Thanks to someone's sugestion filed ins claim on high water damage to opti. The dealer says 4-5hrs to change out opti and another 3-4hrs to change out timing chain and seal. Thought opti hrs were low and timing hrs high but by the book that seems to be pretty close. Now for the questions. First is the timing gear fiber or what is it made of? What is the usual life of timing chain and gear? This is a 94 with almost 100000miles. The extra parts are not that high... less than $100 but would have to pay 3-4 hrs labor for the timing chain. Also front seal..when does it usually start to leak..Thinking while I am here maybe I should go ahead and replace these items to prevent future problems...Anyone have experience along these lines...This should pretty well take care of everything on the front end I think or are there any other suggestions. One more question. The mech said he could change out the opti without removing the dampener. He would have to remove just the outer part and that the part that is press on would not have to come off. Is that true. Or am I mistaken. Thanks terry


[Modified by tbmoore, 1:10 AM 8/8/2002]

 

I just talked to our mech at work and he said at 100000miles I should change out cam gear , timing gear, timing chain, front seal as well as long as I am there. Next question is the cam...should I change it to something else and how much more labor is that?

 

The cam is a lot more work because then you also have to pull the intake,
valve covers, rockers, etc.

 

Timing chain and gears at 100k is not an unusual recomendation. I do sugest an all steel set or a true roller chain and gears for less friction and longer life. You can look at it this way too the labor is half price because your halfway there.

 

If you are replacing the timing chain, go with the GMPP heavy duty unit, it's a very nice peice and well worth the money.