Your Go To Fix For Nissan KA24E & KA24DE Engine Startup Rattle
Call Us: 509-868-2499
CUSTOMER REVIEWS
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Jack, 2019
I am amazed at the results the self adjusting ratchet tensioner has had on my KA24E nissan. More power better MPG and runs like a top now. This is my work vehicle, makes me want to use it for drifting but only in the snow for me. Thanks James
Mike, from CANADA 2019
Dear Mr Martin . Wanted to say your kit fix is absolutely marvelous . Your videos and written instructions with the kit are excellent . I installed the adjustable cylinder this afternoon successfully eliminating the chain rattle . I have a low mileage 1997 Nissan pu . The chain noise was getting steadily louder over last 2 years . I had originally thought the rattle was con rod bearing going bad . The sound is similar . Then on doing research came across your YouTube site . Thanks very much for everything . Yours sincerely Mike .
Sam, 2019
Installed a new chain, start up rattle came back after three weeks of driving. I purchased and installed through valve cover a self adjusting tensioner. Very impressed, engine has more git up and go now and best of all no rattle at start up.
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James 2019
Installed Self Adjusting Ratchet Tensioner in my KA24E, there was an increase in power after the installation. It was very much worth the wait and price, and the peace of mind that comes with knowing that the destruction has stopped. Thank you for developing the part.
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Mike 2019
Hi James.
So my guide on the exhaust side was broken. I tore everything apart and installed the self adjusting ratchet tensioner I purchased from you. Everything went perfect, my truck has absolutely zero rattle on startup. I’ve put about 300 miles on it since the installation and my engine still sounds solid. Thank you very much for making these, I will make sure anyone with the same problem gets one of these from you
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Todd 2018
My Hardbody timing chain acted up twice in short succession and I realized from research that another new chain was not the answer. That's when I ran across Jim online. I knew right away he had the answer and with his patient help, my truck runs like new for a tiny fraction of the cost of another timing chain. American CAN DO !!!
I recently purchased and installed the self adjusting ratchet tensioner shown in the video, and wow, what a difference in my truck's acceleration in 1st and 2nd gears, as well as no start-up chain slap. My 1995 Nissan truck has over 300,000 miles, and when I removed the valve cover and looked down on the chain I noticed my driver's side chain guide was gone. When I removed the oil pan I found all the pieces. drilling the access hole to remove the tensioner was not as difficult as I thought it would be, and saved many hours of parts removal. I too used a rubber expansion plug to close off the hole once I installed the tensioner. Jim was extremely helpful, sending me torque specifications and photos from the Nissan dealer repair manual, and of course, fabricating the tensioner part. Many thanks to Jim, and if you have a Nissan with timing issues, broken guides, chain slap, etc. this is the best fix I have found for those issues.
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Charlie 2018
I installed the self adjusting ratchet tensioner in my KA24E through the valve cover. Engine has more power now and I picked up 2 to 2-1/2 miles per gallon for Fuel economy. Good fix.
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Excellent product and highly recommended upgrade to eliminate chain rattle and the risk of damage to the timing components. I installed Jim's adjustable spacer on my 1996 pickup - works like a charm! I completed the installation during some other repairs I was making and so I was able to install it after removing the front cover. Upon removal of the cover, I found the plastic U-channel (exhaust side guide) to be in-place on the metal guide rail, and it appeared to be intact. However, the u-channel simply fell off the metal guide when I loosened the tension on the chain. Apparently the rattle had been sufficient to break the tabs that secured the plastic channel to the rail. I later recovered the tabs from the oil sump. Had I not completed this repair, I suspect the rattle would have eventually disintegrated the u-channel, possibly allowing the chain to foul on the metal rail of the exhaust side guide. Because I made the install at the same time as replacing the chain guides, I had the advantage of working on the tensioner unimpeded by timing gears and chain, therefore I cannot speak to an experience with swapping-out the piston with timing gears/chain in-place. However, from my experience with this product, I can say with some confidence that doing the swap from the top should be easy enough if one follows Jim's directions. I will offer my experience with the "apparently undamaged" chain guide as a note of caution to make careful inspect of the condition of existing timing components on your application when you do the swap from the top. Well Done to you on this product, Mr. Jim! Highly recommended!!
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Ordered the spacer kit from Mr.Jim it came in 2 days which was way sooner than I thought. The plastic guide on the drivers side was missing and I found only one piece I could grad the rest was in the oil pan(drained oil and removed oil pan to remove pieces after job was done) Bought a new guide for 15 dollars at the auto parts store and remove the plastic guide from the metal and placed the new plastic guide on the existing one. Jim has a video on how to do this is snaps right in. Following the directions for the spacer install make this an easy job for almost anyone just take your time and watch the video and refer back as needed. My 97 Nissan Hardbody has 216,000 miles and rattled at start up and while driving. After the install there is absolutely no rattle or any noise at start up or while driving and the truck runs much better and has more power than before. Highly recommended to anyone with this problem great product and saves so much time. To be able to do this from the valve cover and not removing the timing cover is a miracle itself. Thanks again Mr.Jim
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I just got this kit from James today and installed also. The plastic was missing from the driver side guide. got a new one from Advance auto parts and took the plastic off the new one and was able to install it on the old metal guide inside of the engine. this kit works great. thank you James for your help
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Awesome Video. Ordered the piston cap from James and followed the instructions on the video. Worked perfectly. Also followed the other video of how to install the chain guide with little work and it was spot on. Greatly appreciated .
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I just installed one of his kits but with the other type of spacers which seem bronze material, 2 days ago, Jim shipped it super fast and everything went in smooth, plus also replaced a missing guide using Jim's tutorials all from the valve cover opening, it went a lot easier than the first time when i did my last D21, will buy again and thanks to Jim for an excellent product, highly recommended! A+++++
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truck 1993 D21 4x4 165k newer timing chain ..Just purchased this adjustable spacer version that Jim sells. Chain was very loose may have even jumped a tooth. My motor also had a bad head gasket. So pulled the head had it surfaced new guides installed and vacuum tested etc. I also pulled the timing cover and looked at replacing the chain and tensioner. However I read on a Nissan site of a person that did that and within 10K miles had same issue again. I saw Jim's video on testing chain stretch, My truck has 165K but has had the chain replaced as well as the newer 1996 and up guides installed. Which I determined from Jim's great videos. So not sure how many miles on my chain but it tested good. So I reassembled the engine and just added Jim's spacer. I left out just one small shim out of the kit so it is almost at full space capability. My chain is tight and is always tight as the motor revolves. NICE! I of course had the oil pump out and distributor but reinstalled those as the manual shows and the engine fired right up on first try. No chain slap at all... engine is smooth. Best $48 bucks spent on the truck ever! Highly recommend this enhancement
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Mine started making a horrible clacking noise not only during start up but, while driving. I pulled the valve cover and found the chain very loose. I went with this adjustable shim option. Got all new belts and valve cover gasket. I did purchase a good inch pound torque wrench to ensure all vc bolts were equally tightened. M2R200H precision instruments. I already had a good 1/2 drive 40-250 ft lb, C3FR250F. Some auto parts stores rent them if you don't want to buy. First try I went too thick on the shims. The sprocket was difficult going back on, then the chain was obviously too tight. Took it back out & back in one thinner. Back in, now the chain has a little slack, maybe 1/4-3/8" back and forth movement. For mine, the most difficult part was getting the 4 bolt bracket in front of the sprocket realigned to get the bolts started. I knew it would be because the pump jumped as soon as I loosened the bracket bolts. Reassembled with the new vc gasket & gasket glue on the half moons, new belts in, let the glue dry overnight. Next day fired up, checked for leaks, rechecked belt tension & any bolts I might have missed, all good but the engine is now singing. I'm guessing because the chain is now touching a portion of the sprocket teeth it was missing before while the chain was so loose. About an hour at 70-90 mph, the singing stopped, actually stopped before the hour was up. Any opinions on the singing? Singing noise was from installing Cogged style Fan belt, Standard V Belts are quieter.
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Contacted James about this issue on my truck and ordered one of his kits. The problem was completely remedied with this method and James was extremely helpful. The install was a bit tedious, but all went well and the noise is now gone. Thank you very much James, you were a great
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installed my spacer today was not difficult but can be a challenge to re install the tensioner piston not much room to work in there. thus far no rattle so i am happy will update my report in a few months or so thanks for the product
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Mr1Jim is a genius with this idea!! Just got mine done.. works exactly like he says it will! Funny thing was, in reality.. it's almost "easier" to do than it looks in the video! If you have some mechanical skills at all.. this is not really that hard or scary to do, just watch the video, and do it. Once you open it up, and get in there and see it in person yourself.. it all becomes obvious. In my case.. My Driver side guide plastic slide was gone. But the Metal part of the guide was still in good shape. So, as per You Tuber "99600F4" in his video doing this.. you can replace the plastic guide part. IN PLACE... I did, and it's working fine. It sure is great, to now have an all but "silent" start up!! Seems to run Quieter all across the RPM range to me anyway. Maybe between the chain being tighter, and the plastic guide being back in place.. it does so. Anyway.. it's GREAT! I'd do it again in a heartbeat .
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Watch the videos, as many times as necessary. This piston replacement works. I also replaced the fixed side chain guide cover, through the valve cover. It can be done. My 1996 pickup is running great and without chain rattle. Thank you Jim!
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Just did mine today on my 93 nissan hardbody 4cylinder 2wd automatic. Went great and runs smooth now. I too had my chain guide destroyed laying in the pan. I dropped my pan cleaned it all out and replaced the guide through valve cover real easy. I highly recommend Jim's kits because they work great. Saved me over $500 to have the whole thing done. Best of all a roomy like me was able to do it easy enough . Thanks Jim for making our lives much easier . Check out my videos if they help at all. Remember I'm an underwater mechanic not much of a car mechanic yet...lol
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I bought that spacer from mr jim, and it solved the rattle noise that had been there for almost 10 years.. Now that i start my nissan pick up it starts smooth. Its very easy to replace the spacer.
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This worked perfectly! No more rattle and while I was in there I was able to replace the chain guard on the right which had fallen off. Luckily I could still grab the old one and didn't have to remove the oil pan. I think the only thing different than the video I did was pull out the spring and put it into the piston before putting the new piston in. It was easier to feed the spring in already in the piston than getting the piston over the spring already sitting in the hole. Thanks to Mr1jim and others for posting their work on this issue.
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I purchased the adjustable piston kit from Jim for my 1995 Nissan pickup with 148,000 miles. The rattle noise was pretty substantial as well as the driver's side timing chain guide was completely missing. His videos cover every detail of the process and Jim was even able to answer some questions I had over the phone. I was able to install a new chain guide through the top without removing the front cover. I also dropped the oil pan and removed all the bits of the old chain guide which were sitting at the bottom. It's been over a month now and I've been driving the truck to work and back daily, the rattle is completely gone and the KA24E runs smooth as ever. This kit is the real deal, great product, great videos, and great support from Jim! Thanks!
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A huge thanks to you, I got my kit Friday(shipping only took a couple days) and began installation Sunday morning. Kit is nicely put together with nicely made wedges and very clear instructions. Found that my guide plastic was gone so made a trip to the parts store and got one, $13.49. Not too tricky to put in once you see it in your hand. Slide it down until it engages with the top, push in at the bottom and back at the same time and it snaps right in. Proceeded to install the adjustable spacer. No real problems. Just make sure you have something to grab the piston before you start. I modified a pair of forceps which worked good, and used a pair of dividers to measure the gap. I also put a dab of grease on the end of the piston to help keep the spacer from coming off. Not a peep out of the chain now. I probably will in the near future install a new timing chain set, but this will keep me on the road for a while and hopefully not have to worry about the chain jumping.
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I've been a Nissan/Datsun mechanic for 28 years, and I can tell you this is the single most beneficial and simple products out there to stop such a common problem. Jim is an asset and offers all of the support you could need in getting this done, from the videos here, to instructions that come with the kit. Reasonably priced, straightforward and easy to install. I highly recommend contacting Jim to get your kit today.
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Jim sold me an adjustable piston for my 93 nissan d21 with 156000 miles. I watched the videos on how to install them and it took me about 2 hours, I was taking my time watching and installing in steps. The videos were great and Jim was very helpful with a couple questions I had. I installed the piston on July 2nd and its working great. Nissan's KA24E is a tough engine , I think mine will keep running great for many more miles to come. Thanks to Jim and his great invention, the engine is still easy to work on. Thanks Jim
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Thanks a lot Mr1jim. I ordered a tensioner spacer from him and it fixed my horrible timing chain rattle. If you have this issue, I recommend you buy and install one of these spacers. Install was easy, and jim provides all the instructions if you need help.
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Jim is a legend when it comes to chain rattle. We live close to each other so he came by and helped me with the install. Very professional and i would recccomend this to any nissan owner experiencing start up chain rattle.
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Had my mechanic put this on my 92 stanza 4 months ago and the rattle is still gone, Thank you Mr Jim.
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I purchased one of these upgrades and installed it in about three to four hours,ive hunted all around for ways to get the ka to not rattle,first was to replace the timing chain it self after finding a guide broken,after a couple months it comes back and guide missing again,for a few hours and few dollars this is the best upgrade out there by far hands down .Contact jim at jamesmart55@hotmail.com for your upgrade before you bend some valves like I did before learning about Jims product.
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I recently bought a 97 Nissan truck (83,000 miles on it) which had the start-up rattle. I had one of Jim's spacers installed on the truck last month (Dec. 2014) and the rattle is now gone. The mechanic who installed it for me watched this video. Jim also provided very helpful written instructions. The mechanic found a bunch of tiny pieces of plastic in my oil pan from the plastic part of the chain guide. If you just replace your timing kit without the spacer, this is likely to happen again along with the rattle as mentioned in the comment by keeler23. Thanks Jim!
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I thought I didn't need the spacer when I installed a new kit on my engine that is sitting on an engine stand. I put it all together, then I just rotated the engine a few revolutions and rechecked the space down there between the tensioner and the guide. I determined I would put the spacer in there so I don't have to do this again. So I trimmed the spacer to 3/16 of an inch and jb welded it to the tensioner piston and called it good! No binding and now the chain is nice and tight all the time! Should loosen up a bit when started and have just the right amount of movement for the piston to operate like normal. Did it all with only the valve cover off after installing the kit!! You're directions were very helpful and informative, thank you very much Jim!! If you have a ka24e that needs a timing chain or the kit replaced, definitely contact Jim and get the spacer. He will solve the issue for good!
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I installed the bushing from Jim a while ago, and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND it!!! It solved the chain slap/rattle instantly and has not returned at all! I replaced my timing chain a couple years ago initially and then the slap returned several months later. During the replacement I had to pull the entire front engine off to get to the chain and guides. Only the fixed guide plastic was actually broken. Jim's bushing kit was installed by pulling the valve cover only, and there's enough room to install the bushing easily. I used long needle nose pliers and it to reach down to get the piston out. Also, the fixed guide plastic broke again due to the slapping, so what I did was take the plastic guide off a new one and slide it on from the top and onto the fixed guide rail. Otherwise I would have to pull the entire front engine off again. If your KA24E chain is rattling you really need to get the bushing from Jim. He referred me to others that had installed it and they all worked perfectly, and Jim even has one on his truck. I personally don't know Jim but found a post of his on an online forum and am very glad I did, saved my truck and a huge on-going headache with the chain rattle!!!! Oh, and if you were told by others that this rattle is "normal" in KA24E's, be aware, they are WRONG!... leaving it will jump timing and kill your valves, and eventually the chain will eat through your timing chain cover and lose oil. So you really need to fix the problem. This is by far the easiest and best way (yes best, I replaced the chain and guides last time and it still failed due to poor design)!!
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