Take a look at this other thread, if you haven’t already. That’s the worse case scenario of a broken timing belt.
That’s some good information George. sigh I just don’t know th extent of the damage if any at all that the timing belt may have caused… Well I’ll know by tomorrow about the college. If not then I guess maybe I’ll tackle it by myself.
Well I certainly hope that isn’t the case and there was no internal danger done… But I guess I won’t know until either the college calls me back which should be tomorrow or when I decide to tackle it myself.
I’m really not wanting to be a downer, but doing the timing belt is a big job, especially with the strong chance of damage. Do you have a good tool set? A friend who knows cars that coul help?
Texases, Don’t worry bro you aren’t. I’ve been searching online and I’m fully aware it’s not an easy fix. I appreciate you being honest with me. My neighbor has a lot of the tools required… I have a few myself. I figure I can’t really hurt the car any more then what age has done to it… I’m willing to take the risks
If you just want something to do, give it a try. These cars were expensive to fix, I recall, and internal engine work is always expensive.
Personally, I would just haul it to the recycler.
Find a running 85 somewhere,dont get sentimental on an object(easier said then done-I made a point a long time ago,not to get hung up on old rides{my memories are intact})
Am I the only one that noticed that there are quite a few components that are missing and/or disconnected . . . ?!
That, coupled with the fact that the timing belt let go on an interference engine, means it’s not worth it
No offense to George and OP, but I don’t think the pasadena city college idea is going to pan out. I would think the instructors would like students to learn working on fairly recent cars, not 30 year old cars. This 1985 Maxima has little of the technology that is being discussed in the classroom and textbooks . . . and therefore is not the best learning tool
If I was the automotive instructor, I would like to teach the students how to replace a timing belt on a 10 year old freewheeler Toyota, versus a 30 year old interference Nissan . . . one which already lost the belt, so to speak, and might not even be capable of starting after replacement
Or show them how to retrieve fault codes, look at pids, and perform some initial diagnosis, using a scan tool on a fairly recent car
That is not possible on OP’s car
Same concerns, but if wrenching on it gives the OP some free lessons on car repair before it’s towed away, no harm done.
Get a manual, like this one:
The parts are in the back seat. So they aren’t missing. My neighbor had a look at the car a few years ago. I only wished he had put them back when he was done though.
So I guess the timing belt never broke while we drove the car… A few years ago when my neighbor had looked at it he ended up taking it off and told us that whoever reinstalled it didn’t set it right or something like that And that’s why the engine wouldn’t start… My dad just told me all this. So it sounds like maybe there wasn’t any major damage done to the valves ?
Anywho I still plan to tinker on it just to give myself some know how down the road.
Not sure that changes anything but thought I’d post it.
Go for it,you have already made up your mind.
It helps, you can assume no internal damage. The first thing I would do after taking out the battery is try and turn over the engine with a wrench to make sure it isn’t locked up.
And get a repair manual. Putting in a timing belt is complicated stuff.
Will do bro. 
You’re going to do a lot of work- only to find out the engine is toast.
You have to be real careful replacing a timing belt on an engine that broke theirs because you need to turn the crank and heads to align things. This can cause valves and pistons to collide.
IMHO…junk it.
Didn’t they make a movie about this called “The Money Pit”?
@bloody_knuckels The movie was about an old charming house that Tom Hanks and his “wife”, I believe bought and the couple encountered no end of problems.
The movie is hilarious, but I know several couples (including my boss) who bought these money pits and lived to regret it.
That’s why you need a qualified home inspector as well as a mechanic prior to your purchase.
I think it is worth the time and money it will take to see if a proper timing belt job could bring the engine roaring back to life.
Note to OP: Best not to assume the valves haven’t been damaged. They are probably ok, but don’t count on it with 100% certainty. A timing belt installed incorrectly could damage the valves, even if the engine was never started. Just cranking the engine with the belt out of time could damage the valves.
I was looking on Craigslist and came upon the same year and make as mine for $1500 with 95 thousand miles… I’m thinking for the money this would be more worth the money then the repair and unknown with my current Nissan…