Nissan Qashqai timing chain

[jimmy156]

Hi PH,

I suspect the timing chain is going on my wife's Qashqai. (sounds like a bag of nails from idle up to up 3k RPM and has been getting worse over the last 18 months or so. Please correct me if this doesn't sound like the right symptoms of timing chain on its way out)

Nissan MD wants £150+ just to look at it, and they are 40 minutes away, so I am going to get my local indy to look at it initially.

A bit of google seems to suggest that many indy's are not interested in doing a timing chain replacement and just point you towards the dealer. Is this anyone's experience? Model is a 2014 1.2 petrol.

ETA: If anyone has a recent rough number for how much this might be costing me, that would be great!

TIA! James

[Dynion Araf Uchaf]

you need a special tool for the timing chain, and most indy's don't have it.

So you will end up at either a main dealer or a Nissan specialist ( if they exist)

It is an expensive job to do, you're looking at £900-£1100. A dealer diag isn't really worth it, it'll either need doing or it won't. IIRC the mileage intervals for Nissan chains is quite high like 180k miles, but that assumes a proper service regime.

However the 1.2 petrol QQ's are known to consume oil due to incorrectly fitted piston rings, That can give you a rattling sound. What is your oil consumption like? Also how many miles has it done and is it worth spending any money on?

If you do go ahead with the work, you might as well replace the timing end crank oil seal, as these invariably go as well, and if you don't you'd need to take the timing chain off anyway to replace it at a later date.

[jimmy156]

Thanks for your reply! very useful! I have never seen a nissan specialist, certainly none round here. From what I could tell, the diagnostic charge was non-negotiable and not avoidable!

The car has done around 96,000 miles, doesn't use oil as far as I can tell (haven't checked for a little while though, its never moved on the dipstick so I don't check that often!)

Car has lots of minor damage (car park dings, scratches from being cleaned with a kitchen sponge (don't ask) ) so isn't worth much. That being said it owes us nothing, has been a reliable family car and were not really in a position to replace it, so happy to spend a bit keeping to going for a few more years!

Ill see what the indy says, they may diagnose a simpler fix than the timing chain and that saves paying the MD fee and having to wait until the end of the month!

[Dynion Araf Uchaf]

if it makes you feel any better, I have a 2015 Nissan Xtrail 1.6 dci, with 104k on the clock and got the main dealer to complete a timing chain replacement, but only because the timing end crank seal had failed ( pissing oil onto the timing chain) I think all in it was £1284, but i managed to get 10% off parts as the car was over 7 years old ( it's a Nissan dealer thing - so worth investigating).

I like your thinking though, just try and keep the car going, it's cheaper to spend a grand than it would be to px to a newer car.

[Gas1883]

Snapped the cam chain on this primera gtle , still gutted to this day , I went everywhere to find one with the chromoflair paint + stainless dash , I’d get yours done straight away if it is cam chain , I wish I had !!