Timing chain
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From: Plymouth MI Formerly Milford, MA MI
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Re: Timing chain (corvette90)
If it breaks it was bad :(
You really can't so if your in there you should replace it with a top quility unit,(Colyes). I had a brand new NAPA unit snap on me, filled the engine with gear pieces and bent 9 Valves and all my push rods :cry
You really can't so if your in there you should replace it with a top quility unit,(Colyes). I had a brand new NAPA unit snap on me, filled the engine with gear pieces and bent 9 Valves and all my push rods :cry
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From: Merritt Ils Fl
Re: Timing chain (corvette90)
I am with L98 on this one. I know of no test short of removing the timing chain cover that will tell you that your chain is bad. A bad chain can cause timing to wander but so will worn cam gears. If your engine runs well and holds timing then I would not worry about it until I had a good reason to pull the cover. If you have reason to pull the cover do not bother to check the chain,replace it.
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Re: Timing chain (Muffin)
one thing you can do is pull the distributor cap.... then get a socket on the crankshaft pulley. Turn the motor over one direction until you feel the rotor on the distributor turn. Then turn the crank the opposite way, and see how much play is in there before the rotor in the distributor turns the other way with the crank. If it's more than a few degrees, the chain is stretched. You really don't want any play at all in there. The condition of the chain is hard to determine without tearing the engine down in the front. Look at the other post about 'what happens when a timing chain goes' and you'll see what happened when the chain on my '85 stretched. If the car has 100,000 miles on it, would be a good idea to just change it and the water pump for peace of mind. 
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Re: Timing chain (corvette90)
Not sure how many degrees of play is normal or not.
One way I checked for a worn timing chain is with a timing light...if the timing mark on the damper seems to jump back and forth a bit when checking the timing, it may very well be off...however I dont know for sure if this a correct method to determine for sure...but it seemed to me the cars with high mileage have the timing mark jump back and forth alot when new engines or low mileage cars do not.
Ive checked quite a few cars over the years including mine and the ones with a erratic timing mark movement with the timing light always ended up needed a chain...only in one case was a damper/balancer going bad.
Anyone agree or not? Seemed to be a way to check it as well.
One way I checked for a worn timing chain is with a timing light...if the timing mark on the damper seems to jump back and forth a bit when checking the timing, it may very well be off...however I dont know for sure if this a correct method to determine for sure...but it seemed to me the cars with high mileage have the timing mark jump back and forth alot when new engines or low mileage cars do not.
Ive checked quite a few cars over the years including mine and the ones with a erratic timing mark movement with the timing light always ended up needed a chain...only in one case was a damper/balancer going bad.
Anyone agree or not? Seemed to be a way to check it as well.
