the aluminum oil pan needs to be dropped (the small, steel pan bolted to the main oil pan does not need to be removed). I know on the cars with the VQ35DE, the oil pan needs to be removed. Found this link which had a lot of good info on the VQ35DE:

http://www.mitchell-auto.ru/UserFiles/File/555.pdf

When I replaced my head gaskets (which involved removing the timing chain) I did NOT have to remove the oil pan.

I did however have some trouble removing the cover. I think there were a couple long bolts that came from underneath that had to be removed that were not mentioned in the FSM. Even after removing these, it was pretty dang tough. Just make sure you don't pry too hard with something that could scratch up the sealing edge of the cover.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for all your comments. I still haven't been able to open the cover. Had to put things on hold for a while due to travel and heavy rain out here in the west coast.

I'm giving up removing the cover while engine is in the car. Next, I'm going to move the whole freeking engine out. It may make more sense this way because I need to remove and repair the head.

*** Root cause ***
Plug on cyl #6 kept getting loose. The plug tip finally broke off and damaged 2 valves.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of problem? A plug getting loose? I had torqued it to the spec prior to the issue but it got loose again. There are still threads in the shaft but I believe they are compromised.

I've seen it on Ford 4.6L & 5.4L engines, but not on Nissans. I would have to think the threads got damaged, as well. Since you have to pull the head, it's probably a good idea to pull the whole engine if you have the place and tools to do it.

Sucks that theres no resolve for this post. Im in the same position as the OP as we speak. the top is got a good amount of play but as you get to the lower 1/3 of the cover i just cannot get it loose/free for the life of me. I went through the FSM very bit that I could and I'm not seeing any reason this thing shouldn't come off... its just not. Any help would be very appreciated.

Well I figured it out. For anyone that may come across this and need the help.

There are two bolts from underneath that are NOT shown in the FSM. (PS Nissan FSMs suck complete ass for a lack of detail)

I googled around and for most VQ35DE's these bolts are apparently only accessible once you drop the lower oil pan. Thats not necessary in the pathfinder... you can get to these two from underneath.

I removed the two bolts already so you'll only see the holes here:


And here are the two holes as shown from the timing chain cover...